To ask if I am doing enough exercise- I don’t think I am

[Mangetoutrodney]

I am 45 & I want to stay fit & strong but also lose weight. At the moment I am running 5k twice a week & doing Joe Wicks Hiit workouts 3 or 4 times a week, usually for 15-20 mins- usually one with light weights.

It’s not really doing much to my body shape so I assume I am not doing enough really -

Aibu to ask how much I should really be doing each week?

That’s quite a lot, but surely you know that

Are you watching what you eat?

@allthegood is it a lot though? I don’t know- it doesn’t seem to be making a difference

That's plenty in terms of your fitness and health needs. How much you need to do to change your body shape depends on how much you eat, how active you are outside of exercise and what kind you do. Running can help you lose weight but not 'firm', so if you want to see results, maybe look at your diet to see where you can cut a few calories and prioritise resistance training workouts over running.

@bloomburger yes, I am pretty healthy & track food etc on my fitness pal

The hiit workouts will be more effective but I would add in something with heavier weights and slower movements at least once a week. Do you work out at home?

@halloumi yes, mostly- partly because I have no time otherwise

What do you mean by pretty healthy?

Stealth boast or what?!

@formerbabe huh? No it’s not- I am asking a genuine bloody question

It won’t make any difference to your weight how much exercise you do if you don’t know how many calories you’re consuming.

I’m marathon training and running 40-50mile weeks plus 3x strength sessions. I historically always put on weight when marathon training (because I eat so much!) and lose it when my mileage is lighter. To me, what you’re doing isn’t a lot. To someone who walks round the block once a day, it’s loads. It’s all relative.

Exercise will eventually make the world of difference to your body shape but a) it takes time and b) you need to know what you’re eating if you want to lose weight.

For home workouts I would say get 2 or 3 extra weights of dumbbell and start doing more lifting type workouts. Fitness blender are really good and also have hiit and cardio mixed in to up the calorie burn.

80% diet 20% exercise that's how our body changes shape or loses weight!

If your doing ALL that exercise which seems a lot and your body isn't changing shape your either not eating correctly or you have only just started doing that amount of exercise

Sorry - just seen you’re using my fitness pal!

Make sure you’re logging EVERYTHING and keep at it - it might take months to see results but you will!

You are doing plenty, but it takes a while to see changes from my own experience.

Go heavy or go home! You need to up your weights to really see a difference in your physique. Light weights don't really do much at all (unfortunately!)

What's your diet like? Diet plays the big role when it comes to losing weight. I used to exercise like crazy...think 7 or more, gym classes a week. Didn't lose any weight because I still ate the same.

I have been using 1kg weights (!) so will up it to 2kg to see if that helps too

It sounds like plenty to me!

But the saying is 'you can't outrun your fork'

So what are you eating? If you're not seeing any difference with all that exercise, sounds like your diet/food needs to be looked at.

@former I am nearly vegan in that I eat eggs but no dairy. I eat lots of fruit, veg, beans & pulses etc - I do love toast though so that probably doesn’t help

It depends. If you're sedentary the rest of the time then no, I don't think it's very much. But if you're otherwise quite active and walk places etc then I think it's ok.

If you're vegan you're probably eating a lot of carbohydrate, which won't be helping you. Sorry!

Also eat quinoa, oats, tofu, rye bread etc etc

It seems like a lot of “physical” activity but it won’t matter much if your diet isn’t bang on.

I think when people say go heavy they are meaning deadlifting / squatting your body weight....

What are you trying to do to your body? Change shape or lose fat?