posted 09-25-2003 03:17 PM            

Running/ walking - 5 days for 15 minutes on treadmill(burn around 120 calories)
Mon - Legs
Tue - Abs/Back
Wed - Weights/Biceps/triceps/chest/shoulder
Thru - Legs
Fri - Abs/back
Sat/sun- Power walk for 45mins.

Diet:
Breakfast - Cereal with 2 % milk
Lunch - Vegetable Sandwich- whole wheat bread(with low fat mayo and cheese)
Dinner - Protein rich pulses and vegetable with whole wheat bread.
Desert - twice a week of brownies and ice cream

I snack on fruits and drink plenty of water.

I have been following this for 6 months and my rest of the body has shapped up well except my tummy.
I do not want to loose any more of my body weight except from tummy.

Please can anyone suggest what i am doing wrong or what more i should do.

Thanks a ton.

[This message has been edited by Amy2003 (edited 09-25-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Amy2003 (edited 09-25-2003).]

posted 09-26-2003 07:30 PM            

It seems you are working out alot, which is great, but when is the last time you really powered up the weights and or added more weight for additional strength gains? You may have hit a plateau on your fat loss that is preventing you from achieving the results you want.

What is your bodyfat%? Do really get that flat stomach look, as a woman, you need pretty low bodyfat%.

Try lifting heavier weights, make sure you are maintaining good form, and try some HIIT aerobics. Also, watch your nutrition and make sure you are eating 5-6 meals a day, limit refined carbs (I'm not saying do Atkins, I'm saying to avoid processed foods/refined grains) and the last bit of fat covering your tummy should melt off.

posted 10-01-2003 11:42 AM            

Is there any particular ball or video that you have tried and is good. As we know there are so many of them that its hard to choose sometimes but if someone can suggest a good one then half the job is done.

Any i do use low fat Mayo and try to skip the cheese as often as i can. The ice cream though is not low fat but i try to eat my desert at least 2 hours before bed time. Earlier i use to try take a 10min walk after dinner but now its getting cold so hard to go for that walk in the evening.

Thanks agn for the inputs.

posted 10-01-2003 09:36 PM            

I am skinny, 5-5 and 113lbs. My whole body is skinny except my stomach. Seems that all my fat collects there.

posted 10-02-2003 11:40 AM            

Good Luck!

Thanks Nicky.
Water helps my tummy too and i try to drink lots of water myself. I have just started using weights with my sit ups but still have to get the correct form.

posted 10-06-2003 08:40 PM            

Drop the fat (BF%).
Build the abs.

First is more important and takes longer.

Even if each pack is'nt defined, a low BF% still gets the desired head-turnability effects (within reason and depending).

I know for a man 10% BF is about where the abs starts to show. Not sure what it is for a woman, might wanna find out and bear it in mind as target (maybe someone might have posted it in another thread).

The weights training needed to build muscle tone and mass will also help in burning off the fat, so the priority stays (low BF% first).

To get a low BF% another double-whammy approach :

Good diet;
Exercise.

Good diet aims :

- high in nutrition - body doesnt struggle getting min levels of vitamins/minerals/trace elements (effective weight-losers will be good nutritionists)

- body doesnt go into starvation mode; it gets all it needs to do the maintenance and sustenance work ( repair and min energy needs). Starvation mode is bad cos not only are fat-stores likely to INCREASE (when given food), but also LBM (lean body mass ie muscle tissue) will be cannibalised. Note this only happens when in calorie deficit(not eating more than body burns).

- Stomach has only so much digestive powers. Eat more than it can handle and it will store the rest as fat. Thats why everyone says eat many small meals during the day. From what I remember its about coupla pints (half pint per meal on 4 meals/day) gastric juice produced daily.

-Calorie-deficit - having an idea whether you're packing in more cals than you're using up (doesnt have to be an exact daily figure incidently) is absolutely vital.
Everyone gets a feel for this anyway, as time goes on. Your body has its signals you tune into. While hunger can be just discernable after coupla hours(depending), others need to be actively listened out for. Exercise/food journal sometimes helps with this. It's also useful for juggling all the above. Ie, maintaining good nutrition while not going into starvation mode but still staying in calorie-deficit.

Exercise -

-Whack the metabolic fires up high.

-Exercise can rev up metabolic rate upto 16 times what it is at rest (basal metabolic rate). It drops back down to normal within 48 hours. Its the metabolic rate that's the body's energy burning indicator. Another reason why starvation mode is bad, it quenches the metabolic fires.

Cardio pulls more fuel for burning through fat (slow but long term), while fast-twitch muscle exrcise is better at revving up the metabolic rate (fast but short-term). I'd do both. Cardio muscles (slow-twitch) are not as bulky as fast-twitchers.

-Crunches-time comes in here . Personally, regular crunches actually increased my girth (esp upper abs, I found). Bicycle and/or reverse crunches is/are good too.

Lots of water - its the body's oil system - keeps everything ticking smooth and noiselessly. Looks like you knew this. But, just as readers exercise, thought I'd put my thoughts.

HTH

posted 10-08-2003 09:05 PM            

Do both cardio and weights.

Do cardio, because it's a known trigger-mechanism for the body to pull the fat out of it's stores.

Weights, to make sure that the lean body mass is'nt at risk of being cannibalized (because of the calorie-deficit we are placing the body under).

Muscle tissue is preserved naturally anyway. When it has gotten used to regularly burning your body fat for fuel (thru cardio), it won't eat into the lean body tissue.

Weight/fat loss is kinda like tending to a fire.

Use fuel (food) but only just enough to keep the fire (body) ticking along. It will pull in and burn the fat from off your abs/thighs/etc. Too much fuel and it wont have any need to burn the fat. Too little fuel and it might go into starvation mode (and eat into lean body tissue). Exercise (and everyday activity) is the reason why the fire is burning - give energy to it.

Add up your calorie intake thru food. Work out calories burned from exercise. And ensure that few thousand calories loss per week.

If you think that you're at a plateau, check vitamin levels - maybe your body is holding on, cos something is low.

Btw, looks like you know most of this (it's done me more good writing down in black and white) .

HTH, best wishes.