Strategies for Reducing Body Fat

sunshine79

Like many others have said, go heavy on the weights. I only have 9lbs to lose but I want to lose fat not just 'weight'. My personal trainer has me use really challenging weights with slightly lower reps. Last year when I lost lost of weight (before a medical condition caused me to gain it all back!) I also did HIIT (High intensity interval training) which really helped too

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do it

gogophers

If you do start lifting heavy, a couple of things to keep in mind:

Watch out for injuries. Depending on what you're doing, make sure you have a spotter. Make sure you are doing the exercise properly. Also, try to flex your abs as your doing the exercise. It'll help keep your back from getting injured and will actually help you lift more weight.

Do multi-muscle workouts first. You want to try to do as much weight with each exercise as possible. So, for example, never do triceps before doing bench press. If you do bench press first, it will allow you to actually build up chest strength.

Opposites attract: Make sure that when you are doing your workout you know what part of your body is being worked. Then, figure out the opposing muscle and make sure you work that out too. For example, if you do biceps, make sure you also do triceps. If you do chest, make sure you also do upper back. If you do abs, make sure you also do lower back.

Free weights are better than machines. They allow you to use the rest of your body and your core to make sure the weights are moving in the correct position.

Also, pay attention to the order in which you do things and switch it up if it makes sense. For example, if I'm using a machine for bicep curls (dumbbells or an ez-curl bar are always better, but sometimes they aren't available) I will make sure to do biceps before triceps because with the bicep machine, your triceps are resting on the padding. It can start to hurt if you've already done your tricep exercise. Same is true for quad and hami exercises. Do hami first because the quad receives pressure in that exercise.

jockg

Hiya I'm currently doing a 5x5 program for my weights, its 5 sets of 5 reps with heavy weights. I've had pretty good success with it so far, I really like it because once you can do 5 sets of 5 reps you increase the weight by 2.5Kg / 5Lbs, so you can see results in your mind as well as your body. All the weights are easy to perform, you only need a barbell.

More info here - http://s3.amazonaws.com/StrongLifts/stronglifts-5x5-report.pdf

That file is mainly aimed at guys IMO but there are women that do it too. There's a woman in my gym that does it and I think she looks great. You'd never tell she did weights when shes wearing normal clothes.

After weights I do 2 x 10 minute HIIT cardio sessions like sunshine79

Jillk1023

bump

BigBoneSista

Muscle burns fat---hit the weights girl.

I do that 4 times a week. But I'm wondering if I should kick up the intensity. I"m not looking to be bulky, but I am looking for tips for women for a lean toned body.

Hit the HEAVY weights. Low reps and high weight. Check out "New Rules of Lifting for Women" - a wonderful program for gaining strength and reducing body fat. I lost 2-3% doing this program coupled with Crossfit (something else you may want to look into).

Kudos to you for forgetting the scale - I wish more would do that!! It is such an inaccurate way to measure health and fitness.

I have to agree with heavy weights.

You want your muscles to max out by the time you get to your last reps each time and make sure your form is correct. Also make sure your reps are slow & steady and squeeze the muscle.

ashley0616

Weighted hula hoop. I work with a gal who added that to her regimen and lost serious inches off her waist!

Make sure every weight training exercise you do, you are tucking your pelvis under and squeezing your abs, even if you are working your arms or legs.

Also, bellies store carbs, so you could look at your diary and see where you could cut a few out. Even one serving a day will make a difference!

Good luck! And congrats on your progress thusfar!

hottottie11

Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! I think I have a game plan. I'm picking up the "New rules of lifting for women" at B&N today after the gym. I will also start some HIIT training! I'm excited :happy:

Do I really have to sacrifice some of my carbs? Nothing refined or processed and everything comes from whole wheat or fruits and veggies? I really don't want to cut them.

freerange

Ever look at an olympic sprinter? Add HIIT sprints to your workout, cut out all refined carbs, and you will do just fine.

RunHardBeStrong

Another testimony here for the book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" and heavy lifting. I promise you won't get bulky, you will lose fat, get toned and be totally sexy!!!!

freerange

Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions! I think I have a game plan. I'm picking up the "New rules of lifting for women" at B&N today after the gym. I will also start some HIIT training! I'm excited :happy:

Do I really have to sacrifice some of my carbs? Nothing refined or processed and everything comes from whole wheat or fruits and veggies? I really don't want to cut them.

I should have read this before I posted my first post. Try cutting out all grains for two weeks just to see how it works for you. If you want to keep your carbs at the same level try adding sweet potatoes to make up for the carbs you lose from your whole wheat. Wheat is processed carbs, no matter if it's WW of white.

hottottie11

I understand that. But what I'm eating now is what I intent on carrying on through my maintenance. If I cut out some carbs, I would lose for now (mostly water weight), but what happens when I want to reintroduce wheat bread back. I love my PB sandwiches lol.

freerange

I understand that. But what I'm eating now is what I intent on carrying on through my maintenance. If I cut out some carbs, I would lose for now (mostly water weight), but what happens when I want to reintroduce wheat bread back. I love my PB sandwiches lol.

I understand, and you have to make that decision for yourself. What I was getting at is, if you cut them out for a couple weeks, and you see the benefits of not eating grains you might decide you don’t need them in your diet after all,,,, ever. But if not then, you’re right cutting something just for a short time to only re-introduce them does not make any sense.

Actually this hits at the heart of any diet, why go on a low fat diet only to add back the fat after you have reached your goal? Or why go on a low sugar diet only to add back sugar after you reach your goal? You get the idea, if a person is going to be “healthy” you need to find the diet that will allow you to be healthy, and stick to it,,,,,,, for life. To me eating clean, whole, unprocessed food, without grain, is healthy, and is the way I see myself eating for life.

Too many people see diet as a fix, as a means to an end. Then they reach the end and think whoo hoo the diet is over I can stop suffering now, I can stop depriving myself now. Wrong, first off if you were suffering and depriving yourself, you were on the wrong diet, secondly if you look at it like this you are doomed to fail and would probably be better off not going on the diet in the first place.

hottottie11

I understand that. But what I'm eating now is what I intent on carrying on through my maintenance. If I cut out some carbs, I would lose for now (mostly water weight), but what happens when I want to reintroduce wheat bread back. I love my PB sandwiches lol.

I understand, and you have to make that decision for yourself. What I was getting at is, if you cut them out for a couple weeks, and you see the benefits of not eating grains you might decide you don’t need them in your diet after all,,,, ever. But if not then, you’re right cutting something just for a short time to only re-introduce them does not make any sense.

Actually this hits at the heart of any diet, why go on a low fat diet only to add back the fat after you have reached your goal? Or why go on a low sugar diet only to add back sugar after you reach your goal? You get the idea, if a person is going to be “healthy” you need to find the diet that will allow you to be healthy, and stick to it,,,,,,, for life. To me eating clean, whole, unprocessed food, without grain, is healthy, and is the way I see myself eating for life.

Too many people see diet as a fix, as a means to an end. Then they reach the end and think whoo hoo the diet is over I can stop suffering now, I can stop depriving myself now. Wrong, first off if you were suffering and depriving yourself, you were on the wrong diet, secondly if you look at it like this you are doomed to fail and would probably be better off not going on the diet in the first place.

Ok I see what you're saying. I may consider it. Yeah I love what I eat now. I believe its healthy, low in sodium, good fats, higher lean protein, high fiber, fresh fruits and veggies...etc etc....And it incorporates a lot of the foods I love. I don't even like to call it a diet either. Anytime I feel like I'm depriving myself, I change it up. I foolishly tried aktins, trying to be low carb and it was NOT for me. I ended up craving like crazy and started to have chest pains. not good lol

freerange

I understand that. But what I'm eating now is what I intent on carrying on through my maintenance. If I cut out some carbs, I would lose for now (mostly water weight), but what happens when I want to reintroduce wheat bread back. I love my PB sandwiches lol.

I understand, and you have to make that decision for yourself. What I was getting at is, if you cut them out for a couple weeks, and you see the benefits of not eating grains you might decide you don’t need them in your diet after all,,,, ever. But if not then, you’re right cutting something just for a short time to only re-introduce them does not make any sense.

Actually this hits at the heart of any diet, why go on a low fat diet only to add back the fat after you have reached your goal? Or why go on a low sugar diet only to add back sugar after you reach your goal? You get the idea, if a person is going to be “healthy” you need to find the diet that will allow you to be healthy, and stick to it,,,,,,, for life. To me eating clean, whole, unprocessed food, without grain, is healthy, and is the way I see myself eating for life.

Too many people see diet as a fix, as a means to an end. Then they reach the end and think whoo hoo the diet is over I can stop suffering now, I can stop depriving myself now. Wrong, first off if you were suffering and depriving yourself, you were on the wrong diet, secondly if you look at it like this you are doomed to fail and would probably be better off not going on the diet in the first place.

Ok I see what you're saying. I may consider it. Yeah I love what I eat now. I believe its healthy, low in sodium, good fats, higher lean protein, high fiber, fresh fruits and veggies...etc etc....And it incorporates a lot of the foods I love. I don't even like to call it a diet either. Anytime I feel like I'm depriving myself, I change it up. I foolishly tried aktins, trying to be low carb and it was NOT for me. I ended up craving like crazy and started to have chest pains. not good lol

Good luck to you, I checked out your profile, and all I can say is,,,,,,, wow, you have done a great job so far, I'm sure you will find a way to make that last bit work.