What to do to lose the last few pounds and tone??

newNRGkate
newNRGkate Posts: 56 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My weekly workout usually consists of Zumba (I instruct) 2-3hrs/wk, riding a recumbant bike 4-5hrs/wk, lifting weights (mostly upper body) 3x/wk and some crunches and squats throughout the week. I usually try to keep to around 1200-1500 calories/day and generally eat back most of my calories.

I don't see much change in my upper body in spite of the weight training (I use a BowFlex and push my weights and reps pretty good) and definately have not lost more than a pound or 2 over the past few months. My belly is not huge but I do have "muffin top" with some of my pants.

What can I do to maximize the workouts I'm already doing? Should I do more weights or more cardio? I really don't know what I'm doing wrong and why I'm not seeing the results I was hoping for. Would love some suggestions from those of you more educated with this stuff:))

Replies

  • PiperGabrielle
    PiperGabrielle Posts: 31 Member
    I'm not very educated in the exercises that might help you. But toning muscle involves more reps and building muscle involves increasing the weight you are lifting. (more muscle burns more cals)
    I do know that one pound of weight equals about 350 calories. To calculate how many cals your body needs to operate, use this website http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
    This will tell you the exact reductions you need to take for fat loss. I like to look at my weekly intake, like a 2000 cal/day diet would be 14000 cals a week. To reduce my diet to 1500 would mean an intake of 10500 cals a week.
  • mcesarey
    mcesarey Posts: 1
    By "eating back" your calories, does that mean you're eating calories to compensate for what you've lost during cardio? If so, I wouldn't do that. I'm in the Air Force and get the luxury of meeting with a dietician once a month, and she said to go ahead and log your workouts in the app, but don't eat to compensate for them. After all, you're trying to lose weight.

    Getting rid of the muffin top has little to do with pushing your workouts and much to do with eating fewer calories. 1200-1500 is probably appropriate, but if you're counting net calories and compensating for your workouts, then you're probably eating more like 2000 calories, which is why you're having trouble losing those last few pounds.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    By "eating back" your calories, does that mean you're eating calories to compensate for what you've lost during cardio? If so, I wouldn't do that. I'm in the Air Force and get the luxury of meeting with a dietician once a month, and she said to go ahead and log your workouts in the app, but don't eat to compensate for them. After all, you're trying to lose weight.

    Getting rid of the muffin top has little to do with pushing your workouts and much to do with eating fewer calories. 1200-1500 is probably appropriate, but if you're counting net calories and compensating for your workouts, then you're probably eating more like 2000 calories, which is why you're having trouble losing those last few pounds.

    Bad advice with the amount of cardio you're doing.

    With the few pounds you have left to lose, either calculate your TDEE including your exercise and take off 10-15%. Eat that amount every day. OR set MFP to lose 0.5 pounds a week and eat most of your exercise calories. It should be pretty near the same amount. If you're using MFP's default settings, aim to go over your protein goal, hit your fat goal, and stay under your carb goal.

    Heavy strength training - bench press, overhead press, rows, squats and deadlifts - is what really transformed my body.
  • Tari_D
    Tari_D Posts: 121 Member
    BUMP. I'm in similar sort of place and everything I've read seems to suggest that getting enough protein and lifting heavy is way forward. I've still got a bit more to lose than you so I'm still on quite low calories, not sure if that is the right idea or not.

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