Started lifting weight but need to cut belly fat??

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chinagirl3343
chinagirl3343 Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
Background: I have started lifting weights (usually 15-20 minutes 3-4 times a week I also do cardio for 30 minutes usually on the elliptical.) I hit shoulders, abs, arms, thighs/booty. (I am a complete noob at it...)

I am 118 5ft 5 ins. I've gotten there from a high 7 years ago of 180. (It was a gradual loss.) But I swear to the good lord I'm ready to go get a flipping tummy tuck!!! :( I'm very frustrated with it and have actual shed a couple of tears...lol My tummy should be flat but its not. There's a bit that "hangs" over my belly button and I just hate it. :explode: :explode: I've decided to give my body a chance to respond to weightlifting and the ab exercises and cut sugar out...

But I need some advice:

I usually eat about 1300-1400 calories a day. I want to get stronger (add a bit of muscle) and lose what I'm hoping is the little bit of fat on my tummy... pretty sure it's not extra skin. Since I started working out I've ended up eating some of those calories because I was well under the 1200 calories everyone says you should eat. Should I not worry about being below that "magical" 1200 number? Could the tummy problem be what I'm eating? Are there recommendations for a lifestyle change eating program?

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  • chinagirl3343
    chinagirl3343 Posts: 4
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    And a maybe a beginner weightlifting program?
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    Do HIIT for your cardio a few times a week. Check out New Rules of Lifting for Women or perhaps Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer. Really, any progressive program that uses compound lifts. This will help you hand onto your muscle while you lose the last bit of fat. You can definitely go over 1200 calorie! And, if you want to build muscle, I'd suggest upping to maintenance, do not eat back exercise calories, and do that for awhile. Then, slowly add in more calories to build muscle. After that you can go back on a cut to get rid of any new fat you gained on the "bulk".
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    for many women and pretty much all men, the belly is primary fat storage...this is deep storage we're talking about. I would personally recommend eating at maintenance and lifting...at 118 you don't really need to lose anymore weight, but if you must, keep it to a very small deficit...like 1/2 Lb per week at the very most.

    This will slowly but surely change your body composition. The thing you have to really be aware of is that body composition work is very slow. Dieting down the fat is like warp speed compared to changing your body composition....so your mindset has to be for the long haul, not, "it's been 3 weeks and I don't see any change."

    For beginners I'm partial to Starting Strength. Strong Lifts 5x5 is good too...they're basically the same program except SS is a 3x5 format and SL is a 5x5 format. Either will give you a lot of exposure to the big compound lifts that should be the foundation of pretty much any more advanced lifting program.

    You can make some really nice newbie strength gains with either of these programs....even if your ultimate goal is hypertrophy, these strength programs are a good way to start out because you can just build an awesome foundation of functional strength that will serve you well regardless of what direction your lifting ultimately takes you.

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