what is a good cardio routine to lose weight?

Aerobic workouts are far superior to cardio workouts when you want to lose weight. If your heart rate goes over 75% of maximum you stop burning as much fat and start to use up blood sugar instead – great when running a 10k and you’ve just eaten 3 snickers bars, not so good to burn fat.

Try to maintain 60-70% of your max heart rate (220 minus your age gives it to you, e.g. if you’re 20 its 200) when exercising, and eat low fat, high protein foods. Have some carbs as well, but not TOO much. The easiest ways to monitor heart rate are either by buying one of the watches with a chest strap or using gym equipment with heart rate displays.

The best fat burning exercises are cross-training, treadmill, rowing and cycling. I think the cross trainer is the best of them all…

i do 1hr on the stepper.it works great.but it takes time to get the stamina to do 1hr on the stepper

If you want to lose weight walk briskly for an hour a day most days of the week – probably 5 days a week. Vary your routine so that your body does not adjust to the exercise. Bike, jog or run sometimes, and sometimes do hills and sometimes level surfaces.

Weight loss is an overall process and there are no magic answers. Pay no attention to weight loss supplements and pills and all the latest fads. You need to think about many factors but most of them are related to issues we’ve known about for a very long time. There are many sensible things you can do that will make a tremendous difference over the long term if you need to lose weight. It can be done in a healthy way. This is what has worked for me.

Keeping a food journal really does help. It will give you a much better sense of how much you are eating, and when, and why.

Make a few additional small changes – walk everywhere, always use stairs instead of elevators, walk on escalators, get up and move around at least once an hour if your work or your life in general is sedentary, walk every day, use a pedometer. Walking 10,000 steps a day is a really good idea. Build up to a long brisk walk everyday, or most days. Be more active and watch less TV and spend less time on the computer. Buy one piece of exercise equipment to have at home and be strict with yourself about using it. Sometimes you can find mini-steppers or exercise bikes at second hand stores and thrift stores for just a few dollars.

Start a weight lifting routine. Join a gym. Possibly you can find one that has someone who specializes in weight lifting programs for beginners. Weight lifting will increase your metabolism as well as improve posture and appearance overall. Even if you can’t get to the gym you can work out at home using things around the house. Invest in a good weight training book. The Dummies series actually has a good one.

In terms of diet, cut out or reduce things like junk food, pop, fat, fast food. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, fish. Particularly if you choose a vegetarian lifestyle include natural peanut butter, hummus, dried fruit and nuts. Pay close attention to getting the nutrients your body needs to be healthy.

Make your portion sizes smaller. Use a smaller plate – in our society we have become accustomed to thinking that we need a large plate of food at every meal, and we don’t. About quarter of your plate of food should be protein and at least half of it should be veggies.

Learn to count calories. At your current weight and activity level, you may possibly need about 2000 calories or more to maintain your current weight. So you will lose weight at a reasonable and healthy rate if you cut back to about 1600 or 1700 calories a day.

Eat small amounts frequently, rather than three large meals. Never skip breakfast. Include some protein in your breakfast. It will help get you through the day.

Drink plenty of water, at least 8 big glasses of water a day, and more if it is very hot, if you sweat a lot, or if you are exercising intensely, and eliminate fruit juices. Fruit juices have too many calories, so get your vitamins from fresh fruit, not the juice. You will begin to see changes in your body.

An area that many people overlook is getting enough sleep. You are much more likely to overeat or to binge eat if you are tired and not well rested, so get enough sleep.

Check out websites about nutrition, exercise, weight training, etc. Here are a few helpful links.

http://www.nutrawatch.com/
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/
http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_diet.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Lose-Weight-the-Healthy-Way
http://weightloss.about.com/cs/fitness/a/aa011503a.htm
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/no-weight-workout?page=4