Flabby_Abbie

Mornin' all (well it has gone midnight!)

I have been 'lurking' round these parts for some weeks now, wondering if I should register, not sure if it was for me as I have absolutely no desire to end up nothing but muscles and bulging veins (my apologies to all those ladies who are obviously here for just that reason, but it's not a look I find particularly attractive - whether male or female).

I don't want to turn this into an essay (something I'm all too good at!) so I'll try and keep it as brief as I can.

My real name's Sarah and I live in South Bucks. Flabby_Abbie is my handle on a couple of other fitness forums to which I occasionally post; 'flabby', because I am, and 'Abbie' because it seemed obvious (and I was clearing out my wardrobe not so very long ago and I came across my collection of Garbage Pail Kids stickers - remember those? Sold in packs of 6 with a stick of lurid pink bubblegum. I used to spend all my pocket money on them, much to my parents' chagrin. I don't think there ever was a Flabby Abbie, but it sounds like there ought to have been...)

Anyway, I digress. I'm here because I need help. I think it'd be best if I told you a little about me, so that you can understand my needs a little better.

I have PCOS and have struggled with my weight since hitting puberty at the age of 11. I reached my nadir about 3 years ago when I ballooned to 22st (I'm 5' 6"). Then I developed a serious form of PID and was rushed into hospital for emergency surgery. Whilst they were fiddling around in there, they found I had a cyst the size of a grapefruit (the surgeon told me it wasn't the biggest he'd ever removed; he had one patient with one the size of a large melon). This all happened on my first holiday back in my beloved Cornwall since childhood (I spent most of the fortnight - and then some! - in Derriford Hospital, Plymouth). That op turned out to be the silver lining in my cloud. I was sent to a local B&B to recuperate and, having no clothes, the owners' daughter offered to pop to M&S for me and asked me my size. Not realising what had happened, I told her 26. So she came back with a couple of pairs of trousers a bra (I was a 56LL at the time, so she went to Debenhams, IIRC, and picked me up a maternity bra) and some T-shirts. Well, the trousers just fell down round my ankles and the Ts drowned me. She returned them and came back with a 16, which fitted perfectly.

Well that was the kick up the bum I needed and I was determined to be the me I was always meant to be (and I so desperately wanted to make my younger sister jealous; she was smaller than me at the time - though still 'plus' - just less 'plus' than I was and she had always teased me about my weight).

I've done Slimming World, Rosemary Conley and Weight Watchers, but never got on with any of them (I yo-yoed so much it made me ill) and have taken Xenical (and, if any of you gals have taken it, you'll know the side-effects. I stopped after I had a really embarrassing accident in the middle of Sainsbury's) Reductil (15mg) and Accomplia. Whilst they worked, they are a life-sentence and I was determined NOT to be a slave to the diet pill industry, so I weaned myself off them.

I've done all the herbal stuff (hoodia, green tea, bitter orange, etc) and I currently take the following before workout: -

2 Tyrosine
2 Green Tea
3 Ephedrine
1 Caffeine
1 Aspirin
1 5-HTP
2 ThermoLean

I am currently an 8-10 and, obviously, not overweight, but I really do want to target my 6 main problem areas (the bit between my boobs and my waist, my bum, my 'love handles', my 'cows' (a pathetic joke - they're FAR too large to be calves, y'see) my double chin and my bust (I'm stuck between a 32 and a 30 and a D/C cup).

I am disabled (I have problems with my lower joints - particularly my knees and ankles, due to complications at birth - I was 3 months prem and breech - and I am also bi-polar and clinically depressed) and have to tailor my workouts very carefully - I am really wanting to build up strength in my knees and ankles, without placing them under undue stress.

I did join the only gym in the area when I was considerably bigger (around 15st) but found it all very intimidating and the PT I had there kept insisting that 'no pain no gain' was the only way to go and had me on the treadmill and bikes for most of the workout he'd devised for me. I stopped going when my right Achilles eventually decided it'd had enough abuse and tore (if any of you are into cricket it was an almost identical injury to the one Freddie Flintoff suffered). This, of course, put me out of action for months (and, because it exacerbated my depression, my diet went out the window, so I regained much of what I'd lost).

I've not darkened the door of the gym since (they offer 30% discount for people on benefits - but only off their Gold membership which currently stands at £75pcm, if memory serves. They will not offer it on the Silver plan, which would be fine for me as it's off peak use only (10-7 and all weekend)). I would like to go back, but my benefits have now been reduced so I can't really afford it.

I have the following equipment at my disposal: -

3 pieces of the Slendertone System (Shorts, Abs belt and Arms)
2 sets of Gold's Gym adjustable strap-on weights (supposed to be for ankle/wrist use, but my ankles and wrists are so slight that it's impossible, so I've been using them strapped to my calves; the 'bags' are 500g each, which is annoying as I currently find 1kg per leg too light, but 1.5kg too heavy).

And that's that (apart from my little personal DAB radio, which I'd be lost without).

I am looking to buy a Slendertone Fortex; does anyone have one and, if so, do you find it beneficial? I have very droopy boobs and would love to tone the surrounding muscles so they're not crawling towards my belly button!

I am here to learn - I have nothing to impart as I am completely clueless. If I had to pick one area that bugs me more than anything, it's the flab round my middle, as it is noticeable under my clothes, particularly when I'm sitting down and I do, sometimes, wear size 12 tops if I'm feeling particularly self-conscious.

I want to learn about supplement and exercise/energy aids (for lack of a better term). Whilst I want to lower my BF% (I don't know what it is now; I have a FatTrack II and it tells me that 5mm (which is what all 3 sites seem to be) is 9.1% which I find absolutely incredulous (if I use it to just measure the flab round my middle, then that's 10mm which, according to a chart I have here, is 21%. The same chart, incidentally, tells me that 5mm is 15.32%, which I find a tad more realistic (9.1% is off the chart - 2mm is 11.92. The chart in question uses the illiac crest measurement).

I've been seriously considering whey as I don't get enough protein in my diet; my disability means I don't eat as often as I should and, when I do, I don't eat what I should. Today, for example, I had 2 meals (breakfast and supper) and a snack (not a very healthy one either; 3 bean broth and some bread, cheese and chutney. Oh and, er, a small slice of lemon drizzle cake). Breakfast was 2 shredded wheat, a handful of unsweetened granola with dried cranberries, a chopped banana and skimmed milk. Supper was shepherd's pie, baked beans and salad (rocket, watercress, spinach and red chard).

Once again, I've turned myself into a liar - I said I was going to keep this brief.

Basically, I need someone who knows what they're doing to help me devise an exercise and eating plan that will get me to wear I want to be (it's my birthday in just under 11 weeks' time - 76 days to be precise - and I'd like to have noticed some significant changes by then). Advice on supplements and exercise aids would be fantastic!

Cheers folks!

Sarah

matokane

gosh that really wasnt breif lol
it went a bit to indepth for me but if ur looking for exercise and strugle with ur joints swimming is a must for weightloss u wont lose weight by lifting weights and as for diet im sure some 1 will help u on a diet plan to be honest you need a good healthy diet but like i said im sure some1 else will help u on that section.

Pscarb

well you will lose weight by weight lifting as you are using calories for energy so to say you wont is wrong Matokane...

Abbie....well that was a war and peace article wasn't it i will not even start to understand your illness.

The basics are that you need to eat every 2.5 - 3hrs so that you can stimulate your metaboilism into burning fat, i did a similair thing for my older sister a few years back where i got her down from a size 22 to a 12 in just under a year we acheived this by a combination of diet/cardio and weight training.

Diet wise something like this will help...
meal 1 - 4 egg whites/1yolk & 1 slice wholemeal toast
Meal 2 - 1 scoop protein & handfull of mixed seeds or 6 almonds
Meal 3 - Tuna/Chicken salad
Meal 4 - 1 scoop protein & handfull of mixed seeds or 6 almonds
Meal 5 - Lean protein meal along with lots of veg the greener the better....

along with this meal plan drink 3L of water per day and make sure you have a good multi - vit along with 2g of VitC every day....1g of fish oil capsules with meals 1/3/5..

As for training....
a minimum of 30min - 45min 6 days a week on a bike or walking either first thing in the morning before breakfast or straight after weights is best.

now training with weights you really need a gym but if you are training from home you can start off by doing free standing squats against a wall and press ups from your knees, also bicep curling cans of bean swill help.

if you get a membership at a gym let me know and i will sort you out a training session for a gym.

hope this helps Abbie...

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genan

damn, I just wrote half a page of info then explorer crashed oh well, i should really learn to always use cntrl+C...

however Pscarb give you the best advices so it`s all good

dont bother with spending your money on those slenderthing things. as for supplements I`d start with fish oils and multi, and protein only when you start going to the gym. ohh, and read and educate yourself on nutrition and exercise, knowing what to do /and why/ is half the battle.

ah24

Mate, for the average woman - in my opinion weight lifting is actually the best for weight loss (aslong as diet is managed)

Women, once they've got their head around the fact they wont look like Iris Kyle, love weight training

It stimulates the metabolism further than most forms of cardio can through raised EPOC

Lowers the risk of osteoporosis, improves motor unit function etc

and of course, they're helping to build muscle which in itself is a metabolically active tissue so they'll burn calories just holding onto it.

There are so many mis-conceptions with weight loss...especially with the diets, but the one Paul just put above looks perfect - too many women shy away from protein and fats.

Pscarb

by the best way to lose weight is to do a combination of cardio and weights this applies to both men and women obvouisly only doing one of these disciplines will not be as good as doing both....

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bulkaholic

The people who have posted above know a great deal more than me but here goes

As a female you will be able to lift weights as much as you wish without ever becoming this bulked up, vein popped person you fear becoming.

There are a few reasons why not:

1. nobody training in the gym gets those huge muscles as a side affect. you have to tailor training program, diet and rest periods to achieve this growth.
2. female hormones mean it's harder to gain those huge muscles than for a male.

Well done for achieving what you have already and good luck going forward

Big_Dan

And make sure you write down your diet/training down , soo
you can look back on what you did the previous day etc

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Robbie

"Garbage Pail Kids stickers"


They were awesome!

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matokane

fair enough about the weight loss u will lose some weight but lets face it ur gona lose more weight swimming or running rather than weights whats the point in doing weights when you could add 30min more of running to lose more weight, 2 lose weight u dont need all this s*it u need to eat a lot less and run you can lose loads of weight by just eating barely anything it may be unhealthy but it works.
lets face it if people need so so much guidence then they are very likely to get no where especialy weightloss every 1 knows how to lose weight but they dont like doing it they just talkin about it

MXD

The point is that lifting weights increases you LBM and therefore you burn more resting calories and increase you metabolism.

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matokane

people look way way to far into stuff when tryin to lose weight exercise and eat less or take drugs it all works if you want it enough then you will eat 700kal a day and lose every bit of fat on you we worry about losin muscle but women dont generaly have to worry about it,

ah24

corrected

Pscarb

by losing weight by adding some weights and cardio instead of just running you actually lose fat and not just burn calories which is what you do mainly when you run, swimming does not raise your heart rate enough to be better than weights to lose fat...

you are fukcing joking right?? you are actually advising someone to eat hardly anything and run their ass off to lose weight but then admit it would be unhealthy so what would be your advise to maintain this weight loss long term??
not true at all losing weight and keeping it off is not easy especially for women, this is a forum to ask and answer questions maybe you should think about the help you need in the future before dismissing those who need help.....

eating 700cals a day and doing cardio will not burn half the amount of fat you need to burn as your body will slow its metabolism down and go into survival mode storing all the fat you have, the weight you will lose will be from carbs you eat and the muscle you breakdown and convert into sugar for energy.....

why don't women need to worry about muscle seeing as this plays a major role in increasing metabolism and burning fat long term.....

i can see from your answers you really do not have any grasp on what it takes to lose fat from the body and keep it off long term, i suggest you keep your so called advice to yourself mainly because if this women actually took your advice she would be ill and even more depressed than she is now....

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ah24

Perfect post Paul -reps....

I commented on it but couldnt be bothered to waste the time going into detail.

One day people will do a little research