Hello, I am new to the boards and am seeking advice about how I can accomplish my personal weight and fitness goals. On the one hand, I want to develop a personal fitness routine that will help me lead a healthier and happier lifestyle. I'm just starting to do that right now by conducting some strength training and running 4 miles every other day. (Growing up, I played various sports year-round and was extremely physically active.)
On the other hand, I do have specific goals that I want to accomplish. Until very recently (a year ago) my stomach was ultra-flat for an extremely long time (including a number of years with INTENSE exercise and also several years of NO exercise). Over the past year and a half, I have gained weight that appears to be consolidated around my stomach--specifically, my weight seems to have gone directly above my waistline. I want to get rid of the flab in that area, and I would like to turn it into muscle.
I realize that you can't truly "target" weight loss to a specific area, but I am hoping that it is at least possible for me to get rid of this flab in my stomach area through a combination of smarter eating and genuine exercise. I'm a 5'7" 24 year-old male weighing around 150 pounds, and I weighed less than 130 pounds through most of college.
My basic goals are: (1) flatten my stomach by getting rid of this "belly" [I'm still somewhat shocked that I have a "belly"] and (2) shred about 10-12 pounds to get closer to my old weight of 130.
What advice would you all give for my specific goals? Right now, my plan of attack is to reduce my daily caloric intake by about 15% [shifting extant calories from things like Coca-Cola to more oranges and spinach, which I already ate anyway], to run four miles every other day, and to do some strength and conditioning exercises for the stomach area.
On the other hand, I do have specific goals that I want to accomplish. Until very recently (a year ago) my stomach was ultra-flat for an extremely long time (including a number of years with INTENSE exercise and also several years of NO exercise). Over the past year and a half, I have gained weight that appears to be consolidated around my stomach--specifically, my weight seems to have gone directly above my waistline. I want to get rid of the flab in that area, and I would like to turn it into muscle.
I realize that you can't truly "target" weight loss to a specific area, but I am hoping that it is at least possible for me to get rid of this flab in my stomach area through a combination of smarter eating and genuine exercise. I'm a 5'7" 24 year-old male weighing around 150 pounds, and I weighed less than 130 pounds through most of college.
My basic goals are: (1) flatten my stomach by getting rid of this "belly" [I'm still somewhat shocked that I have a "belly"] and (2) shred about 10-12 pounds to get closer to my old weight of 130.
What advice would you all give for my specific goals? Right now, my plan of attack is to reduce my daily caloric intake by about 15% [shifting extant calories from things like Coca-Cola to more oranges and spinach, which I already ate anyway], to run four miles every other day, and to do some strength and conditioning exercises for the stomach area.
The more the merrier....lol Have at it with the ab workouts and finding differnet ways to work it all out will keep your body in check.