Alright.
I need to start something. Someone suggest something for me, because I'm actually really depressed about my weight and if I have nobody holding me to anything, I'll just keep getting fatter.
I'm turning 25, 6' tall, I'm fairly physically fit and extremely strong. I like lifting more than cardio but I'm not terribly opposed to going for runs or flailing on an elliptical. I am very physically active at work, so I'm not at all leading a sedentary lifestyle. I spend at least 8 hours a day in constant motion, lifting heavy items, climbing up and down ladders, and walking everywhere.
I had been killin it in my weight loss for the better part of a year, went down from 250lbs to just under 200. I was about 20lbs and some muscle tone away from my goal "look good naked" weight.
I got pregnant earlier this year. I ate everything in sight. That hasn't stopped, and now I weigh 240lbs. I weighed myself three times when I stepped on the scale. Like how the hell can that happen so quickly?
I have a handle on my diet. I am jumping straight off the shitty carb boat and going towards a lean protein and vegetable based diet. Aiming for 5-6oz portions of protein twice a day, 5-6oz veggie portions twice a day, and a fruit/natural carb for breakfast. Once I've dropped some initial bulk and gotten over my food withdrawals I'll start to allow myself unlimited veggies as snacks when I feel hungry.
I need suggestions for exercise. My gut is gross, my thighs are gross. I love squats, but I need to work my inner thigh area, my core and my triceps. Calves, shoulders, traps, forearms and biceps are all quite lean and very well toned (which I DON'T GET BECAUSE OF MY WEIGHT... My fat is just POOLING in my nasty gut and thighs while the rest of me looks fine)
Like... any suggestions will be appreciated. I thought I was done being a fatass. This is really upsetting to me.
I'm just checking back into this thread. I'm glad I did and hope I can help. First of all you did it once, you can do it again. You're not gross, you're a mother and when you love that kid nobody that matters is going to care that you're not your look good naked weight.
Don't get rid of squats. They're about the best body exercise you can do, especially when you're trying to burn fat. Fat does congregate on the belly, especially after having a baby. Don't be too hard on yourself. Thighs too.
I would absolutely avoid doing things that specifically target the "inner" thigh. Though important, those muscles are smaller and more stabilizing in nature than they are big and movers. This is important because if you want to burn fat, you need to burn calories, lots of them. Working small muscles groups to exhaustion will certainly give you a burn, make you sore and all that other stuff, but they will not come close to burning the calories, nor create that post-exercise oxygen debt like the large primary movers will do.
You can't spot reduce, so don't waste your time. Once and a while you can change it up and instead of doing a straight squat, do lunges, do side lunges which will involve those areas more, but if you're doing squat and heavy multijointed exercises like that, the stabilizers will be sufficiently worked anyway.
If you have a weak core, take some time and build it. It's important for the large primary mover type exercise you should be doing. but once it's activated and not deconditioned, those muscles should be sufficiently worked doing other stuff like squats, overhead presses (NOT SEATED ANYTHING) even a simple push up movement is great for core, assuming you're doing them correctly. Not much need to do extra other than maybe a few minutes a week. Not that 45 minute ab burning stuff I see so many doing. Again. Waste of time if fat burning is your goal. Can't spot reduce and small efficient muscles who's goal to stabilize aren't ever going to burn a lot of calories like the movers do. They just help the moves do their jobs better and keep joints safe. So let them do what they're supposed to.
Triceps? don't isolate. Push movements, big exercises. Push up, bench press, overhead press and all vairations of those 3. Involve lots of muscle groups, burn the most calories, create the biggest oxygen debt. Or spend 30 minutes of your workout doing cable pushdowns to isolate the triceps and burn a tenth of the calories.
don't forget the fat in your diet. it's probably the most important part. I know we were programmed to have a fear of fat in this country and we're paying for it now. Hungry, constantly overeating, screwed up hormones, not sure how to really eat people. Good healthy stuff from the right sources. Just google, you'll find 100 sources of good stuff easily. We do get too much protein. Carbs are ok, especially if you're very active all day and are working out hard daily. If not, eat less and I try to avoid any processed grain stuff. Things like Lentils, steel cut oats, etc are better than something from a whole wheat flour and whole wheat flour based stuff is better than the really overprocessed stuff. Just energy with little nutrition which stimulates your body to eat more.
anyway, this guy has a lot of easy to read stuff that I happen to agree with most of the time. I don't think anybody would be wrong in adopting some of the things he says regarding nutrition into their daily lives.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz3HjNUfSrP
love it.
