harder to lose weight if you're not over my much?

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annemarie3004
annemarie3004 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
*hard to lose weight if you're not over BY much* - sorry about the typo.

I am a 26 y.o. female, and I currently weigh 113 pounds, height 5'5", waist 26 inches. I see people having achieved some impressive goals over here (congrats!) Here is my problem: I am trying to lose a bit of tummy and tone up (but mostly tummy) - what works? I'm really trying to lose 2-3 inches and just generally be healthy, but it is hard to lose those inches. I don't know that I'll ever have a completely flat stomach, but a little closer to that than I am right now would be great.

I want to follow a realistic plan of 2-3 workouts a week that are 1h long, but I am at a loss for what type of exercise (or combination thereof) I should be going for. In terms of eating, I try to eat at least 3 meals a day and snack healthily in between. My snacks tend to be fruits & veggies, sometimes almonds, and I eat home-cooked food mostly. I rarely go out for food, and try to stick to healthy options when I do. I don't feel like my diet is the problem, though I could be wrong. When I log my calories, I find that I am rarely over 1500, and that is when I eat what feels to me like a lot and have exercised. Most days I would probably be in the 1200-1300 range without even trying. The ratio of protein:carbs:sugar:fat is about right according to MFP, with the exception of sugar which is the one I am most likely to go over. Most times that comes from fruit (who knew bananas have so much sugar) so I was not terribly worried about it.

If anyone has any suggestions, particularly people who've been in the same position and have succeeded (yay!), I appreciate your advice on exercising as well as diet adjustments. Thank you!

Replies

  • mrs_joshica
    mrs_joshica Posts: 275 Member
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    1) remember you can't spot reduce, to lose weight in one, you've gotta lose all over. 2) don't be scared of weights, get w/ a personal trainer (if possible) and let them know what you are trying to achieve. Sit ups, crunches, and other abdominal exercises are all great work-outs, but do the research, studies have shown that belly fat and toning stomach is very affected by diet.
  • alaskanpangolin
    alaskanpangolin Posts: 2
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    If you're trying to lose omental fat and you're very slender already, it's probably worth it to de-stress. Make sure you're getting enough sleep, feeling rested, participating in activities you enjoy, and sharing moments with people you love. You can try yoga or meditation.

    This is just an opinion from a layman, of course.

    If you type "visceral fat" and "stress" into google, a ton of studies pop up. Here's one that seems to apply. No comment on veracity.

    http://news.yale.edu/2000/09/22/stress-may-cause-excess-abdominal-fat-otherwise-slender-women-study-conducted-yale-shows

    Good luck!
  • Justkeepswimmin
    Justkeepswimmin Posts: 777 Member
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    You are close to the edge of underweight, and need to build muscle to lose those inches, not get "lighter". I'd suggest more weight training, I love core class for my tummy if you have a gym. If not look for workouts that focus on core, up your calories while reducing sugar and increasing your protein. That's pretty simplified but if you read around you can get some great suggestions for 'how' to do that.
  • ellygolightly
    ellygolightly Posts: 61
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    I would honestly start tracking what you eat. Sometimes what you THINK you eat and what you actually eat are not the same when it comes to total calories. Also, as the other replies say, you absolutely can't spot reduce! Agreed on the heavy lifting too, the leaner you are, the more fat you burn even when you're not exercising :)
  • blue696
    blue696 Posts: 94 Member
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    do a mix of weight lifting and cardio... if you can join a gym and take classes those are really helpful. You can also get videos to follow from youtube or do a Jillian Michaels DVD.
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
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    You are at the low end of your healthy weight already. In my opinion you would be better off eating at maintenance calories and building muscle. Check out the book, "New rules of lifting for women" or stronglifts 5x5 or something like that.
  • jljshoe1979
    jljshoe1979 Posts: 325 Member
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    I'm a 33 y.o. female and just discovered yoga...I've only gone to a few beginner classes, but I love it. It's great for balance, flexibility, and your core. I thought at first it would be boring, but I found myself challenged throughout the class and very relaxed at the end. If you can find a class, than try it. Another class offered at my gym is pilates yoga. I've heard pilates really works your core/ab area, so I am eager to try it, when I get a chance. Oh, for "core exercises at-home" try variations of crunches and do planks (looks easy, but very challenging as you increase your time. One last thing I've tried that was "okay to me" was using a stability ball to do crunches. Good luck.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    don't lose any more weight. Even if you have a tiny frame, I don't think you really need to lose weight.

    If you don't like how your body is, get in the gym and lift weights, eat a decent amount of protein, and build up the strength of your bones and muscles. Improve your body fat percentage. that's what's going to really change how you look.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    You are honestly scaring me. You are my height and weigh 25 pounds less than me with a waist 2 inches smaller in diameter...and you are dieting?

    If I were you, I would determine your TDEE and eat close to that and get involved in a heavy lifting program. This will shape your body without killing it through calorie deficits. Search for body recomposition.
  • annemarie3004
    annemarie3004 Posts: 2
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    Thank you all for your helpful suggestions! I should clarify that I am not really trying to lose weight, but inches. I would not mind gaining some muscle. I've been experimenting with logging food intake and exercise on here to figure out my habits and if I'm plain not doing things right. My profile may say I lost 5 pounds, but that is just from having guessed my weight wrong when I first created my profile, and then weighing myself in the evening as opposed to mornings. In all honesty, I probably oscillate 2-3 pounds whenever I weigh myself, and that has been so since high school. I appreciate your suggestions of eating my maintenance calories - see I do not know how to do this. I will be sure to update that in my goals and monitor what I eat that way for the next few days, and really try to eat my protein. What is TDEE?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Thank you all for your helpful suggestions! I should clarify that I am not really trying to lose weight, but inches. I would not mind gaining some muscle. I've been experimenting with logging food intake and exercise on here to figure out my habits and if I'm plain not doing things right. My profile may say I lost 5 pounds, but that is just from having guessed my weight wrong when I first created my profile, and then weighing myself in the evening as opposed to mornings. In all honesty, I have probably oscillate 2-3 pounds whenever I weigh myself, and that has been so since high school. I appreciate your suggestions of eating my maintenance calories - see I do not know how to do this. I will be sure to update that in my goals and monitor what I eat that way for the next few days, and really try to eat my protein. What is TDEE?

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure - what you burn daily doing everything, sleeping, eating, sitting, exercise, ect.

    Usually look at weekly activity since daily can vary so much, and avg that weekly routine back out to a daily level.
    Then you eat that daily, no matter what you do.

    Or close to it, so estimate a TDEE that includes no exercise (as MFP does), and when exercise is done, you eat those calories back post workout.
    I'd suggest doing that so you get the most benefit from exercise.
    And that should be lifting 3 x weekly, walking as only cardio, first thing in morning before you eat, on non-lifting days.

    If using MFP, select Lightly Active, Maintenance, and eat that daily. Log Strength training, and the walking, and eat those calories back.

    The strength training is going to be the only way to lose the fat but not weight.

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