Lauren's goals

[Silverbeam]

My main goal is to tone up my theighs and ass, with pretty minimal weight loss, about 5 lbs. I'm pretty happy with every other part of me, I just got myself some curves and they could loose a little padding. Currently I'm doing about 45 mins of cardio 3-5 times a week and then I go to the machines and do "light weights and low reps" but to be honest, I don't even know what that means :). For diet, I am a very balanced eater, no low carb bs for me. I do well at getting my food pyramid and a good caloric intake for my weight.

[Sportsmedjosh]

sounds like a solid plan, I always think it's a great idea to make a change based on how you feel rather than what you want to lose in numbers. It sounds like you might want to increase your RE (resistance exercises) that you are doing to get some more lean mass. Also I put together a nice little cardio log it might be worth downloading and using it to track your progress.

Target Heart Rate and Running Log

[S54MCoupe]

Originally Posted by Silverbeam

My main goal is to tone up my theighs and ass, with pretty minimal weight loss, about 5 lbs. I'm pretty happy with every other part of me, I just got myself some curves and they could loose a little padding. Currently I'm doing about 45 mins of cardio 3-5 times a week and then I go to the machines and do "light weights and low reps" but to be honest, I don't even know what that means :). For diet, I am a very balanced eater, no low carb bs for me. I do well at getting my food pyramid and a good caloric intake for my weight.

Like Josh said, make sure you don't focus on your weight/numbers too much. If you can find a place to do it, look into getting your bodyfat tested rather than using the scale as an indication of your progress. As you work out, you'll be burning fat and building muscle, which means you might actualy gain weight. Those numbers don't mean anything, though, since you're actualy loosing fat. So don't get too fixated on a scale, because a lot of times, it doesn't mean a thing.

Good luck with everything!

[bsb4tyke]

awesome job making sure you eat a balanced diet...that has been really hard for me. what does your diet consist of normally?

[Silverbeam]

Originally Posted by bsb4tyke

awesome job making sure you eat a balanced diet...that has been really hard for me. what does your diet consist of normally?

Breakfast is usually oatmeal and tea, or cereal if I don't feel like cooking. I usually incorporate fruit in there some way.

Snack, granola bar or apple. H20. Sometimes I walk down to the deli and get a "roundabout" a pressed, crustless wheat sanwhich with fresh veggies inside.

Lunch: I try to keep it to whole grains and with some veggies in it. I also try to stay away from meat at lunch. I get a lot of dairy in a day so I don't need the added protein. Today I had a veggie sanwhich with cheese on a 9 grain bread. I try to mix it up too. Yesterday was vietnamese, monday was a salad with apple walnut and chicken in it.

Snack: yogurt, granola bar or fruit. Today it was a raisin bran muffin top.

Dinner: 2oz of meat, whole grain something (pasta, brown rice) or something not whole grain, like potatoes or the pasta my family likes, and veggies. Yesterday was lemon pepper chicken, spinach, and a pasta with a home made sause with tomatoe, garlic, basil and evaporated milk. Very yummy.

If I get hungry after dinner (pretty typical) I have some yogurt.

That is a typical day. Variety is the key to health. I focus mainly on getting all my fruits and veggies as the carbs and meats are so easy to come by. Before I eat each meal I think of my pyramid and calories and decide what would be best. I do go by www.mypyramid.gov.

I think that eating right is really hard for picky people. You just got to get over eating what you don't like. I recently made the switch to meat only once a day. Eating meatless sanwhiches for me was really tough at first, now it aint no thang, as they say.

[S54MCoupe]

That's actualy pretty impressive.

[livewell]

Originally Posted by S54MCoupe

That's actualy pretty impressive.

Ditto.
Very commendable.

[Kerri<3]

I wish I was that disciplined...

[LoveGuinness]

me too!

[e39dream]

cool silverbeam!

[Silverbeam]

Update: I'm not really progressing. I'm going 3-4 times a week. I do this quazi stairstepper/eliptical for 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes on low resistance (I do one of their presettings so the incline changes) so it's good for 200-300 calories, then I switch off between legs and arms. My ass is looking better, but I feel like my legs are getting sort of bulky.

I don't want thick legs. Since I noticed, I stopped doing the press and started to only work on the inner/outer theighs. I think it's my outer lat that is getting thick. My legs have never been "dancer legs" but I surely don't want "runner legs". What do I need to change?

I'm also going to do some calorie conting to see if I'm okay in that field.

[Sportsmedjosh]

lauren post what you've been eating for the last week and everything you've done at the gym in the last week and what days you've gone.

[S54MCoupe]

Originally Posted by Silverbeam

Update: I'm not really progressing. I'm going 3-4 times a week. I do this quazi stairstepper/eliptical for 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes on low resistance (I do one of their presettings so the incline changes) so it's good for 200-300 calories, then I switch off between legs and arms. My ass is looking better, but I feel like my legs are getting sort of bulky.

I don't want thick legs. Since I noticed, I stopped doing the press and started to only work on the inner/outer theighs. I think it's my outer lat that is getting thick. My legs have never been "dancer legs" but I surely don't want "runner legs". What do I need to change?

I'm also going to do some calorie conting to see if I'm okay in that field.

Your legs might feel thicker, but not actualy be any bigger. The only way to really know that is to measure them. A lot of times I feel like I am gaining weight, but it tends to be all in my head. Make sure that's not the case before you make any changes.

[Silverbeam]

my jeans tell me they are, the thigh area is getting tight. I do need to measure, I should have done that in the first place.