Toning the body

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samairablack
samairablack Posts: 33 Member
in Motivation and Support
So I am 57(125 pounds) kilos at 5 feet 1 inch down from 240 pounds. I need to tone my body and have been doing strength training exercises and taking 1 protein shake 1 day and maintaining my calorie intake to around 1500.
I still need to drop few pounds but now my focus is toning and its been very slow and I am losing patience.
My stomach and thighs have become loose and jelly like and I need to know how long till things start to show some effect? I have been at it for the past 4 months, gyming regularly for 5-6 days a week.
Please give me some tips to tone up fast!!!!!!!!

Replies

  • tamihanksbaughman
    tamihanksbaughman Posts: 4
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    Wow! Great job! I don't know the answer but I'm looking forward to the answers you get.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,719 Member
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    From where you started to where you are now means congratulations!

    Now the soft feeling you have with your abs and legs is MORE THAN LIKELY a results of excess skin attributed to the over 100lbs loss. No amount of exercise will change that. Exercise is for health and fitness along with helping MUSCLE increase in size or get stronger.
    Unfortunately the only option available right now for loose skin is surgery.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • loconnor466
    loconnor466 Posts: 215 Member
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    What do you consider "strength training"? Are you lifting heavy? Are you following a specific program, like NROL4W or 5x5? If not, then my suggestion is to incorporate that. I have seen results in my body comp that are far beyond the number on the scale.
  • samairablack
    samairablack Posts: 33 Member
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    By strength training I mean I lift weights and do heavy reps.
    And my loose skin is not loose enough for surgery because I lost the weight slowly so the only option my PT suggests is toning, building muscle and increasing my protein intake. Which I have been doing, but i see no results except in my arms, they have amazing biceps. I need it to effect my lower abs and thighs!!!
  • loconnor466
    loconnor466 Posts: 215 Member
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    By strength training I mean I lift weights and do heavy reps.
    And my loose skin is not loose enough for surgery because I lost the weight slowly so the only option my PT suggests is toning, building muscle and increasing my protein intake. Which I have been doing, but i see no results except in my arms, they have amazing biceps. I need it to effect my lower abs and thighs!!!

    You might want to change that equation around, heavy weights, less reps. I mean lifting heavy doing deadlifts, back squats, etc. Take a look at some of the threads or groups on lifting and check out some of the before and after pics. You will see some amazing body transformations with only a couple of pounds difference between the two, and sometimes no difference in actual weight. I really think it will help you.
  • kdhamner
    kdhamner Posts: 309 Member
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    It sounds to me like you have loose skin. From my understanding, anything that hasn't "shrunk" back after 2 years will never go back. The only option to get rid of it is skin removal surgery. I will have to have skin removal surgery when my journey is over. However, do NOT let that stop you from strength training - your body will love you for building up those muscles. Remember, if you don't use it, you lose it.
  • kdhamner
    kdhamner Posts: 309 Member
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    It sounds to me like you have loose skin. From my understanding, anything that hasn't "shrunk" back after 2 years will never go back. The only option to get rid of it is skin removal surgery. I will have to have skin removal surgery when my journey is over. However, do NOT let that stop you from strength training - your body will love you for building up those muscles. Remember, if you don't use it, you lose it.

    Oops - should have read through the thread - just seen that your doc said it's not loose skin.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,719 Member
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    By strength training I mean I lift weights and do heavy reps.
    And my loose skin is not loose enough for surgery because I lost the weight slowly so the only option my PT suggests is toning, building muscle and increasing my protein intake. Which I have been doing, but i see no results except in my arms, they have amazing biceps. I need it to effect my lower abs and thighs!!!
    There is no such thing as "toning". It's a subjective term that really has no definition, but going past that as I mentioned, if you lost over 100lbs, the chance of having no loose/extra skin tissue is rare. When the body is at that size for a good amount of time, it compensates by stretching the epidermis out.
    Weights help to "harden" everything underneath, but will do nothing to tighten the skin unless one puts back on a good amount of muscle, which doesn't happen in calorie deficit.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • samairablack
    samairablack Posts: 33 Member
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    So is there any solution to this soft skin? Since I am not eligible for surgery :/ I can just keep working on building muscle.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,719 Member
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    So is there any solution to this soft skin? Since I am not eligible for surgery :/ I can just keep working on building muscle.
    Since I haven't done a personal assessment on you, I'm going by what I believe may be the issue. So it's either: you still have a good amount of subcutaneous body fat on you and/or there's a good amount of loose skin left behind. I going to guess it's both.
    Advice would be to try to lower your body fat more then reassess.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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