how do i lose a few inches on my waist

hi i am 52 years old with 4 children. am 5'6" tall and weigh between 62 and 64 kgs. i do weights at least 4 times a week and jog 5 days a week almost 7 kms an hour (not too fast). i am a vegetarian and my diet is basically vegetable juice, salad , skimmed milk (1 glass daily) lots of seasonable fruit, 15-20 almonds. the problem i have is a thick waistline where i need to lose sum inches. please help.... i do crunches and ab exercises .. but there is a layer of fat on my lower abs.

i would say pump up the cardio....try doing some sprints 3 days a week...it's an anerobic activity that will boost your metabolism and improve your speed.  run as fast as you can for 1 minute.  rest for 4 minutes...repeat this 10 times....the next time you go running try and amp up your long distance speed.  i would suggest doing sprints on the days your a lifting weights.  anerobic sprints are great for your stomach muscles!!!!  personally i would lay off large amount of crunches etc until you slim down the waist line otherwise you just add a layer over bulk....maybe in the mean time try a 10 minute pilates core video on youtube... theres a million of them

as for eating....try not eat carbs after lunch everday.  carbs are stored as fat when you don't burn them....(if your a vegetarian this might be harder)...do you have a lot of protein in your diet??

Original Post by kaila_a:

as for eating....try not eat carbs after lunch everday.  carbs are stored as fat when you don't burn them....(if your a vegetarian this might be harder)...do you have a lot of protein in your diet??

All excess calories are stored as fat - carbs aren't in any way special.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating vegetables, whole grains, etc. after lunch.  Overly refined carbs (white flour, white sugar, etc.) are never particularly good for you but they're no worse in the afternoon than they would have been in the morning.

To the OP: That said, what is your ratio of carbs : protein : fat?  It sounds like you may be getting almost all carbs with very little fat or protein - both of which you need in a healthy diet.  Adding some olive oil/avocado and beans/lentils should help balance that out a bit.  You want to be aiming for 15-20% of your calories from protein and 20-30% of your calories from good fats.

I agree but I mean it's better to eat a high protein content later in the day...especially if you are working out b/c it helps with muscle repair. 

Original Post by sarveshwari:

i am a vegetarian and my diet is basically vegetable juice, salad , skimmed milk (1 glass daily) lots of seasonable fruit, 15-20 almonds.

I can't imagine any scenario where your getting adequate calories, protein or fat if this is your diet.  Fixing that should be priority #1.

After that, your weight routine could probably use some tweaking.

dear kaila_a thanx 4 replying and the advise. this morning i added sprints to my run and am also trying to run faster. please keep updating me on what i shud do. hav also started having an additioal glass of milf 4 the protein.

daer susiecue thanx 4 replying i am really afraid of including fats in my diet but am ready to include proteins in the form of lentils and beans as i'm a vegetarian

dear floggingsully please help me wid the protein intake ... i am scared to increase calorie intake. thanx for the reply.

I punched your stats into this calculator: http://www.phord.com/cc/.  If you're not eating at least 1250 calories/day, you're not eating enough calories.  That's the bare minimum you need to eat to keep your organs functioning, etc.  If you consistently eat less than that, you'll find your metabolism slows down and makes it very difficult for you to lose weight/fat.

You *need* fats in your diet.  They're important for healthy skin and hair.  They're essential to allow your body to absorb certain vitamins (A, D, etc.) so if you don't have any fat in your diet, your body isn't getting those vitamins - even if they're in your food!  Good fats can even reduce your risk of heart disease by increasing the amount of "good cholesterol" and improving the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.

So, what's a good fat?  Monounsaturated fats like those in olive oil (and presumably in olives) and some other vegetable oils, avocados and most nuts.  Those are what you need to add to your diet.  (Adding beans/lentils would be a great improvement too!  That was a good call on your part.)  Polyunsaturated fats are good too - and saturated fats are fine in moderation.  Just avoid the trans fats and any product with an ingredient that is "partially hydrogenated".

When we suggest increasing your fat intake, we don't mean that you need to start eating french fries.  We mean dicing some avocado into a salad - or drizzling a teaspoon or olive oil on as part of a dressing - or adding a tablespoon of chopped nuts.  None of those options are scary-high in calories.  A teaspoon of oil only has 40 calories.  Two tablespoons of hummus has about 50 calories.  Chop up some carrots/cucumber/etc. for dipping and you have a tasty snack with a little good fat that still comes in under 100 calories.  If you weren't vegetarian, I'd be pushing the oily fishes as full of good fats and protein - but nuts will work as a substitute.  Just watch the portion sizes.

A yummy thought for a veggie dish involving fats and protein - what about a nice chickpea curry with a little coconut milk in the sauce?