confused on what to believe

C

crystalx

New member
hi i am a new member. i have been exercising for about 2yrs now and i still look exactly the same as when i started. i've read so many weight loss books and magazines and still nothing is coming off. this is what i eat : i am 5'4 at 130lbs my goal is to weigh 115lbs. everyday i try to eat around 1400 calories, i have 3 main meals with 2 snacks, i admit i don't drink alot of water, i drink around 4 8oz cups a day, for breakfast i either eat a bagel or a shake with grapes. i am very picky at what i eat, i don't like hardly any fruits or veggies. my workout consists of walking on treadmill 30 min with my heart rate zone around 128-134 3-4 days a week and strength train my upper body 3x a week and lower body 2x a week.
i started reading a weight loss book called escape your shape and that book says that i am an hourglass shape so i should not do alot of heavy weights because i will bulk up too much so i hardly do anything for my legs and ever since i started that book my thighs look like they have gotten bigger and uglier, i have gained an inch around my butt, what should i do??????
i'm so confused, will lunges and squats make my thighs bigger????what can i do to tone up some???? please someone help
 
We have very similar stats.

No woman has a definite shape - I did some work for the founder of Bodymetrics, a company involved in Size UK and the US national size survey, and they basically prove that the hour glass, apple shape, pear shape vs mucle type etc really didn't hold in real life as there are all sorts of shapes and body compositions, so concepts based on only 3 shapes are a bit too general. I mean I don't even classify as hour glass, apple, pear or lean.

I think what you need to do is work out at much higher intensity for your cardio - aka try targeting a much higher heart rate zone (depends on your age), nearer to 80%. Basically you want to sweat and not being able to hold a conversation. When you get used to running on a treadmill (you may not manage 30 minutes so start with e.g. 15 minutes), start introducing intervals: for example jog at a comfortable pace then every 5 minutes sprint/run fasted for one minute, then reduce the intervals.

Basically you need to challenge your body. Try different types of workouts, weight excercises etc, and aim to shake it up every 4 to 6 weeks, as our bodies adapt very quicly.

when it comes to weights: where do you want to tone up? I'd suggest that if you feel some parts of your body have become too muscular, then do not concentrate as much on these parts. While I've never tried it myself, apparently doing more reps at a slighly smaller weight may help to strenghen muscles without getting them too big, although you might want to ask someone who is a qualified fitness instructor (there are some on this board).

Good luck!
 
thanks

thanks for the advise, i do feel like i'm not working out hard enough. i guess i believe everything i read. i've read that if your heart rate is too high then you will start to burn muscle and not fat that's why i'm scared to work out harder but since this way is not working then i've got to try something else different.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top