Hi there everyone!
I know that this on it's own can be a non-belly dance related topic but this really does stem from me wanting to be a good dancer. I know in Belly Dancing it's ok, and even *good* to have a little something to jiggle, but I would just like for there to be a tad less jiggle lol
So are there any proven methods of reducing body fat? Ones that are natural and healthy? I know I can't control *where* the fat is or what parts will lose fat and when but I would like to try to just lower the percentage a bit.
Would cutting out animal fats help? Or carbs? Or both? lol Or is it really just a matter of strength training until it melts away? I really don't know much about this at all so that's why I'm asking for some help :)
I find that I feel 'soft' and I feel like I look it as well. And yes I know, soft is feminine and luscious etc and I'm not trying to take that all away completely. The facts are that according to my BMI I *am* about 10-15lbs over weight, and I'm sure my body fat percentage is in the high range as it always has been. I don't mind the numbers on the scale so much, I'm generally happy with myself (I used to be a lot heavier) but I think that losing a little extra fat would help give me a boost and make me feel like the strong, graceful dancer that I want to be :)
Thanks for any input!
~Nie
I know that this on it's own can be a non-belly dance related topic but this really does stem from me wanting to be a good dancer. I know in Belly Dancing it's ok, and even *good* to have a little something to jiggle, but I would just like for there to be a tad less jiggle lol
So are there any proven methods of reducing body fat? Ones that are natural and healthy? I know I can't control *where* the fat is or what parts will lose fat and when but I would like to try to just lower the percentage a bit.
Would cutting out animal fats help? Or carbs? Or both? lol Or is it really just a matter of strength training until it melts away? I really don't know much about this at all so that's why I'm asking for some help :)
I find that I feel 'soft' and I feel like I look it as well. And yes I know, soft is feminine and luscious etc and I'm not trying to take that all away completely. The facts are that according to my BMI I *am* about 10-15lbs over weight, and I'm sure my body fat percentage is in the high range as it always has been. I don't mind the numbers on the scale so much, I'm generally happy with myself (I used to be a lot heavier) but I think that losing a little extra fat would help give me a boost and make me feel like the strong, graceful dancer that I want to be :)
Thanks for any input!
~Nie
posted by:
|
Canada
|
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 8:13 AMWhile I can't stand by BMI (I'm a 5 foot 7 size 4-6 that they still say is 10-15 overweight) I will say that what has worked for me is cutting calories so that I'm at a loss (thus losing weight) but doing strength and focus training to maintain muscle. This keeps the muscle and loses the "padding" covering it. Cutting out Sodium and more processed foods can help by reducing water weight which can contribute to the look of extra all over, but the above has been my tried and true. Every person is different, of course, and I know my answer is quite basic, but there you have it! Sometimes the most basic things work I guess :)
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 8:16 AMDiet and exercise.
Low sugar, low fat diet high in fiber and fruits and veggies.
Lots of cardio exercise and interval training. (Not more than your caloric intake can handle, but *most* of your exercise should fall into these 2 categories)
Dr. Ian K. Smith, author/creator of the Fat Smash Diet, also nutrition specialist on Celebrity Fit Club, also working with State Farm on the 50 Million Pound Challenge – good resource. -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 8:48 AMaerobic exercise - my husband is always telling me that biking is a great way to reduce body fat and strengthen all my butt and leg muscles for bellydance.
reduce intake of refined sugars, but don't cut calories too much - if you eat too low amounts of calories your body can go into 'starvation mode' and will retain fat -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 9:33 AMTurkish cuisine. In Turkey I always start to look fabulous after a while. Meaning, the basic Muslim diet of no pork, no pork fat, no pork sausages, ham or anything of that kind. They only eat beef (lean), lamb (leaner) and chicken (also very lean, usually without skin), and all is grilled. Add to this all the raw vegetables they eat, mainly tomatoes, cucumbers (they contain a lot of water and little carbs) and onions, sprinkled with lemon juice only instead of oil and vinegar or mayo, pide (unleavened bread) without butter, and plenty of fresh fruit and- bingo! In that country I am always so full of energy and my mind is working so fast and clear that I am too excited to waste more than 5 hours sleeping a night. Last time I ended up wearing my white micro mini skirt again over tanned, smooth legs after 4 weeks.
-
-
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 12:10 PMCardio babe. With the added bonus of incresing your dancing stamina and improving your cardiovascular health. =)
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 8:04 PMyheah, cardio ahoy!
ur right about not looking much at the scale, it gets all complicated with gaining muscle and all that.
you just need to burn more calories than you eat. eating more protein can help you feel full longer, and there-by help you eat fewer calories, but if you're eating say...... marbled steak, that doesn't work anymore ^_~
if you get bored with the cardio, or you're looking to add to it, the strength training is good because you build muscle and those burn more calories, even at rest- but cardio also makes you happy (9 hours of sleep and as many days (up to 5) of cardio a week are what i got perscribed to replace my paxil ^_^) -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 11:11 PMAnd cardio can be anything as long as it gets your heart rate up within a 60-85%HRR. If you are interested, I can give you the whole heart rate calculations that can be very helpful in optimizing your workouts. But don't think you just have to do aerobics. =) Hiphop is a great cardio, shimmie drills, Afro-Brazilian classes, etc, etc. I take a soccer training class to get my cardio. It's completely different from anything else I do, which makes it tremendously fun and silly. A workout never needs to be dull. -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Fri, April 25, 2008 - 5:36 AMi saw a DVD for cardio striptease the other day -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Fri, April 25, 2008 - 7:19 AMThanks everyone! This is really helpful!
You know the cardio thing really makes sense, and it just reminded me that I actually saw something about it on Discovery awhile back. There was a man who was swimming the English Channel and he had trained for yeeeeeears to be an endurance swimmer, and put on lots of body fat, because once he got past a certain point, that's when his body started to eat away at the fat. I can't remember the %s of when he started and when he ended, but he lost a significant amount of that stored body fat my powering through those long hours of swimming the channel. Amazing.
As for me, well I'm easily bored and distracted :S So I see myself as really needing to use dancing as my cardio because I need something creative and energetic combined. So maybe I will try lots of shimmies and traveling etc to really fast music.
And now that it's getting on to spring I'll be eating way more fruits and veggies :D yay! -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Fri, April 25, 2008 - 8:22 AMThe other thing with bellydancing is that it allows interval training. So you can, say 4 travelling passes slow, then follow that up with 2 passes double-time, followed by another 4 slow. That will easily mix things up, for your body and your mind. Always make sure you come back to the slow after the fast, though. Really make it work.
I've enjoyed cardio kick-boxing to offset my bellydancing. Something about punching and kicking… it works the same muscles as our dancing does, but it works them in a different way. So the same muscles are stretching differently or pulling instead of pushing, etc. And if you learn the basics, you work up different routines that keep it creative. (Just maybe not quite as pretty to look at as dancing.)
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Fri, April 25, 2008 - 10:28 AMDrinking a lot of water too! That helps flusbh out the bad stuff, keeps you hydrated and can fill you up if you are hungry. -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Sat, April 26, 2008 - 4:57 PMWeight training!!!!!!
Not the pink, soft Barbie-weights but REAL weights. Ones you have to STRUGGLE to get 8 reps with GOOD FORM done! If you can lift and lift and lift, you're not working the muscle enough to really build new muscle fibers. The more muscle you have, the more fat and calories you burn even while SLEEPING! Who doesn't want to burn more calories while getting much needed shut-eye? (Getting more sleep has been linked to keeping lbs at bay too). Unless you're taking steroids, you will NOT bulk up and look like the Governator. What you WILL do is make over your metabolism.
When you weight train, rest no more than 60 seconds between sets, or even better, work a different body part (chest presses, followed by abs, followed by another set of chest presses, followed by abs, etc.). After 3 sets, move QUICKLY to another set of exercises (i.e. pushups and squats, alternating). Then maybe deadlifts and lunges, alternating. You will be SURPRISED as to how high your heart rate can get up (yes, well into the cardio-training zone if you're SERIOUSLY working out) and, at the same time, you're building some much needed muscle.
At the end of a 20-minute VIGOROUS weight-training workout, you should feel like just slumping over on the floor while your heart rate drops back to normal, your breathing returns to normal, and you regain your strength as the copious amounts of sweat pours off your body. I've been there. After a few minutes of cooling down, I'll do 15 - 20 minutes of stretching and I feel like a million bucks after that. Plus, the joy of seeing that little indentation in my arms below my shoulders returning is enough to keep me motivated for more sessions like that. That, plus graduating from doing the girly "on the knees" pushups to big-boy "on the toes" pushups makes me feel like my hard work is paying off and I'm truly increasing my muscle and strength.
<steps off of weight training soapbox now> -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Sat, April 26, 2008 - 9:31 PMif you're going to muscle building, the weight should be hard by 8 reps. if you're going for endurance then they don't have to get hard until around 15-17 reps. i don't know how that difference would affect cardio goals though. -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 12:13 AMI've done an ENDURANCE circuit regimen where I was told to use approximately half of my "heavy" weights and cycle through the following list (sample below). Do each exercise 6 times, ZERO rest in between, and do NOT put the weights down until the pushups. Then immediately pick them up when you're done with the pushups and go straight to the exercise in #1. Do each round of 6 reps/exercise 5 times. What that does to your heart rate is nothing short of amazing!
1. Deadlifts
2. Bent-over rows
3. Military (overhead) presses
4. Squats (holding weights up, as in the top of a bicep curl)
5. Pushups (on knees, if you can't do them on the toes)
If you're feeling extra bad-ass, between 4 and 5 above, add a set of lunges, 6 with right foot forward, then 6 with left foot forward, THEN do the pushups. By the time you're done with 5 cycles of this list, you WILL collapse on the floor into a puddle of your own sweat. But your body won't know what hit it!
I've started this out with 2 15lb dumbbells and by the middle of the set, I have to drop them to 12s (which I hate doing... my goal is to do the entire circuit with 15s). But you do what you can do while still maintaining good form, which is CRITICAL to avoid injury and to maximize the results.
-
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 11:04 AMOr you could do cardio weights. Use the heavy weights from your weight training. Do 8 reps with the weights. Put them down and run – on a treadmill, elliptical or in place – for 40 seconds. Repeat.
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 3:55 AMI do feel like I shouldn't be saying anything on this as you can see from my av.I'm not exactly a skinny mini. However, I have done some minor body building, I used to do martial arts and box. So conditioning was very important, never worked as hard or been as fit as I was then.
Lots of ways you can tackle this and it really depends on your goals.
First off. Muscle weighs more than fat. It also burns calories so the more muscle you have the more calories you need to keep them. If you start weight training & not the girly pink weights you can expect to make most muscle gains in the first few months. You may also look bigger, I know duh! By that I mean your muscles will be bigger thereby pushing everything out (including the fat) before you start burning fat.
When you diet, you will lose water, muscle then fat. Your body hates to give up it's fuel supplies.
If you don't fancy power walks and medium to heavy weights or running You may want to try circuits or interval training like Duckamuck suggested. It's a very good conditioning tool, it will get you fit, tone up and lose fat.
These are typical gym sessions we did, one with weights, the other without.
(warm-up)
everything done for 30 secs-no rest
1. straight punches on bag (or in the air- keep a good pace) from now on SP
2. lunges
3. sp
4. push ups
5. sp
6. step ups on bench/step
7. sp
8. dips
9. sp
10. squat thrusts
11. sp
12. burpees
13.sp
14. squats
no rest do the whole thing again and again etc
That's the formula you can add in whatever exercises you like.
Don't like punching? Use hand weights. Do shoulder presses, bicep curls, bent over rows, etc. Don't have weights? skip inbetween.
The good thing is it's a workout that needs very little equipment and you can take it anywhere. Before now I've taken one of those powerbands with me and used that.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Fri, April 25, 2008 - 7:30 AMJust make sure you also get your Essential fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. Cutting out all fats will leave you with none of this. However, you can cut out all dietary fats and take supplements instead.
I'd also stay away from highly refined carbohydrates. Whole grains and nuts are your friend instead of bleached ultra refined straight to the thighs breads and starches. Lots of fruits and veggies are good.
There is also a Bellydance weight loss forum if you would like support and more advice and such :)
I'm like you, I absolutely cannot do cardio or aerobic exercise unless it's fun. So I go out dancing. Not bellydancing all the time, but I also enjoy hip-hop, swing, and ballroom. If you have a place that does reggae or drumline, those are always fantastically fun to go to!
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 9:39 AMoh, and ever few weeks, change your work out. either the order your do your exercises in, the time you rest between, the weight you use, something to confuse your body because after a while of the same thing, it starts to get really efficient at it and you're results will sloooooooooooow doooown. ^_^
another trick with food, veggies have very few calories, so you can stuff ur belly with them and not gain much. plus the vitamines are important. (when i say stuff, i don't mean like a competitive eater, just if you're not getting full, they help ^_^)
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 7:01 PMI have also been working on toning up, and what I've found really echoes Amber's response ---
You can work out till you're blue in the face, but unless your calories in are lower than your used-up calories, you won't lose a pound.
*sigh* It was a sad truth that when I increased my workouts, I also increased my appetite, and since I wasn't keeping track, I didnt' lose a pound! :( -
-
Re: Reducing Body Fat?
Sat, May 3, 2008 - 4:34 PMme too. one of the symptoms of hypoglycemia is that you get hungry after exercise. and on campus, hungry between the gym and room for shower means junk food level calories (pizza, hot dog, that sort of thing) instead of healthy food level of calories. (seriously, when a cheese burger is the local version of healthy protein, you stop wonder why i gained so much. T_T
-
