<p>Yeah, so I never thought I'd be the one to post this, but I've noticed I've been alot more out of shape recently & also getting pudgy in all the wrong areas.</p>
<p>Up until now, I've never been to conscious about myself and I've been somewhat active (did cheerleading, field & soccer in high school). I never paid attention to what I ate cuz I've been trying to gain weight, and I still currently am, but I feel like I've let myself go a bit too since I'm not active anymore.</p>
<p>I weigh about 102 lbs (good progress from the 93 lbs I started with in August) and am 5'3". I haven't been too careful about what I eat cuz I have a meal plan, but generally I eat fruit for breakfast (there are rare days when I don't eat breakfast though cuz i get up too late and just go to class), then some kind of sandwich or wrap for lunch...sometimes I get chik fil a 8 pc nuggets...and then dinner is usually something hearty. It can range anywhere from Pizza Hut wings & breadsticks, to steak from the fancy dining hall, to pasta, to baked chicken...things like that. My dinner usually has one side dish like potatoes or rice, too. I don't eat many veggies (they've made me sick on different occasions for some reason...but i eat them mixed with other foods like in sandwiches and stuff). I drink a decent amount of water/juice everyday, but also probably drink the equivalent of a bottle of soda too. If not soda, then Nestea.</p>
<p>I don't believe my eating habits are completely terrible but they're not the greatest either. I never eat huge portions, at all. It's always been a struggle to eat 8 piece nuggets from chick fil a unless I'm super hungry. I really only eat on campus since I don't feel like spending my own money and have too many flex dollars on my meal plan.</p>
<p>As for working out, I guess this is the part where I'm slacking. I run on the treadmill about once or twice a week and walk everywhere when possible, but that's the extent of my working out. I also dance (hip hop/modern) about 2 days a week for 2-3 hours a day.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on how I can get more in shape and get rid of the gross stomach/mid section flab that I'm forming? Any thoughts would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Food is 80% of your body composition, eliminate all the processed junk FAST. That alone will make an enormous difference. Eat real foods, switch from white refined flour to whole grains… chicken nuggets - no.
Quit eating at Pizza Hut, that is a great start.
This is a lot harder than it sounds, yes, but this is the onyl way to do it. </p>
<p>Walking everywhere + hip-hop is great. Don’t throw yourself into working out and then just eat awfully, that won’t do anything (This comes from a former “gym rat” who ate awful and spent all the time on the elliptical… a totall waste). Maybe incorporate a little bit of strength - pilates/yoga is great for beginners.</p>
<p>There are a lot more tips to get you uber-lean, but if you just want to eliminate a bit of belly fat, those are the msot important. Trust me, I’ve been there!</p>
<p>The main thing about losing weight is you have to have a proper diet. You have to keep track of what you eat and how much calories, carbs, proteins, and fats you take daily. You might think that you’re eating less but that might not be true unless you keep track of what you eat.</p>
<p>I’m a fitness coordinator at my school’s gym and I see people like this all the time. They think they aren’t eating that much but when they actually keep track they realize that’s not the case.</p>
<p>So first thing you should do is keep track of what you eat. To actually lose weight your daily calorie should be somewhere between 1300 and 1500 calories(This is just for you. I calculated this based on your height, weight and exercise level). It would be around 1700 if you wanted to maintain your current weight. 1 Kg of fat is 3500 calories. So if your daily calorie intake is about 1300 that’s 400 calories less than your maintenance calorie. Which means you lose 400 calories a day and 2800 calories a week and about 3600 calories in 9 days. So in 9 days you can lose 1 kg of fat.</p>
<p>This whole thing might sound hard but it’s actually not. If you eat the same stuff every day you don’t even need to keep a daily track. You can just use the same calculations for everyday. But you have to do this if you really want to lose weight. Diet is the main part of losing fat. Not working out but diet…</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean you don’t have to work out tho. I would recommend lifting (very low) weights and doing cardio together. When you lift weights your body is still burning fat even after 7 hours but that number is only 2 hours for cardio. So if you mix them up and have like a 6-day program you would probably see results much faster.</p>
<p>Btw instead of running on the treadmill use the elliptical. It’s proven that you burn more fat with elliptical than any other cardio. After that comes the rowing machine.</p>
<p>Anyways if you have more questions feel free to contact me.</p>
<ol>
<li>Replace soda with drinks like Propel or if possible water</li>
<li>Cut back on beer if you drink</li>
<li>Work out with a friend, will keep you motivated</li>
<li>Don’t skip breakfast, it will make you feel lousy</li>
<li>Find out your BMI, then make a schedule on when to work out</li>
</ol>
<p>Some stuff I can think of off the top of my head.</p>
<p>its simple…either eat less calories or work harder…</p>
<p>i have a meal plan too and eat 3 hearty meals a day plus snack a lot but i have increased my watt output too…make sure your workouts are using max energy and mix up workouts like running/biking etc…</p>
<p>5’3 and 103 lbs? Holyey carp, you’re very very underweight. You’ve got the right idea though. The other posters above don’t exactly have the right idea or didn’t read if they’re suggesting diet and talking about losing weight.
My advice:
Leave pizza hut/chick fil a. This will be hard to do, I doubt you can do it, but that’s my advise. Keep eating, but eat only good foods. Yeah that’s hard to do when you account for personal taste, availability of “good” foods, convenience, but i’ll leave it up to you to find a way if you really want to improve your body. Soda is bad, nestea is even worse actually, but I can see how you can’t really avoid those. However, you should cut down significantly on soda/nestea if you REALLY want to get in shape.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to lift heavy. If you are a girl you will not bulk up like I know some people fear. Do some squats and deadlifts and overhead presses and pull ups with strict form. Doing only cardio and/or isolation exercises with light weights is ineffective. You will not achieve anything- especially long term. 75% of your success will come from dietary changes however. Eat vegetables, brown rice, and lean sources of protein. You are what you eat. Oh and please DO NOT USE THE SMITH MACHINES. They are bad for you
:p</p>
No it doesn’t. It equals getting rid of flab. You can get rid of flab without losing weight, by converting that flab to muscle. Losing that weight would be a horrible idea, as she’s already underweight. What she even said she wants is to gain weight. What she wants to do is to lose her flab while building and toning muscle.</p>
<p>Converting fat to muscle is a myth. Doesn’t happen. Someone who is fat to begin with will most likely put on muscle faster because they probably have a body type that supports muscle gain (endo/mesomorph), which is the reason they were able to become fat in the first place. While someone who is naturally skinny is probably an ectomorph or at least ecto/meso which is why they tend to put muscle on slower. Someone who is fat that lifts weights maybe burning some calories and losing some fat while they gain muscle but at no point do they convert fat to muscle.</p>
<p>ehh that was more of a figure of speech. i didn’t know people thought fat cells could literally turn into muscle cells… that’s impossible of course.
i meant exercising to simultaneously build muscle and lose fat. improve muscle to fat ratio… displace fat with muscle</p>
<p>@rymd
Actually building muscle and burning fat at the same time is really hard to do. That’s why most people either bulk up first then cut or cut first then bulk up.</p>
<p>Actually most people don’t do that. Bodybuilders do that. That would be relevant if the OP was trying to put on as much muscle as possible. Clearly not the case. And nobody “cuts first and then bulks up”.</p>