Body Fat % and losing fat/gaining muscle

mrs_kurz

Hi All,

I'm in a place now where I've lost just over 40lbs. Ideally I'd lik to lose about 10 more to get to goal, but that's not number 1 priority right now.

I'm smaller than I was definitely, but I feel like I have a lot of fat, squidge everywhere and I'm not toned at all. And I guess I feel I'm bigger in size than someone at my height/weight who is more toned. I'm currently 136-138lbs and 5' 5". Ultimate weight goal is 126lbs but right now goal is to tone up, lose fat and get toned.

I know lifting is something highly recommended - I dont want to bulk up but as I understand that's not likely from a woman lifting. Thing is I can't afford to join a gym. What kind of things can I do at home that would really help with this? And what is the ideal diet for this kind of thing? I basicall,y lost weight by cutting my calories down and generally making healthier choices but maybe something else will work better for this goal now?

I want to be in a place where I can maintain a healthy lifestyle and a fit slim physique. I feel like I've done the bulk of my "losing" and now it's time to work on the finishing off type stuff.

Any advice from girls/women/men in similar positions or with similar goals greatly appreciated!

Rambo529

What I did to help drop my body fat percentage was to focus on high protein (lean proteins) foods. I also cut back on dairy (down to only an occasional Greek yogurt with fruit). This is what worked well for me on top of the strength training I had been working with. I'm not saying it's the only way, as you'll have to experiment with yourself, but this is something I've noticed about myself. I did notice with myself I didn't lose a lot on the scale by doing this, but I lost a lot of inches (which was my goal more than moving the scale).

heyjay31

The lifting I do is all from home with a cheap weight set that I pickup at K-Mart, it really doesn't have to take tons of money. Body weight workouts are great too. Go to nerdfitness.com and check out bodyweight matrix. And yep eating more protein:)

nu2012

For at home workouts, maybe you can get a set of resistance bands and use them to do toning exercises? Body weight exercises are pretty good too.