Ask me anything about fat/weight loss....

....

Hopefully that's enough background. Here are my questions!:

1. My workout regimen consists of four days of REALLY high-intensity circuit training for 30 minutes, high intensity cardio for 30 minutes on one day, and then two "rest" days where I do really low-impact stuff like yoga, bellydance, or ballet (dancing is one of my hobbies.)

Does the circuit training gives me enough strength training, since it's not exactly "lifting heavy"? I HAVE noticed significant strength gains in the past few weeks -- my upper body is stronger, my lunges and squats are going deeper and holding longer, and my formerly too-heavy toddler is getting lighter.

2. I currently am at the correct ratio for an hourglass figure (I'm just a "fat" hourglass) and I'd like to keep that. My understanding, though, is that overdoing it on exercises working the abs can create that square torso look that pilates instructors have and that I really don't want to develop. What's the best way to avoid getting the square look and keep the narrow waist definition?

3. How accurate have you found MFP's calorie counts? I cook from home most of the time and rely on MFP's estimates on the nutritional content of my recipes.

4. I'm a recovering soda addict, and while I've made a LOT of progress, I still have a soda a few times a week. I always record it and I'm staying within my calories. I'm aiming to quit entirely by the end of the year. Am I going to totally sabotage any progress I might make if I don't cut it out right away? With all the noise about high-fructose corn syrup, I'm half believing that I can workout all the time, eat well, and yet a soda a week will make me gain ten pounds. :P

5. Sometimes I have to do my workouts while my toddler's awake. Most of the time, I can push through it with her only being a little irritated at not having my undivided attention, but sometimes she gets into something, gets hungry, or needs comfort in the middle of my workout. I worry that these little interruptions are really cutting into the effectiveness of my workouts, but obviously I'm not going to ignore my daughter if she really needs me. Am I worrying overmuch, or am I really better off restarting the whole program until I can do it from start-to-finish with no interruptions?

I am so sorry for the wall of text. Thank you for holding still.

1. How much strength do you want? Circuits are efficient for gaining strength but there are more effective ways if you just want STRENGTH strength.

2. Best way to not get the square look is by doing excercises that work your hourglass like squats, lunges, and lateral raises.

3. Pretty decently active unless you're trying to get shredded. Then I'd personally manipulate a few things.

4. Sugar isn't the killer killer, but I would ween off of it asap.

5. Just get and stay active. If you have an interruption, that's fine. Just make sure you're progressively overloading yourself.

Mon 05/07/12 05:57 AM

Hey Thanks for doing this!

I've got a running question - I'm trying to increase my running distance from 5k onward, but I seem to be capping out (lungs are okay, it's my legs!) just past the 5k mark...Is this a question of not enough protien, or just a matter of giving myself more time for my legs to catch up to my lungs?


did you ever respond to this question? I have the same problem. I have been doing research but there are many different reasons why my legs hurt after I run.

I am a 32 year old 5ft6 in woman. I'm around 154 pounds. I'm also a group exercise instructor so overtraining probably pertains to me. My question is, I've been trying to lose 5-10 lbs for over 2 years and even after teaching 10 classes a week nothing really budges. I bought a BodyMedia FIT and my TDEE is around 2900 on average. Some days 2800, some over 3000. I haven't gone any higher than 2200 as a max really for a long time in fear of regaining weight. As a woman would taking 500 calories off a 2900/3100 day (23-2500 calories) be too much for me to eat? Is this what is stopping me losing weight? Would 2500 be too much food or could not eating that amount be what's keeping me from dropping? Thanks!

That does sound like a bit much. Try 1,800 spot on for a week and then message me with your results. That will tell me everything I need to know. Either your metabolism has just stalled out, or you've just been way overestimating for too long. I'm thinking the latter. That can be changed easy enough. A stalled metabolism is no big deal either. Only take usually 2-4 days to reset it.