How much cardio should I do to lose fat?

If you've been eating less and doing more cardio and still not seeing change, that's not a willpower problem. Nikkiey says she lived that plan herself, running three half marathons in a few months while undereating. On Ep. 386 she explains that if you spend more time on the treadmill than lifting weights, the priorities are backwards. Cardio is a tool. Walking is one of the best things you can do, but you don't need cardio every single day.

On Ep. 228 she lays out the order that matters: nutrition first, then strength training three to five sessions a week with progressive overload, then cardio added strategically. She warns that piling on cardio without your nutrition dialed in can work against you. As she describes it, your body is under stress, cortisol rises, and you can end up losing muscle and not seeing results after months of effort. Her advice is to use cardio as a supplement, not a crutch. If you love Orangetheory or spin, keep it, once or twice a week.

On Ep. 10 Nikkiey adds a practical option: shorter, more intense sessions such as HIIT done properly and not overdone, or making two of your weekly workouts endurance style. She does two endurance days herself, a three to four mile run and a CrossFit endurance workout, with most other sessions strength training.

There's nuance on steps. Nikkiey treats 10K steps a day as plenty, but WarriorBabe member Angie (Ep. 394 and 405) changed her body at 47 walking only about a mile and a half, after her coach Annie told her not to stress over 10,000 steps. Her take: women over 40 don't need sprints or 180 beats per minute cardio. Strength training and eating enough did the heavy lifting.