thin with stomach fat. plz help!

usmcmp

Jumping in here...hope thats OK. : ). So working an area of the body (legs for instance) only 1X per week is good?
New to this weight lifting thing and I thought you had to work every area 3X per week to see results. I love this schedule!
Thanks.

Once a week is one method, twice a week is another. You'd see the most success going to a site like bodybuilding.com and picking a plan off of there. The programs are usually written in a way to see the best results. There is a reason people who build their own program with little knowledge don't see results, because there is a science to it that most people don't understand.

SLLRunner

Ok so when I started (and actually stuck with it)exercising and trying to lose weight back in July of last year, I was going to lose a good chunk of my weight. I weighed 127lbs and wanted to be down to 100lbs. I know, I know, probably not good. All My weight was in my stomach. My legs and arms looked fine. But now I'm down to 113lbs and I can honestly say that I don't feel like I should lose anymore weight. I'm 5'6 (I think) and happily thin the only problem is my stomach. I'm thin everywhere else except my gut. I'm almost finished with Insanity for the second time (only 2 weeks left) and I've been adding squats and dead lifts with weights to the routine as well. And that is because I'd like to build some muscle in my thighs and I eventually want a lean stomach, but I don't know what I should do. Should I keep trying to lose weight to get the stomach fat off? Or focus on weight training? Like I said, this is my first time sticking to losing weight, so I'm still pretty new to all of this. Any and all advice is appreciated!

You really wanted to get to 100 pounds at 5 ft 6? It sounds like you have some body image issues, so I advise to seek professional help.

I'm glad you realize you don't need to lose anymore weight because 113 pounds at your height is underweight. If I were you, I'd concentrate on eating MORE and keeping up with the weight lifting.

hamelle2

Great. Heading there now to study up. Thanks.

SLLRunner

Wow, to the ladies who have posted your before and after pictures--amazing! I personally love weight lifting.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

Ok, OP:

So here at am before I started working out:



I was all like "I am going to do 30DS and RI30 and I'm gonna be banging. This is what I got:



Improvement, but um -- not much for the effort.

So then I was like "might as well try lifting heavy things".



That is after 3 months of progressively lifting heavier things. I am excited to see where I am in 2-3 more months.

I weigh the most in the last pic too, I dropped 2 sizes. My advice to you is put down the cardio based programs using light weights and pick up a barbell. :flowerforyou:

Cranquistador

BAM.^

kittikat1119

DANG!!!! If you are not an inspiration for us women to weight lift I don't know what would be!!!! Now I am wanting to run and pull out my Chalean Extreme videos....:happy:

She did this by lifting weights.
Progressively heavier weights.
Not some cardio endurance video posing as a weight lifting routine.

I understand that Chalean extreme is not "Lifting Heavy", but it is what I have to work with at the moment and something that I have had great results with before my most recent pregnancy. It is a good stepping stone for me at this moment. It is fine if you hate it, but what you and Reality_Is_Ha just did was beat up on the new kid. This was my first post on here and am now wondering if this forum is something I should bother with. Anyway, congrats to Cranquistador for her awesome results from all her hard work, That was all I was trying to get across. Sorry it offended so much.

LishieFruit89

<my pic is after about a year of lifting.
Not entirely consistent due to injury.
But I look waaaaaay better with lifting than I ever did with cardio.

firstsip

DANG!!!! If you are not an inspiration for us women to weight lift I don't know what would be!!!! Now I am wanting to run and pull out my Chalean Extreme videos....:happy:

She did this by lifting weights.
Progressively heavier weights.
Not some cardio endurance video posing as a weight lifting routine.

I understand that Chalean extreme is not "Lifting Heavy", but it is what I have to work with at the moment and something that I have had great results with before my most recent pregnancy. It is a good stepping stone for me at this moment. It is fine if you hate it, but what you and Reality_Is_Ha just did was beat up on the new kid. This was my first post on here and am now wondering if this forum is something I should bother with. Anyway, congrats to Cranquistador for her awesome results from all her hard work, That was all I was trying to get across. Sorry it offended so much.

They weren't beating you up. If anything, Reality's post looked like he was looking for clarification, while Lishie offered YOU clarification. Some people do think things like Chaelean Extreme are heavy lifting, and come back disappointed when they don't get the results they were looking for!

If you know it isn't heavy lifting, it was odd to share it in a thread that has become essentially about strength training, hence their posts, I assume! It'd be like if I went into a running thread and said, "Wow, great results! I'm going to start swimming now because I'm inspired!" Sure, it's great to be inspired to a physical activity, but if it's out of place, it's going to look kind of irrelevant, haha!

If it gets you started, great! But if you really want to achieve results from heavy lifting, try programs like Stronglifts 5x5 or New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

QueenBishOTUniverse

Ok, OP:

So here at am before I started working out:



I was all like "I am going to do 30DS and RI30 and I'm gonna be banging. This is what I got:



Improvement, but um -- not much for the effort.

So then I was like "might as well try lifting heavy things".



That is after 3 months of progressively lifting heavier things. I am excited to see where I am in 2-3 more months.

I weigh the most in the last pic too, I dropped 2 sizes. My advice to you is put down the cardio based programs using light weights and pick up a barbell. :flowerforyou:

WOOT! Ambers represent! I just moved from dumbbells to barbell so I've still got a little while since I'm just starting to really build my weight up, but I'm keeping fingers crossed for post worthy pics by this summer.

Definitely start with what you got. I started with P90X over the summer just to build up my general strength and cardiovascular endurance. The only reason people seem to gang up a bit is because the misconceptions about what constitutes real HEAVY lifting are rampant and people get discouraged when they don't see the results they were expecting. It really is important to make sure that people (especially new people) are aware that these results are due to progressively lifting with heavier weights, something that generally means you're going to need to start training with a barbell and plates eventually.

wheird

DANG!!!! If you are not an inspiration for us women to weight lift I don't know what would be!!!! Now I am wanting to run and pull out my Chalean Extreme videos....:happy:

She did this by lifting weights.
Progressively heavier weights.
Not some cardio endurance video posing as a weight lifting routine.

I understand that Chalean extreme is not "Lifting Heavy", but it is what I have to work with at the moment and something that I have had great results with before my most recent pregnancy. It is a good stepping stone for me at this moment. It is fine if you hate it, but what you and Reality_Is_Ha just did was beat up on the new kid. This was my first post on here and am now wondering if this forum is something I should bother with. Anyway, congrats to Cranquistador for her awesome results from all her hard work, That was all I was trying to get across. Sorry it offended so much.

Uh, I wasn't beating you up at all. I was seeking clarification before letting you know that Chalean is not a heavy lifting program since some people mistakenly believe that it is. I was intentionally trying NOT to jump down your throat about it in order to guide you towards other resources if actual weight lifting wasn't an option.

However, I do need to recommend lightening up. These forums -can- be brutal sometimes and if you are going to find offense in every post, you may want to find one that is more gentle.


Oooorrr you can join in on the fun, glean some very useful information from the highly intelligent (and good looking) people on here and integrate into the community.

Cranquistador

DANG!!!! If you are not an inspiration for us women to weight lift I don't know what would be!!!! Now I am wanting to run and pull out my Chalean Extreme videos....:happy:

She did this by lifting weights.
Progressively heavier weights.
Not some cardio endurance video posing as a weight lifting routine.

I understand that Chalean extreme is not "Lifting Heavy", but it is what I have to work with at the moment and something that I have had great results with before my most recent pregnancy. It is a good stepping stone for me at this moment. It is fine if you hate it, but what you and Reality_Is_Ha just did was beat up on the new kid. This was my first post on here and am now wondering if this forum is something I should bother with. Anyway, congrats to Cranquistador for her awesome results from all her hard work, That was all I was trying to get across. Sorry it offended so much.

dont stop posting.

Thank you for your compliment to me.

I think people here get very zealous about the lifting thing because people do programs like Chalean and insist they are lifting. I am sure it is great and helps in a more cardiovascular way and has its place in getting fit.

However if you really want results continue into a progressively heavier lifting program 3 days a week, and do your Chalean video on the off days.

good luck.

QueenBishOTUniverse

LOL, and then ten people respond saying the same thing increasing the possible perception of ganging up. All true though.

wheird

LOL, and then ten people respond saying the same thing increasing the possible perception of ganging up. All true though.

:laugh:

That is because most of us know each other well enough to know when someone is being snarky and who prefers to be helpful. :P

QueenBishOTUniverse

LOL, and then ten people respond saying the same thing increasing the possible perception of ganging up. All true though.

:laugh:

That is because most of us know each other well enough to know when someone is being snarky and who prefers to be helpful. :P

Snarky? Who? I've never seen that.......

psuLemon

With people who are underweight, it's extremely common for them to still have higher amounts of body fat. So if you want to get a flat stomach, there is a strong chance you will need to build the muscle back up that you lost. You can do this with a bulk phased followed by a cut. This means you would need to eat a surplus to gain weight (mass) and then after 8-12 weeks, drop calories to just below maintenance to lose any new fat you gained.


The alternate option is eating at maintenance and try strength training to lose body fat and maintain muscle, but this is definitely the long approach. I worked with a woman where she ate 2100 calories on lifting days and 1800 on non lifting days, and it took a year to go from 26% body fat down to 18% body fat. So it can be done, but it's definitely long.

Would you mind sharing what program she followed, Psulemon?

Also, good luck OP! You've gotten some good advice in here, especially from Cranq and Psulemon. I've been in your place (same height, lower weight), and just keep going down, never being happy with my stomach.

I'm 139 right now and with a flatter stomach than when I was 100, so weight training does wonders (to self-esteem, too!).

NROL4W, Starting Strength, and Strong lift are all good programs to start with (especially with gym access). If you want an at home workout, body beast would be my suggestion. Personally, i workout at home and use BB programs, so I am partial to them. It just depends where you workout.

LishieFruit89

LOL, and then ten people respond saying the same thing increasing the possible perception of ganging up. All true though.

:laugh:

That is because most of us know each other well enough to know when someone is being snarky and who prefers to be helpful. :P

Snarky? Who? I've never seen that.......

Not me for once haha

kittikat1119

I see your point. Perhaps I am simply being overly sensitive, come to think of it, my husband might have mentioned that recently...:laugh:

I guess I was just kinda surprised by how the post was taken. Was just trying to give her a thumbs up and show she is an inspiration, even if it inspired something a bit different than what she was doing to achieve those results. Kinda weird I guess, but I am weird by nature so it kinda fits.

psuLemon

DANG!!!! If you are not an inspiration for us women to weight lift I don't know what would be!!!! Now I am wanting to run and pull out my Chalean Extreme videos....:happy:

She did this by lifting weights.
Progressively heavier weights.
Not some cardio endurance video posing as a weight lifting routine.

I understand that Chalean extreme is not "Lifting Heavy", but it is what I have to work with at the moment and something that I have had great results with before my most recent pregnancy. It is a good stepping stone for me at this moment. It is fine if you hate it, but what you and Reality_Is_Ha just did was beat up on the new kid. This was my first post on here and am now wondering if this forum is something I should bother with. Anyway, congrats to Cranquistador for her awesome results from all her hard work, That was all I was trying to get across. Sorry it offended so much.

dont stop posting.

Thank you for your compliment to me.

I think people here get very zealous about the lifting thing because people do programs like Chalean and insist they are lifting. I am sure it is great and helps in a more cardiovascular way and has its place in getting fit.

However if you really want results continue into a progressively heavier lifting program 3 days a week, and do your Chalean video on the off days.

good luck.

In all honestly, CLX is more lifting than many of those programs (as is P90X) but it is still more of an anaerobic type workout. Dont get me wrong, it is great for people who need to lose weight, but would be terrible for someone who needs to gain mass.

firstsip

With people who are underweight, it's extremely common for them to still have higher amounts of body fat. So if you want to get a flat stomach, there is a strong chance you will need to build the muscle back up that you lost. You can do this with a bulk phased followed by a cut. This means you would need to eat a surplus to gain weight (mass) and then after 8-12 weeks, drop calories to just below maintenance to lose any new fat you gained.


The alternate option is eating at maintenance and try strength training to lose body fat and maintain muscle, but this is definitely the long approach. I worked with a woman where she ate 2100 calories on lifting days and 1800 on non lifting days, and it took a year to go from 26% body fat down to 18% body fat. So it can be done, but it's definitely long.

Would you mind sharing what program she followed, Psulemon?

Also, good luck OP! You've gotten some good advice in here, especially from Cranq and Psulemon. I've been in your place (same height, lower weight), and just keep going down, never being happy with my stomach.

I'm 139 right now and with a flatter stomach than when I was 100, so weight training does wonders (to self-esteem, too!).

NROL4W, Starting Strength, and Strong lift are all good programs to start with (especially with gym access). If you want an at home workout, body beast would be my suggestion. Personally, i workout at home and use BB programs, so I am partial to them. It just depends where you workout.

I've been lifting for about a year and a half now (previously Stronglifts, then Madcow) and have been using 5/3/1 for four months. Was just curious at that individual to have made such big body fat changes!