I’ve been working out daily for almost 4 weeks now and have completely changed my diet. I went from drinking 2 20 oz bottles of Cola a day and snacking on Doritos, eating frozen pizza for lunch, lots of pasta, etc. I cut literally all of that out. I snack on mixed nuts, yogurt, or kale chips occasionally instead and with smaller portions than I used to. I’ve had 4 kids so my stomach sticks out a little more than I’d like but I do not think I have ab separation. I’ve been really focusing on core strength but I do work on the rest of my body and not strictly core so I can burn fat. I haven’t noticed any difference when I do comparison photos and I’m just feeling really disappointed. Does it typically take this long to see results?
(Also adding that I’m 30 and 5’4 and weigh 122 lbs just in case that may be relevant information.)
*update 6 days later: finally seeing progress!! Thanks to everyone’s advice!!
@fayerie91 Are you tracking your calories? Healthy food can still have a lot of calories and you may not realise you’re consuming as much as you are.
That said it takes way longer than 4 weeks to notice much of a difference, think in terms of 3-6 months to see noticeable results. That’s the hard thing to get your head round when you start.
@jdprice Lots of people are in denial about their diet. Only when they come clean to THEMSELVES will real change happen. I know from personal experience. I would eat healthily in front of people and snack in private. Only when I finally decided to admit the truth did I see the results I wanted. I just roll my eyes when people cry about eating healthily, watching their caloric intake and still can't lose weight.
id still track calories so you’re getting enough of every macro (protein, carbs, and fats). apps like macrofactor do allll the work for you
and you can find programs on the boostcamp app if you feel more confident going into exercise/the gym w a plan already in mind.
if you have tiktok, following fitness minded people can help learn knew things and motivate you. be wary of people trying to sell you their services, but i think Whitney Simmons is a good person for women. Same w Miss Frizzle of Fitness
they both come across as kindhearted genuine people just trying to help. ik its daunting but its my firm belief that women NEED some muscle to be healthier overall which is i think a much healthier mindset for you than just “lose weight after having kids”. being strong means being involved in their lives for a long long time
@danny4mission Thanks so much for the suggestions!! I think I didn’t word my post correctly because that’s mostly what I’m worried about, building my core up. I’d like to lose the fat that’s covering my stomach, too. I feel like I should probably just find a personal trainer because I really don’t know anything lol I never really had to workout before because I always just naturally had abs from dancing until I had my 2nd baby. Then I lost them and haven’t been able to get them back.
@fayerie91 Don’t give up . I’ve been at it for 3 months and the scale is the same and the before/after pictures are only showing a little change. But personally I feel healthier and stronger and what changes there was only started the last couple weeks. Muscles weigh more than fat so I expect that’s why not seeing any real change there. Look more at how you feel then for changes. If you are feeling better and able to do more then you’re on the right track. Keep up the great effort and good luck.
@adjolt35 Thank you! I do feel a lot better and my depression has even improved, I just expected that I’d have noticed more appearance wise by now. I don’t own a scale so I don’t know if I’ve lost any lbs but my biggest concern is toning my stomach, not so much losing lbs. It’s good to hear that I’m on the right track though!
@fayerie91 "I do work on the rest of my body and not strictly core so I can burn fat."
That's the problem. You have incorrect ideas about what you're doing and thus unrealistic expectations. It really depends on the type of exercise you're doing but generally anything claiming to "burn fat" is probably bullshit. Sure exercise burns calories but it's not nearly as many as you think. You burn fat by being in a caloric defect. It sounds like you're on the right track with your diet but keep in mind that snacks like nuts are actually pretty high calorie so if the eating several handfuls a day that can be the difference between a deficit and maintenance it even put you over in calories. Some yogurt can be pretty high calorie and have high fat and sugar content as well. A healthy rate of weight loss is 1lb a week. However your weight will fluctuate from day to day based on Hydra levels and how much food is in your digestive system. You have to look at your weight over the course of the week. Your highest and lowest weights each week should be trending downward. If it's not then you're eating too much it's the simple. You should lift weights to build muscle which will raise your overall bmr which in the long run will allow to to eat more calories without gaining fat. Not to mention the more muscle you have in the frame the less noticeable any fat you have will be. You can use cardio to help keep you in a caloric deficit but it's not complicated anything that keeps your great rate up for an extended time will do and the longer the better when it comes to burning calories. Just keep in mind that doing cardio for an hour might burn 100-200 calories if you're lucky. That's a handful of nuts. The take away is "fat burning workouts" probably aren't doing what you think they are because they don't burn the many calories and they aren't adequate stimulus to build muscle. It's the worst of both worlds.
@harko personally i would not recommend a 1lb a week deficit for a potentially mostly sedentary 5’4” 122lb woman. that can easily be sub 1000 cals or maybe even less depending on the person
at that weight im not sure why she wants to lose weight at all.. https://app.mybodygallery.com/#/?height=163&weight=54 (assuming she looks like anyone w similar stats. obviously i dont know for sure bc idk what she looks like, but im a little concerned nonetheless.)
if she ends up enjoying the gym, body recomp at maintenance cals may be healthier
@mrs_h no i mean her total cals consumed could be sub 1000. for instance my mom is 5’4” at 146 and if she ate at a -500/1lb deficit its sub 1200. and if she continued to lose weight at that rate it would get lower and lower.
you dont think we should heed any caution at all when giving weight-loss advice to a complete novice who already has low bodyfat? i just dont want to be irresponsible and potentially cause more harm than good
i want to provide all the options before one makes their choice for their health. ultimately its up to the person do decide what they want to do!
@danny4mission Oh I see what you mean. I just thought it's weird for you to say a grown person who is a complete stranger, that wanting to lose some weight is concerning.
@mrs_h oh lol! no not at all. i just wanted commenters to take all context under consideration bc weight loss advice can vary depending on a persons starting body fat % thats all
@harko My calorie intake is 1500 or less each day. I track them with an app. should I be eating less than 1500? I’m not so much concerned with losing lbs as I am with fixing my stomach. I have no fat on my arms or legs or anywhere else but my stomach does.
@fayerie91 I can't tell you how much you should be eating a day but If you've had kids it might be loose skin as opposed to fat. It might also be genetics. If you have the genetics (like I do lol) where most of my fat seems to be stored right around the midsection you may have to get to an uncomfortably low bodyfat percentage to get the stomach you want. I know that when I was at my lowest level of bodyfat as an amateur boxer I was still unable to get the ripped six pack look everyone wants. I had a flat stomach and looked great but I still lacked the ripped look. I was also really skinny as a 5'10" man under 150 lbs. I've since had kids and switched my focus from boxing to weight lifting. Now that I've bulked up I look much better imo my stomach isn't quite where it was when I was leaner but I have a lot of extra mass so it's less noticeable. If I wanted to try and get ripped again I think I'd have more success this go around because of the extra muscle in my frame.
@fayerie91 Eating healthier doesn't necessarily mean that you're in a calorie deficit.
People are recommending you to get stronger, and that's a great suggestion, but if you are doing some cardio even going for walks and you're in a calorie deficit, you will lose the weight. Remember that you can't target an area for fat loss, but that being said, core exercise is always great.
@fayerie91 After Covid, I was 42 pounds overweight. (5'7" @182#). I returned to my pre-covid diet (@1600 healthy calories, high in protein/fiber) and minimum 150 minutes mild/moderate exercise a week.
The first year, I lost about 2#/month, but was building a little muscle. I looked better at 158, but not trim. I lost the next 20+ in 8 months. Weighing in at 135 now (why I ended up 5# lighter than pre-covid is beyond me). Feeling good.
It takes time and patience to do this in a way that yields the results you want.
Fat loss is 100% diet. I lost 200 pounds without exercising at all (I wouldn't recommend it). Have you ever used a treadmill that shows calories burned? You'd have to run like Forest Gump to burn off a big mac. You also can't target where you lose fat, your body loses it somewhat evenly with your tummy usually being the last stubborn hold out.
Just keep doing what you're doing, the results will come, you just need more patience than you initially anticipated.
@fayerie91 I will continue to preach it from the mountain tops: CALLANETICS!!! Specifically, the stomach portion of this dvd. Yes, I said dvd. But I swear to you, I bought my copy and loved it so much I bought them as stocking stuffers for all the women in my family. There's a sub too: r/callanetics.
(I'm 5'2", early 40's, and halfway through the weight portion of my 'get snatched for summer' plan. I was 135 and officially weighed in at 129 yesterday!)
But I swear to you, I bought my copy and loved it so much I bought them as stocking stuffers for all the women in my family. There's a sub too: r/callanetics.