Hi

I really need some help I weighed 14 stones when I started training properly 2 months ago and now weigh 13st 4lbs.

The thing is I train 6 days a week and I normally go on the Step Mill for 30 minutes then I do free weights for 30 mins. I alternate the parts of my body I work each day as in I do upper body one day then lower body the next day.

I struggle on the step mill and sometimes cannot do the whole 30 mins.

I just feel that I am not seeing as much weight loss as I would like to and I am losing motivation to continue. I feel like I am killing myself and my body does not look like someone who excercises.

I also have a big tummy which I cannot seem to shift. Also my lower body is quite chubby, whilst my upper body is relatively small.

I just need someone to tell me which excercise will get me the results I need quickly as I am beginning to lose hope and think I am destined to be fat

Don't give up! The fact that you cannot do 30 minutes on the step mill means you still have a way to go to get in shape. Try some other cardio activities to break the monotony and to utilize other muscle groups.

But, more importantly, it sounds like you are burning more calories through exercise but eating more to compensate. Start monitoring your diet through fitday.com or some other mechanism and post exactly what you do and I'm sure forum members will be able to give you some specific advice.

Finally, ake a look at the stickies on this forum. There are a lot of exercise and diet stickies that should help you.

Good luck!

There is no "quick" or "easy" in getting back to a healthy body. You weigh nearly 200 pounds. What you're doing is definitely BENEFITING your body, but your benefits are hidden under a layer of fat. (I don't mean that in a "mean" way, but in a realistic way.) Every time you work out your body is burning fat and muscle. Every time you work out you're also building muscle. So as the fat shrinks over the top of your muscles, your muscles are growing under you fat. Soon, but not REALLY soon, you'll see the benefits.

It also sounds like you're a pear shape. Unfortunately that's just plain genetics. You can't spot-reduce in those areas. You can build muscle, but again, the fat on top of the muscle will take time to go away. But when it goes away, you'll have a good strong body underneath all of that.

So you say you're working out, what else are you doing? If your only reason for working out is to lose weight, you're probably fighting a losing battle. Yes, you should include exercise in a weight loss program, but exercise should also be a means to achieve optimal health. You are DEFINITELY working in that direction and you should feel good about it, not despair that you're not seeing the scale move.

You should be trying to hit about a net of 1200 calories a day. That means if you exercise and burn 400 calories, you should be eating about 1600-1700 calories. Are you limiting your calories and eating high quality, low fat foods? If you're not, all the exercise in the world isn't going to help. I think a lot of people get a misconception that if only they work out, they will lose weight. You will build muscle, stronger bones, a stronger cardiovascular system, and reduce some incidences of certain lifestyle related illnesses. But if you're working out and burning 500 calories a day and then eating back those 500 calories the weight loss won't happen.

I would suggest you take a week and journal what you eat on a food journal site such as Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople. It's free. You can get an idea of how many calories you are eating. In addition, try to identify how many calories you are burning by going to a site such as Free Calorie Counter, Weight Loss Calculators, and Weight Loss Tutorial | CaloriesPerHour.com or investing in a good heart rate monitor. You may not be burning as many calories as you believe you are. (I find clients OFTEN over-estimate how many calories they are burning.)

This isn't intended to discourage you from exercising. Exercising, unless done to seriously extreme levels, is ALWAYS beneficial to your health. But you can't depend on exercise alone to transform your body overnight. You need to pair it with a good healthy diet, limiting calories, and monitoring other aspects of your health.

I do get how frustrating it can be. It feels like it takes so long. I was much heavier than you are at one time and I did it through limiting calories, cleaning up my diet, and exercising. I hit my goal of -102 lbs in 2002 and since then have continued to keep it off doing the same thing; limiting calories, cleaning up my diet (it's not perfect...yet...okay, it will never be perfect), and exercising. I journal every day. It's the only way to REALLY tell if what you're doing is the right balance.

ETA: Okay, that is totally funky. My links to Sparkpeople and Caloriesperhour turned into clickable "advertising" type links. Oooohh...technology!

try doing a fullbody workout 3x a wk,and cardio on the none weight days then you can put more effort into each.
you have lost 10lbs in two months thats over a 1lb a wk,and dont forget you probably gained some muscle so overall you have lost more than 10lbs,thats good MANUP

The 10 lbs in 2 months is a good start. Thats 1 lb a week! Just from the exercise. Now if you adjust your diet to drop 500 calories off a day (that's one smaller portion and avoiding cooking styles and condiments that carry a lot of calories) if you do that you'll be losing 2 lbs a week. That's the maximum you'd want to be losing for healthy weight loss. I think the progress you've seen is great. How do you feel physically, I'm sure a lot better than before you began your routine and that is just as, if not more important than, looking good.

Thank you so much for all your advice which I will definitely take on board - I will not give up.

I will chart, cut down and purchase a good heart rate monitor and more importantly I will pesevere.

Please can anyone give me a sample routine I can do for the next few months that will give me a definite result.

Thanks I really appreciate all your help.


Lisa

oh-- you are a girl! Good job. and if I would have realized that I would have known you would persevere, cuz girls are tuff.

hehehe
if you were a guy, I was gunna say- see ya dude, quit if ya want.

There are wonderful ladies here that will help ya.

sweat daily!

FF

Your exercising is only a small piece of the puzzle. You cannot out-train a horrible diet. Google calculating BMR. Figure out how many kcals you burn a day and keep a food journal on fitday.com

You need to be in a hypocaloric diet (eating less calories than you burn). It takes 3500 kcals (calories) to gain or lose a pound. Keep with the exercise, there's far more than physique benefits when it comes to exercise.

There are a million routines out there...almost all of them CAN work if your diet is in check. What does your routine look like?

Hi Evolution

This is what I try to do stepmill Fatburner plus - intensity level 15 for 30 minutes, then I lift free weights working my upper arms and lower body on alternate days 6 days a week.

To clarifiy...what is it you do for lifting when you're in the gym?
Do you have these movements-
bench, db bench, deadlift, squat variations, rowing variations?

If you don't...you need to start.

check out Women's Weight Training

Liza, I can share with you my experience, maybe you will find it helpful. I'm a guy. That year my girlfriend broke with me. Maybe because of that I've decided to lose around 30lbs in three summer months, maybe to get more attractive, I don't know :-) This is what I did:
- I did weights only once a week. On that day I did only weights, whole-body workout made of only compound free-weights exercises, no cardio.
- I did cardio in the gym on other 4-5 days a week. My goal was 60-90 minutes of non-stop cardio. I've started from 30 minutes a day and gradually increased the time to 90 minutes in 3 months. I did 1/2 time tredmill and 1/2 time elliptilals. For example I would do 20 minutes of tredmils than 20 minutes ellipticals right away. My thoughts were that longer time works better than high intensity, so I used rather low intesity to survive my target time.
- I took any change to walk.
- I eat less than normal and always felt a little hungry. I did not count calories, just stopped eating when I felt that I will not be hungry if I eat a little more.
- I drank gallons of water.
Well, that worked for me.

Find someone to report to with your progress. It will set goals and soon you will see realistic goals instead of the standard, "I'm supposed to be this size by this date." Find someone at your gym to report to every day with your progress. Ask for advice and so fort. A good example is finding someone of similar age and gender. Or ask a trainer who you can relate to.

By reporting and talking with people, you will gain both friendship and ability to continue training. By training with yourself, you risk setting unrealistic goals as well as doing things incorrectly.

are you still around?

if so, I just got your note.

yes, here is help here.

I have my lady's plan on the other puter. If you are still here..

Hi flyinfree

Yes I am still here - where do I find the plan

Thanks a bunch msteechur this was really very helpful.