Newbie, not very knowledgeable.

W

wyn

0
As you can probably guess, I have made the resolution to lose about, a stone and a half this year.

I'm not necessarily going by weight, more size if I'm honest. When I was younger, I was a constant size 10 (UK sizes! I don't know what that equates to in the US, but I was typical slim teenager size)

I put on weight a few years ago, not a vast amount, and I'm not overweight but I'm sick of clothes not fitting like they used to. I'm now a size 12 on top, size 14(ish) bottoms.

I tend to have stored fat in certain places, which I assume is fairly typical, but I basically want to shave off inches.

The part I'm a little confused about... my bottom half has gone up the most (hardly surprising) yet, I'm not sure what sort of exercise to go for. I don't have a MASSIVE rear end, but obviously, I'd like my size to be balanced out... only I'm not really carrying much fat down there. As daft as that sounds, it's all really toned and muscley. Sure, there's an amount of fat stored down there, but not especially much and I'm actually reticent to over exercise the area incase I make matters worse.

I also want to flatten my stomach. there's certainly some fat burning that could be done there, but most of the size of it seems to be down to my abs etc being... well... lazy. My stomach is firm, not flabby or wobbly, it's just like a pot belly... I can pull my abs in and tense them, and my stomach is flat, and firm and you can't feel a huge amount of fat there... but how do I get them from being out, to in. I don't even know why it's the way it is.

Apart from that, I have some areas I want to work on, but nothing I'm sure a bit of cardio fat burning type exercise couldn't solve... what I'm not sure about are these areas.

Is this common? I don't usually exercise at all, infact, I'm scandalously lazy... plus, I don't eat too well. Whenever I want to lose weight, (and I have done before, but only small amounts when I feel my weight is pushing up every so often) I cut out the crap, eat sensibly, and exercise every other day, with varying workouts, and it all works fine, but since this is a more drastic change, I feel like I need to get some advice from someone who knows about body sculpting and stuff... because I'm really not sure how I'm meant to do this... *blush*

Any help would be gratefully received!
 
There's a lot going on in that post :)


The first thing I would do is get your body fat percentage tested. This way you know where you really are instead of guessing. You can buy a handheld device these days for around $20. You can do it with calipers (cheaper) but ususally more difficult to perform. Most of the time your local gym will do it for free.

The actual number is not important. All body fat testing measurements will have room for error. As long as you know what ball park you are in...

If you are as lazy as you say you are, and eat not so well, then it is hard for me to imagine that your extra weight or size gain is purely muscle. I would assume it is fat.

We all tend to have our favorite places to store fat. Stomach, thights, etc. That is just genetics. To reduce body fat, you cannot spot reduce. For example, I want to lose fat in my thighs so I should do this... It won't work.

You need to reduce overall body fat. To do that you should eat small meals throughout the day, workout often, rest often, hydrate often and live well.

The potbelly stomach you mentioned could be a few things. It could be subcutaneous fat, it could be poor posture, it could be a back up in the bowels (gross I know, but I know of a few clients that this was the problem) or it could be that your rectus sheath and/or rectus abdominis needs strenghtening. I hesitate to say "strengthen your abs" because most peple think of their upper abs... and that is not the muscle that will help you. Read on..

To strengthen the two muscles I mentioned above, I have found the best exercise is the Plank Pose. Stay in that pose for as long as you can. If you are unsure of what that exercise is, check out:



and scroll down a bit. It's my favorite exercise. Anyway, the Plank Pose will work those deep ab muscles. Those muscles are ressponsible for "holding in" your stomach. They are also responsible for supporting your core and making your posture better.

Try it and you'll see what I mean almost immediately.

Good luck!
 
Wow, Thanks for that!! :D

I've had my body fat % tested, it was about 25% I think... or 26%. I did it at my local gym, with the device you hold at arms length, with a weigh in? I'm not sure what that means, but the guy said it was normal. *shrug*

Yah, I am highly lazy, although when I am working out, I do it properly, I really enjoy it. The only reason I'm not still with my gym is money sadly, :( My diet certainly isn't monitored, or anything. I don't eat take out too much, or fast food, and I tend to eat little and fairly often, but I don't really pay that much attention, and if I feel like sweets, I'll eat it (again though, I'm sensible, I'll only have it if I want it, not for the leisure of it).

No, it's definately not purely muscle (thank god! LOL!) I have been storing much in attractive (not) back-wing lookings things, my upper arms are bigger than they used to be, I've got more padding around my kidneys area, and my waist has thickened, I also have more fat across my belly than I once did. I've also more fat in the areas between my thighs, and around the outsides too, but the amount there, *doesn't seem* much. I can't pinch my thighs, that's for sure, and if I flex my muscles, when you poke, your finger doesn't sink it, and there's no saggyness underneath. Could I just have really good skin that holding all my flab in place? That would be the only part of good skin I have though! LOL!

Drinking more is definatley something I need to do. If I don't think about, I'll only drink if its tea or coffee (which isn't exactly useful I know) or if I have a thirst. I've been told that you can be way dehydrated and not be thirsty, so I can't be doing myself many favours there. How much should I aim for?

Oooh! Great, I'll have a go of that tonight, I've just held it for a while, I can feel what you mean! :D

Also, what sort of exercise should I look at maybe? Cardio type stuff?

Thanks again!
 
Some good cardio include swimming, jogging, rowing, cycling, brisk walking and other workouts that cause moderate sweating.
 
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