Healthy eating and exercise 'plan' for weight loss and toning

RHwoodxxxx

Hi! I'm around 9 stone 10 - 9 stone 13 (fluctuates a lot atm) having lost around 12 pounds (was 10 stone 5 in January) did it slowly and healthily but gained a bit due to travelling and not being able to keep up with exercise and just letting my sweet tooth get the better too often. My main concern is losing fat on my stomach and arms and generally toning, I know you can't pinpoint areas but this is my reason for wanting to lose weight as I know I'm not 'fat' I just have a chubby stomach. No desire to be skinny just strong and toned. I can't do the meal plans given online as I'm very fussy and only eat chicken/lean bacon/gammon in meat terms and no fish but tuna. So this is what I plan to eat to get back on track and get a body that I love and feel confident with. Most these foods I eat anyway and love so it's nlt hard for me, just hard to not reach for sweets or sugary stuff because I'm like a child when it comes to that.

So this is what I plan to eat, any advice on what I need more of, less off, what I should actually avoid..

Hot lemon water as soon as I wake up + half hour before each meal
Breakfast - cereal/porridge, fruit
Snack between breakfast and lunch - fruit
Lunch - ryvita and Philadelphia, healthy bagel? With Philadelphia, soup, chicken or tuna salad, scrambled eggs with veg and avocado toast. Always with fruit.
Snack between lunch and dinner - healthy crisps/alpen bar/fruit
Dinner - veggie (queen and lots of vegetables) chilli and sweet potato, jacket potato with tuna and sweet corn or beans and cheese and salad on side, stir fry veggies with quorn, seasoned chicken with small amount of mash and veggies, quorn sausages with small amount of mash and veggies, lentils and chickpeas with roasted veggies and pesto, brown pasta with veg, chickpeas and pesto. Pizza on small wholewheat pitta with low fat mozzarella and sweet potato fries.

Exercise - running 4 times per week (this is a hobby for me as well as a way to lose weight)
Home spinning class (YouTube) on exercise bike at home 2/3 times a week
(So cardio every day)
Ab workout at home daily
Free weights exercises for arms and back at home
Is this exercise sounding ok too? Do I need to use the gym for weight machines or can I do it from home? I'm kind of useless when it comes to thee gym weights so if I go i tend to stick to the cardio machines..

harlequin0318

Wow, you do alot of cardio. Props to you!!

To get strong and toned - yes you have to hit the weights! Squats, deadlifts, pull ups, bench press, all of it! You dont have to do heavy weight - do what is comfortable for you. And when you go to the gym - you can always ask the staff to teach you how to use a machine - don't be embarrassed. It would be more embarrassing to be using it wrong

Sued0nim

It depends on quantities of food so eat what you want but weigh it on a digital scale and log it.

Eat at a defecit

Oh and the lemon water? Only if you like lemon water, it ain't doing anything fancy to help

Squats, lunges and weights are your friends