Losing Weight + Toning Body

M

MyScopia

New member
Hey,

First of I would like to say – I am a COMPLETE newbie at all this. I am open to any suggestions, criticisms, insults or anything you have to offer (just make sure to explain what you mean though)

I guess I should start with a brief into
-Female
-23 years old
-BUSY, BUSY AND BUSY!
-5’4” ½
-134 Pounds (OUCH!)
-Waist: 26 inches
-Chest: 34 inches and D Cups
-Hips: 37 inches
-Thighs: 20 inches (fattest area)
-INACTIVE (NOT good at sports at all!!)
-Lately I get hungry A LOT - maybe it is my way of dealing with stress

If there is ANYTHING else you need tell me

Recently over the holidays I gained 1 size. Over the summer I did manage to lose 17 pounds (none-water weight) in 2 weeks (I walked A LOT and restricted my diet to 20 grams of fat a day). Apparently I lost weight easily but I gain it even easier. However, my summer routine is impossible to do now because of the time of year (weather issues) and I am absolutely to busy for anything big.

I want to lose weight and tighten my body. It seems like “fatty” foods allocate in my “stomach” area and carb-foods allocate in my thighs. Now I would rather have fatty thighs than a fatty stomach.

Now I have never truly dieted before (stayed on a certain diet) – just did a few limitations. I guess the biggest problem I have is finding a diet that works AND that is reasonable – something I can do for a while and NOT just for the time being. Also, I am very sick of restricting myself of everything I LOVE for months to lose a few pounds only to gain it back in a few days of partying with friends.

For now I want to lose some weight quick then adhere to a more regular diet… my plan right now roughly is as follows:

Breakfast: Cereal with Milk (both 0 grams of fat)
Lunch: Salad Sandwich? May nothing (sometimes I have no time to eat)
Dinner: Big Salad Sandwich with maybe smoked turkey/chicken breast
Dessert: Jello (normally I dun eat desserts)

This is what I am hoping to do – but I am getting really hungry lately with all the studying I have to do. I am also a regular green tea drinker and sometimes I drink coffee (black coffee with 0% milk – not the “flavored” coffee). I normally don’t drink soda, but if I do I just go for the real stuff (no diet sodas). I really hope I can adhere to this regiment – I slip at times when the stress gets high then I beat myself over it. Any thoughts on this?

In addition, I want to decrease the size and tighten my stomach - especially my upper (above the navel) stomach… I am not very big on top (somehow I am very lucky at this since most women I know have bigger stomachs and weigh like 20+ pounds less than me); however, my “upper” stomach somehow grew in size after this holiday (I have no idea why/how since as far as I can tell that is pretty much where you diaphragm is located) and I want to TIGHTEN both upper and lower stomachs. I really have no idea what exercises work on the stomach. I tried doing crunches on a ball; however, I noticed my stomach actually started getting bigger after a while. This scares me because I heard that one’s stomach normally does not decrease in size unless your body fat is really low and that even if you do develop some muscles it would be overshadowed by the fat on it. Is this true? Can someone suggest some exercises for the “upper” and “lower” stomach that aren’t to time-consuming and that an inactive female can handle?

I also want to tone my upper half of my thighs (the only part that never seems to tone up) – I can walk for 3+ hours without getting tired but I can only run for a few minutes before getting tired. I plan on trying to incorporate running but I will probably have to start slowly. I bike whenever I watch movies but that doesn’t cut it. I don’t suppose there is an easy home-exercise that one can do?

Not sure – I am very sorry about this lengthy message. It is my first time actually writing in a forum. I feel like I am all over the place with no real clear thoughts on the subject. I want to achieve a nice and fit body – however, not at the expense of torturing myself. Whenever we have a little party going on, the girls in my class walk past all the junk food, grab a diet soda, check the calories on the pretzel box then pulling up a dried pretzel and sharing it. I really feel confused about all this. Either way, I am looking forward to hear from people with more experience on this matter.


PS. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum section

EDITING: Going to the gym is out of question right now - will be able to if everything goes well on May... but for now I need "simple" home exercises or easy-to-perform ones
EDITING Again: I DO have weights at home of varying sizes - dumbbells
 
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Try this

For toning up your body See LINK REMOVED BY MODERATION 40 easy body sculpting exercises & workout routines any woman can do at home to get an hourglass figure[/URL]

Ditch the soda & coffe & YOU MUST find a way to cope with all that stress because YES... stress causes you to eat and gain fat and...

If you're feeling hungry all the time then please read...LINK REMOVED BY MODERATION 11 ways to curb cravings [/URL]

I hope this helps you some
 
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Is nowloss your website?

ETA: Never mind, I see that it's the same web page on your profile so it's been removed.
 
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MyScopia---

I am by no means an expert, but I may be able to help some. Here are some observations I had as I was reading this:

1. Your measurements seem pretty small to me.
2. Do you have any specific goals in mind? Certain weight/size? Why did you choose those goals?
3. Calories are calories, and eating too much carbs will produce the same results (weight gain) as eating too much fat, as far as I know.
4. It's good that you are aware that you need a reasonable diet. Think about starting a healthy way of eating that you can commit to for the rest of your life instead of restricting yourself until your body gives in and loses weight.
5. I can understand wanting to lose weight quickly, but a more healthy and permanent way would be to eat sensibly and exercise and lose around 1 pound a week.
6. You mention being busy a few times, which I can understand. Changing your body takes a lot of time to do, especially when you're petite to begin with. Exercise is time-consuming. If you can't commit to this, your results probably won't be what you want.
7. You're probably hungry all the time because you aren't eating enough. Your diet needs to consist of lean protein, leafy green veggies, beans and nuts, fruits, and whole grains. How much exactly should you eat? I'm not sure, but figuring out your BMR could help. That's the amount of calories you burn just by functioning (breathing, digesting, etc). Someone on the board can help you with this.
8. As far as exercise goes, incorporating cardio with a full-body resistance routine will help you achieve your goals. You cannot spot reduce---you can't pick and choose which parts of your body you want to get smaller. There are some "sticky" posts in here about lifting, calories, exercise, etc. that can help.

I'm sorry I couldn't offer any specifics, but I hope I helped a little bit.
 
Forgot to mention: Wrist Size is 15.5 cm or around 6 inches so I am mediam frame (I hope I did this right - I have very big hands and feet <_<). I wouldn't say I'm petite - my mother is petite. I understand I am not overweight but my body DOES have a huge percentage of fat - I know this for a fact just by looking at it and by the ease of grabbing a handful of fat in almost every part of my body (except for around my ribs - not up front where my diaphram is that seems to have grown drastically recently - hence my 34 inches)

My goals... well this is tough - I want to look healthy slim for myself. I guess I want to look at myself proudly because under the clothes my body is really ugly. What I mean by that is I know that my upper body is relatively "smaller" looking. But when I take of my clothes I see

- An untoned top that really isn't pretty - "both stomachs"
- A relatively big "upper" stomach compared to "lower stomach"
- My waist isn't defined (barely shows up) - I know that 26 inches sounds small - and I am not imagining this because when I tell friends that my waist is 26" they don't believe me until I measure it in front of them.
- I can grab *literary speaking* fat folds on my lower and upper (where my diaphram is) stomach
-When I sit down my stomachs (both) just bulge out - I think this is because of their lack of muscle?

I really want to tone up/tighten them but when I did do "crunches" my stomach started to protrude even more (even though when I pressed down on it I did feel under the flaps of flubber "harder than before" muscle?). Then I stopped when I noticed this fearing that "muscles" are developing under the fatty layer hence pushing my stomach out and making it bigger.... I am not sure what to do for "both of my stomachs" - but I definitely need to lose some weight there but how do I do that when it comes to my stomach? I heard that the last place you lose fat at is in your stomach (and your body needs to have like 10% or less body fat for that to happen)


My thighs are HUGE compared to my upper body (I'm 5'4" 1/2 and my legs aren't very tall - I could get more measurements when I get home) - and I won't go into how they look naked. I don't have cellulite but they do rub when I walk. During the summer I would walk for 3+ hours for 4x a week, and 2 months ago I would bike 500+ calories but they never seem to tone up. I understand that walking is nothing compared to jogging/running - I did see a lot of weight loss but unfortunately no signs of any muscle development/toning. With my recent weight gain and extreme busy-ness it seems really hard to see my goal achieved.

Personally I don't like skinny legs, but I would like to "shape them up" - my legs look fine but it's the upper half of my thigh that never seems to want to give in. Biking helped my lower thighs tone up. But I know I need to lose weight here for sure!

Right now... (since yesterday) my eating habits are very irregular (I ate lots of fatty foods during the holidays - was visiting my parents and they took us out for dinner)... but before the holidays and now (1 week back) I would generally consume 1100-1500 calories (almost no fat, mostly carbs, little protein - that's bad I know now) - I am not very active so the moment I deviate a little and eat more I gain weight.

Also I should mention that - this is going to sound insane - but I think I have "harder fat". I have felt my mother and tons of friends. They fatty parts are MUCH softer than my fatty parts (for example when you extend your arm without flexing the lower part of your upper arm - the fat there or their thighs/stomach). Does this make any sense?


PS. @going2 can you pm me those links
 
Breakfast: Cereal with Milk (both 0 grams of fat)
Lunch: Salad Sandwich? May nothing (sometimes I have no time to eat)
Dinner: Big Salad Sandwich with maybe smoked turkey/chicken breast
Dessert: Jello (normally I dun eat desserts)

Hi there, well I looked at your menu and have questions and suggestions.
Firstly, just by looking at this, this is not enough food. I see no fruit in this plan. Can you not eat a piece with breakfast?

You need some more protien at lunch, can you throw some beans or hummus in your salad sandwich?

I can see there seem to be a lot of carbs here. Are they complex carbs (whole wheat)?

Smoked turkey breast? Like in an Oscar Meyer package? Ewwww. Filled with chemicals.

Casey really hit it on the head with what you should eat. If you want to eat meat, eat unprocessed meats, they have less preservatives, salt and other things.

Skip the jello, full of empty calories and no nutrition. Opt for a piece of fruit instead.
 
Don't Start Until You Commit

Sounds to me like you aren't committed to being healthy and losing the current weight. The sign that you aren't committed is that you are not willing to pay the prices to make the commitment.

According to you, the prices you are not willing to pay are:
(A) time investment (because you are BUSY)
(B) exercising outside or at a gym (#1 weather, #2 not happening [must take too much time])
(C) giving up foods you love (even if they are unhealthy). Thin/slim does not equal healthy by itself.

Until you commit to pay these prices, you will not be successful achieving your goal over a long-term basis.

(A) Time. Unless you work two jobs (or full-time job + school), you can make time. What's more important, your other commitments or your commitment to be healthy? (It's OK to be more committed to other things)

(B) Rigorous Exercise. Why can't you pay this price to be healthy? No, really, why not?

(C) Instead of focusing on what foods you should curtail (eat less), focus instead on the healthy foods you will be eating. If you focus on the foods you love that you shouldn't be eating in excess, then you will continue to eat those foods because you are focused on them instead of being focused on the food you should be eating.

The method doesn't matter as much as long as it is healthy and you are committed. In order to commit to pay the prices (you are committing now so you don't bail out later), write them all down (even ones I did not list) and agree to pay them (you can do it right now if you want). By agreeing to pay them now, they will not trip you up later.
 
paydirt said:
Sounds to me like you aren't committed to being
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You're probably right which may be why I am so confused. The problem is, I don't get home until 6:00PM, am usually VERY, VERY tired (I HATE THIS ABOUT MYSELF! Normally I fight myself not to sleep and I don't want to rely on coffee - I have very low blood pressure so it's not a real big issue but I still don't want to)... - I did have a blood test and was found to be low on iron... but now I am trying to add more "lean meat" into my meals (I used to not eat meals) - I am against iron supplements since excessive iron in your system can cause colon cancer (yeah one gets paranoid when they study diseases), when I do get home have to study since exams are 2 weeks apart and I am always playing catch-up (currently a pharmacy 2nd year student on my most hardest module... after this semester things should cool down quite a bit) - I am not very smart so I always need the extra time (even with that I am having a hard time in school), live with 2 brothers that are 18 and 20 years of age and they are not an easy task to handle... technically all the house's responsibility is on my head since I can't get them to do anything and trying is just a waste of time

Believe me I REALLY want to commit - I would love to look at myself and say that I am proud of what I managed to accomplish! But it gets tough when your career is in jeopardy... and I end up feeling very miserable about it because I have cut many regiments before because of it - I end up hating myself for it (which is why this time I am looking for the right exercises that I can do at home this time)


paydirt said:
(C) Instead of focusing on what foods you should curtail (eat less), focus instead on the healthy foods you will be eating. If you focus on the foods you love that you shouldn't be eating in excess, then you will continue to eat those foods because you are focused on them instead of being focused on the food you should be eating.
Click to expand...

I think you hit it right on the head - recently I'm extremely hungry and I always crave this and that.... so technically I spend more time "denying" myself my cravings or trying to limit them as opposed to preparing something healthy... healthy doesn't mean gross but it seems like the least time consuming food to make would be chicken breasts with frozen foods.... on the weekends I can do more

I should mention that because I am tired, recently I have been waking up really late on weekends (even with an alarm clock)... I feel like I need some motivation which is why I am looking for some simple exercises to start of with then building myself up from there. Simple exercises - as in not to rigorous because it's hard to start a rigorous regiment when you are 0 (which is pretty much where I am since any exercise I do is on a irregular basis). I feel that if I do something (exercise) even if they are limited I may regain some energy and have something to look forward to... I hope I am not sounding cheesy - as insane/unrealistic as it may sound I am really fighting hard (I have some issues going on too that I can't discuss) to commit myself to certain regimes and I am trying to incorporate some exercise into my daily life.

At times when my lectures aren't to tough, I bike while I study, I try to do a bit of running after I get home, I cut off soda completely, got rid of all my sweets/junk at home (I have a giant "sweet" tooth), haven't been to starbucks in 6+ months or fast food restaurants (though I did go to some restaurants with my parents over the holidays hence my 1 size increase) and bought a load-some of fruits (I read someone in this forum that one should have 4-5 meals a day instead of 2 and I am hoping that some fruits may accommodate that) and I do some dancing whenever I have time - what fruits would you recommend?

The walking I did during the summer pretty much was the walking I had to do getting from college to my house. People would call me crazy and state that I have to much time on my hands.

So now I am looking into exercises I can do at home (upper body - both stomachs, waist and upper thighs). I really have no idea how to exercise my upper body - I hear that you have to tighten your back before you would see any difference in your front, that the "upper stomach" can't be reduced and only toned since it's genetic, that even if you build up muscle it'll just stay below your layers of fat, that you need to have less than 10% body fat to see any difference in your muscle... this is all confusing me... My brothers work out in the gym and their comments aren't helpful since the only thing they do is weight lift vigorously and gain muscle without knowing how or why.

I have 10, 25 and 50 pound dumbbells at home and I can use and a bike (normally I bike whenever I watch a movie or do some light studying... biking though I set it at an intensity of 4 out of 8 which is VERY little I know - that is one thing I should up)

Regarding food from searching at the forum the best thing to do is
- Incorporate lots of water – 2L?
- Cut empty calories like pop
- Servings of fruit? (Not sure how much)
- 4-5 small portion meals
- Lean protein, less carbs, 30% fat (from total calories)
 
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It sucks to come home and be brain dead. I know that you can do it though.

If you really want to succeed you need to make the commitment before you begin. Being totally committed (whatever it takes) would be going the extra mile to insure that you succeed. It would include actions like having meals ready well in advance (brown bagging it), taking time out to exercise 3 times a week, counting calories, etc. It also sounds like you need to commit because it sounds like you are feeling overwhelmed.

The essential thing about eating is that you want to get your calories the "hard way" and in a nutritional way. The reason why folks say not to do breads and pastas and some starches is because they are calorie dense "easy way". Carbohydrates are not bad, sugars are not bad (refined sugars are, but natural sugars are OK).

I prefer citrus fruit for its vitamin C. I like spinach a lot for its folates. If you ate a 10 ounce bag of spinach, you would get your RDA of iron. Spinach is also high in calcium and potassium. 10 oz is hard to get down in one sitting, but it is easier if you steam it. Eating chicken will help SOME with iron, but if you had 2 chicken breasts/day you would still be in an iron deficiency w/o spinach (or other green leafy stuff).

You aren't too busy to write long replies, so quit telling yourself that you are busy.
 
I wrote all those messages during class breaks ^^ *the one right now is done at home though*

I think I have a relatively decent idea what I need in terms of diet and pre-preparing meals is a great idea! For now I will start on exercises that I can do at home using chairs and weights until I can adjust a bit and gets things into place

I was just looks at the videos provided by going2 of "40 easy body sculpting exercises & workout routines any woman can do at home to get an hourglass figure" - weird

The only thing about stomach flattening and getting rid of a pouch by "pushing your stomach in" - funny that is what I have been doing for years now (I even do that now) and the only thing it really does is not allow it to grow big but it doesn't flatten your stomach really and I don't see how it gets rid of your pouch. It does make a stomach LOOK flatter but it's a false notion. Also because I do this, when I sit down the stomach flaps come out sometimes so even if my measurements aren't big there - I know the truth and I'm not proud of this.

I found nothing on the "upper stomach" which is where I gained fat recently at. Also is it possible to tone your stomach without having to be at less than 10% body fat? I am not looking for abs - they do have abs exercises...

In order to burn fat you need muscle - so doing abs exercises will help reduce my stomach fat?? My brothers were telling me that "getting abs" isn't ideal unless you burn lots of fat first otherwise your stomach will just look big since the muscle will only sit under your belly fat and push it out (in other words your stomach will look "bigger").

What is the right approach to tighten/tone (not nessecarily seeing abs) your UPPER and lower stomach? Honestly, I have yet to see a guide on lowering/working on your upper stomach (above the belly, between your rights or rather under your chest in the middle area - do I make sense?)
 
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What is the right approach to tighten/tone (not nessecarily seeing abs) your UPPER and lower stomach? Honestly, I have yet to see a guide on lowering/working on your upper stomach (above the belly, between your rights or rather under your chest in the middle area - do I make sense?)
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The best ab exercise I can recommend is hanging "straight-leg" raisess or hanging knee raises for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps and.. There's no such thing as upper or lower abs

Yes.. you may "feel it" more in your upper or lower abs but both areas are getting toned but...

The best approach (I think) to training your abs Upper & lower is to do weighted ab exercises like crunches holding a 10 pound weight using a stabilty ball.

I do recommend you start off doing weighed crunches working your way up to doing hanging knee raises (with ankle weights - if possible) working all the way up hanging straight leg raises.
 
I have 10 pounds at home - I tried them and I nearly died lol. 10 pounds is a little heavy for me on both hands (20 pounds). So I ended up doing only 3 reps of 10 real slow (took me a while and my brothers were laughing at me) - but I managed so that's good. This should be done on a daily basis right?

Would you recommend lower weights and more reps/sets or higher weights and less reps/sets - remember I am a girl

By the way - from the sounds of it I may gain muscle (through my "stomach area") doing this. Now given that I have fat there too how will this work? What I am trying to say is would this muscle develop burn the fat on my stomach (I worry about this because I heard that ab muscles would just sit below the fat so my stomach would just get bigger unless I lose lots of "fat" before I start)? Do abs exercises have any effect on waist toning?

Thanks
 
I haven't read any of the replies here, so I may be repeating... but SERIOUSLY? Have you not looked yourself up in BMI charts to see that you are a healthy weight? From where you are right now, if you begin working out to tone up, chances are you will remain the same weight or increase because you will be building muscle.

Take a moment to do a reality check: my CALVES are 20 inches, in what universe is 20 inches a large thigh, because I would like to avoid this place at all costs.

You may be feeling crappy about yourself from eating junk and watching TV. What makes me feel better is eating only foods that are good for fuel and getting as far away from the couch as possible.

It makes me sad and angry at our culture when women who are physiologically perfectly fine feel down on themselves and think that getting ultra skinny will make it all better. Please, for crying out loud, kill your TV set. THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED!
 
You're right ultra skinny bodies are ugly - but

I may be "underweight" in many places but where I live I can barely ever find jeans that are my size (size 8-10). I don't want to be a size 0 but a size 4 or 6 would be nice. If not - I definintely need to tone up but in order to do so I think I need to reduce my body fat because I have too much. I know I have lots of it because when I move quickly or run the flaps on my upper thigh start wobbeling (and my upper thighs do rub together when I walk). Also my legs are pretty short so 20 inches thighs may look beautiful on longer legs but in my case it's not.

Also my Ideal Body Weight is 55Kg I'm at 61Kg...

Can someone tell me a good way to see how much body fat I have?
 
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If you want to shrink your stomach, I'm not sure if you want to do exercises to build muscle there. I'd recommend (I'm not really an expert) losing the weight first and then seeing how your stomach looks before making your abs bigger.

ALSO, there are not many healthy ways to permanently get rid of your "pouch". You can shrink it, but it is mostly a part of being a healthy woman. Check out this thread: http://weight-loss.fitness.com/adva...rs-old-i-need-get-115-lbs-one-month-help.html

PS. I think your measurements are great as well. "36, 24, 36, only if she's 5'3" "even white boys got to shout"... but you might as well be healthy about it :)
 
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I know this may be frowned upon, but recently (about a month) I have been taking CoQ10 (its an enzyme found in the entire body, every cell as a matter of fact) that helps with the production of ATP (basically a molecule that our body uses as energy, made from the mitochondria, and has been converted from glycogen).

At any rate, I have found my energy levels to be elevated. I find that I am less tired and more ready to do workouts that before. This could be psychosomatic or it could be the real deal, I have also seen memory improvement (no I am not kidding!). I researched that after the fact I realized I was able to remember things much better and saw that CoQ10 does help with memory problems, so that really can't be placebo effect since I didn't realize it could do it in the first place.

This might help you with your energy levels as it did mine.

P.S. I got my CoQ10 at RiteAid when they had buy one get one sale (actually if you only bought one it was at half price). I am taking 100 mg, but they say 50 mg is fine as well. The higher doses (like 200 mg) is for someone taking lipitor or some other cholesterol medication due to it depleting the CoQ10 levels in the body.
 
I have 10 pounds at home - I tried them and I nearly died lol. 10 pounds is a little heavy for me on both hands (20 pounds). So I ended up doing only 3 reps of 10 real slow (took me a while and my brothers were laughing at me) - but I managed so that's good. This should be done on a daily basis right?
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No - 2-3 times a week by doing 4 sets of 8-12 reps of stability ball crunches is fine and if you're not comfortable doing the stab. ball crunches - there's other ab exercises like hanging leg raises, ab wheels, and regular situps (weighted) you do

By the way - from the sounds of it I may gain muscle (through my "stomach area") doing this. Now given that I have fat there too how will this work? What I am trying to say is would this muscle develop burn the fat on my stomach (I worry about this because I heard that ab muscles would just sit below the fat so my stomach would just get bigger unless I lose lots of "fat" before I start)? Do abs exercises have any effect on waist toning?
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Yes you will gain muscle in your "stomach area" and the muscle you develop there along with the other muscles you develop all over your body will help you burn fat ALL over your body and if you're doing weights, cardio, and eating right - you don't have to worry about your stomach looking any bigger because it will gradually get flatter
 
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