Losing a belly!

ScoutSerra

I have currently been working off around 1200 calorie allowance a day, i have started walking/jogging 2 miles a day, and i have toyed around with a set of crunch/sit ups, lunges, squats and plank, but none of it makes the right muscles sore. I need an idea for a set that will just work on my belly area/sides, its the only area i still have alot of excess flab in.

march i started at 232, i have since gotten down to 190 as of last week, after dropping 42lbs i still haven't noticed much change in my stomach area and REALLY need someone that targets that area. Can anyone suggest a list of sets and reps of exercises that will work on my stomach?

mustgetmuscles1

There is no way to spot reduce an area of the body. And often our biggest areas are the last to go. You have to just keep working your whole body and losing weight. You mention you have been toying around with resistance training. I would suggest you make this a priority and get on a good program. This will make a world of difference as you continue to lose weight.

ScoutSerra

thats the thing though, i know nothing of fitness, i just had a friend tell me what thats what she does so i tried it, but i dont actually know what im doing. Any suggestion for specific exercises, sets and reps? she suggested i start with like 10 of each squats lunges crunches and sit ups, with a 20 sec plank. I feel like thats really not enough, and with the walking i dont need to target my legs as much, but i dont actually know what any of it is targeting... complete workout noob here.

20yearsyounger

That's my problem area. Bicycles are some of the best. Here is a nice link http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises.htm

Personally, I've seen a difference doing bicycles, reverse crunches, vertical leg crunches, and planks.

Ultimately though, although you will be making them stronger, you still wont really see them unless you continue working your whole body and losing weight.

If you are just toying around with them, they are not going to get sore. Do enough of them and they will. See if you can do a 1 minute plank.

diannethegeek

This post is a really great place to start: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Astharteea

To be honest I think you will see a change in you're gut area when you get down to 175 lbs. Probably there is a lot of fat there and it takes a little longer to show. I encourage you not to get too upset about it and keep doing what you're doing.

ScoutSerra

thanks guys! and i can barely do 20 sec plank, i haven't been working out long or consistently except for the walking bit. But i walked 8.3 miles yesterday and i feel fine today so somethings working!

iheartinsanity

Cardio and diet is the key. I dropped 100lbs. in 13 months between 09-10 time frame and didn't see results. Now 5+ years down the road I worked on HIIT training, lifting heavy, and really have a decent diet (though mine falls along the lines of iifym most of the time) and that's where I seen a big chance. Especially if you have an apple shape and that's where you predominantly carry most of your weight. Patience is the number 1 key though!

osorio0203

Hi.....may I add a comment for you. Here is goes. Some exercises that you can do are, as you are already doing, squats, lunges, sit ups, crunches, planks......also push ups, mountain climbers, scissor kicks and burpees. I would recommend that you pick and choose a few a day.......do 30 seconds on and 15 seconds off. As many rounds as you can. Start at 5 rounds on 5 off and work up to 10 rounds. But switch it up every day, not only to keep the monotony of the same thing setting in, but muscle confusion keeps your body on its toes. If you do the same thing day after day after day your body gets used to it and you will plateau. Keep your body guessing what is next. After you get comfortable with those.....start to add hand weights to the routine. Building and toning muscle will keep your metabolism going strong. To start with.......don't kill yourself. That is not necessary.....go at your own pace and slowly get better. The weight will leave, but it will take some time.

osorio0203

Good luck......If you want to add me as a friend....feel free.

keefmac

Tummy's the last place to lose from unfortunately, I've had to re - evaluate my goal weight because I'm still not happy with my belly!.

ScoutSerra

my goal weight is 145 which is what i was at in my picture, that was me when i was 16, currently i am 190 and i set my next big goal point at 170, then i'll work on getting down to 145. at that weight its safe to say id probably have lost alot of stomach but its just depressing knowing the one thing im working for wont change any time soon

socajam

Try kettle bell exercises like the following DVDs from iron core kettle bell or Lauren Brooks - really works the fat off your belly. The kettle bell swing is the best for losing belly fat along with diet of course.

kjm3579

Check out StrongLIfts 5x5 or alternately look up New Rules of Lifting -- lifting free weights will work all of your core and help burn off fat/flab at the same time -- you can mix in some cardio to help burn fat as well.

streamgirl

I've been in the same boat as you. Look through the forums for "apple shaped women". I don't have time to find it right now, but there are some older threads with lots of photos and those ladies talk about that being the last place they lost fat. After hearing in various places that belly fat is the easiest to lose, I felt discouraged that I seemed to hold on to that the most. It at least made me feel better that it should probably be expected as others had similar experiences. Good luck--you'll get there!

Astharteea

I know it's depressing but from my experience diet was the only thing working for my belly. The more I "starved" the more belly I was loosing. I was eating 600 calories a day.... To the point that my abs were showing without having one minute in the gym. But eating 600 a day was horrid. Don't get me wrong, eating 600 made me feel the best I felt ever but I was hungry. Man! So hungry that in my first 3 weeks I was crying of hunger every night and I was dreaming I was having a feast. After a month it got better, I had no cravings whatsoever and I was losing weight like a mofo. I was never able to get there again. I strongly believe that the least we eat the healthier we are but I just can't do it anymore. Anyways. My point is diet is what works for losing stomach fat. Exercise as you usually do and eat right. You will get there, you'll see.

Wookinpanub

Just need to keep on working at it with exercise and diet. Try HIIT, sauna if available, weights. I am down 60+ (my goal) and still have a gut (especially when bending over) and love handles but much smaller than before. I should lose another 15-20 to get rid of the noticeable belly flab.

RGv2

iheartinsanity wrote: »

Cardio and diet is the key. I dropped 100lbs. in 13 months between 09-10 time frame and didn't see results. Now 5+ years down the road I worked on HIIT training, lifting heavy, and really have a decent diet (though mine falls along the lines of iifym most of the time) and that's where I seen a big chance. Especially if you have an apple shape and that's where you predominantly carry most of your weight. Patience is the number 1 key though!

Diet is the key.... Op can do cardio if they want...they can do cardio if they don't want.

RGv2

diannethegeek wrote: »

This post is a really great place to start: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Just want to drop this link off again. Seems it was skimmed past.

OP, you can do all the abdominal exercises you want all day long, but if your body has fat on other areas of the body it wants to use first, it will.

Moderate Caloric Deficit + Work (cardio and a real full body strength program) + patience and you'll get there. You can get there with just deficit and patience, but would probably be much happier with the aesthetics if you incorporate all 3.

Core exercise are good for core strength, but pretty inefficient at calorie burn. You'll notice that many on this site with nice midsections do little isolated ab work (if any at all). Drop the sit-ups and crunches....they fire your hip flexors more than your abdominal muscles anyway.

ScoutSerra

see the only problem with the article is that i have absolutely no clue what it is talking about as i am completely uneducated about working out. i dont understand what you mean by caloric deficit, so i was just asking for a completely basic suggestion of "do 20 jumping jacks and 10 push ups" or something like that because i dont have a clue what i am doing... and suggesting i follow something that says " I suggest the TDEE-20% method." just immediately makes me shy away because i have aboslutely no clue what that means or most of what the post says... treat me like a child. give me "for dummies" advice. Treat me like i am stupid because i need things spelled out. I really just want an idea of what i should be doing, not what i SHOULDNT be doing.

bermudamel

Unfort that's the last part to go!

ScoutSerra

yeah think i'll just follow youtube videos randomly so that i can figure things out... technical bits i'll never get...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDtQ7Zmp6c

mustgetmuscles1

It is really simple.

To lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. That is a calorie deficit.

To maintain your current muscle and strength you should do full body resistance training. Resistance training can be body weight exercises or weightlifting.

This will leave you with the body composition most people want once they lose weight. A lot of people get down to their goal weight and wonder why they dont look like they did the last time they weighed that much. It because they lost a lot of muscle while dieting and only doing cardio.

There is no amount of ab or core exercises that will help you lose fat any faster in those areas. Any video or person that tells you different is misinformed or lying to you. There is nothing wrong with adding some of them in for strength and endurance purposes or the small calorie burn they provide though.

cylence82

As a couple people have said already-reverse crunches. they are easier than regular crunches and work the muscles better IF you do them right. Also, anything that gets the obliques, such as bicycles.

diannethegeek

ScoutSerra wrote: »

see the only problem with the article is that i have absolutely no clue what it is talking about as i am completely uneducated about working out. i dont understand what you mean by caloric deficit, so i was just asking for a completely basic suggestion of "do 20 jumping jacks and 10 push ups" or something like that because i dont have a clue what i am doing... and suggesting i follow something that says " I suggest the TDEE-20% method." just immediately makes me shy away because i have aboslutely no clue what that means or most of what the post says... treat me like a child. give me "for dummies" advice. Treat me like i am stupid because i need things spelled out. I really just want an idea of what i should be doing, not what i SHOULDNT be doing.

Okay, things you should be doing:

Eat at a reasonable deficit. Either learn about the TDEE - 20% method (this site has a search feature) or set MFP to lose no more than 1 pound per week and eat back at least half of your exercise calories.

Start a strength training routine. Preferably something that works your whole body. This is more than just random videos and crunches. Routines are helpful because they are going to continually but gradually increase the amount of resistance in your exercises. You want to keep pushing your muscles to do harder exercises. You can build a routine out of random youtube videos if you'd prefer
but you're going to lack the progression. Strong Lifts was the really good step-by-step routine suggested in the link above, or bodybuilding.com if you prefer something free.

Eat plenty of protein. Something like .6-.8 grams per pound of body weight. For you that's 114-152 grams of protein a day.

Do cardio if you want.

Have patience.

RGv2

ScoutSerra wrote: »

yeah think i'll just follow youtube videos randomly so that i can figure things out... technical bits i'll never get...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDtQ7Zmp6c

Doing that will basically ignore all of the advice we all just gave you.

Isolated ab exercises won't reduce the fat around your midsection. Your body burns fat from wherever it wants, no matter the exercise.

Moderate Caloric Deficit = eating a little bit less than you burn each day. I burn 2500 calories per day, eating 2000 would be a moderate deficit.

TDEE - How many calories you burn each day through being alive, doing your normal daily chores, etc... If my TDEE were 2500 calories, eating TDEE-20% would be eating 2000 calories.

Read Diane's post above, Keep your deficit in check + Do cardio and find a full body resistance program + have patience.

RGv2

cylence82 wrote: »

As a couple people have said already-reverse crunches. they are easier than regular crunches and work the muscles better IF you do them right. Also, anything that gets the obliques, such as bicycles.

And how would that help "loose a belly"?

ScoutSerra

i think i get it but still pretty lost on it... i have 0 education on any of this and i can read up on it but i am also in a super tight budget and dont know how much more i can afford grocery wise, eating less might be the only option i have because really i can hardly afford groceries lately... and with my job i def do not have time to actually cook anything to eat most of the time. what ive been doing is a slimfast in the morning, sandwich or something for lunch, a couple 100 cal snacks between, and a 500-600 cal dinner... i have a fairly active job where im on my feet all day, ive been doing 2mi walking and i just dont know what else i can do...

20yearsyounger

Isolated crunches by themselves are not going to give you what you need but people need to stop giving the impression that they are worthless. Go to a kickboxing/boxing class than includes 10 mins of ab work and then tell me how worthless they are.

20yearsyounger

ScoutSerra wrote: »

i think i get it but still pretty lost on it... i have 0 education on any of this and i can read up on it but i am also in a super tight budget and dont know how much more i can afford grocery wise, eating less might be the only option i have because really i can hardly afford groceries lately... and with my job i def do not have time to actually cook anything to eat most of the time. what ive been doing is a slimfast in the morning, sandwich or something for lunch, a couple 100 cal snacks between, and a 500-600 cal dinner... i have a fairly active job where im on my feet all day, ive been doing 2mi walking and i just dont know what else i can do...

Eat below your calorie requirements, stay active, add strength (whether weights, body weight (squats, push-ups, reverse crunches, planks, etc) and be patient.

markiend

eating less and regular exercise worked well for me at the start ... then i moved onto lifting.

so far so good. Diet and exercise are key to reducing body fat imho. Lifting will help immensely too