Calling all persoanl trainer.

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At this time, I can't afford a personal trainer so I thought I would come here.

I am 5'5, 247. I have lean VERY muscular legs and calves. My arms are also smaller and slightly toned as well. I carry most of my weight in my middle section. I have a flat backside, so I'm all stomach. I need to get on a workout schedule and find out what I need to be eating that will compliment my workouts and give me the best results.

I have lost 50 lbs before by counting calories (1200 intake) and obsessively working out. I don't want to do that again. I want to lose the weight at a healthy pace, tone my uppper and middle section at the same time and less emphasis on my legs as I tend to bulk up and get defined muscle really quick. Basically my body is very unproportional. I need to lose the belly fat big time.

Is anybody familiar with this body type and what do you suggest for working out and a meal plan that will give me good results without me going overkill?

Replies

  • elle2bee
    elle2bee Posts: 70 Member
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    *personal (typo) oops
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Most good trainers will tell you:

    1: You cannot choose where you lose. The way to lose fat is the same no matter where it's located.

    2. To lose fat - from anywhere - eat in a calorie deficit, do cardio often, and follow a full-body strength training program (like NROLFW, etc).

    3. You will not gain muscle if you are in a calorie deficit. So don't worry about avoiding leg exercises. Your legs, being the biggest muscle group, burn the most calories. So work them. :-)

    The only advice i'll give about your body type is that people who are prone to storing fat in ther midsection ("visceral adiposity") are often more sensitive to carbohydrates, so you might try keeping them moderate (below 40-50% of total calories).

    As far as the rest of your diet, keep it relatively healthy. Not necessarily rabbit food, but not burgers & soda.

    Do you have PCOS?
  • elle2bee
    elle2bee Posts: 70 Member
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    Actually I do have PCOS. Thanks for all the information. I know I need cut the carbs for sure.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    It sounded like PCOS. If you haven't done so recently, get your thyroid function and vitamin D level checked, since women with PCOS have more problems with both, according to studies.

    Definitely keep carbs low. You might also look into DCI:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-chiro-inositol
  • GordonWayneWatts
    GordonWayneWatts Posts: 120 Member
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    At this time, I can't afford a personal trainer so I thought I would come here.

    I am 5'5, 247. I have lean VERY muscular legs and calves. My arms are also smaller and slightly toned as well. I carry most of my weight in my middle section. I have a flat backside, so I'm all stomach. I need to get on a workout schedule and find out what I need to be eating that will compliment my workouts and give me the best results.

    I have lost 50 lbs before by counting calories (1200 intake) and obsessively working out. I don't want to do that again. I want to lose the weight at a healthy pace, tone my uppper and middle section at the same time and less emphasis on my legs as I tend to bulk up and get defined muscle really quick. Basically my body is very unproportional. I need to lose the belly fat big time.

    Is anybody familiar with this body type and what do you suggest for working out and a meal plan that will give me good results without me going overkill?
    I'm not a personal trainer (and I don't play one on TV -or my website!), but since I've gotten about 50% stronger in all the classic powerlifting lifts (documented on a you tube clip, linked in my profile), I do know a few things:

    Don't starve yourself (unless under supervision of medical professionals).

    Fasting (partial or total) is a way of eating less calories than you burn, but do a lot of research on fasting before you do so. Also, do NOT avoid water or liquids at ANY time: Whether you're fasting, merely dieting, or eating normally, lack of liquids is dangerous. (I will add that if you fast -or merely diet, you might preface this by eating a lot of low-calorie foods like lettuce to have 'roughage' to push the toxic wastes out of your body.

    Also, if you either fast or diet (deficit of calories), your body will begin to burn fat and proteins when the carbs and sugars are used up -and they rate of burning may be slower than usual, so you may experience a "drop in energy," meaning you won't be able to do as much physical work. (Be careful to no drive a vehicle or operate heavy machinery when doing something that may cause you to lose concentration - be careful, is what I am saying.)

    Again, to repeat an important point or 2:

    Consult with medical professionals before even considering taking any of my advice -and do plenty of research, asking others how "they did it" any what happened when they tried different things.

    That said, you mention 'proportional' -- Don't try to focus on one area of your body: Eat healthy foods (many countries are more vegetarian and drink less processed milk -and have less chronic diseases: Do a Google search on cancer and vegan to verify this! And look ONLY as "actual" scientific studies -not what some government ad -or 'website expert' said)

    Lack of sleep will keep you from burning fat or excess weight -believe it or not.

    So, eating, sleeping, a moderate exercise programme (some strength and some endurance -but no overkill on either end), and dealing with stress will work wonders -- I am not sure if I am permitted to post a link to my Power-lifting Progress video, as it is on my YouTube, and may be considered promotion (moderators, please weigh in here), but you can trust me: After I started back to exercising, I got much stronger -- I did not need to lose weight, so some of my experience is not applicable to you -but I did get healthier by lifting heavy weights safely, and, so, perhaps, can you.
  • GordonWayneWatts
    GordonWayneWatts Posts: 120 Member
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    I can't tell from your profile, for sure, but it seems you are a woman.

    My point in bringing up gender is this: Many women are afraid to 'lift heavy,' and fear they will look 'like a guy'.

    This is just not so (for example, take a look at many professional female power lifters: Many of them who are quite strong look like women. And, I myself, lift heavy weights, and even though I am a guy, I do not gain weight, but even if YOU do, don't worry about looking "heavy" -- just worry about BEING HEALTHY and FEELING HEALTHY -and the rest will take care of itself) ... Both men and women can lift heavy --heck, I stayed 120-lbs (about 54 kilograms or about 8.6 British Stone) and did not change body weight much at all -even though I ate a lot and lifted heavy weights (note the 635-lb weight in my profile pic).

    That's all I wanted to add, but I wish you the best of success here. Be safe, train hard, and have fun!