Do I need to eat less?

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I have gained about 10 lbs due to school/living on pizza and have been trying to lose them for almost 10 months, and I can't -so I am looking for advice. I am a pretty healthy weight now, I'm 5'6" and about 132 lbs, but I'm small framed and all my fat is between by stomach, hips butt and thighs. I look about pregnant (I have been asked several times!) and have a bubble butt, and all my pants are tight. I am pretty strong, eat about 1400-1800 calories a day and workout (some kind of cardio and weights) 3-4 times a week for about an hour. Does anyone have any advice? I feel like eating less calories would help but I feel like I am going to pass out when I eat less than 1400 a day. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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  • claritarejoice
    claritarejoice Posts: 461 Member
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    Hi, your weight is perfect - 5'6" and 132 pounds is great. But you don't like your shape (look pregnant (bloating), butt, tight pants). So without knowing you and just off of what your post says, it sounds like you need to tone, not lose weight. In order to tone I would change your diet and possibly the type of exercise you do (although you said you already do weights). Diet: I would try to eat clean as much as possible, drink 8+ glasses of water a day which will solve the bloating, get enough fiber through whole foods, eat sufficient servings of veggies, fruit and lean protein. Decrease sodium and processed foods because these contribute to bloating. I know it's really hard in school but it's possible to at least eat a little more clean. College cafeterias should have salad bars.

    Exercise: I would work on toning exercises. I LOVE the Slim in 6 DVD program by Beachbody - it's really easy and made my body shape look fantastic. Beachbody also has harder programs like Insanity, Turbofire and P90X. If you want free programs, try youtube videos like Jillian Michaels and others. A lot of colleges have free exercise classes for students - try kickboxing and ballet for toning. You will really want to incorporate resistance and strength training like squats, pushups and weights - this will change your shape.

    To summarise, I doubt you need to eat less, you probably just want to eat and exercise differently.

    On a different note, the grass isn't greener on the other side with women's body shapes - I bet a lot of women with large calves or flat butts would love to have your thin legs and bubble butt. Everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way!

    I hope this helps!!
  • lillauraseymour
    lillauraseymour Posts: 63 Member
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    Thanks for your advice! I have the same problem, i'm going to take it on board!
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    If you can't eat less, move more. IMO thats the better solution 90% of the time anyway - a 30 minute walk every day can add up to a nice fat deficit at the end of a week.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    I ditto the-"don't eat less calories, just better nutritional calories, and *kitten* some exercise, both cardio and weights."