Is my workout going to work?

Question

I workout 3 days a week, doing 35 to 45 minutes on the treadmill. Then additional workouts between Lat Pulls, Chest Press, Arm Curls, Seated Row, and so forth. How long will it take me to lose 25 pounds at this rate? Am I doing too much or too little?

Thank you kindly.

Answer 1

You need to stop skipping meals, you should eat 3-5x a day.  You body needs the food to a)jump start your metabolism, b) provide adequate energy for your workout, and c) provide energy to repair and rebuild muscles following the workout.  Skipping meals does not help you to lose weight.  I've sourced a journal article below on basics of proper exercise nutrition.

Your exercise program will be more effective in building lean muscle of you add some leg exercises, lunges and/or leg press are preferred.  The legs are large muscles and burn a lot of calories when you work them.  By contrast, arm and shoulder exercise don't burn many caolories.

As far as time frame, it depends how much you eat.  A pound of fat =3500 calories. To lose a pound a week, take in 3500 fewer calories than you burn.  There is a good calorie & exercise counter available at http://www.mypyramidtracker.com a government website.

I blog extensively on fitness and diet issues, you can read more at

http://www.caryraffle.com

http://www.exercisenono.com

Answer 2

OK, what your doing to your body is extremely unhealthy. First off be sure to eat more than once a day. I have a hard time believing it makes you sick to eat only once a day and after 8pm. Your diet should coincide with your target weight and workout. Try a normal healthy breakfast, small snack, light lunch, small snack, and a healthy dinner, all before 6pm. Also be sure you are hydrating properly. As far as your workout goes, it makes no sense. You should use functional exercises, mostly body weight only, and high repetitions. If weight loss is your goal then you really shouldn't be using machines that target only a small part of muscles. In order to lose weight you should expect to gain muscle so don't worry too much about what the scale says. Functional exercises are your best bet. No longer than one hour and use the circuit training concept. Circuit training will also work your cardio. I'm posting a link below. Be sure to browse the site in it's entirety. This is the absolute best workout out there and it really does work. If you already have a gym membership then just do the wokouts that are posted on the site. It would be better for you to visit one of the gyms and at least learn the exercises and movements. Also on your diet again click on the Crossfit Journal button on the left hand side. When the new screen appears scroll down and look under the nutrition portion on the right hand side then click on CFJ 21 it will give a better understanding of the diet plan and it is really simple to follow. Good luck in the future.

http://www.crossfit.com/