Ask me anything about fat/weight loss....

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  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Bumping the rollover...
  • tripod271
    tripod271 Posts: 112 Member
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    bump
  • naku
    naku Posts: 109 Member
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    I'm gonna ask this here too for more ideas...

    My stats:
    5'7
    138lb (gained 3-4lb since started doing bodyweight exercises)
    average around 1400cal per day / week

    Ok so I have been doing bodyweight exercises for about 2,5 months now. My body has responded really well, flat stomach, visible abs, banging bum and sculpted back yadda yadda. I look great naked.
    The problem is that even though my stomach is getting flatter, my waist is expanding and getting wider! I've gained a whole inch on my waist and it doesn't seem to be going away. This combined with my hips getting more narrow I'm scared that I'll lose my hourglass shape completely.

    I'm happy with how my body has tightened up really quickly and nothing wiggles.... but my waist needs to go back down!

    Should I stop doing all exercises that target obligues? Or lower my calories and try to lose more fat...(scared that this will make my hips shrink even more!)
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
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    I'm gonna ask this here too for more ideas...

    My stats:
    5'7
    138lb (gained 3-4lb since started doing bodyweight exercises)
    average around 1400cal per day / week

    Ok so I have been doing bodyweight exercises for about 2,5 months now. My body has responded really well, flat stomach, visible abs, banging bum and sculpted back yadda yadda. I look great naked.
    The problem is that even though my stomach is getting flatter, my waist is expanding and getting wider! I've gained a whole inch on my waist and it doesn't seem to be going away. This combined with my hips getting more narrow I'm scared that I'll lose my hourglass shape completely.

    I'm happy with how my body has tightened up really quickly and nothing wiggles.... but my waist needs to go back down!

    Should I stop doing all exercises that target obligues? Or lower my calories and try to lose more fat...(scared that this will make my hips shrink even more!)

    You had me a 'banging bum.' :D

    Seriously though, it is most likely the exercises you do yeh. In the physique world, it is all about the illusion. Smaller the waist, the wider the back will look. Wider the shoulders the smaller the waist looks. Most of the top level bikini competitors are always putting most focus on glutes, hams, and shoulders in order to produce the "effect." Lots of the chappies(AND chippies) think that doing a lot of ab and oblique work is good when to produce the overall effect, it could be THE WORSE thing for you. I use to hammer abs and obliques super hard, but they just spoiled my shape because I was building these big lego-block abs and a thick waist. I don't train abs whatsoever any more because of that. Intense deadlifting and back squatting session can sometimes make this happen also.

    As for your hips. Most women carry fat on the hips, and as you lean out, you will lose them. But, you CAN kinda trick the effect back on by using exercises that focus on building muscle around the hip area. The abductor machine is a great one to start with. Hope this helps.
  • willjean
    willjean Posts: 29 Member
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    i'm new to MFF and I'm loving it. So far, I've lost 3 lbs in 2-weeks on Insanity. Here's my dilemma.... when I try and stay within the recommended calorie intake, then I exceed all of the other categories like protein and sugars, for example. But, when I try and stay within the recommended categories, then I wouldn't get enough calories.

    Should I focus more on maintaining the correct calorie intake and less on the category breakdown?

    BTW, I'm not gonna start a donut and soda diet just the calories but I don't know if I should be concerned if I eat good calories and exceed the intake calorie goal by a few hundred.
  • amolina0810
    amolina0810 Posts: 106 Member
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    Can you tell me if I am on the right track to healthy weight loss? I started MFP over a week ago, and since then I have lost 5 pounds. I am a 5' 5.5" female, starting weight was 170 last month. Now I am at 162lbs. For exercise I always do 30 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of strength training everyday. I like to switch up my cardio and do different things. Lastnight I ran 3 miles and we have this huge sledding hill where I live so I ran up and down it 3 times (one time backwards). For my diet, MFP tells me to be on a 1200 calorie diet and I am always under my calories. Some days I am really low because of my workouts. My goal weight is to be a lean muscular 140lbs. Am I on the right track? I wanted to add that I have a very athletic body. I have played sports all of my life and even at 162 I have muscle cuts, a flat tummy (no abs though), and nice biceps. I want to lose body fat and sculpt lean muscle. And also, should I have a rest day?
  • naku
    naku Posts: 109 Member
    Options
    I'm gonna ask this here too for more ideas...

    My stats:
    5'7
    138lb (gained 3-4lb since started doing bodyweight exercises)
    average around 1400cal per day / week

    Ok so I have been doing bodyweight exercises for about 2,5 months now. My body has responded really well, flat stomach, visible abs, banging bum and sculpted back yadda yadda. I look great naked.
    The problem is that even though my stomach is getting flatter, my waist is expanding and getting wider! I've gained a whole inch on my waist and it doesn't seem to be going away. This combined with my hips getting more narrow I'm scared that I'll lose my hourglass shape completely.

    I'm happy with how my body has tightened up really quickly and nothing wiggles.... but my waist needs to go back down!

    Should I stop doing all exercises that target obligues? Or lower my calories and try to lose more fat...(scared that this will make my hips shrink even more!)

    You had me a 'banging bum.' :D

    Seriously though, it is most likely the exercises you do yeh. In the physique world, it is all about the illusion. Smaller the waist, the wider the back will look. Wider the shoulders the smaller the waist looks. Most of the top level bikini competitors are always putting most focus on glutes, hams, and shoulders in order to produce the "effect." Lots of the chappies(AND chippies) think that doing a lot of ab and oblique work is good when to produce the overall effect, it could be THE WORSE thing for you. I use to hammer abs and obliques super hard, but they just spoiled my shape because I was building these big lego-block abs and a thick waist. I don't train abs whatsoever any more because of that. Intense deadlifting and back squatting session can sometimes make this happen also.

    As for your hips. Most women carry fat on the hips, and as you lean out, you will lose them. But, you CAN kinda trick the effect back on by using exercises that focus on building muscle around the hip area. The abductor machine is a great one to start with. Hope this helps.

    This is so sad. I LOVE side planks (+ thrusts), russian twists, deadlifts etc etc...
    Oh well. Now I just need to find a way to spot reduce muscle to get rid of what's already there.
  • moe5474
    moe5474 Posts: 162
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    bump for rollover
  • Lisa294
    Lisa294 Posts: 9
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    bump
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    Hi there! Okay, I have a question. I've lost all the weight I wanted to lose, but now I'm trying to tone up. I want that flat stomach, you know? I'm pretty close to it, but there's still some fat in the way. I lift weights 3x a week and do cardio most of the other days. I have recently started eating "clean" and plan to stick to it. However, I am eating at maintenance level, not a deficit since I'm not really trying to lose any more weight. Will I need to go back to eating at a deficit to tone up, or will eating clean, lifting heavy, and cardio be enough? I've heard evidence from both sides.

    Stats:

    5'4"
    130 lbs
    About 23% body fat
    I want to be about 20% body fat

    Thanks!
  • perfect10isha
    perfect10isha Posts: 200 Member
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    If I'm 5'6" and 142 and my weight loss has stalled for almost a month is it possible that I may not be eating enough?? I typically eat between 1450-1550 calories a day. I'm not currently working out because I just returned to work from maternity leave and haven't quite got a routine down yet that allows me too. I calculated my BMR (1441) and my TDEE (1921) so at what I'm eating I'm shocked my weight has stayed exactly the same for almost 4 weeks. Thoughts??

    *edited to correct my calories.
  • belladonnablue
    belladonnablue Posts: 24
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    I'm gonna ask this here too for more ideas...

    My stats:
    5'7
    138lb (gained 3-4lb since started doing bodyweight exercises)
    average around 1400cal per day / week

    Ok so I have been doing bodyweight exercises for about 2,5 months now. My body has responded really well, flat stomach, visible abs, banging bum and sculpted back yadda yadda. I look great naked.
    The problem is that even though my stomach is getting flatter, my waist is expanding and getting wider! I've gained a whole inch on my waist and it doesn't seem to be going away. This combined with my hips getting more narrow I'm scared that I'll lose my hourglass shape completely.

    I'm happy with how my body has tightened up really quickly and nothing wiggles.... but my waist needs to go back down!

    Should I stop doing all exercises that target obligues? Or lower my calories and try to lose more fat...(scared that this will make my hips shrink even more!)

    You had me a 'banging bum.' :D

    Seriously though, it is most likely the exercises you do yeh. In the physique world, it is all about the illusion. Smaller the waist, the wider the back will look. Wider the shoulders the smaller the waist looks. Most of the top level bikini competitors are always putting most focus on glutes, hams, and shoulders in order to produce the "effect." Lots of the chappies(AND chippies) think that doing a lot of ab and oblique work is good when to produce the overall effect, it could be THE WORSE thing for you. I use to hammer abs and obliques super hard, but they just spoiled my shape because I was building these big lego-block abs and a thick waist. I don't train abs whatsoever any more because of that. Intense deadlifting and back squatting session can sometimes make this happen also.

    Yup, it's me again. I had asked a similar question on the prior thread. I get that if you want to keep a narrow waist, you gotta NOT bulk up on ab and oblique exercises, but that does that mean not training them *at all*? I intend to incorporate more exercises into my routine like lunges and such to help work the shape I want, but I do have some ab work in there, too -- will some light work on abs through crunches and leg lifts cause that waist thickness, if I'm not doing it a lot? My internet research on the topic is incredibly contradictory.

    And a secondary question... when deciding on goals for weight loss, it seems like it's better to focus on body fat % rather than pounds lost, yeah? In which case... if 1-2 pounds per week is a good loss goal on the scale, what is a good rate of body fat % loss to shoot for?

    Thanks lots! :smile:
  • DoingItNow2012
    DoingItNow2012 Posts: 424 Member
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    When cutting, is it best to do cardio, weights or both?
  • samthomason
    samthomason Posts: 46 Member
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    interesting
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Options
    i'm new to MFF and I'm loving it. So far, I've lost 3 lbs in 2-weeks on Insanity. Here's my dilemma.... when I try and stay within the recommended calorie intake, then I exceed all of the other categories like protein and sugars, for example. But, when I try and stay within the recommended categories, then I wouldn't get enough calories.

    Should I focus more on maintaining the correct calorie intake and less on the category breakdown?

    BTW, I'm not gonna start a donut and soda diet just the calories but I don't know if I should be concerned if I eat good calories and exceed the intake calorie goal by a few hundred.

    The calories are what are always gonna be most important for weightloss. It's biochemistry 101. Burn more than you take in, lose weight.
  • darknyx
    darknyx Posts: 2
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    One of my favorite tools in my home gym is my stability ball. My ab toning exercises are the 'knee tuck' and the 'ball transfer'. It doesn't take much to get a really great core workout. These really work on me!
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Options
    Can you tell me if I am on the right track to healthy weight loss? I started MFP over a week ago, and since then I have lost 5 pounds. I am a 5' 5.5" female, starting weight was 170 last month. Now I am at 162lbs. For exercise I always do 30 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of strength training everyday. I like to switch up my cardio and do different things. Lastnight I ran 3 miles and we have this huge sledding hill where I live so I ran up and down it 3 times (one time backwards). For my diet, MFP tells me to be on a 1200 calorie diet and I am always under my calories. Some days I am really low because of my workouts. My goal weight is to be a lean muscular 140lbs. Am I on the right track? I wanted to add that I have a very athletic body. I have played sports all of my life and even at 162 I have muscle cuts, a flat tummy (no abs though), and nice biceps. I want to lose body fat and sculpt lean muscle. And also, should I have a rest day?

    Don't see any problem so far. Keep doing what you're doing. As for the rest day, if you aren't overtraining and you want to workout 7 days a week, that's perfectly fine. If you start burning out and overtraining though, definitely take a day or two of rest.
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Options
    I'm gonna ask this here too for more ideas...

    My stats:
    5'7
    138lb (gained 3-4lb since started doing bodyweight exercises)
    average around 1400cal per day / week

    Ok so I have been doing bodyweight exercises for about 2,5 months now. My body has responded really well, flat stomach, visible abs, banging bum and sculpted back yadda yadda. I look great naked.
    The problem is that even though my stomach is getting flatter, my waist is expanding and getting wider! I've gained a whole inch on my waist and it doesn't seem to be going away. This combined with my hips getting more narrow I'm scared that I'll lose my hourglass shape completely.

    I'm happy with how my body has tightened up really quickly and nothing wiggles.... but my waist needs to go back down!

    Should I stop doing all exercises that target obligues? Or lower my calories and try to lose more fat...(scared that this will make my hips shrink even more!)

    You had me a 'banging bum.' :D

    Seriously though, it is most likely the exercises you do yeh. In the physique world, it is all about the illusion. Smaller the waist, the wider the back will look. Wider the shoulders the smaller the waist looks. Most of the top level bikini competitors are always putting most focus on glutes, hams, and shoulders in order to produce the "effect." Lots of the chappies(AND chippies) think that doing a lot of ab and oblique work is good when to produce the overall effect, it could be THE WORSE thing for you. I use to hammer abs and obliques super hard, but they just spoiled my shape because I was building these big lego-block abs and a thick waist. I don't train abs whatsoever any more because of that. Intense deadlifting and back squatting session can sometimes make this happen also.

    As for your hips. Most women carry fat on the hips, and as you lean out, you will lose them. But, you CAN kinda trick the effect back on by using exercises that focus on building muscle around the hip area. The abductor machine is a great one to start with. Hope this helps.

    This is so sad. I LOVE side planks (+ thrusts), russian twists, deadlifts etc etc...
    Oh well. Now I just need to find a way to spot reduce muscle to get rid of what's already there.

    I'm big deadlift fan, and I do them but I track my measurements with them. Waist starts adding to much muscle and size back, I put the deadlifts on the shelf for a month or two.
  • DoingItNow2012
    DoingItNow2012 Posts: 424 Member
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    Another question, if it is just calories in vs. calories out, how come some people seem to lose faster on certain diets (I.e. Atkins)? I agree that if you follow any program as intended it will work and you should find one that works for you that you can stick with, but just curious.
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Options
    Hi there! Okay, I have a question. I've lost all the weight I wanted to lose, but now I'm trying to tone up. I want that flat stomach, you know? I'm pretty close to it, but there's still some fat in the way. I lift weights 3x a week and do cardio most of the other days. I have recently started eating "clean" and plan to stick to it. However, I am eating at maintenance level, not a deficit since I'm not really trying to lose any more weight. Will I need to go back to eating at a deficit to tone up, or will eating clean, lifting heavy, and cardio be enough? I've heard evidence from both sides.

    Stats:

    5'4"
    130 lbs
    About 23% body fat
    I want to be about 20% body fat

    Thanks!

    Most likely you're going to have to lose more body fat. That's all "tone up" really means. You can't TONE body fat, you have to burn it off. Try losing another 5 and then reevalutaing. At 5'4, I would shoot for at LEAST 18% body fat to really start seeing that toned look. Most pro level bikini competitors are around 12%, so 18% for you would definitely be doable.

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