Shed fat Gain muscle. ?

Question

Okay, long story short: summer has been pretty chaotic and I haven't had the best time of my life. It's been really stressful and I didn't keep my promise of losing weight and getting healthier. I'm 5' 6" and weigh 121-125lbs and I know that's healthy but it's mostly fat weight. I especially want to get rid of my belly fat (surprise, surprise) and slim down my legs. I only have a week left but it's not too late to start and I know that I can't get my "dream body" in a week but I'm going to work on it throughout school. Plus I am switching to an intense ballet school this year and I really need to get in shape and get some definite thigh muscles and arm strength. But I don't want to look bulky--just slim but defined? So can anyone come up with an easy and quick exercise regime I can do Mon-Friday and an effective and intense one I can do on the weekends so that I can achieve a lean and slim body? And for the weekday regime, it really needs to be quick but effective because basically my day starts at 6am and doesn't end until 12am or later.

Also, how do I convince my mom that she doesn't need to feed me like there is no tomorrow in order for me to continue with my schedule? And how do I keep myself from eating like a pig when it comes to food? Like I'll eat a regular meal and throughout the day, subconsciously I'll be eating a chip there a cookie here and it all adds up in the end..

Answer 1

Different people hold fat in different places and that last little bit of fat is usually the hardest to lose. Here are some things I have found useful

- Do sprint repeats. It's warm enough to do these outside so that's good. Jog to warm up (~1/2 mile). Then do 8 sets of repeat sprints (start with ~100m and gradually move up to ~200m as you get in better shape). Basically you sprint all out, then slow jog (really slow) back. Repeat 8 times. The first one you want to go only ~3/4 speed since your body will still be warming up. Make sure you stretch afterwards as your hamstrings will be sore the next day (especially after the first time).

- Resistance training: go for more reps (less weight), try drop sets, try circuit training. All of these are useful for getting more lean and ripped (and as a result will burn fat off your abs). Remember the more muscle you build, the more fat you'll burn (muscle burns fat).

- Ab ball: do a lot of exercises using one of those ab balls...they work your core in every exercise. You can also do actual ab target exercises (twists, crunches, etc.). Get a trainer at a gym to show you some (usually you can get one complimentary session). Or you can get the CoreSecrets (ball/video) for ~$10-$20 online (just google it)

- Oblique exercises (twisting). Do a lot of these using the ab ball: sit on the ball hold a 10 lb weight and walk your feet forward. 'Lay down' and with the weigh above you twist to one side-up-pause-twist to the other side. Ensure you're using your obliques to do the work.

- Lower abs. Do leg lifts (hold weights in your feet, or lay on ball and do them). Leg raises (where you hang in the air and rotate your knees to your chest). Get with a trainer at a gym to show you some new funky ab exercises

- Improve your nutrition to mostly eat low fat protein (chicken, fish, lean turkey, etc.) and veggies (i.e. broccoli). Mix a little fruit in there for some sweetness. You can also buy whey protein and make whey protein smoothies (2 scoops protein, ice, skim milk - blend - little peanut butter, ripe banana, more ice - blend again: tastes great). Cut out any junk food (especially soda, anything loaded with high fructose corn syrup, all sweets, etc.).  You wanna eat 5-6 small 'meals' per day as this will keep you from being hungry all the time and 'pigging' out and will keep your metabolism up.  Also, it will seem like you're eating all the time (since you're eating all throughout the day) and should help convince your mom you're ok.

- Start taking some active energy multivitamins. Also, if you're of age (18+), you can try a thermogenic fat burner such as Ripped Fuel (provides extra energy and helps burn fat) or Hydroxycut Hardcore...but follow the instructions

- Your intense ballet should help tone you up as well.  It will give you shapely, s**y legs and you will be in great shape.

Work hard, have fun...you should see start to see those abs in a month or so. I've been doing something similar to lean out for every summer for the past few years and it works.