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Hello ladies! I'm mostly a slim individual, but lately I've noticed all the extra calories have gone straight to my stomach. I have the typical male beer gut starting. It's now to the point that I look like I may be pregnant if I relax the muscles when dressed. However, most other areas are nice and trim. Any tips on how to fix this situation? Do I do loads of situps, or get rid of calories with cardio, etc? Thanks!
Two words: Weight Watchers! The program does not require a "diet," and it works!
Hugs,
Persephone.
I'm exactly in the same boat and I'll tell you what has worked for me:
In engineers' terms:
U = Q - W
U is internal energy, we call it fat.
Q in is energy input, we call it food
W is work output, we call it exercise.
So, the simple matter is to decrease Q and increase W in order to reduce U.
I've dropped a few pounds lately and did it basically by being so busy that breakfast and lunch are not really viable. At the meals I do eat I try to leave some of the more starchy things on the plate and otherwise reduce portions. Where I would normally eat three slices of pizza I eat two. I cut soda entirely and drink water with a bit of lemon juice.
I splurge now and then and have a few potato chips. I eat a bit more on weekends.
On the W end I really loathe exercise for exercise sake. I work standing up and don't keep a chair around. If I have a choice between stairs and elevator I take stairs. On weekends I walk at the mall with my wife. Honest, it's for the exercise and we have to meander through all the stores, right? :)
I think Eryn has the right idea. Here are some things that I do that seems to keep me lean:
1. Drink a lot of water. I drink soda about once every two weeks. I like soda, but I'm not so into it that I have to have it all the time. I prefer water - and water really helps your body out not just in terms of hydration, but also cleaning it out to be more efficient. I admit that I'll have juice and coffee in the morning, and tea (green, but sometimes black and white) throughout the day.
2. Eat all three meals. I eat a small breakfast (oatmeal, or just some fruit), a good lunch (salad (no cheese and just a little dressing), brown rice...), and a good dinner (brown rice, soup, salad). For me, I tend to eat smaller portions - I can't stand feeling stuffed. I don't snack since I tend to be quite busy, and I eat usually out of necessity just so I can sate the nagging hunger (rather than looking forward to the meal as a mini-event of the day). Also, I eat at home (or make my lunches) usually, and hardly ever eat out. I tend to eat very simple meals: salads with just fresh veggies, brown rice, etc.
3. Work out! Spot treatment doesn't work and is a myth: doing sit ups doesn't necessarily burn fat in the stomach. What I like doing is just doing some exercising that stretches and stimulates the muscles, as well as works them to help get them toned. As you get older, you start losing muscle. Having more muscle, however, helps to keep your metabolism up. In the meantime, do cardio - about 20 to 30 minutes, four times a day. (I'll confess, though, that I don't work out as much as I should, though I do stretch and do various things in the morning and evening to stimulate my muscles (otherwise I feel like I'm about to go crazy)).
4. Try to sleep a good 6-8 hours a night. Also, don't stress so much! You have to keep those cortisol levels low (which apparently is connected with increased belly fat in men).
I do 1 and 2 regularly, with everyday stretching. I do fairly well with 4, but I can do better with 3, I confess (except, again, for the stretching). I've been able to stay fairly close to the weight I was when I was in high school with just eating well and stretching.
Boned CORSET.
THe only way to go.
I dropped 40 lbs. by doing Eryn's math. It works quickly too!
Well, I have been fortunate to lose 55 lbs since last August. 20 more to go! For me, I have to be very strict with my eating and diet or I start to stall. Here is what I do:
Breakfast every morning. I eat two containers of yoplait light yogurt with fruit.
Lunch every day. I eat soup. I started on Campbells Chunky but now I eat Healthy Choice soup. I also eat 2-3 teaspoons of peanut butter.
Dinner. I eat a large salad and a meat, typically chicken of some sort but steak and ribs are each on the menu once a week. I do not eat potatos, rice, pasta or anything like that. Just the salad and the meat.
Snack. I eat a snack between lunch and dinner. It is usually an apple or a banana. If I am hungrier than usual I will add a granola bar. I also keep raisins for those "gotta eat now" moments.
I drink water. Maybe once every two weeks I get a soda. I love soda and that was the hardest to break. I do not even drink diet soda. I drank Kool Aid to bridge between soda and water but now it is pretty much only water. No coffee or tea either for me.
For exercise, it really did not matter so long as whatever I do I make sure I do for an hour straight. Right now I have this challenging hill course that I walk for an hour three times a week. Two days a week i workout with weights, focusing on doing more repetitions instead of more weight so that I am toning versus building strength. On the weekends I ride my bike or go for walks.
And of course the best thing I did was shave off all my boy hair! I know it may sound funny but it was like my body hair was camouflaging my weight issues. Once I shaved it all off, I realized just how overweight I was and it was a real motivator.
GOOD LUCK!
I agree with Danni Renee i lost 60 pounds (240 to 180 and 30 to go) i eat the same way and run a mile every morning
Dancing (especially en femme) burns off a lot of extra calories Hon.:)
Stick with the cardio.
Put the scales in the kitchen near the refrigerator. You don't have to step on them--its a mind-contol effect-- the aura controls your over-eating. Also skip breakfast. Or eat as I do. Diet soda and plain bagel--no cream cheese. Other meals, stop eating when you are half-full. I got into a size 8 dress yesterday.
Weight loss is acheived by energy expenditure > energy consumption
Run more, eat less. I try to not go over 2000 calories a day. Ive lost 1.2 stone since the end of January. It would be a lot more if I could keep myself away from the cider.
Just for the math, it's 3300 Calories per pound (btw, those are actually KiloCalories, often called nutritional calories, hence the cap. C to distinguish them from the standard calorie which is equal to the energy needed to raise one gram of water by one degree Celcius). So, it's either eat less or exercise more or both, and when the differential equals 3300 Calories, you lose one pound!
Oh, and for those of you with the need to add potassium to your diet, drinking a lot of water will tend to flush some of the salts, so I drink a club soda that has only potassium salts (have to read the ingredients on the label and avoid those that have any sodium salts). Drinking water is useful especially before meals as you can get that lovely "full" feeling without anywhere near as much food!
And yes, I've lost 35 pounds, 15 more to go :)
tina
Thank you all very much for the advice! I have my work cut out for me. I've been planning on starting a running routine, and I know I've been eating nothing but junk for a while. I work near what I like to refer to as the four corners of hell: a McD's, Taco Bell, KFC, Jimmy John's, hot dog place, pizza place, burger king, and subway all smashed into the same intersection, and it's within walking distance of the office >_<. That and my love of craft beer have been my demise. I've been staying up late and waking up late, no time for breakfast to get the metabolism pumping. I work on my feet all day, but my fast food calorie intake has far outweighed any exercise I do during the normal day. Time to start packing my own lunch! And, I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by forest preserves... I'll be making great use of them from now on.
I'm a newbie when it comes to crossdressing. I don't have much of a wardrobe yet. I just made a deal with myself that I wouldn't go shopping for anything femme until I lost this extra weight. I don't have far to go, probably 10-15 pound depending on how much muscle weight balances things out after I start running again. So by the time summer fashions are in full swing, I will hopefully be nice and slim again :-) Wish me luck!
Area specific excersize works for ME, JT! I started with about 100 to 200 crunches first thing in the morning. Now, I'm up to over 600! Yes! I HAVE ABS! And u can, too!
Next, switch from beer to wine. I did and dropped about 15 lbs in no time! That was 3 years ago and it's stayed off!
I have a method that is a killer but it works. Be smart about your food intake, but ya really don't have to diet. The kicker? Get dat bootie to the gym and swim one mile 4 to 5 times a week. Your body will burn calaries and unlike some exersise actually makes us Tgirls look more passable. Nice toned smooth look to the muscles. But it takes constant effort and disipline! I have dropped 30 pounds three different times in my life doing the swimming thing.
i have a fool proof way to loose weight.
give me $30K of your money in cash.
come back in one year. if you have lost 50+ pounds you get it all back..
if you have not lost the weight i keep the money.
easy no pain, just loss for you.
now if i could just find a suck -er-a-i mean a client.
the math plan should work less calorie intake, more doing,
walking is a great way to get less on you and it helps your hart. pulse you get out and see things, but you need to do it as a brisk walk. not a slow meranding walk. go out and get a very good pair of walking shoes and get to it.
Loni
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