Let me guess: You eat pretty healthy and you’re working out, but you’re not losing weight.

Your clothes still don’t fit the way you want. The belly fat won’t budge. And although you’re active, you aren’t getting the toned, lean look you’re working so hard for.

What if I told you that the way you’re working out could be the reason you’re stuck?

This is the third blog post and podcast episode in our four-part series on the shifts you need to make to lose weight sustainably and keep it off as a busy working mom. We’ve covered mindset (part 1) and metabolism (part 2). Today, we’re diving into movement—and I’m going to shift the way you think about workouts for weight loss and fat loss.

Here’s what I hear from moms all the time: “I eat healthy and work out, but I still can’t lose weight.”

Or: “The things that used to work just aren’t working anymore.”

I was there too after having my first few kids. I was doing workout classes, home workout videos, and going on runs, but I wasn’t getting results. I couldn’t burn the belly fat. My clothes weren’t fitting.

Then I finally figured it out. I found a program that gave me that look where you look back at photos and think, “Dang, I looked good. What was I doing at that time?”

Now I know exactly what I was doing—and I’m going to share it with you today.

The Truth About Exercise and Weight Loss

Before we dive into the workout plan, it’s important to understand: Nutrition is going to move the needle more than exercise when it comes to weight loss.

We have a lot of research showing that food matters more than exercise for losing weight.

But exercise plays a huge role in keeping the weight off. That’s why I put equal emphasis on food and exercise when working with clients. I’m not just interested in you losing weight—I’m interested in you being able to keep it off.

Plus, my guess is that your goal isn’t just to lose a bunch of weight and become the smallest version of yourself.

Your goal is to lose fat and gain muscle. To get strong and lean, feel confident in your clothes, have energy to keep up with your kids, age well, and stay independent.

That’s why both food and exercise matter.

Is Too Much Cardio Really Your Problem?

Social media tells you to “stop doing so much cardio” and “lift weights instead.”

But real talk: Is your problem actually that you’re doing too much cardio?

Maybe back in the day you were a “cardio bunny,” heading straight for the elliptical, Stairmaster, or treadmill. But at this point in your life, let’s be real. Your problem is probably not that you’re doing too much cardio.

If you’re like most of the moms I work with, your actual problems are:

1. Not moving enough in general
2. Not following a structured strength training program that will give you the body you want

The Social Media Workout Confusion: What Should You Actually Do?

I get it—it’s confusing. I’m on Instagram too. I see it all: “Do less cardio” “Do more cardio” “Lift weights” “Walk 10,000 steps a day with a weighted vest” “Do pelvic floor exercises” “Focus on deep core work” “Do breathwork”

So what are you supposed to do for weight loss and overall health? And more importantly: How can you fit it in as a busy working mom?

That’s the critical piece. None of it matters if you can’t keep up with it consistently.

The Foundation: Start Where You Are

First things first: Any type of movement and exercise is better than no movement or exercise.

If you aren’t moving much now, start with increasing your daily movement. Walking is one of the best ways to do this. But if you enjoy something else—dancing, workout classes, Pilates, biking, swimming—do whatever you enjoy because if you enjoy the exercise, you’ll be more likely to stick with it.

Start Small and Be Consistent

That’s the first step: Start small and do whatever you can be consistent with. If you’ve got a baby, put them in the stroller and walk. If you’re on maternity leave, go out for a walk. If you have a walking pad or treadmill, get on it while watching your favorite show. Get those steps in. Just move.

What “Consistency” Really Means

Consistency doesn’t mean you do it every day or perfectly all the time. The people who are most consistent are the people who just get back at it when they do fall off. That’s what builds consistency—not doing it perfectly, but doing it most of the time.

Exercise for General Health vs. Exercise for Fat Loss

Weight loss aside, there are recommendations for how much exercise to do for general health. I like to share these because they’re important for living a long, healthy life and reducing risk of chronic diseases.

For general health, the recommendations are:

• 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise)
• 2-3 times per week of strength training or resistance training (with weights or bodyweight)

This is just for general health and reducing chronic disease risk.

But If You Want Fat Loss…

If you want to lose weight—and what you really want is to burn fat, tone up, get lean, fit better in your clothes, feel strong, and feel good in your body again—you need more than that.

You need a workout plan that supports those specific goals, not just a generic plan for overall health. Both are important, but they look a little different.

The Problem with High-Intensity Workouts and Cardio

You’ve probably heard on social media: “Stop doing so much cardio” or “Don’t do five to six days of high-intensity workouts”

This advice exists for important reasons:

Reason #1: HIIT Increases Hunger

Intense workouts like cardio and HIIT workouts can significantly increase your hunger. We talked about this in last week’s episode: Most people don’t succeed at weight loss because they get hungry.

If you restrict calories too much, you’re hungry. But there are also certain workouts that, if you do them too much, spike your hunger. It’s really hard to lose weight if you’re constantly hungry.

If you can control the things that make you hungry in a sustainable way, that’s going to support long-term weight loss.

Reason #2: You Lose Muscle Along with Fat

Although cardio and HIIT workouts burn a lot of calories during the session and can help you lose weight, the body doesn’t differentiate what type of weight is getting lost.

Translation: If you’re doing tons of running, swimming, biking, or HIIT workouts and you start losing weight, you’re not just losing fat. You’ll lose muscle if you’re not doing anything to preserve it.

And when you lose muscle, your metabolism slows because muscle is metabolically active.

Why Muscle Matters for Metabolism

The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest, around the clock, without having to work out.

What we want to do is preserve and build muscle so that you get that toned look you’re going for, you burn more calories throughout the day without having to work out as hard, you can lift your groceries and your children as you age, and you stay strong and independent.

Your Complete Workout Plan for Fat Loss

Step #1: Lift Weights 2-4 Times Per Week

First things first: Lift weights 2-4 times per week.

As I said before, any type of movement is better than no movement, and lifting weights or doing any type of resistance training is better than none.

If You Don’t Have Equipment

If you don’t have dumbbells, find YouTube videos with pushups, bodyweight exercises, wall sits, and planks. Do what you can do. Work with what you have.

Why Random Workouts Aren’t Working

Now, if you’re already doing some weightlifting and you’re kind of consistent with it, but you’re still not getting results, it could be because:

1. You’re not following a progressive strength training program
2. You haven’t dialed in your nutrition to match your exercise goals

What You’re Actually Going For

If you want to get that toned, lean look (which I think is what women are actually going for when they say they want to “lose weight”)—you need to do a progressive strength training program, which is the exact type of workout program we have inside our program, The Sustainable Weight Loss Method.

What Is Progressive Strength Training?

In short, a progressive strength training program is when:

1. You lift heavy enough weights that it’s challenging to do the last repetition
2. You do certain exercises for multiple sets
3. You increase the load as you progress over weeks

Here’s How It Works

Once 8 pounds feels too easy – for example, you can do bicep curls with 8 pounds for 8 reps, 3 sets, and it’s not difficult to lift the last repetition—then it’s time to move up to 10 or 12 pounds.

That’s what progressive overload means. This is how you build muscle and get the look you’re going for.

How to Start Small and Build the Habit

Start small. If you’re not doing anything at all right now, start with what feels doable and what you can be consistent with.

If you’re not lifting at all, get in the habit of lifting. Start with just one day a week. Do a class on Peloton, do a free YouTube video, get a personal trainer, or go to a fun workout class. As James Clear says in Atomic Habits: Build the habit first, put in the repetitions, then optimize the habit.

The Progression Plan

If you’re doing none → aim for one day

If you’re already doing one → add a second day

If you’re consistently doing 1-2 days → consider changing up what you’re doing and following a progressive program (you can get amazing results in just 2 workouts a week with the right program)

If you’re already doing that → you can increase to 3-4 times per week

How Long Should Workouts Be?

Aim for 30-35 minute sessions ideally. But if you only have 20 minutes? Do 20 minutes.

It’s not always about how much time you’re spending—it’s about what you’re doing during that time.

Step #2: Walk More

The second thing you need to do is simply walk more and move more. 

Structured workouts are great, but of all the calories your body burns in a day, a structured workout only makes up about 5% of your total daily calorie burn.

That’s why you can’t just exercise enough to lose weight—you have to change your diet too.

The Power of NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity)

But you also need to move more because of something called NEAT: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. This is a scientific term for non-exercise movement (including walking), and it makes up a bigger chunk of the calories you burn—about 15-20% of your daily calorie burn.

This is the next thing you need to focus on.

How to Increase Your Daily Movement

You can do this by:

Tracking steps:

• Using a Fitbit, Apple Watch, or your phone

Going by time:

• Adding a 30-minute walk to your day

Going by distance:

• Walking a mile loop near your house

Small changes:

• Parking your car further away
• Taking the stairs
• Standing while working
• Walking while on phone calls

How many steps should you aim for each day?

You’ve probably heard you should get 8,000-10,000 steps a day, but is that what you really need to aim for?

It’s a good number to aim for, but there’s nothing magical about it. We have good research showing that even 7,000 steps a day has significant health benefits.

Look at where you’re at right now and increase gradually from there. Similar to weight training: If you’re only doing 5,000 steps a day right now, aim for 6,000. Get really consistent at 6,000-7,000, and then you can increase to 8,000-10,000.

Why Walking Is Perfect for Weight Loss

Walking increases calorie burn without spiking your hunger. Remember, it all comes back to hunger and appetite control.

Walking vs. Running/Cycling/Swimming

If you’re a runner or you’ve cycled, biked, or swam, you know how hungry those activities make you because they’re higher-intensity aerobic activities.

They’re great for your heart, but on a daily basis, the majority of the time, focus on walking. Add the more intense cardio workouts in 1-3 times per week.

The Feel-Good Factor

Beyond burning calories and helping you lose fat, walking just helps you feel better.

And when you feel better, you’re more likely to continue a habit.

When you don’t like a habit (like cutting out carbs), you’re not likely to continue it because you’re miserable.

When a habit helps you feel better, you’re more likely to keep it up.

Walking gives you so many benefits beyond weight loss:

• A clearer mind
• Improved energy and mood
• Better sleep

These benefits influence you actually continuing the habit.

Step #3: Add Cardio / HIIT Workouts 1-3 times per week

In the simplest terms: Start with progressive strength training and simply walking more. 

Pick whichever one feels easiest for you to work on right now.

• If walking seems easier, work on that first
• If you’ve already got walking down, work on weight lifting

Then you can layer in cardio or HIIT workouts 1-3 times per week to get your heart rate up and increase calorie burn, but since you aren’t doing it every day, you won’t be constantly hungry.

How Much Cardio Should You Do?

Go on that run. Go biking. Go cycling. Do a HIIT class. Do a workout class.

Cardio is good for you. It’s important to do cardio, or aerobic, exercise. Just do it 1-3 times per week, not 5-6 days per week.

The Most Important Thing: Something Is Better Than Nothing

Your workout plan:

• Walking: 8,000-10,000 steps a day (or work up to it gradually)
• Lifting weights: 2-4 times per week, preferably with a progressive strength training program
• Cardio: 1-3 times per week

But this is the MOST important thing: Something is better than nothing.

Don’t Skip a Workout Because It’s Not “Perfect”

It’s easy for many of us to fall into the “all or nothing” mentality and that can show up in different ways. One way it shows up for my clients is that they’ll often skip a workout because they don’t have time to do the full workout. Don’t do this! Don’t skip your workout because you don’t have the 45 minutes you planned. Do 15 minutes instead. If that’s all you have, do it.

Every time you take action, you get closer to your goals. Every day you put it off because you didn’t have the perfect scenario, you didn’t have the whole 45 minutes, or you couldn’t shower afterward and it would mess up your whole schedule—is a day you’re not making progress.

Do 15 minutes. Do 20. Do half the workout video instead of the whole thing. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you take action.

Rest Days Are Important

Be sure to take a few rest days per week. If you feel extremely tired and can’t seem to get out of bed, you’re better off catching up on sleep than sacrificing sleep for workouts.

Let’s Recap: Your Complete Exercise Plan for Fat Loss

Something is better than nothing when it comes to everything on this weight loss journey—food and exercise.

But if your goal is to:

• Lose fat
• Get toned
• Feel better in your clothes and body again

You need to be doing:

1. Progressive strength training (2-4 times per week)
2. Increased daily walking and movement (working toward 8,000-10,000 steps)
3. Some cardio (1-3 times per week)

Real Results: What This Plan Can Do

Keep reading to see what kind of results you can achieve with this fat loss workout plan.

Client C’s Story

Client C had already been doing our progressive strength training workout program for about a year. She came to us a couple months ago, and we tweaked her nutrition.

Result: Down 18 pounds in 6 months by combining progressive strength training with nutrition changes.

Client K’s Story

Client K started the program in August 2024 (about a year ago from this recording in July 2025). She did it for a while, then stopped for various reasons. She came back to us in the spring of 2025 and started again.

She has not missed a week since then.

She’s doing TWO 30-minute workouts per week. I’m not talking about 4 workouts a week. Two 30-minute workouts.If it’s not doable for a working mom, it’s not going to happen.

This is a mom who’s a teacher with two kids. While teaching Monday through Friday with a classroom full of kids, then coming home to her own two kids, she carved out time for:

• Two workouts a week
• Increased steps
• The nutrition changes I teach

Result: Down 10 pounds in 4 months.

It works if you do the work.

Your Action Steps This Week

Reflect on the workouts mentioned in this post and write down which ones you need to focus on and prioritize right now. Which one feels like the lowest-hanging fruit? Which feels easiest to start?

Step 1: Reflect and Choose

Reflect on the workouts mentioned in this post and write down which ones you need to focus on and prioritize right now.

Which one feels like the lowest-hanging fruit? Which feels easiest to start?

Step 2: Schedule It

Look at your week and schedule the workout.

Don’t just think about it—put it in your calendar.

Step 3: Get Accountability

Who’s going to keep you accountable?

• A dietitian?
• A personal trainer?
• A friend?
• Your partner?

Who’s going to hold you to it? 

We let ourselves down daily, but we don’t like letting other people down. I highly recommend external accountability. 

Step 4: Plan the Details

When and where will you do it?

• At home?
• At the gym?
• Walking outside?
• On a walking pad or treadmill?

Will it be the same day and time every week, or will it change?

If it changes week to week, when will you sit down to plan? Will you look at your calendar on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday to schedule workouts for the next week?

These are the things that need to happen in order for the workout to actually happen.

What’s Next in This Series

This is Part 3 of our 4-part series on shifting from dieting to sustainable weight loss:

Part 1: Mindset – Going from a dieting mentality to a lifestyle mentality

Part 2: Metabolism – Going from eating less to fueling your body

Part 3 (today): Movement – Going from random workouts to strategic exercise

Part 4: Coming soon! (The fourth and final shift)

Final Thoughts

Remember: You don’t need more workouts. You need the right workouts.

• Progressive strength training 2-4 times per week
• Walking 8,000-10,000 steps daily
• Cardio 1-3 times per week

And most importantly: Do something, even when it’s not perfect. 15 minutes beats zero minutes every single time.

Interested in a Progressive Strength Training Program that works?

Grab the Strength & Protein Pack today!

Includes:

• Go-at-your-own-pace 8-Week Progressive Strength Training program designed by a personal trainer
• Protein Pack: How to Calculate Your Protein Needs for Weight Loss & 30 High-Protein Recipes

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode! 

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