So you are overweight and have finally decided to do something effective about it. You will have to embrace fat burning exercise and your diet to achieve permanent weight loss.

Researchers agree that exercise has a bigger impact on fat loss and weight loss than diet. You can burn more fat in a day through exercise than you can through diet. However, they also agree that you must address both to lose fat.

Is There An Optimal Fat Burning Exercise Regimen?

There are two broad categories of exercise. Those categories are aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercise requires oxygen for energy; anaerobic does not. Another distinction between the two is level of intensity (degree of exertion). Aerobic exercise is a lower level of intensity.

Some examples of aerobic fat burning exercise are jogging, brisk walking, swimming and bike riding. Examples of anaerobic exercise are strength and resistance training or running a 100 meter or 200 meter race etc. Sport activities can be both aerobic and anaerobic. Some of the time you can be running at full tilt; at other times you are exerting yourself less so.

For optimum fat loss, it is advisable to do an exercise regimen that includes both aerobic and anaerobic activities.

Fat Burning Exercise: Burning Calories From Fat

Research from the American College of Sports Medicine shows that short, high-intensity aerobic sessions burn more calories than longer, lower-intensity aerobic workouts. If you jog at a pace of 8 miles per hour for 20 minutes, you could burn 300 calories. If you were to walk at a pace of 3 miles per hour for an hour, you would burn maybe 250 calories in total.

During a fat burning exercise session, your body goes through several stages before it reaches the point where you are burning fat. Initially you will only burn carbohydrates for energy. This lasts for approximately 10 minutes. Then you begin to burn fat for energy.

You will only begin to burn fat if you exert yourself to the right level for you. The right level for you has you exercising hard enough for your body to want more oxygen. How can you tell if it is the right level for you?

• you are breathing at a faster pace than is usual, but you are not gasping for air
• you may have some perspiration at the small of your back and at the back of your neck
• you should be able to carry on a conversation during your exercise. If you are breathless, or can’t talk, you are exercising too hard
• if you experience dizziness or lightheadedness, it is not a good sign. It means that you are overexerting yourself and you should stop

Your body will not begin to burn fat for energy, if you do not exert yourself sufficiently. It will continue to burn carbohydrates for energy. If this is what happens, you will lose mostly water weight, which leads to a decrease in your metabolism. This is the opposite of what you want, because the higher your metabolism the more fat you will burn.

Also please understand that just because you reached the fat burning stage does not mean you will stay there. Staying at the fat burning stage once again depends on if you are moving at a pace that is right for your body.

A woman’s daily weight loss plan should not only help her lose weight, but also promote healthier living.

Different strokes

There is a woman’s daily weight loss plan for those who are breastfeeding, obese, and simply want to maintain their weight. Regardless of your purpose, however, the key to starting a safe and effective woman’s daily plan is to eat right, get enough exercise, and get advice from a doctor.

Why is the doctor important?

Before you decide to lose weight, your doctor should examine you to see how much weight you need to lose and what method will work best for you. The doctor can help you come up with a woman’s daily weight loss plan based on your health condition and current lifestyle.

Make it complete, realistic, and attainable

A woman’s daily weight loss plan should include all the necessary nutrients for her health. Men and Women have different nutritional needs, so it’s important to get one that’s specifically for you. Before deciding on a plan, make sure it can provide you with a complete and balanced diet. Remember that your goal is to be able to lose weight by setting attainable and realistic goals on dieting and weight loss. A plan that is restrictive and difficult can be hard to stick to, so make sure yours is customized for your needs and preferences.

For first-time dieters

If this is your first time to make a woman’s daily weight loss plan, here are a few simple guidelines to help you out.

1. Plan ahead: Plan on what you are going to eat for the next day and for the next couple of days. This prevents you from eating whatever you can find in your kitchen or fridge. Make sure you always have low-calorie, healthy, and fresh foods in store.

2. Instead of a big breakfast, lunch, and dinner, eat four to six smaller meals a day. This keeps you energized all day and speeds up your metabolism. Just make sure the meals are light and low-calorie.

3. Eat slowly. This can help you in digestion so you won’t feel bloated or any discomfort after eating.

4. Do not be too hard on yourself and do not obsess over the specific details on a woman’s daily weight loss plan.

5. Watch your calorie consumption. If it higher than the recommended amount, cut it down but make sure you’re not depriving yourself of nutrients. Instead of eating less, eat the same amount but go for high-fiber foods, which have fewer calories but are more filling.

The key to losing weight

If you are making your own weight loss plan, keep in mind that its success lies in you. You need enough motivation and determination to stick to your weight loss plan. This can lead to a complete change in your lifestyle and eating habits, which are actually the contributing factors to effective weight loss.

Other weight loss plans

There are several popular weight loss plans, such as the Atkins diet, Mediterranean diet, Zone diet, and the South Beach diet. These plans are not aimed at weight loss, but a generally healthier lifestyle. Make sure your diet promotes long-term change on your behavior and lifestyle. Avoid fad diets and plans that are not backed by scientific research, those that promise fast weight loss, those that force you to take more supplements or other products, and those that require you to consume less than 100 calories in a day. Be realistic about your goals; if an offer seems to good to be true, it most probably is.

The breastfeeding woman’s daily weight loss plan

It is natural for a lot of women to want to lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. However, you need to make sure that you remain healthy, not just for you but also for your baby. If you are a breastfeeding mother and you need to lose weight, it’s important to lead an active lifestyle while observing proper nutrition and a balanced diet. Breastfeeding alone can burn 500 calories. Avoid exercises that can cause stress on the chest area, particularly the breasts. Walking is a good form of exercise and you can even do this by strolling outside with your baby. Yoga is another safe choice for exercise for breastfeeding women.

1. Resistance training

This is the best way for weight loss and to transform your body – hands down. Strength training changes your body composition like no other exercise. Resistance training (any exercise which provides resistance to the muscles to work against – ie training with weights or using your own bodyweight) causes tearing of the muscle fibers and when your body re-builds them, they are rebuilt stronger than they previously were. You are actually impacting your body positively by introducing newer, stronger muscle, which means your body metabolism increases, resulting in you becoming more efficient at burning fat at all times.

2. Interval Conditioning

Also known as Interval training or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) this is intense cardio training in short, sharp bursts that revs up your metabolism and fat burning capability as far as it can go. Any exercise that is high intensity such as sprinting or jumping rope qualifies as interval training, as long as the intensity is kept up consistently for a few minutes, then decreased for a few minutes (not slowed down to a walk) then again sped up to the maximum. The main advantages of this type of exercise is that you burn calories at the work rate not only while exercising, but for many hours afterwards, even when resting.

3. Drink water – and plenty of it

This is so important, yet so often overlooked. Your body is made up of 60-70% water, your blood is almost 90% water – so your body needs this vital ingredient to function correctly, for any number of functions such as regulating temperature, transporting nutrients, for digestion, lubrication of joints, to name just a few. So replenishing lost fluids is vital for not only your body to function correctly, but also to maintain performance. Dehydration is one of your body’s main enemies. Even a slight drop in your hydration levels decreases muscular and aerobic endurance significantly. It doesn’t take much. Look at it this way – if you lose more than 10-12% of your body weight in water, you could die. How much should you drink? 65-80oz a day.

4. Don’t skip breakfast

With our busy lifestyles, breakfast is probably the easiest meal of the day to skip. With so much to do in the mornings and the tendency to get up at the last minute as we feel so tired, it is tempting to do this on a regular basis. But this only results in hampering our attempts at losing weight. If you skip breakfast, you slow your body’s metabolic process down, resulting in less efficient fat burning at rest during the day. Remember that you haven’t eaten anything for 7-8 hours, so not giving your body those much needed nutrients early can result in you overeating during the day. A good breakfast made up of complex-carbs and protein will give your body the start to the day it needs to feel energized and full.

5. Use multi-joint exercises

I’m a big believer in multi-joint exercises. For fat burning, you get so much more for your ‘money’ (ie time) when you perform exercises that are multi-joint, than isolation exercises. Squats, lunges, push-ups, upright-rows, kettle-bell movements, any multi-joint exercise revs up your metabolism so much faster as so many more muscles in your body are engaged in one exercise, than say an isolation exercise like bicep-curls. Using these exercises frequently will result in lean, toned muscles, high calorie burn during and after the training session.

6. Don’t worry over weight loss

‘Obsessive scale disorder’ is commonplace when many people start a fitness and weight loss program. Weighing yourself too often is not going to give you a fair indication of your progress. If you need to weigh yourself, do it only once a week, no more. Remember, its fat loss that’s important, not weight loss. Weight loss is only important when the weight you’ve actually lost is fat – not weight loss through losing water or muscle. Concentrate on your physique, how you look and feel in your clothes and your body composition. If you are going to measure something, measure your body fat composition every few weeks – this is a far more accurate and representative measure of your fat loss progress.

7. Eat frequently

Eat every 3-4 hours. Starving yourself and restricting calories only results in your body slowing down its metabolism to conserve energy – a standard reaction of your body’s survival mechanism – not very efficient for fat-burning. Fire up your metabolism by eating regularly, so your body has to work to digest your frequent food intake. Foods that are of course nutritionally rich, lean protein, low fat dairy and healthy fats.

Ultimately, to lose fat, you have to commit yourself to a complete process – You must strength-train, eat the correct foods in the correct quantities at the right times, perform high intensity interval conditioning, and drink plenty of water. If any of these elements are lacking, your progress and results will suffer.

The goal here is to make your body a fat-burning machine, to burn calories and burn fat all over the body at a higher rate than normal, even when not exercising.

Thats why it’s important to know the fundamentals – to ensure safe, consistent weight loss.

To learn more, download your Fat Loss Myths Guide here.

As summer approaches many will be scrambling for quick ways to burn fat and lose weight. There are many low calorie diets on the market that promise big results. But these fad diets do not produce extreme fat loss only disappointment.

For quick weight loss results you must do three things: change your eating habits, create a daily calorie deficit and begin exercising. You may be surprised to find that weight loss supplements are not part of this formula. This is to steer you clear of fast weight loss failure that is sure to come from these supplements.

Step 1: Change Your Eating Habits

The biggest gains come from changes in how you eat and consume calories. The first change is to eliminate any eating three hours before bedtime. Second, eat your larger calorie meals earlier in the day and eat smaller meals in the evening. These changes are designed to give your body the opportunity to burn calories before you turn in for the evening.

You’ll also want to eat your simple and starchy carbohydrates in the morning or at midday. It is better for your body to not have to deal with carbs in the evening as they are more likely to turn to fat as you sleep.

Step 2: Create a Calorie Deficit

You will also want to create a calorie deficit in your daily eating. This means first you must understand what your BMR is (i.e. basal metabolic rate). To calculate your BMR, you simply take your body weight, and multiply by 10. So, if you weigh 250 pounds, your daily calorie requirement is 2500 calories. In order to lose weight, you will want to eat 80% of your BMR. In our example, you will be eating 2000 calories per day. At a 500 calorie daily deficit you can easily expect to lose 1 pound per week.

In your meal plans, you will want to divide up your calories and have six meals per day. These meals will be balanced in terms of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Doing this will insure that your body gets all of the required vitamins and minerals it requires. Also make sure you drink lots of water throughout the day. Water is a natural supplement that aids your body’s ability to shed body fat. And finally include at least one cheat meal per week just to keep things interesting.

Step 3: Exercise

You need to workout at least 5-6 days per week. Your fitness program will be a total body resistance and cardio training experience. You will want to include high-density weight training three to four times a week. To boost your metabolism, work your large muscle groups. For maximum muscle building gains, make sure you are pyramiding your weight. For example if you are bench pressing 100 pounds, you will want to increase your weight after each set so that you reach exhaustion by your last set.

For cardio, select exercises that are low impact and give you the maximum calorie burn in the shortest period of time. One of the best workout machines available is the elliptical cross trainer. For optimal muscle and cardio training you will want to use a technique called high intensity interval training.

Your high intensity interval training will be no more than 15 minutes each session. You will exercise in two minute intervals with high intensity workouts and then have 30 seconds of low intensity rest periods. For best results do your cardio training in the morning on an empty stomach. Some studies show that this technique will aid in extreme fat loss getting you the fast results you want.

Some workout programs say they are designed for fat loss but are based on such outdated scientific data that you’ll be lucky to burn any fat at all. And the sad part is, many of these exercise programs claiming to burn fat have been used time and again without producing results.

Lets go over what you should look for when choosing exercise programs to get rid of fat…

When most people think of exercise programs for fat loss, they think of aerobic exercise. I mean aerobic activities like jogging, biking, rowing, etc. done at a pace which allows your body to use oxygen for energy. The problems is, these exercise programs are long, boring and ineffective for reaching your fat reduction goals.

First of all, training programs that rely solely on aerobic activities assume that burning fat during the workout is enough to burn off fat. The problem is, once you stop doing the aerobic exercise, you stop burning fat.

Secondly, exercising with the focus on aerobic activities fail to realize your body adapts to the exercise over a short period of time. So, while you might burn fat in the beginning, the amount of fat you lose quickly grinds to a halt. The last thing you want to do is choose workout program that teaches your body not to burn fat.

Choose fat burning exercise programs that are a combination of resistance training and high intensity energy system training. But avoid your typical weight training.

Don’t even look at programs that are based on “bodybuilding” weight training combined with aerobic activity. These kinds of exercise programs for fat loss are used in almost every commercial gym in existence… and have proven time and again to fail to produce significant results for the majority of people. And while these exercise prescriptions work for bodybuilders… they spends hours in the gym most days of the week. (Something you probably won’t be doing.)

To get the fat losing results you want, you need to look for exercise programs created by experienced fitness professionals ALREADY getting great results. They work with real people who get real fat loss results… so they know which programs work best for the majority of people.

Extreme fat loss can be achieved in several different ways. You can choose to exercise more, change your diet, or even weight loss surgery. Well, the “in thing” these days seems to be weight loss surgery. There are several types of surgical weight loss procedures available, but the risk factors vary. Come, let’s take a closer look.

On the surgical front, bariatric surgery is growing increasingly popular, it may be one of the quickest ways to lose those extra pounds. There’s the Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band procedure, also known as the LAP-BAND surgery.This procedure involves the surgeon putting a band around your stomach, causing you to get full faster. And then there’s the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty procedure. This procedure involves the surgeon stapling a portion of the stomach., also causing you to get full faster. Both of these methods will cause you to lose weight, however there’s possible complications, risks and after effects.

Some of the risks associated with bariatric surgery include:

Stoma obstruction

Enlarged heart

Abdominal hernia

Vomiting and nausea

Surgical procedure needing to be repeated

Gastrointestinal inflammation or swelling

Weight loss surgery is only intended for people who are at least 100 pounds overweight and who have not found success with less risky, weight loss methods such as dieting and exercise.

If you are less than 100 pounds overweight than you should look into extreme fat loss diet plans and some good old exercise. For one it’s less risky and also you would not qualify for weight loss surgery.

Discover healthy alternatives to weight loss surgery, as we review the top fat loss diets online.

The decision to lose weight or start to exercise usually begins with the fact that you do not like what you see in the mirror and it motivates you to do something about it. You start out on the right foot and stick to healthy eating and exercise, but then something happens and you fall behind or stop all together.

How do we keep ourselves from quitting if we really want to change our body and get fit and lean? This is where daily weight loss motivation begins. We need to remind ourselves every day of our goals and end result. This can be easy for some, but others have a hard time staying focused.

It’s not that you are a quitter, you just can’t stay focused on what you want to achieve and you probably let outside influences get in the way. As soon as something comes between you and your efforts, you lose track and can’t seem to get back on.

Here are some daily weight loss motivation tips to help you stay focused on your goals:

1. You must set realistic goals. Period. Do not expect results that you know are unachievable. This will serve to discourage you and set you back.

2. Change you exercise and weight loss routine often. Sticking to the same boring routine or diet will quickly put the fire out and you won’t want to do it.

3. Make exercise and diet a habit. Incorporate healthy eating into every day activities such as when grocery shopping. Get into the habit of only buying fresh healthy foods and you will be much better equipped to be successful.

4. Stop wanting to be like the models in the advertisements. Not everyone was meant to be a size 4 or have a body like Adonis. Know your body and be realistic in what you want to look like.

5. Recruit the help of friends or relatives in your quest to lose weight and exercise. The buddy system is a great motivator for you both! Each of you can boost the other’s self-esteem and keep you going.

6. Do not make excuses. Life happens, but let things pass and get right back into your routine. An illness, work or family can sometimes interrupt us, but don’t let it stop you.

7. Everyone needs a break now and then so if you’d rather go play tennis instead of sitting on the weight machine, by all means go ahead! You will still be getting a workout, but doing something fun also.

You can lose the fat in your face without plastic surgery. There are natural methods that combines diet and face exercises to lose fat in your cheeks or get rid of a double chin. You will take years off your face and get sculpted-looking cheekbones with dietary tricks and face exercises that will tone your facial muscles.

Losing extra body fat and losing excess water retention will slim down your face. Follow a high fiber diet for a fast way to lose weight. Fiber foods include whole-grain products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and beans. Eat five or six servings of fruits and vegetables everyday. Fruits and vegetables have vitamins, minerals and contain water that will keep you hydrated.

Drink at least eight glasses of water everyday. If you do not drink enough water, your body will store water and you will get bloated. Drinking a lot of water will keep you hydrated and flush out toxics from your body.

Reduce the amount of alcohol beverages you drink. Alcohol dehydrates the body and will cause bloating in the body. All alcohol beverages have many calories. You will gain weight and have a bloated face if you drink alcohol beverages.

Salty foods will cause water retention and you get a bloated face. Avoid eating junk food that is high in sodium. Snack on fruit and salt-free whole grain products instead of chips, pizza and burgers.

Do face exercises to sculpt, firm and tone all facial muscles. There are more than 50 muscles in the face. These muscles are smaller and thinner than other muscles in the body. The muscles in the face will respond faster to face and neck exercises. You will quickly see improvement in your face if you do face muscle exercises.

When you apply make up to your face, put more blush on your cheekbones. This make up technique will make your face appear thinner. Certain hair styles will also help in giving you the appearance of a slimmer face. Consult with your hair stylist for the best hair style for you face.

Losing extra body fat will reduce the fat in your face. Reduce the amount of alcohol and salt in your diet and drink eight glasses of water everyday. Do face exercises to firm and tone your facial muscles. Doing all these natural methods to reduce face fat will give you lean, sculpted-looking cheekbones and will make your face look younger.

There is a definite science to fat loss – so precise, in fact, that if everyone was to follow this exact science, they would melt away the fat at an amazing rate. Sound too good to be true? I don’t think so. Read on.

In a nutshell, the science to fat loss is a four legged stool, that involves:

1) consuming less overall calories than you burn/expend during the day

2) regular weight/resistance training

3) high intensity cardio

4) sufficient rest periods

Let’s look at each facet individually without getting too technical: For today’s post, I’m purely going to focus on the first of the four discussions above. The rest I will discuss over the next few days..

1) Consuming less overall calories than you burn/expend during the day

This is a no brainer. Excess calories make you fat, regardless of whether the extra calories come from fat, protein or carbs. For the record, one gram of fat gives you nine calories. One gram of protein gives you four calories, and one gram of carbs also gives you four calories. Yet, it’s not so much the fat intake most people should be weary of, but rather high glycemic carb intake.

During the 70s and 80s, there was this “fat-free” craze that started in the US, and one would think that if “fat-free” was the way to fat loss, that most of the US would be sleek and lean. Just the opposite was true. In spite of a gigantic movement towards fat-free products, the nation only became more obese. Recent studies confirmed it was the high glycemic sugar intake that led to the pancreas secreting extra insulin, which led to drastic sugar highs & lows and eventually, added fat.

If you are naturally fat (i.e. endomorphic physique type – where you put on fat easily), you’re most likely insulin resistant. This in simple English means that the body does not metabolize/break down the sugar in the blood very efficiently, meaning that the excess sugar gets stored as fat. You may consume all the fat-free foods you want, but the extra sugar will be converted into fat. One product I have tried that really helps to break down sugar and improve insulin resistance is a Swiss product called Diabecen. It contains water based ground cinnamon which has been scientifically proven to reduce blood cholesterol and improve insulin sensitivity, which can aid to fat loss if combined with regular exercise.

Secondly, meal portions is also very important. As a general rule of thumb, consume 5 – 6 smaller meal portions throughout the day so as to regulate blood sugar. Generally, every meal portion should be about the size of a clenched fist.

Upon waking in the morning, if you can afford it – have one scoop of about 20 grams of whey protein isolate on an empty stomach. Do this before you even brush your teeth. As you have not eaten for several hours during sleep, your body will absorb the whey protein very efficiently and this will go a long way in helping you recover in the long term if you do this on a daily basis. About 20 – 30 minutes thereafter, have a solid breakfast.

Breakfast should be the exception (in terms of meal portion size – it can be larger than the size of a clenched fist) though as the 1st meal of the day, as during sleep you fasted for a 7 – 8 hour period during which the body received no nutrient intake. Oatmeal is by far the single best breakfast there is as it is low GI, provides a consistent, slow release of energy and reduces soluble blood cholesterol. You could also add a scoop of whey protein isolate to your oats and some chopped pieces of fruit. Also have a good multi vitamin with your breakfast to give you the vitamins/minerals/phytonutrients your body needs for proper biological function throughout the day.

Thirdly, taper down on carb intake as day progresses into night. Notice I never suggested that you stop eating after a certain hour. This is a myth. What is really meant is that after about 8pm at night, you should cut down on as much carbs as possible, as the body’s metabolic functions are slower at night than it is during the day – unless of course you had a grueling workout late at night, during which it is perfectly acceptable to consume a carb/protein drink after your workout.

Which brings me to point # 4 – consume a high glycemic carb drink plus one scoop of whey protein isolate directly after your workout so as to top up lost glycogen stores. The protein will help to improve recovery of body tissue, which includes muscle tissue but also other body tissue that took a strain during your workout. This includes your immune system as well. Protein repairs it all – not just muscle tissue. Include a teaspoon of the amino acid L-Glutamine to your post workout drink as this will help the body absorb protein more efficiently.

You might ask why I recommend a high glycemic carb drink directly after a workout and not a low GI carb drink. It is simple: during the workout, your body breaks down energy quite rapidly and hence, your body needs to top it up very quickly and a low GI carb won’t do the trick. You need a high GI carb, and if you top it up during the 20 minute window period following the very second your workout ends, the body’s metabolic drive is extremely high meaning that the high GI carb and protein drink won’t be stored as fat. Instead, it will be sucked up by the muscles almost immediately.

About 45 – 60 minutes after your post workout drink, have a solid, low GI meal with some protein. An example would be two slices of rye bread, a small salad and a grilled chicken breast about the size of your palm.

Just before bedtime, if you can afford it – consume a cassein based protein (as opposed to whey protein that gets digested too quickly). A cassein based protein takes several hours to digest – which is good just before bedtime, as during the first 90 minutes of deep sleep, the brain secretes GH (growth hormone) into the bloodstream, and combining this with a slow release protein such as cassein goes a long way in helping you recover from the stress imposed by your workout (and the day’s stress in general) and also helps you to improve your quality of sleep.

If weight loss is specifically your goal, try to cut down on as much carbs as possible during the day, but the exception should be breakfast – as you’ll run yourself into a hole if you completely cut out carbs all together. Breakfast should most certainly be a low GI meal as it will give you a slow release of energy throughout the day, and what better a source of low GI carbs than oatmeal, with some chopped fruit, some cinnamon, some natural honey as well as a scoop of whey protein.

Always try to consume some protein with your meals as this will create a feeling of fullness. Great sources of protein include skinless chicken breast, turkey breast, tuna, lean cuts of steak, lean cuts of beef, egg whites (poached or boiled), broccoli, soy, and also protein drinks and bars (be careful of protein bars with too much sugar – always go for high protein/low carbs)

Also do not forget the importance of essential fatty acids. Excellent sources include salmon, fresh water fish, avocado’s, nuts and organic (sugar-free) peanut butter. You can also supplement with omega 3 and 6 fatty acid capsules as this fat helps your body to burn bodyfat more efficiently.

I have included a lot more info in my fitness e-book, “Ripped Dad, Fat Dad”, which you can download at http://www.ripped-dad.com. The executive summary is free though.

Let me know if any of this helped, and I will write more about the remaining three issues pertaining to the science of fat loss.

Yours in Fitness

Exercise is a very important part of weight loss and no matter how most people who try to lose weight without exercising fail sooner or later. Diets do not work by themselves because they are only temporary solutions, so if you want to lose weight permanently, then changing your lifestyle and incorporating exercise to your life is essential.

What is the best best weight loss exercise?

Answering this question is really hard because people are all very different, so what works very well for one, may not work at all for another. You can´t compare a 350 pound overweight guy to a 185 pound single digit body fat guy.

So first of all you got to analyze yourself. Do you want to lose only a few pounds, are you a little overweight or seriously obese? The more you weigh and the more out of shape you are the easier your exercises should be.

If you want to lose fat effectively then your workout has to be at least 20 minutes long. If your workout is less than 20 minutes long, then it´s more anaerobic, meaning your body uses mostly sugar for fuel But the 20-45 minute range is the best for fat burning.

Rowing and cross country skiing burn the most calories but they are also the hardest exercises. You can´t expect a 350 pound guy to row on a indoor rowing machine for 20-25 minutes in a high tempo. So brisk walking or slight jogging would be much better. Or if you have bad knees then working out on a stationary exercise bike is a better option.

It is not important what exercise you are using to lose weight, what is important is that you are doing something. Some people worry too much about what and how they are suppose to do, that in the end they can´t get anything done. So take action and if you are constantly improving then you are in good shape.