I think everyone's going to be a bit different, but this is what works and still is working for me. I've lost weight - about 14 lb, gained cardio endurance, power, muscle strength, and muscle endurance. Unfortunatly, I am on a 4wk Dr enforced hiatus to heal a knee injury, so lately its been a lot of upper body work, minor leg/glute work (lifts and abductions), ab work, and doggie walks, but I hope to be back on my normal plan soon. This is what I do:
2 days cardio - normally 1 step interval, and 1 kickbox, or 1 step interval and 1 regular step, and then 1 day of full body wieghts. I'll normally switch out the weight day on Fri, Sat, or Sun for a circuit workout that has a lot of weight work relative to the amount of cardio. I do abs on my weight day and sometimes will toss in an extra ab day if I feel like it. I also walk the dog daily. I use my paydays as a rest day - 2 days a month - because that's when I do the grocery shopping. By the time I work, then shop, get home and put everything away, I'm tired!!!
I was on a every other day cardio/weight/cardio/weight plan but it wasn't doing too much for me. This seems to be working really well. I've lost 14 lbs so far but everyone tells me it looks much more, but I attribute that to the lean muscle gain. I've still got some to go, but this seems to be working, so I'm going to keep at it. I've grown to like heavy lifting. I didn't like it so much at first, but with Cathe it seems to fly by and I can do more than I ever thought. I think the heavy weights really kicked my metabolism into gear. No more little pink weight for me!!!