Fat burning pills, and slendertone.

CoolGirl101

Along with regular exercise and good dieting, are these things actually any good to you?

Are they more harm than good/ do they actually work??

Desperately want to tone up but exercise and diet alone isnt having the most amazing effects.

I am by no means fat, I am a very slim girl, just want to tone up the little bits.

gymsoldier

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

I am by no means fat, I am a very slim girl, just want to tone up the little bits.

Why the fat burning pills so?

CoolGirl101

Hmm, from what I've heard, it helps to tone up??
Really it's just my stomach I want to tone, like, it isn't bad at all, but I want it back to the way it was, just tight and toned.
Stop the problem before it gets worse and all that :L

gymsoldier

Can you post a daily diet, and we'll work from there, because that is the first place to start.

The deffinition of tone refers to the tension a muscle holds, this can only be obtained from training. So what type of training are you currently doing?

CoolGirl101

Breakfast : One slice toast or bowl of cornflakes. Cup of tea, low fat milk, no sugar.
Lunch: Sandwhich (probably ham, low fat mayo)
Dinner: Approx four mini potatoes, chicken thigh.

About one bar of chocolate..

I drink dilute, no fizzy drinks ever, gave them up, along with coffee.


That's literally exactly what I eat every day.

Did have a period of eating more fruit and veg, but I slowly lapsed back into eating crappy food, so yeah, it is my own fault.

Also, healthier food costs a lot more when I am the only one in my house that will eat it, so it means buying extra every week, and we are on very restricted budget.


As for training, I go for about 15 min jog almost every day, and about 60 sit ups everyday, sometimes more.

It isn't doing a lot, and I accept it is probably my own fault, just want to know how to get myself into a routine of getting back into a good shape.

gymsoldier

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Along with regular exercise and good dieting, are these things actually any good to you?

Sorry to say, but your diet and exercising aren't great.

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Breakfast : One slice toast or bowl of cornflakes. Cup of tea, low fat milk, no sugar.
Lunch: Sandwhich (probably ham, low fat mayo)
Dinner: Approx four mini potatoes, chicken thigh.

Ok, your diet is very poor to be honest.
You need to fix your breakfast big time, have a look in the nutrition sticky threads. Your protein daily is extremly low, mostly carbs. You'll need a good amount of protein each day for repair, this is needed if you want to get your "toned" look.

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

About one bar of chocolate..

Is it really necessary?

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

I drink dilute, no fizzy drinks ever, gave them up, along with coffee.

Make sure is sugar free dilute if you must, but I'd recommend just plain old water.

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

That's literally exactly what I eat every day.

Did have a period of eating more fruit and veg, but I slowly lapsed back into eating crappy food, so yeah, it is my own fault.

Get back into the habits of fruit and veg, fiber is your friend. Not to mention all the health benefits from eating well.

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Also, healthier food costs a lot more when I am the only one in my house that will eat it, so it means buying extra every week, and we are on very restricted budget.

You can definitively shop healthy on a budget, you don't have to get "organic" everything. Just smart shopping.

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

As for training, I go for about 15 min jog almost every day, and about 60 sit ups everyday, sometimes more.

I know your finial aim is to tone your stomach, but sits ups everyday is not necessary. And 15min cardio is kind of poor too. There are some great training journals from the girls here, look them up and get training ideas.

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

It isn't doing a lot, and I accept it is probably my own fault, just want to know how to get myself into a routine of getting back into a good shape.

There is no body but yourself that can get you into a routine. Personally what i do, to get myself into a routine, is have it all down on paper first. Write down what your going to eat daily, what exercise your going to do, and what times these will take place on.

dumbbell

15min jog

maybe give up the slender tone until you do some proper training as this could be contribuing t the belly as if its sitting in there and not been burned up or used to repair it just does nothing

CoolGirl101

dumbbell wrote: »

15min jog

maybe give up the slender tone until you do some proper training as this could be contribuing t the belly as if its sitting in there and not been burned up or used to repair it just does nothing

Yeah, my question is what IS 'proper training', you're all saying it, but no one is really helping? :mad:

And yeah I'm aware of my poor diet, something I am definitely going to have to work on.

dumbbell

hilt training

on your runs do 2 mins slow 1 min sprint .. then slow for 1 min and 1 min sprint . etc etc .. go at your own slow / fast pace.. and build up your fitness. keep hydrated.

try set yourself small goals. personally id say double your 15mins anyway
every lil helps

yammycat

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Really it's just my stomach I want to tone

Tone is a word invented by the sellers of rubbish fitness equipment, ab toners and butt toners etc.

If you have an issue with your stomach you need to lose bodyfat, you can't spot reduce fat or spot 'tone', You need to improve your diet and either lift weights or do more cardio, whichever takes your fancy.

Laisurg

Not to be a dick but your diet isn't great, just look around on the internet and you'll find out what you need to do.

Proper training is basically training 3-5 days a week with a workout that actually works, and not being lazy, by that i mean lift till you're wrecked tired, don't use weights that are stupidly light either, loads of reps of light weights doesn't do anything really imo.

Check out bodybuilding.com, i'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

But to be honest if you're very thin as you say you are then you might actually need to start eating more to build up a bit of muscle which by the sounds of it is what you want, if all you eat is what you wrote down for that diet then start eating more fast. (make sure it's all good calories though, foods high in protein will help a lot too)

Lantus

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Yeah, my question is what IS 'proper training', you're all saying it, but no one is really helping? :mad:

And yeah I'm aware of my poor diet, something I am definitely going to have to work on.

IMHO proper training is a mix of resistance and medium to high intensity cardio.

Resistance training needs to address the WHOLE body. It's tempting to just work the bits you think you need it. (like men training their biceps) but thats wrong! It's like having a wrecked car with a rotten chassis and thinking 'hey I know!' I'll just replace the bumper. You need to think of every muscle group in your body. quads, calves, chest, core, triceps, biceps, shoulders, back. They all work together and they all need to be strong.

Cardio needs to be reasonably taxing and you should aim for 20 mins to 40 mins as a rough guide 3-4 times a week. As your already 'thin' it isn't going to be a massive contributer in achieving your goals but it will keep you fit and strong.

Nutrition. This is 70% of the battle. Without being to specific your eating poorly and probably not enough.

More protein, wholegrains, vegtables for vitamins and health. Water, nuts, fruit and other natural good foods.

cc87

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Yeah, my question is what IS 'proper training', you're all saying it, but no one is really helping? :mad:

Proper training is some form of exercise that will work your body enough to achieve a training effect yet will still remain interesting and enjoyable to you so that you will maintain the exercise over a long period of time.

Only you know what you enjoy, there are loads of suggestions people can throw up here but unless you enjoy doing it, you probably wont last long at it

Transform

proper training is going to vary according to who you talk to but from my experience dealing with client many will start by foam rolling, dynamic stretching and then doing all or most of the following simple movements to begin with - start with these and move on from there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kPACReAiXE

I would do the above 2-3 days per week and on other days do some other type of exercise e.g. long walks, jogging, interval running, play a sport (tag rugby, tennis), swim etc

Yes your diet needs some sharpening up but combined with all of the above you will be well on the road to the body you want

RacoonQueen

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Breakfast : One slice toast or bowl of cornflakes. Cup of tea, low fat milk, no sugar.
Lunch: Sandwhich (probably ham, low fat mayo)
Dinner: Approx four mini potatoes, chicken thigh.

About one bar of chocolate..

I drink dilute, no fizzy drinks ever, gave them up, along with coffee.


That's literally exactly what I eat every day.

Did have a period of eating more fruit and veg, but I slowly lapsed back into eating crappy food, so yeah, it is my own fault.

Also, healthier food costs a lot more when I am the only one in my house that will eat it, so it means buying extra every week, and we are on very restricted budget.

Starting on your diet.

Cornflakes are junk food, they're full of sugar and have very little nutritional value compared to what you can eat. Most boxed cereals are junk. Porridge, a good muesli, granola (you can make your own with oats, a few mixed nuts and some dried fruit).

Is your toast/sandwich on white or brown bread?

Don't be worrying about low fat milk. Fat is good for you and milk has very little fat anyway.

A ham sandwich isn't very much to eat for lunch. Is it processed ham? If you're having a ham sandwich everyday you're better off buy a joint of ham, cooking it and putting slabs of ham on your sandwich rather than a thin slice of processed junk. It'll give you plenty of protein at the same time, and, works out cheaper than buying packets of ham. Take a sandwich as an opportunity to pile your sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers etc and get some salad into you at the same time. Dunno why people put mayo on sandwiches I think it's rank.

Your average bar of choc has 250 - 300 calories. You could have 5+ apples for that :pac:

No veg with dinner?

Changing and cleaning up your diet for a week, as so many people do, won't do you any good. You need to stick to it. Add fruit and veg to your diet and keep it there and you'll soon start enjoying them.

CoolGirl101

Hmm, ok, definitely will take this advice with me on shopping day!

Thank you everyone, I have more of an idea what I should do now.

CoolGirl101

Had shopping day two days ago!
Made a few adjustments:


Yesterday:
Breakfast: honey, one slice toast (brown), replaced the usual cup of tea for green tea.
lunch: omelette with courgettes, regular tea
dinner: chicken thigh with rice (brown)

snacks: cherries and one apple
Drinks: cranberry and rasperry juice / water / dilute
two squares chocolate.


Today (so far):
Breakfast: Boiled egg with one slice brown toast. Green tea. three cherries


As for exercise yesterday, approx 40mins walk, 160 sit ups (8 sets of twenty throughout the day), 20 mins jogging.

WeeBushy

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Had shopping day two days ago!
Made a few adjustments:


Yesterday:
Breakfast: honey, one slice toast (brown), replaced the usual cup of tea for green tea.
lunch: omelette with courgettes, regular tea
dinner: chicken thigh with rice (brown)

snacks: cherries and one apple
Drinks: cranberry and rasperry juice / water / dilute
two squares chocolate.


Today (so far):
Breakfast: Boiled egg with one slice brown toast. Green tea. three cherries


As for exercise yesterday, approx 40mins walk, 160 sit ups (8 sets of twenty throughout the day), 20 mins jogging.

That's better than before, well done on the change. However, there are still some improvements you could make if you want to.

Yesterday's breakfast is very light on protein, an egg (like today's) would be better. What are your opinions on porridge? If you are on a tight budget its very cheap, you can get a 1kg bag for c. €2.50 and it'll last for ages. Keeps you nice a full and is very healthy as well.

Your dinner still lacks any veg... you can easily chuck a chopped carrot, onion and pepper in the oven and have those with your dinner, or just have 'em raw.

Also, do ya really need those 2 squares of chocolate?

On the exercise I think it would be better to do a whole body workout rather than just sit-ups. There are many body weight exercises you could start with if you don't want to go to a gym.

Frogdog

OP, as the above poster has stated, you need a full body weights program. Have you done weights before? What are your thoughts on it?

Have a read of these stickies too:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963342

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055157091

CoolGirl101

No I don't NEED the chocolate, but I do love it....and I have cut down, rome wasn't built in a day you know, give me a break here :L

Hmm true, I will have veg with dinner tonight.

Had lettuce and chilli on brown bread for lunch today.

I never thought about weights, cos it is mainly my mid section I'm trying to get back so didn't think they would do much food, I'll look into it though

Thanks for the replies.

CoolGirl101

Right, took your advice about veg with dinner

Today:

Breakfast: Boiled egg, one slice wholemeal toast, green tea.
Lunch: Grilled wholemeal bread, with low fat cheese, onion, beans as filling. Green tea.
Dinner: White fish fillets and brown rice mixed with red onions, chilli and courgettes.


Drinks: as normal.
Exercise: As last post.


I have to admit I'm feeling a lot better, if nothing else, so thanks for the advice

Justin1982

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Had shopping day two days ago!
Made a few adjustments:


Yesterday:
Breakfast: honey, one slice toast (brown), replaced the usual cup of tea for green tea.
lunch: omelette with courgettes, regular tea
dinner: chicken thigh with rice (brown)

snacks: cherries and one apple
Drinks: cranberry and rasperry juice / water / dilute
two squares chocolate.


Today (so far):
Breakfast: Boiled egg with one slice brown toast. Green tea. three cherries


As for exercise yesterday, approx 40mins walk, 160 sit ups (8 sets of twenty throughout the day), 20 mins jogging.

Fair play on the diet change Good first step. Dont worry about the chocolate bar each day. Its not going to be the straw that brakes the camels back. Actually I wouldnt have been too critical of your diet prior to when you changed it.

Regards the stomach area. How tight it looks comes down to how much bodyfat you have. To loose fat you need to be on a calorie deficit. You can be on a calorie deficit whether you eat healthy or not. Thats all it really comes down to. Eating "healthy" is more for your general health and well being. You can get fat while eating healthy if your in calorie surplus.

You can also loose weight while watching TV all day if your in calorie deficit.

Despite all this, eating a healthy diet which contains the right amount of everything good while doing cardio/weights training is probably something everyone should aim for if they want to look their best and stay healthy.

If your worried about looking too thin and lacking muscle definition then you need to do resistance training (ie. lift weights) while eating enough protein and you need to be in calorie surplus at the same time. That is the real meaning of getting toned. I think women sometimes use "toned" to mean loosing weight. I doubt you want to lift weights? Consider it though. Dont make the mistake of thinking weights will make you look masculine. It wont. It will make you look great if done right.

CoolGirl101

Justin1982 wrote: »

Fair play on the diet change Good first step. Dont worry about the chocolate bar each day. Its not going to be the straw that brakes the camels back. Actually I wouldnt have been too critical of your diet prior to when you changed it.

Regards the stomach area. How tight it looks comes down to how much bodyfat you have. To loose fat you need to be on a calorie deficit. You can be on a calorie deficit whether you eat healthy or not. Thats all it really comes down to. Eating "healthy" is more for your general health and well being. You can get fat while eating healthy if your in calorie surplus.

You can also loose weight while watching TV all day if your in calorie deficit.

Despite all this, eating a healthy diet which contains the right amount of everything good while doing cardio/weights training is probably something everyone should aim for if they want to look their best and stay healthy.

If your worried about looking too thin and lacking muscle definition then you need to do resistance training (ie. lift weights) while eating enough protein and you need to be in calorie surplus at the same time. That is the real meaning of getting toned. I think women sometimes use "toned" to mean loosing weight. I doubt you want to lift weights? Consider it though. Dont make the mistake of thinking weights will make you look masculine. It wont. It will make you look great if done right.

Woohoo chocolate

Haha thanks


Hmm, on the weights thing, I haven't really put much thought in.... Well, back when I was younger, I played camogie, and I played rugby at the same time for a few years, and I was in great shape, but I did gain muscle very fast (just not in the areas I'd like ) so I don't want that happening again, but if it can help the middle, I'd definitely do it.

woodchopper

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Along with regular exercise and good dieting, are these things actually any good to you?

Are they more harm than good/ do they actually work??

Desperately want to tone up but exercise and diet alone isnt having the most amazing effects.

I am by no means fat, I am a very slim girl, just want to tone up the little bits.

Ask Kolo Toure!

Ophiopogon

Try doiing some pilates...either a class or there is loads on you tube. Do a bit every day and you'll have super strong core muscles esp if you do the PLANK every day.

P.s I would cut out the Choc at least so it's not every day

SteelyDanJalapeno

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

I never thought about weights, cos it is mainly my mid section I'm trying to get back so didn't think they would do much food, I'll look into it though

Doing weights/resistance training will burn fat from all over the body, not just the muscle your training

CoolGirl101

Horgan wrote: »

Doing weights/resistance training will burn fat from all over the body, not just the muscle your training

Ok, tried some this morning, but just done some easy stuff to get into it.

SteelyDanJalapeno

CoolGirl101 wrote: »

Ok, tried some this morning, but just done some easy stuff to get into it.

If you don't have regular access to them, Squats, push ups and sit ups would give you a good work out in the house anyway.

CoolGirl101

Horgan wrote: »

If you don't have regular access to them, Squats, push ups and sit ups would give you a good work out in the house anyway.

My boyfriend does them, so he has a lot of sizes, and smaller ones I can use, so I will use them more.

Dotcomdolly

I downloaded a free app on my iphone called "13 moves" - a straightforward bodyweight/dumbells circuit. Haven't tried it yet but looks good.

CoolGirl101

I don't have a fancy phone haha but sounds good..


One thing, and I was going grand till today, I am prone to getting breakouts of really bad acne, but before today I hadn't had one in about six months.... got a terrible one today.... could this be because of diet changes, and if so how?

I am confused, I am eating more veg, less junk, yet my skin is worse.

I feel better, and I look less bloated etc for it, but my skin is annoying me now.