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[Touya no miko]

So, I really want to slim down for my biggest cosplay coming up in 2011. I'm 5'5 and weigh about 188 lbs last I check(My previous weight in September was 194 lbs). My waist size is 36 inches and I really want to shrink it down to a size 30. I have stubborn belly fat that's been antagonizing me since I was a child. So far I've only accomplished firming up my legs, thighs, and arms, but not a lot of luck around the waist.

I want to be able to lose it before the end of March. Every weekday morning I swim for an hour, I eat out a few times, but most of the time I eat at home. I don't have a car, so I take the bus home and do some walking for an hour. On the weekends I work as a cashier, since it's holiday season it's been growing rather hectic. Lastly, if I'm not busy with anything else I take my dogs out for a walk, which usually takes about an hour and a half.

Any feedback will be helpful.

[daylight]

well you certainly seem active enough.
maybe counting and cutting calories will help

[kiratsukai]

Everyone's body works differently and when it comes to losing weight, your body really seems to have a mind of its own. Even when you begin to lose weight, your trouble spots will likely remain your trouble spots. Ie. if you have a big lower body, when you slim down you'll still have a bigger lower body...

Targetted weight loss is more or less a myth. You don't get to decide from where your body draws the extra energy it needs, it just does. The only thing you can really do is build muscle tone to compensate.

Your best bet is probably to look into some core/ab routines to pair with your weight loss regimen.

Though honestly... 6 inches in 4 months is too tall an order to lose in a healthy way. Assuming 7.5 pounds is 1 inch -- you would need to lose about 65 pounds (over 10 pounds a month). According to weight loss calculator ~ to do that at your current weight you'd need a 1,750 calorie deficit every day... that isn't healthy.

Also, as you slim down, your weight loss will slow significantly. A lighter person isn't carrying as much weight around on a daily basis and so doesn't burn as many calories... your current rate of weight loss should certainly be encouraging, but you shouldn't expect to keep losing the same amount of weight with the same efforts as you get lighter.

[Loplod]

Originally Posted by kiratsukai

at your current weight you'd need a 1,750 calorie deficit every day... that isn't healthy.

Kiratsukai, I agree with you on pretty much ever point but this one. When I'm cutting I eat at a 1500 deficit (Give or take), and so far its worked great for me so far and I can't think of a reason why 1750 (what I would call a healthy amount) is unhealthy?

But otherwise Kirasukai has hit it on the head. Cardio is your Friend, But a good diet is better. if you can rather than 'walk' home and 'walk' the dog, Why not jog? It will help allot more to improve overall health and your body will spend more energy cooling you down afterward.

[kiratsukai]

Originally Posted by Loplod

Kiratsukai, I agree with you on pretty much ever point but this one. When I'm cutting I eat at a 1500 deficit (Give or take), and so far its worked great for me so far and I can't think of a reason why 1750 (what I would call a healthy amount) is unhealthy?

o-O 1,750 calories less than your body needs to maintain your weight is 1,750 calories less than your body requires to work at its maximum efficiency. It can take those calories from your fat stores, but if your daily intake to maintain your weight is 2,000-2,500 calories (average for sedentary women), in order to create a 1,750 calorie deficit you'd need to consume only about 250-750 calories a day.

Ie. you could not eat 3 balanced, satisfying meals... more likely only one or two very small ones.

I don't think I need to explain further why this might cause major problems with your health. Hair loss, fatigue, depression, all sorts of vitamin and mineral deficiencies...

It will also put you into "starvation" mode... meaning when you finally do reintroduce the calories you need, your body is going to stockpile them like crazy in preparation for another famine.

http://caloriecount.about.com/cal-enough-ft140038

[Loplod]

Waaaaaaiiitttt, I think I have my understandings wrong here. Yeah, yeah I do.

Sorry, thats my fault here, Listen to kiratsukai xD. I'm an idiot.

[Berenice]

Originally Posted by Touya no miko

So, I really want to slim down for my biggest cosplay coming up in 2011. I'm 5'5 and weigh about 188 lbs last I check(My previous weight in September was 194 lbs). My waist size is 36 inches and I really want to shrink it down to a size 30. I have stubborn belly fat that's been antagonizing me since I was a child. So far I've only accomplished firming up my legs, thighs, and arms, but not a lot of luck around the waist.

I want to be able to lose it before the end of March. Every weekday morning I swim for an hour, I eat out a few times, but most of the time I eat at home. I don't have a car, so I take the bus home and do some walking for an hour. On the weekends I work as a cashier, since it's holiday season it's been growing rather hectic. Lastly, if I'm not busy with anything else I take my dogs out for a walk, which usually takes about an hour and a half.

Any feedback will be helpful.

I believe we have quite the same "body statistics" hahaha!
And I'm wanting to shrink my waist down to about a 28in
My bellyfat/torso is also the heaviest part of my body... seeing as my legs are totally normal/slim......... which is totally weird

What I do is that I don't drink anything else but water, eat 4 small meals a day [5 if I'm not busy] and do some cardio exercise on weekends for about an hour [I may add more in a week if I have time]
I also stay away from chips and chocolates and other fatty stuffs

I'm losing weight, although I am on a horrible, horrible plateau right now ^^;

And it's healthy to lose a maximum of 2lbs. per week... no matter how much time it would take to achieve out desired body fat level T_T

Once you measure your daily caloric rate, subtract about 500 from it and you may be able to lose 2 lbs per week

I guess I burn about 2,300+ per day so I take in about 1800 or 1500 calories from food in a day

[distantarray]

it's also good to note, from a medical standpoint it's recommended to eat no less than 1,200 a day. This is essential for a healthy body, also FDA regulates calories on labels to be inaccurate to upto 20% so that 100 calorie slice of bread could be around 120, so just careful on what you eat.

Also if your eating 1,200 calories, and burning 1,000 calories it's also not a healthy practice as well. It's stupid to try to count calories honestly. Just eat good food whenever your hungry, and to the point where your not full.

this will keep your body at optimal performance, and running more efficiently. Also stick to just meats and veggies at night to keep your carbs low before you sleep, if you must cheat, only cheat before or after your workouts. This is when your glycogen levels are low and you need to refuel.

6 inches in 4 months is going to be pretty damn hard without surgery.

3,500 calories = 1 pound of fat and depending on your height weight bone structure it's all a hard thing to estimate. Generally around 4-7 pounds = 1 inch on the waist. So that's anywhere from 6 inches = 24-42 pounds.

generally healthy speeds to lose weight is 1-2 pounds a week, in 16 weeks the most you should be losing is around 32 pounds. So generally it could be possible, just depending on how spot on your diet and exercise routine is, remember it also takes people generally 6months or more to find out how their body really works to everything (diet and exercise plan)