Professional Fitness Experts, Trainers, & Anyone who has Extensive Knowledge About Weightloss, Help??

Question

Hi, I've been trying to lose some weight for quite sometime now. I am currently walking 3 times (4 times if I can fit it in) a week, atleast a half hour, and usually 1hour.
I also do 30 minutes of aerobics two to three times a week, whenever i CAN.

My problem areas are my hips thighs and abs. I don't earn a lot, so I don't really need paid advice, or want to join a gym. I'm getting married in 8 months and want to lose 6 kgs by then, and keep it off!

I'm 5'3". Can you help me? I don't know what I'm doing wrong? I eat three square meals plus tea and snacks. My supper is the lightest meals of the day, and I walk before hitting the bed.

I have recently noticed my 'back fat' and before they turn into REALLY UGLY love handles, I need to lose them too.

Please help me with designing a fitness plan?
Only serious help and advice please. If you want to leave a sarcastic note, take a pass on this one.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Normally I'd point you to http://www.burnthefat.com/ for a diet and weight loss plan devised by world-class bodybuilder Tom Venuto (who gets in shape for tournaments without the use of fat burners, diet pills, or supplements), but since you're on a budget and he charges $39.95 for his on-line book I'll pass on what I know to you. Believe me, this plan works for people who are willing to make permanent changes in order to lose the flab and keep it off, and doesn't require you to have a gym membership.

1. EXERCISE: You will not make your goal without exercise. Walking is GREAT because you can walk as much as you want, and aerobics is great for burning fat. Keep doing those as much as you can, and make sure you do SOMETHING every day; no excuses. If you want this to work you have to invest the time and effort in yourself, but hey, you're worth it, right?

P.S.: One type of exercise that is GREAT for burning fat is high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Here's how it works: Pick an aerobic exercise you enjoy. After warm-up and stretching, do a 30-60 second "sprint" followed by 60-90 seconds of "slow jog pace" exercise. That's one set. Do 8-15 sets. WARNING: HIIT will kick your @$$ in the beginning, but as you get used to it you can do more sets and make your sprints longer in duration while shortening your "slow jog pace" stints.

P.P.S.: Abdominal exercises won't necessarily help you get rid of the flab around your midsection, but they do tone the muscles and they can make your middle appear smaller by pulling your gut in. Speaking of which, sucking in your gut is one way to exercise your abs wherever you are. Seriously! Just pull it in, hold it, and continue to breathe normally (takes some work, but you'll get used to it soon enough).

2. DIET: Although exercise is a key component to your weight loss efforts, diet really will make you or break you. If you don't have your diet plan in order, all the exercise you do will go to waste. So let's go over the basics:

The following things are your enemies and should be avoided as much as possible:

-- Fast food
-- Junk food
-- Fried food (except for fish/chicken fried in olive oil)
-- Saturated fat (keep to a minimum)
-- Trans fat (partially or fully hydrogenated oils)
-- High-fructose corn syrup (found in soft drinks and lots of stuff)
-- Processed "white" flour or sugar

The following foods are your best weapons in your weight loss quest:

-- Nuts, any kind (almonds are best)
-- Beans/Legumes
-- Green vegetables (spinach and broccoli top the list)
-- Lowfat dairy products (almost all dairy fat is saturated)
-- Eggs (high in protein and monounsaturated "good" fat)
-- Lean meats (especially fish and poultry)
-- Peanut butter (only if it's no sugar added and has no trans fat)
-- Olive oil (natural appetite suppressant, high in "good" fat)
-- Whole grain breads/cereals/pasta
-- Fresh fruit (anything that ends in "berry" tops the list)
-- Tea (with no sugar added and no high fructose corn syrup)

Here are the eating tips:

-- Eat breakfast EVERY DAY within 60 minutes of waking up. People who don't are 450% more likely to be overweight

-- Instead of three square meals a day, eat six small meals or snacks per day, so you're eating once every 3 hours or so. Eating less at one sitting but eating more often throughout the day keeps your metabolism running high.

-- Each meal or snack should have at least one good source of all three macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat). Best protein sources are eggs, lean meats, and whey protein. Best carb sources are whole grains and fresh fruits/vegetables. Best fat sources are eggs, olive oil, fish/fish oil, flax seed/flax seed oil, avocadoes, and nuts.

-- Protein gives you the most bang for your buck when trying to lose weight, so you should eat one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day, so if you weigh 120 pounds that's 120g of protein you'll need. WARNING: Extra protein makes your kidneys work harder, but it's not harmful as long as you drink extra water (drink at least 1/2 gallon per day).

-- Olive oil is your friend. Not only is it a natural appetite suppressant, it's high in monounsaturated fat. Your body NEEDS monounsaturated fat to metabolize certain vitamins (like Vitamin E), contrary to popular belief it does NOT make you fat, and it raises your "good" cholesterol while lowering your "bad" cholesterol. Try taking a tablespoonful 3 times a day with one of your meals or snacks.

-- Fiber is also your friend. Fiber fills you up and helps your body get rid of "bad" cholesterol. Aim for at least 25g of fiber in your diet per day. Best sources of fiber are: beans/legumes, dried fruit, and whole grain breads/cereals/pasta.

-- For 1/2 a day once a week, chuck everything above and allow yourself to eat and drink whatever you want. Just don't stuff.

Good luck, and congrats on getting married!

Answer 2

OK. I have lost a lot of weight and kept it off for years. Here is what I recommend:

Instead of three square meals in addition to snacks, have 5 small meals throughout the day. Aim for a total of 1500 calories a day to lose weight, but don't go under 1200. Eating smaller meals (like, yogurt and a banana for breakfast, a light snack a couple hours later, a light lunch, a light snack , then a light dinner) keeps your metabolism up and prevents you from being hungry. Eat a lot of vegetables, fruits, lean meats like tuna and chicken, and salads. Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers meals for dinner are good too.

Your hips thighs and abs will all look slimmer once you lose total body fat. If I were you I'd kick up your routine a little. Alternate your walking with jogging (5 minutes walking, 2 jogging, 5 walking, 2 jogging, etc.) and add weights to your routine. All you need are some 5-10 pound hand weights. You will see a huge difference if you add some bicep curls, squats, tricep kickbacks, and upright rows. Losing weight is hard work, you should be aiming for at least 40 minutes of aerobic activity that has your heart rate up the whole time. A leisurely stroll will not help you lose weight.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I'm not an expert, but i think i am a fit person. The one thing i see that you might want to change is that 30 minutes of walking is really the bare minimum to do any good. Right at 30 minutes is when you start to really get burning at the fat, so when you stop right then it stunts the effect. Try to go at least 45-an hour each time, and most people say 5 times a week is really what is necessary. Seems like a lot, but I always hear fitness experts say you should do cardio on "most days", which to me means 5 days or more. Cardio is what is gonna burn your fat. You need to be doing some resistance exercises too, like lifting light weights repeatedly. This builds muscle, and having more muscle means you burn more calories all the time, when resting and working out. More muscle raises your metabolism.

Anyways, hope this helps, and congrats on your wedding!

Answer 4

Ok, I'm not a professional health expert yet, but I'm on my way to med school and I'm a health enthusiast. I ran my first marathon in 04 and I'm hoping to beat the time I made this July, I've played sports my whole life, always been fit, studied what I eat, gone to the gym, and inpired my wife to do the same. I've also taken some nutrition classes and talked to physical trainers. So if you're willing to listen to my advice, here it is. The equation for losing fat is simple. Taking the steps to do it is the hard part. If what you're doing now isn't working for you then you may try a few different things. First lets talk about what burns fat the best. The way to burn fat is to sustain a work out at between 70 and 80% of your maximum heart rate. Your max HR is 220 minus your age (there are other ways to figure it out that are more accurate but a good estimate is enough for what you want). So lets say for example you're 30, your target HR (75%) would be (220 - 30) x .75 = 142.5. Now, a simple tool that will help you that I recomend getting is a wrist worn heart rate monitor. You can get a cheap one for about 20 euros, but the price ranges to the rediculously expensive 500 or more. As long as you keep the battery fresh a cheap one will work just fine. So, what you're doing now is great, but if it isn't working I would suggest changing to a routine like this one:
1) Start every morning with a cup of strong tea and that walk you've been going on. This will hike your metabolism right from the get go. Wear the heart rate monitor if you get it, and try to get to your target. Over or under the target won't burn fat.
2) Keep doing the aerobics, don't overdo it but try to be as faithfull to your schedule as possible. Try not to take more than 2 days break in between, and ideally, at least untill the wedding, do it every other day for 40 minutes. Aerobics gets your heart rate up over 80%, which is good for building muscle and increasing your muscle recovery time, which will make working out and walking get easyer over time. You've surely noticed the advantages since you've started. They only get better.
3) Try eating 6 small meals throughout the day instead of three squares. This on top of the first suggestion I made will keep your metabolism higher, burning the max fuel throughout the day.
4) Eat more fruit, especially bananas. The potassium will help you recover from your workouts and the complex sugars are better for you. Fruit is sugary its true, but the type of sugars are healthy and help regulate your metabolism.

ok, I don't want to make too many suggestions because thats already a huge change to try to make to your daily routine. Stick with it, you can do it.

Answer 5

Try a cleansing diet! I did and lost 11 pounds and 21 inches in only 9 days. I was very happy with the results and continued on the program and lost 29 pounds in 5 weeks. This is the fastest I have ever lost with other diets like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Medifast, Slimfast etc…. Cleansing works by removing toxins from your body. You get toxins from your food (pesticides, preservatives, food additives, colorings) water, chemicals, pollution, medications, alcohol, hormones that the animals you eat were fed etc….YUCK! The toxins get coated with fat and remain in your body. To remove the fat, you have to remove the toxins. This system worked for me, maybe it can work for you too. You can check out the website or call this toll free number 1-877-587-4647 for more info. The program is not cheap, but it is worth every penny since it works and keeps you motivated. Good luck! More cleansing info at http://thebestcleansingdiet.com

Answer 6

I think you need to gain muscle in order to be where you want to be. For your upper body do push ups, and invest in some 10-15 pound weights to do other exercises (you need them to be a little heavy to gain some muscle mass). For your legs - run stairs for your cardio, or do uphill sprints. Good luck.

Answer 7

The mix of cardio and toning five times a week will keep metabolism humming

Answer 8

http://www.sparkpeople.com will design a nutrition and fitness plan and give you the tools to track your progress and meet other people to help support you along the way. Oh yeah, and its free so you won't have to worry about wasting your hard earned dough.

Answer 9

ok u to loose wieght u need do do things like running, swimming and play a sport, add wieghts in your workouts but since u want to loose wieght i recommened you do a light wieght with 15-20 reps per set and do things like sit ups and so on, have a workout timetable that u can do daily like monday:wieghts tues:cardio and so on..

Answer 10

Find the right diet for your individual body because there are many ways are there to lose weight just find what works for you

Answer 11

do your best to ensure you re not eating after 7 o clock at night you re more likely to make unhealthy choices and less likely to sleep as well after a late meal