People often want to know how much exercise they need to do each day to lose weight. They often have the idea fixed pretty strongly in their heads that they need to do 30-45 minutes of cardio per day. But these same people often have a very tough time losing weight or are experiencing "weight loss resistance."
Here is a segment of a recent interview we did with health and fitness expert JJ Virgin, where we asked her to address the common belief that:
"You Have To Do Endurance Cardio For Weight Loss"
Here are her observations on this "myth":
"While research does show there is a genetic component to how much exercise people needs, as a general rule people simply need to move more. This is not news. When you move good things happen. However, JJ says there is an important distinction between moving and exercise.
Exercise is hot sweaty and it needs to hurt a little. The BIG QUESTION is how much? At a minimum, do 4 minutes of bursting, 3 times a week. Nobody does not have time for this.
That said, the "big irony" is that many people need to exercise less to help them lose weight. JJ uses the example of when she was running a weight loss contest on the Dr. Phil Show several years ago. (The person who ended up winning, she had counseled to exercise less. And this person one.)
The reality is that some interval training as opposed to endurance will help you lose more weight. A combination of walking with several 30 second bursts is ideal. Her example is when you were running on the playground as a kid. All out for 30 seconds, easy for 60. This helps create lactic acid, which helps trigger a hormone which essentially "de-ages" you. And you want to apply this to all areas of your life."
Keep reading the interview with JJ Virgin
Why Your Food Choices Might Be More Important Than Your Exercise Choices!
According to the work of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, the primary path to permanent weight loss is a dramatic increase in the nutrient quality of ones food. Specifically one needs to dramatically increase the vegetables and non-starchy fats, and reduce pretty much everything else.
Dr. Fuhrman's main thesis is that people overeat because the body is lacking in nutrients (especially micronutrients and phytochemicals) and is sending out hunger signals in a futile attempt to get these nutrients.
JJ Virgin also advocates the need to eat "loads" of non-starchy vegetables each day, and also make sure to lower the carbs and sugar and increase the clean lean protein and healthy fats.
Building Your Aerobic Capacity
As always, context is everything. If you are struggling with the weight loss process, walk a lot, and start to incorporate some of the very short bursts that JJ Virgin describes above. As you start to walk a lot, (and increase your vegetables dramatically, especially green ones) you'll begin to have a higher threshold. Your heart rate when you are walking briskly will start to come down over time, the weight will start to come off as you increase the greens and decrease the junk.
You will also need to drink a lot of water, to help your body clean itself. All these processes are interconnected. Many people who seek to lose weight by doing a cleanse. What is interesting is that a cleanse is simply an increase in your body's existing ability to detoxify itself. By doing all the things above- lots of walking, short bursts of intervals, eating plenty of greens and drinking lots of water, you are basically doing your own version of a cleanse.
With no expensive products to buy! There are a couple key supplements that will help you during a cleanse, and you can read about those at the link.
Related:
How To Get The Motivation To Exercise
