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Exercise and Weight Loss Resources for Women

By Paige Waehner, About.com

Updated March 12, 2009

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

If you're a woman trying to lose weight and get fit, there's something you should know: It often takes longer for women to lose weight than men. And, if you've had a baby, you may have to factor in even more time. That said, women can do some things to speed up their weight loss. The following resources will help you learn more about how to maximize your cardio and strength training workouts, how to set realistic goals and how you can burn more calories.

Weight Loss for Women

For a woman to lose weight, she has to do the same thing a man does -- burn more calories than she eats. That sounds simple, but it takes some work to change your lifestyle and commit to those changes day after day. Before you get started, take some time to learn about the basics of weight loss and what it really takes to see results.

  • Secrets to Successful Weight Loss: You can do four things to increase your chances of success in keeping the weight off. Do you know what they are?
  • Giving Up the Weight Loss Obsession: It may surprise you, but putting weight loss aside and focusing on other goals may actually help you lose more weight.
  • Weight Loss Survival Skills: The road to weight loss is a long one, but you can make the process easier and enjoyable.
  • Staying Motivated: The most important ingredient in any weight loss program is motivation, but how do you keep it going day after day? This article explains how.

Exercise for Weight Loss

Exercise is one of the most important tools you have for weight loss and setting up a balanced program with cardio and strength training is your first step to reaching your goals. Below you'll find everything you need to set up a balanced program and create effective workouts.

Cardio Exercise

I usually don't have to convince my female clients to do cardio exercise to reach their weight loss goals. They know that cardio burns calories, but they don't always know how to maximize their workout time.

Many women making the same mistakes, including:

  • Doing too much cardio: Women tend to like cardio more than strength training and sometimes do so much, they risk injury, overtraining and weight loss plateaus.
  • Working at a low intensity: Some women have too many workouts in their 'fat-burning zone', but adding higher intensity workouts will actually burn more calories.
  • Neglecting other parts of their programs: Many women skip strength training and flexibility to focus on cardio, but a balanced program is the best way to reach those weight loss goals.

The resources below will help you learn more about how to find balance with your cardio workouts and make them work for you.

Get the Most Out of Cardio

  • Cardio for Weight Loss: Learn about the best cardio exercises, how to burn more calories and how often you really need to exercise.
  • How to Burn More Fat with Cardio: If you've been working in your 'fat-burning zone' you may be surprised to learn the real way to burn more fat.
  • Cardio 101: Go back to basics to learn how to choose activities and how long, how hard and how often you should exercise.
  • How to Monitor Your Intensity: Working at the right intensity can make your cardio workouts much more effective. Learn different ways to monitor how hard you're working.

More Cardio Resources

Next: Strength Training for Women

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