Expert: Kim Farmer - 11/14/2007

Question
Hello, I'm 31 years old and weigh 166lbs, I'm 5'6".  Recently my dr told me that I need to lose 30 lbs.  He recommended I do cardio everyday for 40 mins with hr constantly at 150.  I have a 5 month old baby and work full time, so I don't have time for the gym.  I purchased a cardio "dance" dvd and have been doing it for 4 weeks now almost every day (missed maybe twice).  I feel energetic.  I also made changes to my diet, but not drastic ones.  I limited the soda and juice (BIG one for me) and started substituting little things SOMETIMES, not always, like wheat bread for white, brown for white rice.  The problem is, after 4 weeks of this, I'm still at 166 lbs...  Is it because I need to improve my diet even more?  Or is it the intensity of my workout?  Or should I add weight training as well?  Or could it be that my muscles are "firming up" and will I start losing weight soon?  I know something is working because I could barely get through the workout at first, and now it's easy to get through, and I feel really good...  maybe I should workout for longer time?  I should mention that the reason I need to lose this weight is because I had Insulin Resistance and am at risk to be pre-diabetic.  Could this have something to do with how hard it is to lose the weight even exercising every day?

I've never exercised this hard in my life, so I'm not sure what to expect.

Answer
Hi Ruth-
You should be proud for fitting this much exercise into your schedule and modifying your diet with your busy schedule.  Doing cardio every day for 40 minutes is great, but are you checking your HR?  150 sounds ok but it sounds like you can handle a higher intensity at this point since it is getting easier for you.  Without knowing specific things about your health history and body type, I would recommend that you increase the intensity by doing a different, more challenging workout.  40 minutes is a pretty good amount of time to do straight cardio.  But you definitely need to add weight training into the picture at least a couple of times a week to start and progress to 2-3 times a week.  You also need to drink ALOT of water and watch your calorie intake.  It doesn't matter what substitutions you are making if you are taking in more calories than you are burning, so eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean protein, complex carbs (like the brown rice) and drink a lot of water.

I should mention that I have an online training program that allows me to train anybody anywhere and it is very affordable.  I also recently wrote a book-- visit www.milehighfitness.com and click on my blue book on the left hand side of the page called "Get Motivated!" for some other ideas for nutrition, exercise and general knowledge related to healthy concepts.  It has helped a lot of people stay on the right track.  My other book called "Healthy Recipes for Any Day" is also very good for cooking tasty foods without all the fat and calories.

I hope this helps.  Thanks for the question!

Kim