Newb looking for some at home excerise pointers

spoongirl

New member
Hi there,

Just a little background on 7/01/08 I changed my eating habits to healthier choices. I've cut out all refined sugars, white bread, and for the most part processed foods. About 90% of my meals are made at home with fresh fruits/veg, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

I've lost 20lbs since starting and have lost most of my weight from the diet change. Me and my husband have been doing daily walks to incorporate some exercise. Even when I've had my weight down in the past, my body was awkward especially for a female frame. I carry most of my excess weight on my stomach, back and upper arms. My weight will melt off my lower body with no problem leaving me with a deflated little tush :blush5:

I suppose what I am after is what type of exercise I should be doing to tone up the flabby mid sections and arms. It would be nice to do something for my butt since it gets pretty small after weight loss. :banghead:
 
Hello Spoon,
Just a little background on 7/01/08 I changed my eating habits to healthier choices. I've cut out all refined sugars, white bread, and for the most part processed foods. About 90% of my meals are made at home with fresh fruits/veg, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

Good job so far. But remember, calories are the king of weight loss/gain. One could become obese on salad alone, just as one could be skinny as a nail on an all Jack in the box diet.
It all comes down to simple math; calories in VS calories out.

If, for example, over the period of 3months you have expended more calories than you have taken in on a consistent basis, You will have lost weight. Obviously if you had taken in more than you expended the opposite outcome would have presented itself.

I've lost 20lbs since starting and have lost most of my weight from the diet change. Me and my husband have been doing daily walks to incorporate some exercise. Even when I've had my weight down in the past, my body was awkward especially for a female frame. I carry most of my excess weight on my stomach, back and upper arms. My weight will melt off my lower body with no problem leaving me with a deflated little tush
Congrats on losing 20pounds thus far!

First of, I'll start off by stating that where you carry weight is pretty much out of your control. And, as unfortunate as it may be, where you lose weight is completely out of your control.

suppose what I am after is what type of exercise I should be doing to tone up the flabby mid sections and arms. It would be nice to do something for my butt since it gets pretty small after weight loss.
You can not spot reduce, nor can you do any specific exercise to remove specific fat.

Genetics pretty much dominate both cases.

Anyway, I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment so I can't really add anything too specific. Read through the stickies and I'm sure most of any questions you might have will be answered. Welcome to the forum and also feel free to ask as much as you need too.
 
Hello Spoon,


Good job so far. But remember, calories are the king of weight loss/gain. One could become obese on salad alone, just as one could be skinny as a nail on an all Jack in the box diet.
It all comes down to simple math; calories in VS calories out.

If, for example, over the period of 3months you have expended more calories than you have taken in on a consistent basis, You will have lost weight. Obviously if you had taken in more than you expended the opposite outcome would have presented itself.

Congrats on losing 20pounds thus far!

First of, I'll start off by stating that where you carry weight is pretty much out of your control. And, as unfortunate as it may be, where you lose weight is completely out of your control.


You can not spot reduce, nor can you do any specific exercise to remove specific fat.

Genetics pretty much dominate both cases.

Anyway, I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment so I can't really add anything too specific. Read through the stickies and I'm sure most of any questions you might have will be answered. Welcome to the forum and also feel free to ask as much as you need too.

Thanks for taking the time to reply ;)

I've cut my portions down, and have been trying to retrain myself to know when I am full. Before I used to stuff myself until I was uncomfortably full. Now once I get to a comfortable fullness I stop.

I familiar with not be able to spot train to remove fat from certain areas. I suppose I should of been more specific... At my lowest I was 120 and still had flabby areas around the mid section arms and back. Maybe if I got down to 110 things would begin to slim up overall or maybe not. I would think working out would at least help me be a little firmer and fit looking overall.
My height is 5'6 btw
 
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The best way I've found to tone up "flabby arms" is to build muscle to tone them back up. Pushups, or wall pushups if you can't do full ones yet, are a good start. There is also a book that I just read that might have some good info that would give you some ideas. Google RossTraining and you'll find it. The book is called "Never Gymless" (sorry I can't post URLs yet).

Good luck!
 
Another few exercises I found good to deal with flabby arms are tricep dips and bicep curls (as I can't do pushups). Although the arms are still big, they look and feel better with the extra bit of muscle as they don't look as flabby and the lean muscle also helps burn calories. Hope this helps.
 
loosing more weight may not necessarily give you a firmer look since some of what you may be loosing is muscle. try to add on some lean body mass by strength training once you reach 120 (and do strength training throughout the dieting part to maintain muscle) and you may achieve a toned look this way. 5'6 and 110 sounds a bit underweight and perhaps not healthy? im 5'7 and i couldnt picture my own body below 125 and looking healthy... it would be skeletal. well hope that helped and good luck
 
Great job so far!

You might try either taking a kickboxing class or getting a boxing dvd (you can borrow from the library if you want to try it first). It's a great cardio workout and will add muscle to your arms and booty.

Definately take the above advice and lift weights, but not only upper body but also lower body. The more muscle you can put on the more you will burn through calories. Give it a few weeks and you'll start to feel and see results.

Keep it up!
 
loosing more weight may not necessarily give you a firmer look since some of what you may be loosing is muscle. try to add on some lean body mass by strength training once you reach 120 (and do strength training throughout the dieting part to maintain muscle) and you may achieve a toned look this way. 5'6 and 110 sounds a bit underweight and perhaps not healthy? im 5'7 and i couldnt picture my own body below 125 and looking healthy... it would be skeletal. well hope that helped and good luck

Yeah I believe your right, about the 110 thing. I would probably would end up looking frail and still having high body fat. After I read your comment I've been looking into strength training and core strength training. Unfortunately, I've always been a lazy ass when it comes to working out :angel: After doing some basic research I have realized that the body I want is going to require me to be working out..bottom line. Hopefully, I can finally be rid of my baby fat on my body that has never gone away.
 
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