You can lose weight without exercise, but you won't improve your overall health. However, exercising too hard or with bad technique can lead to injuries. Combining a sensible eating plan with sound workout plans will help you burn calories, get in shape and avoid injury.
Step 1
Burn calories, instead of just cutting them. To lose 1 lb., you need a deficit of 3,500 calories. This means that to lose 2 lb. each week, you need to eat 1,000 fewer calories each day. That's half of a 2,000-calorie daily diet, and a very difficult and possibly unhealthy pursuit. Instead, increasing your metabolism with exercise will help you burn more calories and decrease your reliance on calorie cutting.
Step 2
Perform muscular endurance rather than muscle-building workouts. Use circuit-training routines to combine weight-loss and fitness exercises. Do 30 seconds of an exercise at roughly 50 percent of your maximum intensity, move to another exercise for 30 seconds, and repeat this pattern for two minutes. Rest for two or three minutes, then start another circuit. Repeat this pattern for the duration of your workout. For heart health, exercise for 30 minutes, several times each week, recommends the American Heart Association. For weight loss, increase your workout to 60 to 90 minutes.
Step 3
Exercise longer, not harder, to improve your heart health and burn calories. Start exercising at a pace similar to a brisk walk if you're new to exercise. Exercise at a pace that lets you continue for 30 minutes or longer. After you have built your cardio stamina to a point that you can work harder, exercise in your aerobic target heart rate range for more serious calorie burning. You should be breathing hard, but still able to talk. You can cycle, swim, dance, skate or use an exercise machine.
Step 4
Get instruction from someone who knows what she's doing if you are lifting weights, or look for online videos that demonstrate the exercise. Perform the exercise with little or no weight several times to familiarize yourself with the technique. Use non- or low-impact exercises that keep both feet or one foot on the ground at all times to reduce repetitive stress on joints. Walking is low impact, while running is high impact. An elliptical is no impact, but puts all of your weight on your legs and knees. Be careful during sit-ups and crunches that you don't pull yourself up using your hands behind your head as you fatigue during the exercise; you could strain your neck and back.
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