I would like someone's opinion on my routine, as well as suggestions to maximize fat loss.
I am a 5'1" woman, and I have finally accepted the fact that I am not just "overweight,"; I'm FAT. I work at a desk job and get very little exercise or even movement during the day. I have spent the last couple weeks preparing myself for HIIT by doing some light cardio every morning and every evening. Plus I go for a 20-minute walk on my lunch hour.
After the first week, I replaced two of my afternoon cardio sessions with HIIT sessions. So far, I've done one session on the treadmill and one on a crossramp machine. Today, I will be doing it on an exercise bike. I will be incorporating body-weight resistance training this week. My routine will look like this: slow cardio every morning with one day off per week, resistance training at noon 3-4X per week (these will be 30-minute sessions including pull-ups, push-ups, planks, and squats). The days that I do not do resistance training will be my HIIT days, but this would occur in the late afternooon, around 4 pm (after work).
During my HIIT sessions, I go all out for as long as I can, usually 60 seconds at first and down to 30 seconds towards the end of the workout. My pulse goes up to 175-195 and I wait until it gets down to 130, usually after about one to one and a half minutes, then go all out again. I just keep repeating until I can't do it anymore. My legs feel like jelly afterwards, but I don't feel like throwing up or like I'm totally spent for the day (which is a good thing--I have kids to take care of at home and a dinner to prepare).
As far as diet, I am on the Warrior Diet recommended by Ori Hofmekler. I intend to stay on this diet for life, because it is the only eating plan I have found that keeps me from feeling chronically tired and lethargic. I have more energy now than I ever remember having even as a teen when I was skinny. If you're unfamiliar with this plan, it consists of serious undereating during the day and overeating at the evening meal. I basically eat nothing all day until meal time. If I start to feel foggy or sick (which is rare), I will have a protein shake in the mid-afternoon. I don't consume anything with gluten in it and stick to low-carb and low glycemic foods. I try to get 1,000 calories in during this one meal, but sometimes can't quite do it. I think I average around 800. Please don't lecture me about starvation . I have about 80-90 lbs to lose, and since I started eating this way I feel a lot better, even if I do have to put up with some daytime hunger. Intermittent fasting has been proven to have both health and fat loss benefit. My questions has to do with the exercise.
This is why I do my HIIT in the late afternoon--just before eating time, as I've read that it is bad to do it without eating soon afterwards. I've been doing it totally fasted, but would consider adding a protein shake an hour before.
I just wondered if doing the steady state cardio in the morning (staying in the lower intensity "fat burning zone" , with heart rate around 120 bpm) is really damaging to my fat loss? I keep reading that steady state cardio is harmful to fat loss, and that it would be overtraining to do it this often if I'm doing HIIT, but I sit at a desk all day, and if I can only do HIIT 2 or 3 days a week, that means very limited physical movement during most of the day. In my situation, is the steady state cardio in the mornings and afternoons when I don't do HIIT harmful? Because I figure this fat body needs to move as much as possible.
I'm sorry the post is so long. I would deeply appreciate any input about the exercise plan.
I am a 5'1" woman, and I have finally accepted the fact that I am not just "overweight,"; I'm FAT. I work at a desk job and get very little exercise or even movement during the day. I have spent the last couple weeks preparing myself for HIIT by doing some light cardio every morning and every evening. Plus I go for a 20-minute walk on my lunch hour.
After the first week, I replaced two of my afternoon cardio sessions with HIIT sessions. So far, I've done one session on the treadmill and one on a crossramp machine. Today, I will be doing it on an exercise bike. I will be incorporating body-weight resistance training this week. My routine will look like this: slow cardio every morning with one day off per week, resistance training at noon 3-4X per week (these will be 30-minute sessions including pull-ups, push-ups, planks, and squats). The days that I do not do resistance training will be my HIIT days, but this would occur in the late afternooon, around 4 pm (after work).
During my HIIT sessions, I go all out for as long as I can, usually 60 seconds at first and down to 30 seconds towards the end of the workout. My pulse goes up to 175-195 and I wait until it gets down to 130, usually after about one to one and a half minutes, then go all out again. I just keep repeating until I can't do it anymore. My legs feel like jelly afterwards, but I don't feel like throwing up or like I'm totally spent for the day (which is a good thing--I have kids to take care of at home and a dinner to prepare).
As far as diet, I am on the Warrior Diet recommended by Ori Hofmekler. I intend to stay on this diet for life, because it is the only eating plan I have found that keeps me from feeling chronically tired and lethargic. I have more energy now than I ever remember having even as a teen when I was skinny. If you're unfamiliar with this plan, it consists of serious undereating during the day and overeating at the evening meal. I basically eat nothing all day until meal time. If I start to feel foggy or sick (which is rare), I will have a protein shake in the mid-afternoon. I don't consume anything with gluten in it and stick to low-carb and low glycemic foods. I try to get 1,000 calories in during this one meal, but sometimes can't quite do it. I think I average around 800. Please don't lecture me about starvation . I have about 80-90 lbs to lose, and since I started eating this way I feel a lot better, even if I do have to put up with some daytime hunger. Intermittent fasting has been proven to have both health and fat loss benefit. My questions has to do with the exercise.
This is why I do my HIIT in the late afternoon--just before eating time, as I've read that it is bad to do it without eating soon afterwards. I've been doing it totally fasted, but would consider adding a protein shake an hour before.
I just wondered if doing the steady state cardio in the morning (staying in the lower intensity "fat burning zone" , with heart rate around 120 bpm) is really damaging to my fat loss? I keep reading that steady state cardio is harmful to fat loss, and that it would be overtraining to do it this often if I'm doing HIIT, but I sit at a desk all day, and if I can only do HIIT 2 or 3 days a week, that means very limited physical movement during most of the day. In my situation, is the steady state cardio in the mornings and afternoons when I don't do HIIT harmful? Because I figure this fat body needs to move as much as possible.
I'm sorry the post is so long. I would deeply appreciate any input about the exercise plan.