best way to slim down/shape up

tell me what you're doing that works, please

i run two miles a day...
my legs are uber tight and slimming down but my belly is still rubbish

I hate running!

I can tell you what has worked when I stick to it!!!!!

a 1200 cal. diet

drinking water

protein, if your health permits; Diabetics are limited in protein intake, as would be people with kidney conditions

walking!!!!!!!!!!! Mary MOB

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Posted by kgicrls

I hate running!

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Amanda, exercise is not for me, but walking really helps. You don't have to run. Mary MOB

Make a real effort to eat lots of fruits and veggies.

Hit the gym a few times a week, or at least take some fast-paced walks around the neighborhood.

Don't buy the junk food in the first place, you can't snack on it if it isn't even in the house.

Swimming is also great exercise for your whole body. But you can't just putter around, you have to actually swim for a period of time.

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Posted by EsquireBride

Make a real effort to eat lots of fruits and veggies.

Hit the gym a few times a week, or at least take some fast-paced walks around the neighborhood.

Don't buy the junk food in the first place, you can't snack on it if it isn't even in the house.

Swimming is also great exercise for your whole body. But you can't just putter around, you have to actually swim for a period of time.

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I love swimming! Just isn't always easy on LI. I need an indoor lap pool.

Definitely portion control is key. Eliminating fast food. Also, I keep my weight in check by stopping myself from mindless eatign. If I find myself going to grab a piece of candy etc. I would stop myself. I found that even if I eliminated one little craving it helped. The next time I wanted a piece of candy I ate it. Increase activity during the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park the car farther in the lot.

I don't need to lose weight. I want to tone up. Mom and I are going to start walking in the mornings.

5 meals a day. all including protein..breakfast with a carbohydrate (whole grain) and lunch with a carb (brown rice, sweet potato).

5 days of cardio (walking on an incline works great)

4 days of weight lifting.

Make sure to eat a veggie with every meal (except breakfast, unless you want to!)

On days you don't lift weight only have your carb with breakfast and add a healthy fat to the other meals (natural peanut butter, almonds, olive oil.)

Lots of water!!!

this was way before the wedding, even before i was engaged. I had gained alot of weight and decided i had to really get back in shape, i lost 35 pounds and toned up in a few months. I decided not to go on any particular diet, i figured its best to just make a lifestyle change, rather than a particular diet where you know you wont stick to it for the rest of your life. I ate mostly grilled food. Ate wholewheat bread only, havent eaten white bread in a long time. Did alot of research on foods and what to eat. SOme foods will only satisfy you for the moment then an hour later you will get hungry again, then some foods hold you off for a while and some help burn fat. Made sure to eat breakfast, i used to rarely eat breakfast but its important. If you eat a good breakfast first it will give you more energy throughout the day, plus when you do eat a good breakfast when it comes to lunchtime you wont crave fattening foods, you risk craving this when you dont. The best thing to do is eat most of your calories for breakfast and lunch, you can have some fat in your diet but try to do it during the day. THis way you have more time to burn the calories throughout the day, rather than eating most of the fat and calories for dinner and then you just sit around and dont burn the calories and have less time to do so.

I also made sure to eat snacks in between. One great snack is an orange, it fills you up and holds you over until your next meal. I would eat dinner around 7pm the latest 8pm. One thing i read a trainer say is to dedicate yourself to eating healthy 6 out of the 7 days, then give yourself 1 day to indulge. If you are eating healthy 6 days a week then that 1 day wont effect you. Ill say at first i used to indulge alot on my 1 day lol...but after just 3 weeks of eating healthy i couldnt go overboard anymore. My body got used to eating smaller portions and healthy food.

What is important and will make a big difference is working out. FOr that whole year i was working out 4-6 days a week. I did pilates, yoga, kickboxing, strength training but only do 3 or 5 pounds dont go over 5. I know some girls think that if they do strength training that they will get bulky but trust me with 3-5 pound weights you wont. I was working out 1-2 hours a day and mostly doing 5 or 6 days a week, did this for a year straight and i didnt get bulky.

You dont have to run, find a workout you like. I have a bad knee, i have torn ligaments so i always had to be careful with this, even with my workouts when it came to leg things many times they showed a modified work out and i had to do that for the legs. Luckily i gain all my weight in my arms, stomach and hips, my legs dont really gain weight so i was ok with having to do this. Plus i wanted to really tone up, give definition to my arms a little bit, very subtle lol. And get those 2 side lines on my stomach and just get everything tight so thats why i stuck to mostly pilates and strength training, it worked better for me.

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Posted by Espo22

this was way before the wedding, even before i was engaged. I had gained alot of weight and decided i had to really get back in shape, i lost 35 pounds and toned up in a few months. I decided not to go on any particular diet, i figured its best to just make a lifestyle change, rather than a particular diet where you know you wont stick to it for the rest of your life. I ate mostly grilled food. Ate wholewheat bread only, havent eaten white bread in a long time. Did alot of research on foods and what to eat. SOme foods will only satisfy you for the moment then an hour later you will get hungry again, then some foods hold you off for a while and some help burn fat. Made sure to eat breakfast, i used to rarely eat breakfast but its important. If you eat a good breakfast first it will give you more energy throughout the day, plus when you do eat a good breakfast when it comes to lunchtime you wont crave fattening foods, you risk craving this when you dont. The best thing to do is eat most of your calories for breakfast and lunch, you can have some fat in your diet but try to do it during the day. THis way you have more time to burn the calories throughout the day, rather than eating most of the fat and calories for dinner and then you just sit around and dont burn the calories and have less time to do so.

I also made sure to eat snacks in between. One great snack is an orange, it fills you up and holds you over until your next meal. I would eat dinner around 7pm the latest 8pm. One thing i read a trainer say is to dedicate yourself to eating healthy 6 out of the 7 days, then give yourself 1 day to indulge. If you are eating healthy 6 days a week then that 1 day wont effect you. Ill say at first i used to indulge alot on my 1 day lol...but after just 3 weeks of eating healthy i couldnt go overboard anymore. My body got used to eating smaller portions and healthy food.

What is important and will make a big difference is working out. FOr that whole year i was working out 4-6 days a week. I did pilates, yoga, kickboxing, strength training but only do 3 or 5 pounds dont go over 5. I know some girls think that if they do strength training that they will get bulky but trust me with 3-5 pound weights you wont. I was working out 1-2 hours a day and mostly doing 5 or 6 days a week, did this for a year straight and i didnt get bulky.

You dont have to run, find a workout you like. I have a bad knee, i have torn ligaments so i always had to be careful with this, even with my workouts when it came to leg things many times they showed a modified work out and i had to do that for the legs. Luckily i gain all my weight in my arms, stomach and hips, my legs dont really gain weight so i was ok with having to do this. Plus i wanted to really tone up, give definition to my arms a little bit, very subtle lol. And get those 2 side lines on my stomach and just get everything tight so thats why i stuck to mostly pilates and strength training, it worked better for me.

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awesome post...I agree with almost everything...the weight training thing though I ahve something to add. I have been strength training consistently for almost a year now and I definitely lift more than 3-5 pound dumbbells. I too thought, if i lift heavy I will get bulky. But it is extremely difficult for women to build muscle and get bulky. I see women at the gym TRYING desperately to achieve that look and it just doesn't happen. (even with four 45 pound plates on each side of the leg press machine...and yes, the woman is my size.) Am I saying to squat 300 pounds? No. But you have to fatigue your muscles inorder to build muscle, lean out whateve ryou are looking for. Muscle burns fat so you have to make it to use it. And the toning myth is one that just won't go away. In order to tone, you have to have muscle there to tone! So basically, what I am saying (holy long winded.) is don't be afraid to lift weight when strength training. Aim for 6-10 repetitions on most exercises and you will be good to go! Feel free to FM me if you have any questons..i love nutrition and working out!

Jenny Craig - down 35 lvbs
Gym - favs are spinning, abs, kickboxing, cardio bootcamp

running... i know a lot of you don't want to hear that

it's the quickest way to slim down, its the best cardio workout, and it works muscles all over your body

i have started doing some weight training but i used to not do anything but run everyday, i still eat what i want, and i have no complaints on how i look.

i have a friend who is an avid runner as well, i don't think she's ever done a situp in her life lol and she has a six pack... she swears all she does is run.

I run 4 miles now but i promise when i started i could barely run a mile and i HATED to run... but when I saw how my friend looked I made myself... and now I love it! it's such a great stress release!

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Posted by MrsDrinkh20

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Posted by Espo22

this was way before the wedding, even before i was engaged. I had gained alot of weight and decided i had to really get back in shape, i lost 35 pounds and toned up in a few months. I decided not to go on any particular diet, i figured its best to just make a lifestyle change, rather than a particular diet where you know you wont stick to it for the rest of your life. I ate mostly grilled food. Ate wholewheat bread only, havent eaten white bread in a long time. Did alot of research on foods and what to eat. SOme foods will only satisfy you for the moment then an hour later you will get hungry again, then some foods hold you off for a while and some help burn fat. Made sure to eat breakfast, i used to rarely eat breakfast but its important. If you eat a good breakfast first it will give you more energy throughout the day, plus when you do eat a good breakfast when it comes to lunchtime you wont crave fattening foods, you risk craving this when you dont. The best thing to do is eat most of your calories for breakfast and lunch, you can have some fat in your diet but try to do it during the day. THis way you have more time to burn the calories throughout the day, rather than eating most of the fat and calories for dinner and then you just sit around and dont burn the calories and have less time to do so.

I also made sure to eat snacks in between. One great snack is an orange, it fills you up and holds you over until your next meal. I would eat dinner around 7pm the latest 8pm. One thing i read a trainer say is to dedicate yourself to eating healthy 6 out of the 7 days, then give yourself 1 day to indulge. If you are eating healthy 6 days a week then that 1 day wont effect you. Ill say at first i used to indulge alot on my 1 day lol...but after just 3 weeks of eating healthy i couldnt go overboard anymore. My body got used to eating smaller portions and healthy food.

What is important and will make a big difference is working out. FOr that whole year i was working out 4-6 days a week. I did pilates, yoga, kickboxing, strength training but only do 3 or 5 pounds dont go over 5. I know some girls think that if they do strength training that they will get bulky but trust me with 3-5 pound weights you wont. I was working out 1-2 hours a day and mostly doing 5 or 6 days a week, did this for a year straight and i didnt get bulky.

You dont have to run, find a workout you like. I have a bad knee, i have torn ligaments so i always had to be careful with this, even with my workouts when it came to leg things many times they showed a modified work out and i had to do that for the legs. Luckily i gain all my weight in my arms, stomach and hips, my legs dont really gain weight so i was ok with having to do this. Plus i wanted to really tone up, give definition to my arms a little bit, very subtle lol. And get those 2 side lines on my stomach and just get everything tight so thats why i stuck to mostly pilates and strength training, it worked better for me.

---

awesome post...I agree with almost everything...the weight training thing though I ahve something to add. I have been strength training consistently for almost a year now and I definitely lift more than 3-5 pound dumbbells. I too thought, if i lift heavy I will get bulky. But it is extremely difficult for women to build muscle and get bulky. I see women at the gym TRYING desperately to achieve that look and it just doesn't happen. (even with four 45 pound plates on each side of the leg press machine...and yes, the woman is my size.) Am I saying to squat 300 pounds? No. But you have to fatigue your muscles inorder to build muscle, lean out whateve ryou are looking for. Muscle burns fat so you have to make it to use it. And the toning myth is one that just won't go away. In order to tone, you have to have muscle there to tone! So basically, what I am saying (holy long winded.) is don't be afraid to lift weight when strength training. Aim for 6-10 repetitions on most exercises and you will be good to go! Feel free to FM me if you have any questons..i love nutrition and working out!

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its so true, it would take a woman ALOT to get bulky it just doesnt happen like that. I see all these women worried about using weights but seriously you wont get diesel i did lots of arm workouts with weights and they got slim, not like i got these huge biceps not like i was bench pressing 150 pounds.

I also think some women can go higher in weights such as 6-10 pounds like you said. Although in the beginning it will be very hard for them if they havent worked out in a long time. Also when doing pilates for example with weights where youre doing other moves at the same time is when they suggest not going higher.

Like you said, women do not get huge muscles that easily. And yes muscle does burn fat...infact with strength training the reason why its so great, is bc when you are building muscle, you continue to burn fat throughout the day. With aerobics for example you are ONLY burning fat during the time you are working out.