Workouts for Weight Loss?

My trainer told me the eliptical isnt as effective as the traditional treadmill, I warm up, walk/run on an incline alternating 1 min walk/ 1 min run until i build up to a few minutes of running then 1 minute of walking. Also I had great results doing the Zumba workout videos at home, I lost 20 lbs before my reunion just doing those and eating healty, 5 small meals a day.

just fyi, and this comes from everything I have read...

It's *impossible* to specify where on your body fat will come off. All you can do is tone and strengthen what muscle you have in those areas, which will help it look smaller to a degree.

It really boils down to "eat less, move more"

The Jillian Michael's DVD's are great (and affordable)!

Any of the Jillian Michaels DVDs. I started with 30 Day Shred and now I'm on to Ripped in 30. The workouts are only 20 minutes, but they will kick your booty the entire time! I've always been wide through the hips, thighs and butt. The DVDs really helped to slim down my lower body. She does a LOT of leg work in both DVDs. I swear by them! I've lost over 6 inches in my waist, hips and butt. My thighs don't jiggle when I walk anymore either. All you need is the DVD and a set of light weights. I started with 3lb and worked my way up to 5lb.

Definitely the classes. I started total body pump. It's great. I have been working out for a long time, but this was something I did on a whim and felt the difference. One other thing, you also have to change your diet at home. Please don't do the juice diets, or water diets, or what not. Just change the calories in your food. Besides, you're quite young, so you will most probably get into shape in no time at all.
be well.

Are there any classes at your gym? Many people find they lose more weight doing classes than working out on their own because the instructor pushes them harder than they'd push themselves. I lost 15 pounds taking Zumba classes four days a week this past summer (and eating healthy, of course).

So, you can't spot train. Your weight loss will happen in pieces all over your body.

But, of course, you can focus.
If you're not doing weights, they will make a huge difference. Squats, lunges plie squats, dead lifts.

I actually work out at home, and use primarily Cathe Friedrich, who is TOUGH. You can actually download her workouts to your iPod. She has some great lower body work that you can take to the gym with you. Butts and Gutts is a favorite of mine, as well as STS Total Body and Lower Body Blast.

www.cathe.com

Wow, 24 and 3 kids! You've been busy in your young life! I wish I had kids at an earlier age.

Anyway, I don't think there is any particular weight loss workout that you should focus on. I suggest cardio of any kind - running, fast walking, elliptical, spinning, etc. Your goal is to get your heart going through any kind of cardio workout. Spinning is supposed to burn the most calories, so if you are able to do that, that would be your first choice. I do not like spinning - it's too hard! I stick to the elliptical. I do between 45 and 50 minutes on the elliptical almost every day. You just need a good cardio workout and you need to eat healthy (and have portion control). If you eat right and exercise, you WILL lose weight. Good luck. p.s. don't forget to drink plenty of water and eat plenty of whole grains, fruits, veggies and protein. And of course, limit your sugar intake to very little.

my husband's a big workout nut and he swears by the kettlebell workout by adam campbell. he wrote a book but you can also find the workout online on youtube, etc. it's a quick and simple exercise that works a lot of muscle groups at once.

Walk, walk walk! :)

What are you eating? Are you taking some protein after your workouts? Really focus on what you eat and the portions. Leucine is another ingredient that would help. Contact me if you would like a link to some info on protein drinks,etc...

I do not want to shock you. This is the 30th year that I have done yoga. It needs no equipment other than a mat and comfortable clothing without a belt.
You can start off easy as I did doing 20 minutes a day. After half a year I could do 1 1/2 hours. Most days I am pleased to do 45 minutes.
Did it help my figure. I'd have to say yes. It has kept me in shape. Yoga works the whole body and you have to lift your own weight. It slims every part of you equalizing the distribution of body mass as it makes for strong muscles.
Muscle weighs more than fat so do not expect the scale to say you are itzy bitzy but the clothing size will.

I've never really found any workout good enough - I've always had to diet as well, except when I played Rugby for a few months and that was amazing, but I was your age then. :-) Anyway, I would recommend high cardio and weights, but when you do weights, be sure to put them on a lighter setting and do more repetitions - this will burn more fat. I also recommend doing the random hill setting on the treadmill, if you have one that goes up and down to create an incline. This way you walk and jog and run or walk up hill a bit and sometimes on flat. It's a bit like interval training, which is also really good - this means you jog for three minutes and then either do a light jog or a fast walk for three minutes, alternating between the two. Helps me to keep from getting bored, too... As for the tummy area, I can't recommend the Tupler Technique more. This is a technique from Julie Tupler in New York that helps you lose inches from your tummy in a matter of weeks. This is especially good if you have muscle separation from being pregnant. I would not have believed the results if I had not seem them for myself. I took a workshop from Kelly and the Tummy Team (www.tummyteam.com) and the results were amazing! I saw one woman lose four inches in four weeks! Anyway, it's a super simple exercise, but if you need help getting motivated, I recommend seeing Kelly. She's in Camas, which I think is close to you... You can always email her for advice and she sells Julie Tupler's books and DVDs, but I found them to be a bit confusing on my own - a bit wordy. However, you'll never do another crunch again and you can do the exercises in your car! The workshop was over a six-week period. We met for three evenings and each time were shown more exercises and so we worked up to doing them all.

As for diet, if you're interested, I'm doing the 17-Day Diet by Dr. Mike Moreno. The first 17 days are pretty intense, because you don't eat any carbs at all, except fruit and veg, but it really works to help you drop weight fast and I figure I can do anything for just 17 days! I did nutrisystem and lost 25 lbs, but then got bored after I plateaued for a while and couldn't stand the food anymore. This one is better for me so far...

Anyway, good luck!