best way to lose fat

[dominican1]

I have a question for anyone that could answer me. I am doing the january routation. but i have a concern. i'm real small at my waist.but i have a problem losing the fat in my thighs. I want to know if i should do more cardio than strength and when is the best time to do cardio for this situation. i so myself losing alot of pound when i was running/cathe tapes. now it winter and i want to work in doors.


help and thanksssssssss
Dominican1

 

[claridge]

Hi Dominican1

You sound like the "classic" pear shape like I am.

I would concentrate on more cardio, lay of heavy weights for the lower body, and increase weights for the upper body, so you will look more inproportion upper and lower.

I have found Cardio best in the morning, before eating breakfast, or after a very light meal, the most sufficiant way to burn calories.

Cardio, as in any floor work is good (I have personally found toooooo much step can increase the muscle mass of my thighs........not a bad thing........but they can then unfortunatly "look" bigger!)

The wonderful group on this forum can give you DVD suggestion, but remember, you cant change the fact you (we) are pear shape, but you can become a smaller pear shape

I hope some of this helps

P.S Dont forget training in your heart rate zone and clean eating

Marion

 

[dominican1]

thank so much for your suggestion. i know i work so hard but my eating is bad. i dont eat a lot but i just dont know what to put in my mouth when i dont find something good to eat at work. because i work from 12pm to 8pm. so all my eating is at work.
but thanks for your answer. girly/

 

[starlight6]

Hi Dominican,

I work exactly the same hours as you...although sometimes I am there much later, but my "official" hours are 12noon to 8PM. (Usually 9PM though.) ANYWAY...I have the same problem with "what to eat at work". I don't know what work you do, but in my case I can't even sit down & have a proper meal, nor even a break...I have to always eat "on the run". Pain in the *** too! ;-)

Some of the things I've tried...string cheese, whole wheat (REAL whole wheat) crackers, low fat cheese, rolled-up-in-lettuce turkey breast (or a real whole-grain bread/turkey breast sandwich eaten a bite or two at a time), "healthy" cereal eaten dry by the handful, controlled amount of peanuts and/or almonds, a spoonful of peanut butter (instant energy), fruit...again, eaten one or two bites at a time, or all cut up in a bowl, perhaps fruit salad, cottage cheese with any number of things mixed up in it (low fat of course!)...sometimes I mix in salsa, or my fruit, or my nuts...whatever. Hard boiled eggs are good...instant energy again, & filling. So are bananas. Filling I mean. Salad-type veggies. Cold baked potato or (preferably) sweet potato. Healthy soup in a thermos.

Well, if I think of anything else, I'll post it. ANY SUGGESTIONS FROM ANYONE ELSE WOULD BE WELCOME TOO!

Ruth:7

p.s. I would like to make it quite clear that I do NOT eat all of the above on the same day! I heard that!

 

[Maximus]

The best way to lose fat is an effective diet. I'm an Atkins junkie but there are a ton of different diets out there that might work for you. If you do a search on the Open Discussion board you'll find a ton of information.

 

[hippahips]

Hi Dominican1, we share the same problem, except that not only do I have fat in my thighs, I have them in my butt and hips as well. When I was younger my waistline was so small, about 23"-24", but my butt and hips were blooming all over the place, it was very difficult to find jeans that fit. And when I did, I had to get the waistline altered somehow to make them fit better. After I had my baby, who's now 4, my body seemed better balanced but only because my I gained an inch in my waistline and, after the labor and that first horribly tough year of dealing with colic and chronic ear infections, my butt started to sag.

I've used Cathe's workouts for almost two years now and the best fat burning method that works for me is to do a bit more cardio -- not really a whole lot, just 4-5 sessions instead of 3-4 a week. And, like one poster already said, to do this cardio first thing in the morning. I usually do this after the holidays for about three weeks straight, which means there are a lot of days in January where I work out twice a day. But this intensity isn't something I continue to do after January. I don't want to lose muscle. By February to April, I alternate a week of pure strength training with a week of endurance training, and do only 2-3 cardio sessions a week. I use light to moderate weights for my lower body for toning instead of bulk. Kickboxing also helps a lot.

I keep my diet clean (a challenge when you're a mom) by using the Zone way of eating. I see very fast results when I eat only greens as my carbohydrate source. This is very hard for me to do though, but during the times when I can pull this off, the results are great.

The way you store and lose body fat is genetic, and since this lower body bulk I have has been inherited from so many women in my mother's family, I don't expect my legs to lose every ounce of fat on it. There will always be a layer of fat in many areas. This doesn't mean there is no room for improvement. It took me about about six months to see a difference in my legs and another six months to actually see a nice, good shape in my quads and hamstrings. My butt, inner and outer thigh continue to need work, but with my upper body having "grown" from heavy weights, my body is at its most balanced.

Hope this helps.

Pinky

 

[dominican1]

thanks everyone this is a great forum.