Belly Fat

Hi.

Im 5''8 and I thought I was 132 pounds but since going to the gym and using their scales i discovered I'm 129, I dont know. Anyway that aside as long as the numbers go down i dont mind what they are.

You might be thinking oh shes not big, but im a small frame. its just my belly and hips that are big, at a UK 12 about an american size 8. I have very long legs that are thin and quite thin arms too.

The trouble is, I go to the gym in my lunch. I do about 25mins on the treadmill 3 times a week, burning about 400 calories each time. I eat 1200-1300 calories during the week and at the weekend I eat about 1400-1500.

I've been doing this almost 2 weeks now and the numbers aren't going down. My belly appears flatter but my hips are just as wide. How can I get my hips to go smaller like get rid of saddle bags and just smaller in general instead of flatter, because even though its naturally a little flatter now, I suffer from bloating a lot of the time so once I've eaten a bit, you cant see the difference this has made!

Any tips for my very quick work outs?

I would do this every other night for a week:

2 sets of 30 walking lunges (you can walk back & forth in your living room, mine is 5 lunges each way so i go back and forth 6 times)

2 sets of 25 squats

2 sets of 25 crunches

2 sets of 25 butt lifts, holding the last one for 10 sec each set

2 sets of 10 push ups (or whatever you can do)

hold plank pose or bridge for 30 sec-1 minute twice

you could trim this down if you wanted, but these types of exercises will help reshape your body. you can always get a dvd workout which does all this in 20 minutes if you're in a hurry. oh, and if you decide to start doing resistance exercises you will have to eat a bit more.

That all sounds so great!

To be honest I'm so rubbish in the gym and doing these things I dont have a clue what any of it is!

Can you suggest a dvd I buy?

ihearsin:

this seems like such a good workout! i think im going to try it in that order. i do all of those things but its kind of just ill do however many whenever and i think adding structure to it will help.

lealea123:

i dont have a video to recommend but ill give you a run down of what those exercises are like. i hope that helps, if not you can google them!

lunges are the ones that are like a really big step in front of you and then come up and then take a big step with the other leg.

squats are like your going to sit down in a chair but before you touch the seat you stand back up. put the pressure in the heel of your foot when you are doing them. keep your chest up and your abs flexed when you do them. repeat 25 times. or however many you can do.

crunches, im sure you know so ill sound a bit silly saying it lol. but you lay on the floor with your hands behind your head in the shape of a diamond (with your thumbs touching and pointers touching) and then you use your abs to come off the floor a bit and come back down. repeat 25 times. take a break and do 25 more.

butt lifts are kind of interesting, i think the ones she's talking about go a little something like this: stand tall and then take your right leg and point your toe out behind you. lift to the ground and then raise as high as you can. repeat 25 times holding it up behind you for 10 seconds the last time. do the other leg. repeat for your second set.

push ups, im sure you know those. you can even do the girl ones to start off with. which is on your knees. make sure to keep your hands under your shoulders, thats a tip my pilates teacher gave me.

plank pose is kinda the start to a push up....only you dont go down into a push up. you stay in that position the whole time. its pretty hard to do when you start but it feels so good as you get better with it. make sure your flexing everything, butt included. and make sure you dont let that thing stick up into the air, if you do then you arent doing it correctly.

i hope this very long post helps!

sadly, crunches wont do much.

read through the last few weeks of posts, search the forum for 'abs' and read the literal reams of other posts like this. crunches will do nothing to flatten a tummy.

One excellent video : Jeanette Jenkins Hollywood Trainer...it is only 30 minutes long with two workouts to choose from. I would start out with 1-3 pound weights, and it shouldn't be too tough. There is even a pregnant woman featured, which I find to be an excellent motivator! If she can do it, so can I :)

I believe a reduced calorie, healthy balanced diet combined with ab and total body exercises, combined with cardio does eradicate belly fat. It did for me. I am not flat-stomached yet, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel now. I have a four pack that is aaaaalmost completely visible and my waist is like 26 inches something like that. I am NOT bragging just saying. It worked for me.

thanks jessmy! I want to be a personal trainer when I grow up...lol

:( SOO wrong....

I read the title of this thread and immediately thought "mmmm.....belly pork fat".

What the hell is wrong with me???!

wow. i think i should go get a personal trainer!

The butt lifts I think of are like this:

Lay on your back with your legs bended at the knees and your heels towards your butt.  Tilt your pelvis up slightly so that your back is completely against the floor.  Keep your hands at your sides. Raise your butt up so that your knees, quads, pelvis and stomach form a nice diagonal line.  Slowly lower back down and repeat.