Losing weight and toning up - Help?

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  • Hello! I'm looking for some help to slim down my lower body for cosplay. I'm specifying all sorts of things below. I'm kinda wordy, so this might get long ahaha

    Okay first off, basic infos: I'm female, 18 years old, 5'7 tall and weigh 127 lbs (usually it fluctuates around 130 lbs; the highest I've gotten was 143 lbs; I got down to this after a summer of cutting calories). I'm pear shaped and extremely unsatisfied with my lower body, especially thighs and calves - here's a picture to illustrate: [url]http://www.cosplay.com/photo/3599549/[/url]

    I've been trying to both lose weight and slim down my legs since I was 14 or so, but never succeeded. Now that I'm studying abroad and completely in charge of my own diet (under budget obviously, haha) I'd like to take it into action.

    About food:

    I really like vegetables and fruits. I'm not vegetarian though, I do eat meat. My main source of carbs is rice (two reasons: 1. I'm Asian; 2. Rice is cheap). I suppose this is good, but I don't have many dishes in my repertoire. Any suggestion for a nice diet?

    My problem right now is that I tend to snack. I don't know if this is some kind of subconscious low-key stress eating (because I don't actually feel stressed at all) since I never had this habit back at home, but it happens. Since I love fruits, I'd like to switch to fruit for snack... but fruits can get expensive, and as much as I love apples, eating four apples a day, seven days a week might just give me a phobia. So, healthy snack suggestions? (for someone on budget)


    About exercising:
    Aha, this is more or less problematic too. I literally live 2 minutes away from school, so I barely exercise. On my days off, if I'm particularly busy with homework, there will be days where I hardly get up from my chair. Sedentary, I know. I'm not proud.

    I do have 2 hours of basketball and 1h30 of judo each week. Also a 30' walk to get groceries, once every week (or two). I feel like that's not enough. I do want to take morning runs, but it's very dark outside early in the morning and doesn't get light until around 8 - and that's when classes start. I don't want to take runs in the dark when there's no one out. In the evening... well, my schedule is tight.

    So with my (modest) level of exercise, how much calories should I take daily in order to lose weight? Do you have any exercise suggestions that takes little time and burns calories effectively (preferrably without equipment)?

    Lastly, any specific advice you'd give to someone who'd like to slim down and tone legs/lower body?

    All advices and suggestions appreciated!! :heart::heart:

  • I have a CRAZY exercise for you. I've been using it for the past three years (I hate running on the treadmill). Have you heard of the total gym? Well get a used one, drop it an incline of three, lie on your back and push up and down on the squat addition for 15 to 30 mins. Guess you have to build it up but I started from 10 mins a day to now about 30 mins a day. You'll lose weight like a starving person in a desert. To test your results, run on a treadmill and you'll be hitting the same amount of time.

  • For snacks: If you wanna switch it up on a budget, I recommend frozen fruits. They're frozen when they're at their peak, so they are and stay in better shape than fresh, and you can keep them for a long, long time, so you can buy in bulk. This will allow you to switch it up without having to worry about spoilage, and you have more options when you're craving something. I add them to greek yogurt, add blueberries to my milk and breakfast cereal and just straight up have a bowl whenever I'm feeling snack-y.

    I'm also a woman so I understand not wanting to go outside when it's too dark, so how about some youtube videos? So far I liked MillionaireHoy and FitnessBlender, they have 20-40min low impact silent workouts, so you don't have to worry about making a lot of noise at home and can do them late or early in the day.

  • Snacking is actually not problematic for a healthy lifestyle and fruit is an excellent idea. I live in China now and fruit is my greatest expense. Sometimes I feel bad spending soo much $$$ on Durian and mangoes but I try to squeeze it into my budget and remind myself that I am doing something positive and enjoyable. I eat like a million bananas everyday :]

    The best workouts for losing weight and toning up actually do not require any equipment Christine Salus is a youtuber who shows a number of routines and exercises that are in this category. The two best workouts for this are known as circuits called (High intensity interval training) or pyramids. These two workouts take very little time and are faar more effective than running.

    In the HIIT workouts you do individual exercises for a minute to 30 seconds depending on the difficulty of the exercise. You may pick 6 to ten exercises and do them just once or three times depending on the intensity of the workout.
    In a pyramid workout you will do 5 or more exercises. You may start with only one repetition and and cycle through your exercises adding a repetition to your set each time you do that particular exercise. Even building up to 5 repetitions and working your way back down again will be a great workout and is sure to break a sweat. You will ultimately get a lot more exercise in a short amount of time than using a treadmill
    Hope that is helpful and not confusing.

    With regards to calories I try not to calorie count but rather to just fill up as much as possible on fruits, nuts and veg so I can enjoy other foods in moderation.
    PS its awesome that you do Judo XD

  • Try kiefer...probiotics can help with gut health --> reducing tummy fat

  • It's kefir.

    Kiefer is this:

    [IMG]http://womanandhome.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/21348/00000a49c/0ed9_orh425w315/Kiefer-Sutherland.jpg[/IMG]