[gstang23]

Ok. So over the last...8-9 months I have lost approx 100pds. Ive been overweight pretty much my whole life, but finally decided to do something about it and have come close to reaching my goal weight.

So anyway, with all the weight and size ive lost Im still pretty flabby in the stomach and pelvis areas and I really want to get that taken care of. So does anyone have any reccomendations for workouts that effect the thighs to midsection?

Right now my workouts consist of walking 1-2miles during lunch at work. And then stationary biking either in the morning before work or after (or sometimes both). I was doing situps, but have read that those really dont do anything besides strain your back and neck.

So any suggestions?

[MissT]

I usually do a few of these a day.

Sun Salutation

6 a day should keep you trim, limber and full of energy.

(There's about 12 steps to it so keep clicking on "next" under the photos until you reach the end.)

[twister]

Do lower abdominal crunches... first off congratulations on losing 100 lbs.. (last time I lost 100lbs involved leaving an ex girlfriend)
Old traditional sit up really did nothing for your abdomen did a lot for your hip flexors though...

Get into some weight training.. Muscle increases you metabolic rate.. you'll burn fat more effeciently than just doing cardio alone. Left over hanging skin will start to disappear over time.. if you really need to get rid of it in a hurry.. you can go in and have it removed ( surgery -tummy tuck etc) 6 week healing process....
Don't buy firming creams etc.. colassal waste of money .. 8 glasses of water day eat healthy, Core training ( abdominal and back ).. lift some weights go in to see a CSCS specialist (certified Strength and conditioning Specialist..) or a kinesiologist to get onto a proper program that will not only benifit you now but in the future. Don't just go see Bob at Bob's gym make certain the person you are talking to has the proper accreditation NCSa, CSCS or in a registered licenced Kinesiologist or Human Kinetisist. You need to get proper information not just "Ve Need to pump you up" garbage that some non registered purveyors of Strength and Fitness have to offer. They read one article fro men's health or Body building weekly now they're the expert. First time you may ever here this.... Congratulations on your loss. (unless you're at a divorce party) John H. AKA Twister BHK (bachelor of Human Kinetics)

[Zoraja]

WHen I lost weight a few years ago I found that doing both weight training and cardio worked. I walked half an hour to the gym and back, did weights first four machines for legs and two for arms, and rotating between them as I go. Then I woudl do half an hour on the ellipse machine and 15 minutes on the stationary bike. At the end I did the mats. Stretches, splits, hand stands, sit ups, leg lifts, ass lifts, and then on days when I had extra time I would go swim laps. That and a half decent I lost 70lbs, of which in my rediculous lazines i Have only gained back 20. I didn't find my skin was that flabby, but I did find that it had lots of tiny wrinkles nad wrinkled easily. That kind of thing will be super hard to get rid of because it is showing the loss of fat from under your skin. This is a good thing, but it will take several years for that to go away, that is one of the reasons that thin people tend to look older than fat ones, fewer wrinkles. Even now, 3 years later, my skin still wrinkles easily, but nobody notices but me. Just keep working at it and I think it will slowly go away.

[Blue_Nose]

While I've never had to deal with losing weight, there's a few things I should point out.

Situps, crunches, and the like, will not burn fat from your stomach area. There's a huge myth out there (usually promoted by those ab machine producers) that doing exercise on a particular region of your body will reduce the fat in that region. IT'S NOT TRUE. The only way to lose fat in those areas is to lose fat in general, and genetics will decide where it's going to take it from. Guys tend to carry it in the midsection, so that's going to be the hardest to get rid of.

Secondly, by the sounds of things, you're able to do some "real" exercise, so to get rid of those extra pounds, I'd suggest looking into High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), instead of this "run run run run run run run run run" mentality that people think is necessary for fat loss (or the stationary bikes - really, how effective can it be if you can read a book at the same time?). From the website I linked to, "Anerobic activity can burn 9 times as much body fat for every calorie expended as compared to aerobic exercise," and this includes HIIT. Their study concerning HIIT specifically showed that it was 3x more effective than endurance training in burning fat.

I would look around to find a good program that will work for you, but basically HIIT involves jogging to warm up for a few minutes, and then short intervals (30sec-1min) of sprinting and jogging for 10-12 cycles example.

What this does is gets your muscles and metabolism working, so fat is being burned long after you stop running. You could also look into doing some weight training (none of this dicking around with 5lb weights, but some serious exercise to get your body toned - you'd find you'll feel a lot better about having a little extra weight if you gain a few pounds of muscle)

Lastly, you probably already know that diet is a big part of healthy living. The trick is to choose a "diet" that you're willing to live with. If it's a short-term thing that you know you could never live forever with, it's only going to work for the short term. Plus, plain starving yourself means your going to have no energy to be able to get out and do the exercises.

Get used to eating more good foods, instead of focussing on not eating food, period. Again, fat has never been an issue for me, so I don't know a specific diet that targets fat loss, but try here for starters.

You'll notice I've linked to exrx.net quite a few times - it's an excellent site for almost any physical activity... everything from fat loss training to weight training to bodybuilding, and it's written by highly qualified people, so it's a good resource that I use myself all the time.

Hope tht helps!!

[gstang23]

twister twister:

Do lower abdominal crunches... first off congratulations on losing 100 lbs.. (last time I lost 100lbs involved leaving an ex girlfriend)
Old traditional sit up really did nothing for your abdomen did a lot for your hip flexors though...

Get into some weight training.. Muscle increases you metabolic rate.. you'll burn fat more effeciently than just doing cardio alone. Left over hanging skin will start to disappear over time.. if you really need to get rid of it in a hurry.. you can go in and have it removed ( surgery -tummy tuck etc) 6 week healing process....
Don't buy firming creams etc.. colassal waste of money .. 8 glasses of water day eat healthy, Core training ( abdominal and back ).. lift some weights go in to see a CSCS specialist (certified Strength and conditioning Specialist..) or a kinesiologist to get onto a proper program that will not only benifit you now but in the future. Don't just go see Bob at Bob's gym make certain the person you are talking to has the proper accreditation NCSa, CSCS or in a registered licenced Kinesiologist or Human Kinetisist. You need to get proper information not just "Ve Need to pump you up" garbage that some non registered purveyors of Strength and Fitness have to offer. They read one article fro men's health or Body building weekly now they're the expert. First time you may ever here this.... Congratulations on your loss. (unless you're at a divorce party) John H. AKA Twister BHK (bachelor of Human Kinetics)

Lol and thanks. Yeah Ive really changed my diet. Lots of protein, but not like an atkins version. I eat mostly turkey, few less carbs, and drink lots of water. Usually 80ozs a day. Less sugar, not total cut out. But I dont grab 10 chips ahoy or something. =)

And thanks for the links Bluenose. Those will really help out. Just took a quick look/read through and favoriteized them.

[Ripcat]

Sex.

Really helps tone and tighten the butt muscles.

[gstang23]

That could be read so many different ways

[IkeaMan]

Ripcat Ripcat:

Sex.

Really helps tone and tighten the butt muscles.

That too....burns lots of calories and you certainly can work up a good sweat!

Drink lots of water, stay away from the munchies, find a good diet and stick to it. If you can, climb up and the stairs for about 30 minutes. Buy yourself an exercise ball and keep at it. The weight will come off. Good luck!

[Zoraja]

I totally gotta agree with the sex thing. I lose 5lbs every time I see my bf for a week or so. It's great, and you are never going to find a more enjoyable type of exercize.

[bootlegga]

Congrats!

I know my sister did the same thing five or six years back and lost 90 pounds or so and was still flabby. It turned out it wasn't fat but excess skin that had stretched to accomodate her fat. Because she had lost so much weight, she qualified for cosmetic surgery that Alberta Healthcare actually paid for.

But if you are certain it is fat, your diet sounds pretty good. Contrary to popular belief, carbs should be about 50-55% of your diet, as they are your body's perfect energy source, just try not to eat carbs after 8pm. Protein should be about 30% and fat 15% or so if you are looking to burn fat. Once you've gotten to your desired weight, you can again consume about 20-25% fat, as long as you keep exercising.

For exercise, make sure you do some intense cardio (20 minutes at least, whatever you like) early in the morning to ramp up your metabolism. If you can't exercise at a high intensity level, try interval training like Bluenose suggested. The bonus is that this will give you explosive speed if you play sports like hockey, football, tennis, etc. Adding a weight training program three or four days a week will also help, as muscles are burning calories all day and night long.

As Bluenose said, crunches, sit-ups etc don't burn fat but build muscle, so if you are flabby, it wil only make you look heavier (oblique crunches especially add to your 'love handles'). Once you've gotten rid of the extra flab and skin, crunches are just as good as sit-ups. Personally, when I do crunches, I try to hold the crunch for 2-3 seconds, then relax down and do the next one. It hurts like hell, but I've found it makes a big difference. If you don't like doing crunches on the floor, put your legs up on a chair/sofa and do them. Most gyms also have a sitting crunch machine that works your abs really well too. Try doing four sets of 10-12 reps every other day. The best part about the gym machines are they add weight to the resistance, so they work your abs harder than regular crunches. When you can handle that, try adding four sets of leg extensions or reverse sit-ups to your routine. Jack Knifes can be added when you are a pro.

This is essentially what my brother did two years ago, when he went from a flabby 220 pund guy to a lean 170 pound bodybuilder. Obviously, you probably won't take it that far (he was allowed a 'cheat day' only once a month), but it will help you lose the stomach flab.

Hope this helps, good luck and keep fighting the good fight!