Please help me out

jessiethera

Hi everyone!

I have been pretty successful at losing weight recently (at least according to the scale). Although I feel great in my (new!) much smaller clothes, I can't help but be dismayed at the appearance of my body when I take them off. To put it (somewhat) nicely, my 25-year old never-been-preggers body looks like I'm at least 10 years older and have had a few kids.

Basically, being so overweight put a massive strain on my body, and for such a long time. Now that I'm losing the weight, every fatty area (thighs, upper arms, belly, boobs =( ) has been "deflating." What do you recommend to help in this phenomenon?

Some background: I have lost weight primarily through diet and lots of cardio and yoga. I've recently started incorporating more lifting (once weekly) to my routine in order to try and help with firming up. This is my typical routine:
Standing arm extensions (12.5 lbs, 2 sets 10 reps per arm)
Standing V-Raises (12.5 lbs, 2 x 10 per arm) -http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/standing-v-raise?workout=14315
Walking lunges (10lbs in each hand, 2 x 10 per leg)
Squats (15 lb kettlebell, 2 x 10)
Step-back lunges (holding 20lb weight, 2x10 per leg)--for these, I also do a torso twist over the front leg
Bench dips (working up to 2 x 10, more like 1 x10 and 1 x 6 at this point)
One-minute plank

Are there any exercises to target these problem regions to address this flab? Do you have any recommendations for firming products (extra bonus if they can help with stretch marks!)? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Limit cardio to 3-4 times a week. Lift more, 3-4 days a week is a good place to start. Focus on squats, dead lifts, bench press, press (overhead, behind the neck, or push press, whatever you prefer), rows (barbell, dumbbell, or cable, again, whatever you prefer), pull ups and dips (assisted if you can't do body weight, weighted if you can do more than 10 body weight).