help for a "skinny" fat

RE: help for a

>I go back and forth, first thinking I
>should go ahead and cut some good food out, and then thinking
>"What the heck? I'm NOT FAT!", and eating what I want. It's
>a seesaw for me, and I have to keep it in perspective.

Yes, Penny. It really helps to put things in perspective. I can't worry about what I see in the mirror when my BMI, body fat percentage and weight are within normal range. I also notice that people can't stand me when I complain about my fat zones. It is sometimes disturbing how those around me can make me feel like I have no right to say negative things about my body when I'm already small, but at the same time I understand that such folks have had such a hard time losing weight and I've never had that problem. Even after childbirth I became smaller than before I got pregnant. The way I see it, I have a choice: to punish myself for something unattainable, or to live a little.

Pinky:)
 
RE: help for a

Exactly, Pinky! I think the real problem is the images they show us which are supposed to represent what's beautiful. My aunt sent me an email that said 70% of women feel inadequate and depressed after looking at a fashion mag. There's also the fact life is too short not to eat chocolate cake! I strive for balance and at 40, am finally not obsessed with thinness. When I was 30, I starved myself down to 100 pounds and had a flat stomach (it was still squishy) but I looked terrible and scared my family. When I discovered the joys of exercise and proper nutrition a few years later, I got heavier but because I was healthy and strong, it was ok that I posses the slab of flab I call my abs.:) I am still working on losing that fat but only in a safe and reasonable way. And if it never happens, at least my husband loves to hug the belly as he falls asleep! Even though I growl at him!
http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/nosmile/peacesign.gif Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/nosmile/peacesign.gif
 
RE: help for a

This is exactly right. I would like to slim down the squishy's in my legs, but if I do that I don't want to make any other area look worse because the other areas are already slender enough. That is why I am confused. Do I beef up my cardio to fix the legs? Or would less cardio and more weights be better?
 
RE: help for a

It's a great question and I have been doing web research this morning and I think I can give an answer!

You can do both but you need a two-pronged plan which focuses on one goal and then the other. Someone who is very overweight is an endomorph which means she can use strength training and cardio to MAINTAIN her natural muscle mass while dropping excess body fat. But an echtomorph who wants to lose a pooch needs to focus on building muscle mass first and then on maintaining that muscle mass while losing fat.

Here's a link that explains the metabolic process:
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2437.html

So the first prong might be to eat well while emphasizing strength training to BUILD mass and doing a moderate amount of cardio to keep the heart conditioned and stress in check but not so much that muscle is lost. Prong two would occur when you are happy with the amount of muscle you have gained and would require increasing cardio to burn fat while eating enough to MAINTAIN muscle mass gained. Does this make sense?
I am going to work out a plan based on this infomation and see what happens. I doubt that I can get a six pack but I hope I can build muscle and slim down my stomach a bit. It's worth a shots!
http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/nosmile/peacesign.gif Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/nosmile/peacesign.gif
 
RE: help for a

Thanks for the link, Bobbi! Would you mind posting your plan after you work it out? And what, in your opinion, is considered a moderate amount of cardio?

My current rotation includes 3 cardios (moderate, interval and whatever category Bootcamp fits into) and 3 total body strength workouts (ME twice and BC). This will change after I get the Body Blasts. Do you think the above-mentioned cardios are enough or too much for a "skinny" ecto who just wants to lose the blasted pooch and gain some muscle?

BTW, I don't always only do endurance workouts. It's just my current 4-wk rotation because I felt I needed a little help in that area.:)
 
RE: help for a

Hi, Susan!
The trick might be to do workouts that emphasize either cardio or strength training but once we succeed in our goals we can put them together based on what we enjoy or design rotations based on what we know works. Or a little bit of both, a maintainance phase, if you will. I think I am going to be able to accomplish this based on what I have been doing since I had surgery on my foot in May because of Plantar Fasciitis. I got so bummed out about not being able to do much cardio, I dumped my whole program for awhile. When I started back in, I knew I had to ease into it. At first, I alternated days of brisk walking with yoga then added strength work. (Back before my feet went, I ran 25 to 35 miles a week, did 1-2 Cathe cardios and strength trained upper and lower twice per week).

Lately, I have been doing modified (moderate) Cathe aerobics for no more than 30 minutes, yoga and strength training, alternating days (cardio, yoga, strength). I think if I change that to short, moderate cardio and yoga on the same day, 3 times per week and get in two full body strength training workouts per week, two Split, one Total Body, I should be able to see more muscle mass.

Here's an Example:

Monday- CTX Step and Intervals/yoga
Tuesday-Pyramid Upper Body
Wednesday-Pyramind Lower Body
Thursday-Imax2 Intervals 1-5 Premix/yoga
Friday-Intensity Series Muscle Endurance
Saturday-CTX Kickbox/yoga
Sunday-Rest


Once I get some muscle going, I can increase my cardio to lose a little of my poochy belly while hopefully maintaining muscle mass. Wouldn't it interesting if my cardio addiction waas the thing that kept me from making my belly leaner?

What do you think?


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Phase 2

Ok, Susan, for Phase 2 what do you think of doing 2 combo cardio and strength workouts such as Bootcamp and Cardio and weights along with 3-4 days of more intense cardio only?
That will maintain the mass but increase fat burning.

Here's that example: Yoga optional!
Monday-IMax2/yoga
Tuesday-Bootcamp
Wenesday-Max Intensity Cardio/yoga
Thursday-Cardio and Weights
Friday-Stepworks/yoga
Saturday-Rhythmic Step/yoga
Rest

Then once we are "there", we rotate in and out of strength emphasizing phases and cardio emphasizing phases to keep it all going.
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RE: Phase 2

Bobbi, thanks for the link and the rotation ideas! After checking out the link I'm thinking of zigzagging my cardio -- doing less for two weeks then doing the usual the next week, then back to doing less again... to make sure I still burn fat while building/maintaining muscle mass. Just a thought. Don't know how it'll work for me. Ya know, we should have an occasional "skinny fat" or "poochy ecto" thread so we can bounce ideas around. How 'bout that? I love your rotations but I'm -- whisper -- a w-i-m-p when it comes to Bootcamp -- whisper.:D

Pinky
 
RE: Phase 2

Hi, Pinky!

I believe in being flexible about my workout plans because there are good intentions and then there's reality. Bootcamp is so painful, I agree!:)

Not that I'm obsessed or anything, but I pulled out all of my Cathe DVD's (Bless my wonderful husband for letting me compile so many!) and printed out the description of the BB's. I then went into my word processing application and made a plan and it's quite a plan. I am going to give it a shot, stick to it as well as I can and see what happens! I hope it makes sense to anyone who's interest and I'd love to start a check in the OD Forum with anyone who'll try it with me! Sorry the post is so long!

This is it:
The Skinny Fat Plan * denotes BB workouts

Phase I-MUSCLE BUILDING heavy strength work, moderate cardio
WEIGHT TRAINING
The Heavies:
Pure Strength Series
Slow & Heavy Series
Pyramid Upper/Lower

The Moderates:
Maximum Intensity Strength
Power Hour
Muscle Endurance
*Push Pull

Options:
CTX Leaner Legs with
CTX Upper Body Split

*Legs & Glutes with BodyMax
Upper Body

1 Heavy Total Body per week (2-3 days needed)
1 Moderate Total Body per week

Do this weight training with any of these cardio workouts:

CARDIO
Step Heat
Step Max
PowerMax
Step Fit
Step Works
Rhythmic Step
MIC
IMAX 1&2
*Step Blast
*Kick, Punch & Crunch

Any workout 3-4 days per week
30 minutes
Moderate Intensity
4-6 Week Rotation


Phase II

FAT BLASTING-moderate strength training/killer cardio

Cardio

Step Jam
Step Heat
Step Max
PowerMax
Step Fit
Step Works
Rhythmic Step
MIC
IMAX 1&2
*Step Blast
*Kick, Punch & Crunch

3-4 per week
45-60 minutes
High Intensity

Do this cardio with this strength training:



Moderate Weight Work
Cardio/Strength Combo
Workouts

Boot Camp
Cardio & Weights
Gauntlet
IMAX Xtreme
Viper
*Step Pump & Jump

2 per week

4-6 Week Rotation


Phase III

MAINTAINENCE OPTIONS:

OPTION I:

Repeat Phase I without The Heavies. Do two Moderates

OPTION II:
Repeat Phase II with one Combo/circuit workout and 1 Moderate


OPTION III:

TimeSaver AND/OR CTX Combination Rotation

OPTION III:

Repeat Phase I or II as done in the first place.

OPTION IV:

A week at a spa!

I am always flexible about my workouts because things get crazy sometimes and I can’t do them as planned. I might insert TimeSaver or CTX into at least one week of either phase.









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RE: Phase 2

Wow, Bobbi, that sounds like a super game plan!! Is there anyway of printing just one "reply" without printing everything in the thread? I'd like to print some of these things but don't necessarily need all of them. Thanks for all the replies and helpful info everyone.

Roylene
 
RE: Phase 2

Bobbi, thanks for sharing that with us. I like the idea of having a rotation where I can pick from a list of videos. I've never been able to stick to a rigid rotation where I am supposed to do a specific video on a specific day.

Sharon.
 
RE: Phase 2

Thanks for putting so much thought into this, Bobbi! My only concern (for me) is doing too much cardio in Phase II and losing body fat in places I don't want to! I'll give it a shot, though, and if I lose too much fat, I'll make up for it by eating more. (Never a problem for me!:7 )

I think I'll begin Phase I after I receive the Body Blasts. How about the rest of you?

(Oh, and we really should continue this on the OD forum, not on "Ask Cathe." Don't you think?)
 
RE: Phase 2

You are right, we should! I'll post my plan for next week and we can check in if the spirit moves us. I am going to cut and paste the above post onto the Rotations forum. How'd I miss that forum? While I was planningmy workout schedule for next week I opted to just do one because I tend to change my plans to suit my mood and that changes crazily! Since I dusted off those workouts, some of which I haven't done in ages, I am going to rotate through all of them but I am going to abreviate the long ones to fit the 30 minutes. I am being optimistic about phase 2 since right now long, high impact cardio is out of the question because my feet are naughty dogs! I think it would work just fine with moderate strength work and moderate cardio in phase 2. We have to do what works for us. I am psyched though! Last year I had oral surgery in January and foot surgery in May. I dropped about 8 pounds which never came back. And if I lose any more of my butt I am going to look quite comical! LOL!
http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/nosmile/peacesign.gif Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/nosmile/peacesign.gif
 
RE: cutting out those "alergic" foods

This is comment is related to both Angela's post and the topic of this forum. I'm 5'3" and 110-115 pounds and consider myself a "skinny fat" person. I spent two weeks (following Phase 1 of the Fat Flush Plan) flushing my system of toxins and eliminated those foods that cuase the digestive problems and those foods that are potential "allergy alarms." Yes, I saw a dramatic change in my shape. The fatty layer around the midrift especially shrunk way down (I could barely pinch an inch). However, I also lost too much weight where my rib cage was really showing. But, alas, the belly still was at the 3-4 month pregancy look to it. Any idea of how to get rid of the belly (since the belly reflects what you eat) without getting too "skinny?"

Thank you!
Lorrayne
 
RE: cutting out those

I primarily do Cathe rotations (I own virtually all of her tapes/DVDs). I usually do cardio 5 times per week and weight train 4-5 days per week. Total work out time is approx 60 minutes in length. After I did the 2 week "cleanse" I did her CTX series for a couple of weeks and then did her "tougher" workouts.

I do, however, periodically do Firm/FitPrime rotations for some variety. In fact, I'm doing the FitPrime rotations right now as I'm in the middle of another cleanse/detox (have to get rid of the sugar out of my body from the week of eating poorly).

Lorrayne
 
RE: cutting out those

What we are trying is to emphasize building muscle first, then losing the belly fat second. I have minimized my cardio and am increasing the weight I use with strength training gradually. Once I am happy with the muscles gained, I am going to do moderate strength and increase cardio while eating well to try to burn the excess fat. I am still in the building muscle stage so I cannot difinitively tell you this will work, but I think it might so you could try it by reducing the length of your cardio and keeping up what you are doing with strength. Do you have a hard time gaining muscle? I do but I am giving this 6 or more weeks until I see some gain. What do you typically eat?
Bobbi
http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif Chicks rule!
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RE: cutting out those

I have quite a bit muscle tone on my legs (and some up top). I'll try upping the weights and see what happens. I do know that I did this when I wasn't eating as well as I do now and got too small (same weight as I am now, but ended up going down to a size 0 -- I'm a 4 right now). I'll see how this goes eating more often and better food. Here's what I am currently eating:

early AM: ground flaxseed and unsweetened cranberry juice

AM: 1/2 grapefruit, 2 eggs and 2 soy sausage links.

AM snack: a piece of fruit.

Lunch: 4 oz of protein and a veggie and a small salad. I use flaxseed oil, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar for the dressing.

PM snack: a piece of fruit.

Dinner: 4 oz of protein and a couple of veggies. Sprinkle flaxseed oil on my veggies.

Late PM: ground flaxseed and unsweetened cranberry juice

I'm not going to introduce any complex carbs right now until I complete my detox. My complex carbs consists of a slice of sprouted bread in the morning and, possibly, 1/2 of a yam/sweet potato/squash with dinner.
 
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