You should definitely continue going to the gym at least 4 days a week. You should give yourself one day off at least every week. The key is to not exercise the same group of muscles every day. Give your muscles time to heal up or they won’t be able to handle the stress from everyday. If you are mostly doing cardio and not strength training, I suggest you do one day where you really push yourself and the next day go light and easy. A great method I have found when it pertains to doing cardio is finding intensities for yourself on a scale of 1 to 10. Level 1 is like laying down or sleeping and level 10 is the absolute max output your body can do. So when you start on the treadmill(it’s much easier with machines since you can set the speed/resistance!) or an elliptical, etc, start yourself on your level 5 intensity. That could be just a regular walking pace or maybe a slower walking pace. After two minutes go up a level in intensity(either by setting the machine a little harder or walking faster) to level 6. Then after that minute go to level 7, then another minute to level 8 and another minute to level 9. So at level 9 you should really be feeling it and you should really be pushing yourself. After one minute at level 9 go back down to level 6. Then work your way up again minute after minute to level 9. After doing this for a set period of time(I usually do 20 minutes total because it is such an intense workout), when you have 3 minutes left you should be at level 9, then two minutes left try to strive for level 10. You might get there or you might not. It really depends on your energy level for the day. But always try to do it, you might get there when you thought you couldn’t! And then the final minute you should go back to level 5 for a cooldown. You can continue doing a cooldown if you want, a lot of machines have that automatic 5 minute cooldown period. I love this method in cardio and I find it highly effective because it doesn’t allow your body to get used to the exercise. As you get faster and stronger you will have new intensity levels so just move them up as you progress. You can’t outgrow this because of that.
You should definitely do weight training at least 3 days a week too. You should break up the workouts into two or more different groups. An example is doing all upper body on one day and then you can do lower body the next day or a few days later. As long as you give your body days of rest in between workouts you will be fine. The more muscle you have the more calories and fat you will burn. You will also feel better and feel like you can do more in the gym and at home too.
I also suggest eating 4-6 small meals a day and make sure most of it is protein, complex carbs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, low fat dairy, fish, and lean meats. Protein is a huge helper in weight loss because it makes you feel fuller for a long period of time and it helps your muscles. The healthier the food you eat the less you’ll want the junk. Don’t keep it in the house and it will be easier to stay on track.
I started this eating plan 2 days ago, and i lost 7 pounds. Which sounds weird, i know.

If you eat this for 4 days straight, then your body will go into katosis and will start eating fat (Thats what my mom told me) Then after the 4 days, you can slowing add in meat and more fruits.
For breakfast, have 3 eggs plain, with pepper but nooooo salt. Salt makes you hold water weight!!!
Fruit’s for snacks
You can eat as much green vegatables as you want. Especially brocoli or celery bcuz they have no fat or anything.
Lunch is a big salad with a healthier dressing
another fruit snack or vegatables
And for dinner, have another salad and some fruits or vegis again.
I swear it works. I am freaking out bcuz i just weighed myself and from Monday, i have lost 7 days!
Hope this helped!
Comment by jo; — June 30, 2010 @ 12:18 pm
Hi glad to help, now as someone who has been working in the health & fitness industry for about 5 years now i have a training method that i think you would find useful. it’s pretty simple really just follow these steps. (this is for a treadmill) Warm-up for 5 minutes by doing a fast walk or light jog. Then run at about 8.0 miles per hour for one minute. Next, walk at 4.0 per hour for about 1.5 minutes. At this time run for about 10 miles per hour for one minute. Then end your workout session by walking at 4.0 miles per hour for 1.5 minutes. When you do this routine, repeat it at least 4 times for about 20 minutes. You will find that in a few short weeks, your body will respond to it accordingly and your body will become healthier. also couple your exercises with healthy eating obviously and you will see results in no time. Hope this helps you to reach your goal.
P.S if you want results like really fast i suggest you give this a look http://fasttracktofatlosstraining.com/
Comment by Jon Salvatore — June 30, 2010 @ 1:11 pm