trying to loose weight pear shaped

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the list. My name is Katrina, I'm 37, I was in a bad car accident 7 years ago, put on about 60lbs (depression/lack of exercise). I'm just now getting to the point where I can exercise again. I can not do sit ups or crunches due to spinal damage. Unfortunately, almost all my weight is on my stomach. I have to lift weights everyday as part of my therapy for my shoulder and arm, I also walk and use my eliptical machine so my arms and legs are in great shape but the weight won't come off my middle. Any suggestions or advice on how to tone that area would be appreciated. I eat healthy (no red meat) and have found that pasta once a week helps me loose weight faster. Not sure if that helps at all but thought I would throw it out there. Thank you in advance for your help.
 
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Well the good news is... crunches and situps won't help you lose weight. If you are lifting and doing some form of cardio just about every day I have a feeling it's in your diet. I'm also hoping that the pasta you are eating is whole wheat pasta.

If you don't mind can you give us an example of what you eat in a typical day starting in the morning til you go to bed?
 
a day eating with Pudgypear

Sure, I'm up most days at 3 or 4 AM. I like to start the day with either fresh fruit *one only* (strawberries, rasberries, peaches, pineapple) mixed with either plain yogurt or cottage cheese. I have that most days. Once or twice a week I'll have John McCann Steel cut oatmeal. With a dash of brown sugar and heavy cream. On Sundays, my husband cooks for me and its usually eggs (from our chickens) and toast (12 grain) no butter.
I can't eat red meat or butter. I lost my gall bladder in the accident and foods high in animal fat make me sick ever since.
I like to snack on pumpkin seeds from Austin nuts and plain almonds throughout the day. I also snack on fruit throughout the day. Mostly berries. I love raspberries and strawberries!
Lunch is usually a salad either the spring mix type or my favorite baby Romaine mix. I toss that with asiago, croutons, strawberries, cracked black pepper and boiled chicken thigh meat. Most of my meat has to be boiled. Can you say bland... BLEH! Take that salad and swap out the fruit daily. No dressing, again gastric upset.
I also make large pots of homemade chicken soup to eat throughout the week.
Again simple is better for me- whole chicken boiled down then the meat stripped off and added to stock. Veggie stock-celery, onion, carrots, (I can eat them cooked), turnips, parsley, spices.

Dinner- its not just a meal, its an adventure! Well for me anyway. My husband is a diabetic and so its always low sugar, moderate fiber, low fat meals. We like seafood most days (redfish, catfish, salmon, shrimp, King or Alaskan crab, scallops bay and sea, flounder, tuna steaks, etc.) we have that with a small side salad and either rice, potatoes, or pasta and a vegetable. Pretty standard stuff. I'm deathly allergic to carrots and some other veggies. So we have a pre approved vegetable- asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, broccoli, mushrooms, edamame (our substitute for popcorn). No peas, no corn. We'll also have chicken in all ways that chicken can be made except fried.

This is tonight's dinner ingredient list:Waldorf chicken
chicken breasts unsweetened apple juice
small red apples lemon juice
celery ground ginger
raisins *sm. amount of cornstarch for thickening*
green onions

I know I do not have perfect eating habits but I do try. No fast food with minor exceptions. Only really good restaurants with decent chefs. I do have a weakness for slushys grape and lime flavored but its a once or twice a month thing if that. I love Kool Aid and have that as an alternative to water. I mix it with Splenda. (I can't have aspertime*SP?* gives me migraines). I have soda, at least two glasses, any time I go out with friends which is usually on the weekend. We can't have it at the house because it would be a temptation to my hubby. I foolishly enjoy fried chicken legs from Popeyes once a month and then promptly pay for it.

Please don't take away my fruit, its all I have left.

With kind regards,
Katrina
AKA Pudgypear
 
You made me hungry just reading that. haha

Your diet is not too bad. I would try to switch to brown rice and whole wheat pasta though if you can. Fruit is fine. Table sugar is not. If you can adjust those few things because it sounds like you eat enough protein.

So back to the question at hand.. how to lose the belly fat:

*Eat 5-6 small meals a day rich in protein
*Continue to do cardio 3-6 days a week
*Perform strenght training 2-3 days a week (full body workouts)
*You may have to crank up the intensity of your workouts (without going overboard

You also may want to count how many calories you take in on a typical day in order to make sure you are on a calorie deficit.

Does this sound reasonable?
 
You can have a look at my site , I've got some good information in regards to weight loss and the amount of calories you should be having.
Don't be too concerned if you're unable to do sit-ups and so on because 'spot reduction' dosent work. I think it would help you lose some weight if you increase the intensity of your current exercise and try to extend the time you're doing it for.
 
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