Exercise can make all the difference with weight loss. By itself it may not be enough to get the pounds coming off but combine exercise with a healthy well-balanced diet and attention to calories and you’ve got a winner. You will be more likely to lose the kind of weight you want to lose: fat and not lean tissue such as muscle. You’ll also improve the odds of being able to maintain your weight when you reach your weight loss goal.
The problem with exercise is figuring out what kind of exercise you can commit to doing on a regular basis. When life gets busy, exercise is often one of the first things to get squeezed out! I’m no different than anyone else and I know that’s true for me. High intensity workouts may be a solution.
High Intensity Workouts for Weight Loss
I’ve spent time these past few months looking for ideas on how to get the exercise I need in a way that fits my varying schedule and time limitations. I feel it’s best to have options and not be dependent on doing one thing. It’s also good to mix up an exercise routine for both weight loss and overall fitness.
I was a runner for many years and that can be time consuming (especially for me because I am not fast!) I’ve also discovered that as wonderful as running may be it is not necessarily the best choice for either weight loss or maintenance. I found I was happy if I could just maintain my weight when running and didn’t gain weight! It’s all too easy to overcompensate with eating when doing lots of exercise. But everyone is different so do what works for you.
If you don’t have the time, interest, or ability to do long distance running, short-distance running, or long walks there are other choices. For some new exercise ideas you can do when you don’t have much time you may want to consider doing high intensity workouts. I’d like to share a few intense exercise demonstrations I’ve found with a bit of research on YouTube.
No Equipment Needed and Very Little Time
The best way to get more out of your exercise routine in less time is to increase the intensity of the exercise. In this video you’ll find an example of a workout routine that will give you an intense workout in just 5 minutes to start. Better yet, no special equipment is necessary. However, if you have NOT been exercising for a while this may be too intense for you. Otherwise, you will want to gradually work on increasing the repetitions till you can do the workout two to four times in a row for a total of 10 to 20 minutes.
Tabata
For the best fat burning exercise you may want to try some form of interval training. This kind of training requires switching between high intensity exercise and lower intensity or rest. A new form of exercise in the fitness world that uses this concept is called Tabata.
From what I can determine this kind of routine recommends doing some form of intense exercise for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. The cycle is then repeated. Although I am not an exercise expert, I am aware there are some experts who don’t feel ten seconds is enough of a rest interval between the intense episodes for the best kind of interval training. Be that as it may the Tabata exercises will give you quite a workout if you are ready!
Only give Tabata training a try if you have already achieved some degree of fitness. The personal trainer/fitness expert in the video is firm on this point with good reason. However, if you are ready this form of exercise will switch up your routine to provide you with excellent cardio and strength training in very little time. [The trainer also recommends using an interval timer called Gymboss. Although it sounds interesting I have not given it a try myself.]
Kettlebell Exercises
The last workout routine I want to share with you demonstrates kettlebell exercises. I am only beginning to do this form of exercise but I must say I like it a lot. The cost of investing in a set of basic kettlebells is not too expensive. If you’d like to read more about the set I purchased and my thoughts about doing this kind of exercise you may want to read an review I wrote a while back: Kettlebells and Weight Loss
Hope these videos show you some ways you can get a high intensity workout for weight loss right at home with only a little time and little or no equipment. If you are not ready for this level of intensity I would encourage you to begin with what you can do. Let me know if you would like suggestions for exercise routines that are more suitable for a beginner.
Disclaimer: I am a Nutritionist and not a personal trainer or fitness specialist so I’ll let the videos speak for themselves. Most of what I’ve learned comes from studying on my own, personal experiences, and the experiences of my family and friends. Use caution when engaging in new forms of exercise and if necessary consult with your physician about what may or may not be appropriate for you.
Exercise and Weight Loss: Should you check with a doctor first?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi there, I have been battleing my weight for years and always have been on the heavy side. im 357, 5’7 and 49 year female. i really need help in starting. i have lots of health issues as diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma. i dont want to do the weight loss surgery as i already loss 10 pounds. i do feel confident in myself and i know i can do but dont know where to start. please help. thanks
Hi Connie,
I’m sorry to hear of your struggles. I hope to have a no cost report available soon that will help women get started with putting together simple menus to follow my healthy low calorie diet plans. However, given your height and current weight I would not recommend trying either of the diet plans I have here unless you supplement them. I would encourage you to get a minimum of 2000 calories with a healthy well-balanced diet. As you begin to lose weight you can gradually reduce your daily caloric intake. What has your doctor advised?
Lori
Hi Lori,
I’m a 26 year old female that weighs 322lbs and I’m 5’5. My doctor has recently told me I have to get down to 250…I have had bloodwork done and everything came back normal…I usually go to the gym but now will be going more religiously as I want to get this weight off…I love to work out so my question is where do I start? I mean he says I need to eat more protien and he cut off Soda and cookies,cakes and those kind of carbs,he also said to try no to eat bread… What is a good alternative for bread? And by adding crystalight to water does that defete the purpose of drinking water? Thanks in advance…I look forward to hearing from you:-)
Hi Yari,
Sorry it’s taken a while to respond. I had an unusually busy day!
I’m glad to hear all your blood work has come back normal. That’s good. As for your doctor’s suggestions, I would agree with what he recommends to an extent. Getting plenty of protein in your diet is important. I would add that you also want to get plenty of dietary fiber and that comes from eating lots of vegetables, some fruit, and whole grains such as oatmeal, brown rice (not white), and whole wheat bread.
Avoiding soda, cookies, cakes, pies, candy, chips, and other nutrient poor carbohydrates is important. But I don’t think you have to stop eating bread if you choose whole grain bread. (Yes, there are low carb versions of bread but I don’t find them to be very satisfying such as bread made with almond flour). In addition to choosing whole grains when you buy bread you will want to also limit how much you eat.
Are you familiar with the whole wheat sandwich thins made by either the company Arnold or Pepperidge Farm? This kind of bread is sliced very thin to keep the calorie count down per slice. You get two thin slices of bread for only 100-110 calories. Most sliced bread has from 90-140 calories for just one slice!
I have lots of articles on this website about choosing high protein, high dietary fiber, and low calorie food on this website. Just click on the articles link on the top of each page. I genuinely hope it helps.
As for the water, I think it’s fine to add Crystal Light if it helps you to drink it. I know I got very tired of drinking plain water so I now drink lots of unsweetened tea.
I wish you the very best,
Lori