Can I lose weight & tone up in 4 months?

[Lozz]

This is my first post so...Hi everyone!

I have just booked a holiday abroad for May 2010 for my 21st =) & am planning to lose a bit of weight before then.
...The only problem is I am completely & utterly stuck!
I am a very healthy person anyway, average size (5ft 3, 9st, size 8-10) but am 'wobbly' & not at all toned.
Due to dietary intolerances I cannot eat much wheat (the little amount I do is wholegrain) or dairy (I do not drink milk at all or have cheese etc). I do half an hour on the cross trainer each day/running for an hour, alongside weight lifting & sit ups/crunches. The problem is I am still not toned & can only put this down to excess weight(?) My upper body is fine - slim & toned. My lower body is completely out of proportion - I have large (compared to the rest of my body) 'lovehandles' and wobbly thighs & a really un-toned, un-defined stomach. I feel like I am doing everything correctly, I can't see where I'm going wrong & want nothing more than a flat, toned stomach for my holiday.
Is my goal achievable & does anyone have any advice?

Thanks.

 

[Quinnch]

I would think spot training (while I know science has proven it to be obsolete) would be the best issue here. It doesn't sound like you're too 'fat' per say, just lose weight overall and work on toning your lower body muscles. One trick? swap out the eliptical machine for a stairmaster. Or do the eliptical slower, but on the highest resistance. Something that is actually stressing the muscles in your legs moreso than your lungs.

Also do weight circuits like forward lunges, side lunches, light weight squats, and bridges. As a man, I cannot give advice on what other women would think, but I would say work your muscle in your legs like crazy while you're losing weight. Should tone up.

Stressing your legs, too, will also burn the most calories when compared to other weight lifting. example: you'd have to do 300 situps to equal the amount of calories you burn by doing 15 squats of your own body weight.

 

[malkore]

spot training? obsolete?

Its not that its obsolete, its just that it DOESN'T FRICKING WORK! You can spot train a muscle, but that has nothign to do with burning fat from that part of the body.

short of having liposuction, you cannot choose where fat is burned. Your body does it all on its own whim.

so, rather than 'spot training', why don't you tell us about your EXACT daily diet, including how much of each item, as well as more detailed workout routine as far as weights go.

my guess is you're eating the 'wrong' kinds of foods, probably at the wrong times, and your weight training intensity might be lacking. you could be eating too much food too (calories). weight gain and loss is pretty much as simple as calories in vs. calories expended.

we'll figure it out, because you can most certainly be in better shape for your May trip. on average you can lose 6-10 pounds of fat a month if you're 'doing it right', which means 24-40 pounds by May...if you even need to lose that much to meet your goal.