It’s no secret that weight loss can be an uphill battle, especially for females. Many women experience weight after significant changes in their bodies occur. Many struggle with weight gain after the birth of a child, during menopause, and in stressful situations.
But there is good news! Losing weight can be an uphill battle, but you can achieve it through a healthy, nutritional consistent eating plan and an effective weight loss workout plan for beginners.
Healthy Eating
Although this article covers weight loss workout plans for beginners, eating healthy is essential to any weight loss workout plan. It will do you no good to workout or engage in physical exercise yet continue to overeat or eat unhealthily.
Eating healthy and working out is the key to losing weight. You’ll lose fat if you’re taking in fewer calories, or burning more calories than you’re eating. If you’re starting out on your weight loss journey, there are several healthy eating plans available to help you.
It’s important to eat healthily, but don’t restrict yourself. Eating healthy does not mean restricting yourself when it comes to eating. The key to effective weight loss is to eat the right foods and exercise. This should be important to anyone’s weight loss workout plan.
Finding the Right Workout
The next step is finding the perfect weight loss workout plan for beginners, which can be cumbersome and frustrating. Just like eating healthy, working out has to become a part of your everyday routine.
Working out has to be something you can do – and like doing – or it won’t last. You may struggle at the beginning like many people, but you’ll grow tired, bored, and frustrated if you’re engaged in a weight loss workout plan where you don’t see results, or it’s hard to fit into your schedule, and you’re not happy with it.
Exercising helps you lose weight by keeping your body toned, conditioned, and in shape. It also increases your metabolism and helps burns calories and fat.
How to Structure Your Weight Loss Workout Plan for Beginners
The first step is to remember you’re just a beginner. One big mistake people make is they think after a few days of working out, they’ll notice significant weight loss, but what they see is water loss.
After the initial water loss, the biggest challenge you’ll notice is the weight loss has slowed down or seems to stop altogether if you haven’t changed your eating habits.
Beginners also tend to believe if they jump into a rigorous, more challenging, and advanced weight loss workout plan, the weight will come off faster, but that’s not how it works. As a beginner, engaging in an advanced weight loss workout can cause physical injuries, leaving you exhausted, which can cause you to give up easier.
Slow and steady is the way to go for a beginner. Your body won’t go into shock with the sudden pressure or overexertion of the muscles and joints (which can cause injuries).
What Types of Exercises Are Best for Beginners?
The best weight loss workout plan for beginners is cardio mixed with strength or weight training. Many beginners think if they just run, jog, walk, or do cardio the weight will come off.
A cardio workout is great for working or strengthening that main muscle called the heart and increasing your metabolism, which does help burn some fat. A 30-minute or an hour cardio workout 3-5 days a week will help you lose some weight.
Running or jogging is good. Some people have issues with their joints, so running or jogging may cause stress to your joints. If you don’t care for running or jogging or there are issues with your joints, swimming and cycling are excellent forms of cardio exercise.
Both exercises are easy on your joints. And both improve your metabolism while working various muscles in your body. Swimming and cycling are a combination of cardio and weight training. Walking is always a good exercise. It’s easier on the joints than running and jogging.
To lose weight while walking, you’ll have to walk long distances and brisk walk – not leisure walk.
But doing just cardio won’t get the job done. It doesn’t tone or strengthen muscles. Your muscles burn fat too, so they need to be worked, built up, and toned to help your body burn fat.
Without toned muscles, fat won’t burn easily. If you’re in menopause, you’ve probably noticed your metabolism is barely operative. So, weight or strength training will improve and increase metabolism to help you burn fat and lose weight.
The best strength or weight training workout plan for beginners is using light weights. Make sure you use weights you can lift and move with your arms or legs without strain. Again, as a beginner, don’t overexert your muscles and joints – that can lead to injury.
Resistance bands and balls are great for muscle strengthening workouts. Both equipment will help stretch, strengthen, and tone muscles without lifting weights. Cardio and strength training will help your body become leaner and stronger over time. It won’t happen overnight, but with persistence, you’ll start seeing results.
Learn Weight Movements the Right Way
Safety always comes first. Learn to do any exercise, whether cardio or weight or strength training, the right way. Using weights and even strength training items like resistance bands and balls can lead to injuries if you don’t know how to use them.
Use Full-body Workouts for Better Results
As a beginner, stick with a full-body workout. What do we mean? If you know people who work out regularly, they may have an exercise workout routine where they work on specific muscles or body parts regularly.
Perhaps they focus on building their biceps for a couple of days, then work on leg muscles for two days, etc., This type of exercise is known as muscle splits. It’s great for those who have been working out for a while, but not for beginners. Those starting with a weight loss workout plan need to focus on a full-body workout 4-5 times a week.
The reason a full-body workout is best for beginners is that your entire body will be engaged and you’ll see results overall. Plus, the muscle split plan may be too cumbersome for beginners.
A full-body workout like swimming, playing tennis, or cycling, works every muscle and helps you overall lose weight. It also reduces soreness and burns more calories than muscle split workouts.
How to Get Started
This is probably the most difficult part of any weight loss workout plan for beginners – getting started, getting motivated, and staying motivated. Exercising isn’t easy – and it’s even harder to keep exercising.
So, how can you get started on your road to a weight loss workout plan?
1. Be Committed
By making a commitment and sticking with it. Is weight loss important to you? If anything is important to us, we will stick with it. Weight loss has to be important to you. If it is, you will commit and stick with it.
2. Make up a Plan
Come up with a plan and stick with it. Write down when you’re going to start your weight loss workout. Many people try to start on a Monday. That’s not always the best time. A good time to start is when you think about it.
When it comes to your mind to work out – start then. Go out for a jog or a run. Swim or ride a bicycle or take a brisk walk in the park. After you’ve finished exercising, write a detailed plan on what days and times are best for you. A laid-out plan will help you stick to your commitment and focus on your goals.
Example workout plan:
Day 1 – Full body strength and muscle workout (including stretches)
Day 2 – Cardio
Day 3 – Rest or light stretching
Day 4 – Full body strength and muscle workout (including stretches)
Day 5 – Cardio
Day 6 – Combination of cardio and strength and muscle workout (include stretches)
Day 7 – Rest
3. Get the Right Equipment and Clothes
Although you don’t need to go out and buy a whole bunch of equipment if you want to be sure to purchase the right strength training equipment. Be sure to read the instructions before you use them.
You can also visit or join a gym and use their strength and weight equipment. Getting workout clothes shows you’re serious about working out, and it can also help you stick to your commitment. Why buy all those clothes if you’re not going to use them?
Benefits of Having a Weight Loss Workout Plan
There are plenty of benefits to having a weight loss workout plan. The most important benefit of a weight loss workout is it can keep you healthy. But there are other reasons.
● Improves your cardiovascular system
● Builds muscle, joint, and bone strength
● Improves your immune system – many people who work out regularly are less prone to illnesses and colds.
● Improves your mental state – working out relieves and alleviates stress, and improves memory.
● More productive – You exert more energy exercising, but at the same time you’re boosting your metabolism, giving yourself more energy and therefore becoming more productive
● Physical improvement – you look good. Excess weight wears on the body – externally and internally.
Types of Weight Loss Workout Plans for Beginners
Here is a list of weight loss workouts
● Jogging or running – great cardio
● Jumping rope – great cardio
● Treadmills or Ellipticals – Ellipticals tend to be better on your joints
● Step or Stairclimbing – can do at home or on the job
● Swimming – total body workout
● Cycling – great for the lower body
● Resistance bands – great for muscle building
● Balls – strength training
● Yoga/Pilates – great for strength training
● Dumbbells/light weights – great for muscle building
● Squats – great for the thighs and buttocks
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Weight Can You Lose in a Month?
It all depends on the individual and what you’re doing to lose weight. Normal weight loss in a week is 1-2 pounds if you’re eating healthily and exercising consistently. Younger women may lose weight quicker than older women simply because their metabolism is faster.
Healthier women tend to lose weight quicker than those who are not. For example, someone with diabetes who is overweight may have a hard time losing weight.
What’s the Best Way To Lose Stomach Fat?
For most women, belly fat is one of the most stubborn fat to lose. Most people think stomach or abdominal crunches will flatten their stomach, but that won’t get rid of belly fat. Eat vegetables, fruit, and foods high in fiber and grain to get rid of a fat stomach.
Avoid a diet high in sugar, fats, dairy, and saturated foods. Stay away from fast food restaurants. Avoid drinking soda and juices high in sugar. Eat smaller portions. And engage in a cardio workout for at least 20 minutes a day.
How Long Should Beginners Workout?
Unless you’re pretty active, beginners should start working out for at least 15 minutes a day, 3-4 days a week. Of course, if you have underlying health conditions, always consult your physician before engaging in an exercise routine.
How Many Calories Are Needed To Burn To Lose Weight?
The simple answer is you need to burn more calories than you intake to lose weight.
For example, if you intake 2000 calories, you’ll need to burn at least 2500. That’s why it’s important to eat smaller portions throughout the day and exercise regularly.
It may help to have a calorie counter to keep track of how many calories you intake and how many you burn while exercising.
How Can I Lose Weight Below My Waist?
Many women struggle with losing weight in their hips, buttocks, and thighs. Similar to stomach fat, excess weight in the hips, buttocks, and thighs may come from childbearing or hormonal changes.
And just like stomach fat, the best way to lose this excess fat is by eating right and working out. The best workout for the lower half is running, jogging, squats, leg strength training, stair climbing, or working out on treadmills or an elliptical machine.
Are Weight Loss Workout Plans Different for Females and Males?
Weight loss workout plans are different since females store more fat than males. As a female, you’ll have to engage in more workout activities to lose weight. But the good news is if you stick to your weight loss plan, the weight will come off.