How I lost 20lbs without the treadmill!

It amazes me how often people think there is only one way to lose weight – run a lot of miles outside or spend hours on the treadmill. Steady-state cardio activities like those are generally what I hear and see people do first (and sometimes the ONLY thing) when attempting to lose weight.

And I admit, I used to be just like that.  The treadmill or elliptical machines were the first and often the only machines I used at the gym.  On a good day I would push myself to do 45-60 minutes on it and MAYBE hit some of the machines for legs for a few minutes.

I started working out with a trainer back in March and she figured out pretty early on that I was not going to do any cardio in between our sessions.  I hate steady-state cardio and as much as I would love to love running outside, it just doesn’t happen for me.

Here are the two things that helped me shed the weight pretty quickly — HIIT and WEIGHTS!

Instead of spending time on the treadmill or forcing myself to run a few miles, my trainer started adding HIIT (high intensity interval training) to our strength training sessions.  So what does that mean exactly?  It meant burpees, mountain climbers, jump squats, skaters and other short bursts of cardio in between sets of weight lifting.

Speaking of weight lifting, ladies get on it!  REALLY!  In 2015 I am still so surprised at how many woman shy away from weights or will only use 3-5lb weights.

Trust me when I tell you, lifting weights helps you lose weight AND helps you develop a tight, toned and sexy physique.  Using dumbbells when you squat, lunge, perform deadlifts, etc is easy to do and gets the body pumping!

A great FREE resource for workouts that I use often is Fitnessblender.com.  They have tons of HIIT workouts as well as yoga, pilates, strength and other workouts.  If you’re curious about HIIT or looking to ditch the 3 and 5 mile runs or endless hours on the boring treadmill Fitness Blender may be exactly what you need.

At the end of the day, whatever physical activity you do – find something you enjoy and stay consistent.  I still struggle with the latter but that’s for another post. 🙂

What form of exercise do you enjoy?  How often do you engage in it?  Next time you are looking for a new workout, grab some weights and add in some short bursts of cardio!