Help (long)

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I'm new here and would appreciate some advice regarding this plan. Thank you in advance for your help :) Sorry if this is too long

About me: 29-year old girl, 5'6, 121 pounds (55 kg), waist 24.5 inches (62 cm), thighs 36.5 (93 cm), pear-shaped.
Goal: Get to 116 (53 kg) pounds, lose 1 inch (3 cm) from my thighs. Tone and be bikini-ready in 1 month.
Diet: Very clean eating, no processed foods; I eat nonfat plain yogurt, lowfat milk, fresh fruit, lots of fresh and steamed veggies, olive oil, grilled chicken breast, turkey breast, no sugar added no oil added peanut butter, lentil soup, mixed beans soup, egg white omelet, tofu, soy milk, mixed raw nuts, flaxseeds, raw wheat germ, plain old fashioned oatmeal, avocado. I drink 2+ liters of water and green tea every day. I'll try to eat no more than 1,400 cal per day, from my usual 1,500 to 1,800.
Exercise: Cardio every day - combo of 1 hour of
- 30 min bike at 95-100, resistance 2
- 15 min walk at 8 incline, 3.7 speed and 15 min run at 0.5 incline, 5.5 speed on treadmill
- 15 min run 0.5 incline, 5.5 speed and 15 min run 0.5 incline, 6 speed on treadmill
- 30 min elliptical at 165, low resistance
- 30 min stairmaster
I know the cardio machines tend to overstate the calories burned, so I enter 120 pounds instead of 121 and end up with 350-400 cal burned

Twice a week strenght training, high rep, low weights, mostly machines.

Health concerns: My testosterone levels are high due to some hormonal issues and tend to bulk up VERY easy. Most of my weight is in my lower body and I have thick, muscular legs, including calves and ankles :mad: . I would love to get them leaner and thinner. I tend to get spider and varicose veins, so my doctor discouraged me from doing high impact cardio and doing more biking. This is why I run only 3 times a week.
I don't have access to pilates or yoga. Any website where I can see instructions and moving pictures for strenght training with free weights?
 
http://www.bsu.edu/webapps2/strengthlab/home.htm

http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/strength/strength_training.htm

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

http://www.weighttrainersunited.com/directory.html

http://www.joeskopec.com/assist.html

---This should more than cover you.

5 pounds in 4 weeks seems pretty reasonable with your caloric deficiency (here's a couple calculator you can plug your numbers into http://www.leehayward.com/calorie_calculator.htm) and your activity level.

I'd also recommend some pool time if you have access to one. Swimming expends around 4 times the amount of energy done at the same intensity as your cardio.

I'm not going to beat the free weights vs machines bush but I'd spend some time mixing in the free weights with your machine work. I would also althernate between three work parameters: 2X15-20, 3X10-12, 4X6-8.

Good luck.
 
A few questions:

How long have you been doing this plan?

How do you feel on this plan?

What makes you want to reach 116?

You can get some free weight ideas with pics by visiting-



Let me know those answers and I can offer some more advice :)
 
Evolution and Lynn, thank you for the advice and links!
Lynn, I've always followed this eating plan, but just started cutting down the calories to 1,400 this week. Exercise wise, I used to do kickboxing but had to stop because of my veins issue. It seems that I lose 1 cm for every kg lost, so the 116 is an approximation. I really want to lose the 1 inch from my hips and tone / slim my legs if possible.
 
Your eating is great. I asked about your desired weight because that's a low weight for someone who is 5'6". But we all have different desires.

Make sure you have at least 1 day of no exercising. And also work out a max of one hour per workout day. Much more than that will result in burnout and other bad things :(

To drop body fat (aka- tone up) consider some of the following hints:

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 3-4 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb.


2) Drink lots of water. :)


3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.


4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.


5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method.


Try your program and see how you feel. If it's too much or if you get bored, etc then you know you need to change something up. Good luck.
 
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