Best Workout Plans For Losing Weight

Last month, Start member Pamela Wampler shared her weight-loss story and it struck a huge nerve with the community. Many were inspired by her sobriety journey: Trading wine at the end of the day for a nightly walk helped her overcome a problem with alcohol, transform her health and lose 50 pounds in the process.

The response to her story inspired this month’s workout plan. Following in Wampler’s footsteps, we encourage everyone to look at their end-of-the-day routine, identifying a habit that isn’t serving you and committing to walking instead.

We know that walking isn’t just great for physical health; psychologically, walking helps relieve stress and increase mindfulness, according to research. In fact, I encourage many of my weight-loss clients to add in a transition walk in the early evening to ease them from their work mode or daytime mode into their evening mode. The mental benefits alone can shift your outlook and make you feel more relaxed for the evening!

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Pamela experienced this firsthand by turning her nightly happy hour into walking hour — even recruiting her husband to join her. Now it’s your turn! The workout plan for May not only includes a daily walk and strength training component, but really focuses on making your mental health a priority with weekly prompts and a printable journal.

This is easier said than done. Habits can be extremely hard to break — especially those that we have come to rely on to de-stress, comfort us and help us wind down at the end of the day. To make this process easier, I’ve designed an easy-to-use habit journal to help you make the transition and track your progress.

Before you jump into the workout, start by getting honest with yourself. Set aside some time to sit with the journal and evaluate your current routine, identifying the habit that is no longer serving you.

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You will revisit the journal half way through the month and at the end of the plan to reflect back on your progress.

Walking is an accessible mental-health tool most of us can take advantage of. It has been shown to relieve stress and increase mindfulness if done in an intentional way, and can even help treat symptoms of depression and anxiety. Of course, walking can always be done on a treadmill or an indoor track, but if the weather permits where you live, grab a water bottle and get outside for some fresh air. Giving yourself the time to take a stroll and absorb your surroundings — even if it’s just for a few minutes each day — can do wonders for your mental health.

The first half of the plan will focus on making 20-minute daily walks a habit. The weekly mental health challenges will help get your head in the game and help you release any stress or anxiety that you’ve been carrying. The second half of the plan we will incorporate a strength-training routine to support your cardio routine.

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Contrary to popular belief, physical and mental health are not completely separate entities. Moving more can help improve your mood and decrease your risk of depression, according to Harvard Medical School. And you can give this benefit an even bigger boost by purposefully engaging in mental health exercises while you move your body.

Each week, I’ve provided you with a small mental health challenge to help you shift your mindset and de-stress during your daily walk:

After two weeks of doing the walking workouts, we’re going to add in strength training a few days a week. We will focus on mastering form and building foundational strength.

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Strength training won’t only help build muscle; it can also help prevent injury and reduce pain while performing cardio exercises. Adding this ten-minute circuit to your walking workout will increase your strength, tone your muscles and up your calorie burn.

Every other day we’ll add in strength training exercises that you can easily do before, during or after your walk. These six exercises require no equipment and work your entire body and improve balance. Best of all you can do them anywhere along your walk — inside or outside!

Stand straight with your hands on your hips. Open your feet as wide as your hips. Bend your knees and sit back as if you are sitting into a chair, then press down through the heels to come up to standing. You can modify this by only squatting halfway, or by doing a squat against the wall! Repeat five times. 

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This exercise challenges the low back and core, forcing them to stabilize while the lower body is moving. Lying on your back, bend your knees and open your feet as wide as your hips. Relax the arms by your sides. Pull the navel in toward the spine as if you’re zipping into a tight pair of pants. Slowly roll the hips up, then low back, then mid-back off the ground. Press down through the feet, then lift the right foot off the ground as if you’re beginning to march. Return the right foot to the ground and then lift your left foot. Keep the hips steady as you lift each foot off the ground. You can place your hands on your hips to ensure that they are staying stationary. 

Come onto your hands and knees, opening the hands as wide as the shoulders and the knees as wide as the hips. Pull the abs in and step the feet back to come up into a plank position. Make sure the shoulders stay over the wrists and you spread the fingers out wide. Keep your back flat and try not to allow it to sag or round. Keep your abs drawn in to support your back. Then press your hips up and back into a downward facing dog. Reach the heels toward the floor. Externally rotate the shoulders so that the shoulders are not hunched up to the ears. Hold for a breath, and then exhale to come back into plank. Hold for a breath, and then repeat 10 times. 

Sit on the ground with your legs bent and feet on the ground. Slowly roll down a couple of inches so that you are balancing on your sitz bones. Place the hands together at your chest and squeeze the inner thighs together. Pull your navel in toward the spine, and twist to the right, reaching the hands together to the outside of the right knee. Come back to center, and twist to the left. Repeat 10 times on each side. 

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Standing with your feet as wide as your hips, place your hands on your hips for balance. Bring the left knee up toward your chest to a 90-degree angle. Then slowly lean forward as you bring the knee down and extend the leg straight back behind you. If needed, you can tap the right toes onto the ground to steady yourself in between the knee raise and the backward leg lift. Repeat five times on each side. 

This exercise helps work on balance and build the muscles of your lower legs. Stand with your feet as wide as your hips with hands on your hips or touching a counter for balance. Shift your weight forward onto your toes and come up onto your tip toes to work the calves. Then place the feet down flat, and rock the weight back into the heels. Repeat this five times.

Stephanie Mansour is a contributing health and fitness writer for . She is a certified personal trainer, yoga and Pilates instructor and weight-loss coach for women. She hosts “Step It Up with Steph” on PBS. Join her complimentary health and weight-loss challenge and follow her for daily inspiration on Instagram and in her new app.Fact: people who lose weight slowly and consistently are more likely to keep it off, and that's exactly what you'll do with this three-month workout plan, developed by NASM-certified trainers Jess Cifelli, a master instructor at CycleBar in Wyckoff, NJ, and Gretchen Raddatz, a master coach at Row House in New York City. While shedding pounds fast can be satisfying, you won't find any crash diets or intense workout regimens here. Instead, you'll steadily tackle your goals with a mix of cardio, strength, and toning exercises, then take the weekends off so you can grocery shop and meal prep for the week ahead. (Like any workout routine, this one works best with a balanced nutrition plan.) Ready to get started? Keep reading for the workouts.

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These first few weeks will help you build a foundation for the rest of the plan. Use added weight only when you feel stable and confident in the movements, Cifelli told . As you move into the second and third weeks, you'll notice that you can add weight and start to limit your rest to a few seconds while increasing your work time. These three weeks should allow progression in weight, repetitions, or both.

Perform eight to 12 reps of the moves in each circuit, unless otherwise noted. Use light to moderate free weights for any exercises that require them.

Aim for 45 minutes to an hour of high-intensity intervals or intense cardio.

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