Weight Loss - Belvidere,IL

Hi A.,
I noticed when I cut my calories and changed by workouts I lost weight better than just watching what I ate and doing the same exercing every day. Body confusion worked better for me. Also, don't focus on a weight number focus on how you feel. You will feel better and not get bogged down by a number.
Good Luck!

A.,
Congratulations on your weight-loss so far! I'm an exercise physiologist specializing in women's fitness and weight-loss. It is very common to hit plateaus as your body adjusts to your regiments.
As far as your workout goes, you'll want to mix it up. Your cardio work should always be different. Some days you'll want to do longer, less intense workouts. Some days you'll want to do shorter, more intense workouts. Some days you'll want to do intervals of sustainable and intense back-and-forth. Make sure you get resistance work two-times per week for each muscle group. You can also do intervals of the cardio and resistance within the same workout for a high-energy, very efficient workout.
I don't believe in "diets", but using food as fuel. Make sure you're getting the necessary nutrients, first an foremost and the rest will take care of itself. Every day, you should be getting 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables, 3 servings of protein, and 8 servings of water. Stay away from fried foods and white starches (flour & sugar) as they are empty calories and weigh you down. When you consistently stick to that, you will find you have more energy and your body will work better.
Feel free to contact me directly if you'd like some more info (you can also register for my newsletter where I give fitness and nutrition advice at www.bigbellyfitness.net) I have some great ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your life without waste or going to the grocery store every day, but I have to get my 3 little ones ready for the day now!
Good luck!
T.

http://www.get-rid-of-belly-fat.com/

This is what I did. I lost NO muscle.... only fat!
IT was the easiest diet I ever did. I lost 14 lbs, 17 inches and to date, 6% body fat.
This diet makes total sense. Don't lose any muscle so you become a lean mean buring machine. It is totally safe with clinicals to back it up. I recommended it to a friend with an over weight 10 year old... put her on it and she has lost 20 lbs and is taking dance classes, and the kids aren' making fun of her anymore.

I agree completely with response from M R!

I've been listening to a podcast put out by Fat to Fit radio and they have a ton of great information. They have a website to that can calculate your BMR which will give you the health amount of calories to eat.

Great job so far! Good luck with the last 20!

Hi,
I agree you have gotten some great advise.. The eating 3 meals and 2 snacks is huge!!! Eat braekfast as soon as you wake up. It jump starts your metabolism! I had gained over 60 ilbs with my 1st pregnancy, and I started running, and actually ran a marathon 10 months later! (yes that is extreme, and not the only way to loose weight) But I also found that I even plateau too.. I found adding wieghts to the cardio is big. I still love my runs, but not when it is colder than 50, so in the winter I really focus on weights. I just have 1 set af the adjustable weights. I also bought the P90X workout program. I have never really stuck to it for the full 90 days, but all the workouts are fantastic! I use them alot in the winter, and I have my fav's that I use between runs and I use them as a weight routine between cardio. I can say the results are great. It was kinda spendy, but ebay may have some used ones cheap! It has alot of tips that are great on food too. I saw results quickly with that! Any combo of weights, cardio, and muscle confusion will get you results. And if you really cut the calories, you may need to increase that like another person advised. You might be not eating enough, so increasing that by just a couple hundred HEALTHY calories will make a change if that is the case! You need food energy to burn calories:-)
Good luck and congrats on the weight loss. I wish for you a lifelong change with all you have accomplished! Keep it up!

You might want to consider having your hormones tested. When a woman has a hormonal imbalance her body will get to a point where she physically will not be able to lose any weight--no matter how much she exercises, diets, etc. This website is full of information: www.salivatest.com
Click on the "saliva test" link and read all about it...the results of my test changed my life in a positive way!

Good Luck!!

You have gotten great advice so far. I used turbo jam after my son was born. I was up one morning nursing at 4:00 am and bought it off an infomercial (which I never do). It came and sat in the box for about 6 months. I was a big walker and had been watching what I ate so I had lost most of my baby weight but I also had hit a plateau. Then I remembered I had bought this and broke out the box and in just a month I saw a huge difference.

It has a lot of kick boxing type moves and a dvd for your belly and one for strength training. It really worked for me and it was pretty fun to do compared so some other dvd's. Plus most of the gyms have turbo jam programs now - I know LPAC did.

Good luck.

A., I have found an amazing program called Core 4. It is four products that work together and me and my husband have seen great results. I have lost 8 pounds and my husband has lost 15 pounds! (what we needed to lose) The best part is that you do not have to change what you eat and you lose weight. We were very skeptical when we heard that, but it works! They are so sure you will lose weight that it is guaranteed for 90 days, so you really have nothing to lose. Shoot me an email at ____@____.com if you have any questions.

Good luck!
B.

water - all I can say is to get to the next level. Increase your water.

If you are drinking any kind of pop even diet pop, you need to cut that out of your diet. Any kind of carbonation slows down your metablolism. Cutting out carbonation will help you loose those extra pounds quicker when you diet and exercise. I use to be a diet coke lover. I gave it up after reading an article on diets and why they fail. I never thought that I could give it up, but when I saw the results, it made it easy just to cut that one thing out and still have treats when I wanted. If you drink pop and cut it out totally, keep your same diet/exercise routine, you will see results in less than 2 weeks.

Good Luck!

If you don't already, add a little weight training. You do not ahve to lift heavy weights and you won;t bulk up unless you really work it with heavy. 3 to 5 pounds should do it. More muscle will help get things moving again. Also, interval training is a good way to go. If you walk, throw in some fast bursts for a few minutes here and there. If you are following videos, mix them up. A friend of mine hit a plateau and it turned out she was not eating enough so her body stopped. She added a healthy snack and changed up her exercises and it help get things going again.

weight watchers is easy, cheap and teaches you how to keep it off well after you are done. I did it before I got pregnant and was able to apply the principles and discipline I learned during my pregnancy so I only gained weight that I needed to gain) and then after. My daughter is 6 months and I weigh less now (and have for 3 months) than when I got pregnant.

WW is all about lifestyle change and making choices. It's really a great program. I would recommend it to anyone. When I joined, I only wanted to lose 20lbs. It worked beautifully. As an added benefit, I cooked differently and my hubby lost a few too :-)

Diane is right on the money with adding strength training!

Strength training will add on muscle. At rest, muscle burns more calories (as lean mass) than other tissues. Basically, with strength training you turn your body into a calorie-burning furnace!

Oh and you get a second benefit too - your muscles get tighter and toned (you won't turn into Arnold S. unless you're lifting like crazy!). This gives your body a more trim appearance and your clothes actually will fit better.

No equipment? No problem! You can do push-ups, crunches, arm curls with soup cans, chair dips, squats, lunges, leg lifts, etc. All of these can help build strength without owning a single piece of equipment!

If you're doing the exact same cardio every day, start to switch it up. Include intervals. For example, if you're walking 30 minutes...walk 5 minutes at your regular pace and then walk 1-2 minutes at a super fast pace or even a jog. Challenge your body to do more than what it has gotten used to. Cross train - do the elliptical, bike, stairclimber, swim, or even play a vigorous game with your son in the backyard.

Don't go on a 'diet' but make smart choices about what you eat. Go to www.sparkpeople.com and start logging what you eat. You'll get helpful hints on how many calories, carbs, fats, and proteins you should be consuming each day. People who journal their food intake are FAR more successful and lose MORE weight than those who do not.

Make sure you are eating enough. If you're cutting too many calories (i.e. not eating more than 1200 per day) then your body goes into starvation-survival mode. The body freaks out thinking "I'm being starved, so I'm going to hold on to what fat I do have with dear life in case she is going to starve me forever!". Try to eat 3 meals a day with two snacks in between, and your caloric intake should be between about 1400-1600 per day.

AVOID all pills or special gimmicky products! They are a band-aid solution to a long-term issues you're wanting to change. Sure they might work, but you'll put the weight right back on as soon as you're done with the product. If everyone's 'special weight loss secret' product worked, would we be a nation of obese people? NO!

You've done such a good job - all you gotta do is step it up a tiny notch and you'll find yourself blasting through that plateau!

Take mummy magic tea. It`s amazing!!