Help (please :) )

Hey everyone.
I’m 18 years old, female, 150pounds and 5ft8/9 from the UK.
I’m currently a size 10-12 (american size) but i’m still pretty bulgey and have big thighs and very large hips which are large in nature anyway, but the fat that is hugging them isn’t very flattering. The tummy is also an issue.
I want to be a size 8 (american size again). i think i need to lose about 20 pounds to get to this weight.

I’ve recently joined the gym and i’ve been going with my flatmate for 3 days now 60mins a day. Also tried to cut down on the fatty foods and trying to stick to around 1200 calories a day (but couldn’t resist the pizza today.)

I’m also a first year dietetics student (dietitian) so i obviously want to stay trim and be a good role model for my future patients.

Would like any tips on what to actually spend time on doing at the gym to tackle my problem areas – like i want to lose the fat then tone rather than tone the fat that’s already there.

Good luck everyone

@SummerFlower, welcome to the site.
As a first your student studying nutrition, I’m sure you have a pretty good idea on the types of foods you should be eating, so I won’t elaborate on that. What I will say is that ultimately your success in losing the fat will be primarily based on your diet. You cannot out train a poor diet!

Based on your age, height and current weight, and the fact that you are actively working out, I do feel that 1200 calories/day is a bit low and would encourage you to increase your caloric intake to 1500 calories on the days you’re exercising.

As for targeting your fat loss towards your problem areas — unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. Spot reducing is not possible.

Your focus should be on overall fat loss. Lose the fat overall and your “problem” areas will follow along (although don’t be surprised if they’re a little late in joining the party).

It’s great that you’re going to the gym, but you’re correct in that you do need a “plan”. My suggestion would be to focus on full-body workouts that incorporate compound movements. I actually wrote an article this week on my blog addressing this exact topic – http://catapultfitness.blogspot.com/2010/01/do-…

To get program ideas, you can go to the WORKOUTS section of DailyBurn [WORKOUTS —> FIND WORKOUTS —> SELECT CATEGORY].

You should find that you can complete the strength training portion of your training in 25 – 30 minutes. Assuming you have doctor approval, you may want to consider High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) 2x/week as your cardio.

You can find a few HIIT recommendations here:

http://catapultfitness.blogspot.com/2009/11/inc…

http://catapultfitness.blogspot.com/2009/01/hii…

Hope this helps!

Susan
www.CatapultFitnessBlog.com

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