A
female
age
36-40,
anonymous
writes:Ok I know this is not a diet and exercise board, but I also know a few of the aunts/uncles have mentioned losing weight in previous posts so I thought I might get some good advice here.So last week I started an exercise/fitness regime to try to get in better shape before I book a beach vacation (I was aiming to go away in September). However, my boyfriend came in today and said he's booked us a surprise vacation in 4 weeks time! It's a lovely gesture but I now have a lot less time to get ready to wear my bikini.I probably have 15-20 pounds to lose at the very most, but I think that's definitely too much to hope for in such a short time. So what is achievable in 4 weeks? Is that even enough time to see any difference at all? Although I've mentioned weight I'm a lot more interested in losing inches since the aim is to look better on the beach.What is the best way to go about this? Last week I did the Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred DVD 6 days, went brisk walking for 30 mins on my lunch break at work 5 days, and have cut out snacks and junk food. Is that a good plan or do I need to do more?To be honest I've been slim most of my life with very little effort (I always thought I could stand to lose 5-10lbs to get me to my ideal weight, but to be honest it is probably just that I needed to tone up a bit), but in the last year since I turned 29 I've put on another 7lb-ish. There is so much conflicting information out there, I literally have no idea where to start. Is it as simple as creating a calorie deficit or is it all about the carbs now? What should I do more of - weight training or cardio? I think I'm all researched out and more confused than ever so would love some advice from people who have done it themselves.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2013): Hi it's the OP here. Thanks to everyone for their answers it's been a huge help. While I appreciate those who suggested the specific diets which could possibly help me lose the 20 in 4 weeks I don't think I'm going to go down that route. I don't want to crash diet only to put the weight back on half way through my holiday - I have an auntie who did Atkins before a holiday with great success, but she had to buy new clothes after a week of eating normally. Definitely not fun or worth it in my opinion! I'm particularly thankful to Cerberus and So Very Confused who have given me specific advice to follow, and to the anonymous female who reminded me about callanetics. I did that at uni with great success so I'll dig the old DVD out tonight. I think a mixture of everything here will definitely make a big enough difference for me, so thanks again. I'm much more excited now!
A
female
reader, eyeswideopen +, writes (9 June 2013):
 Cerberus broke the margin Cerberus broke the margin
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A
female
reader, So_Very_Confused +, writes (9 June 2013):
 A woman cannot lose weight like a man so disregard all of the men who say you can lose 20 in four... they couldn't if they were women either...
we as women are made to carry a certain percentage of body fat for reproductive needs and as such our bodies hold on to it way more than men's bodys
BUT if you are worried about a bikini body in 4 weeks you can flatten the pooch a bit...
eat lean mean and green... lots of protein NO processed carbs (keep all your carbs fruits veggies and whole grains)
walk 30-60 minutes every day at a rapid clip if you can swing your arms while you walk
wake up drink 8 oz of water
keep your food around 1500 calories a day
drink 8 oz of water before each meal
drink at least 64 oz of water per day
do NOT drink your calories. no fruit juice NO diet soda (the sweetener can confuse your body and it leaches potassium from your bones)
for snacks: celery and salsa for crunch and flavor
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A
male
reader, TrancedRhythmEar  +, writes (8 June 2013):
 Ive lost 15 on an intense cut before. Look up xtreme fat loss diet.
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A
female
reader, person12345 +, writes (8 June 2013):
 20 lbs in 4 weeks is not healthy or realistic and you will without question gain it back. Men and women lose weight very differently. Most men I know who lose weight have done most successfully by adding exercise and doing fad diets, while most women I know who lose weight do so mostly by eating less.
You sound like you're on the right track here, good attitude and willingness to make changes to your lifestyle. What you need to do is keep track of your calories. ~200-300 calories for breakfast, 300-400 calories for lunch, 100-200 calories in the afternoon and generally try to eat lightly for dinner but try not to worry too much about it. I love the magazine and website cookinglight.com. It has lots of great low cal recipes.
The more protein and fiber you eat, the more full you will feel. You don't have to switch to kale smoothies or something, just try to choose the more fiber and protein packed options. You have to have an eating plan you can be happy on. You shouldn't be thinking of it as a diet, but a change in lifestyle that you have to keep up to maintain your low weight. Exercise makes you feel satisfied faster. No one is sure why, but the better shape you are in, the easier it is to feel satisfied. But for most women eating less will do way more for weight loss than exercise.
It's all about calories. Carb cutting, with few exceptions, works much better for men than women. Eat less, lose weight. Eat less and add exercise, make it easier. Every woman I know who has tried to lose weight by relying more on exercise than cutting calories is overweight, whereas the opposite is true for most men I know. Men and women just store fat very differently.
Final thoughts, be mindful of snacking, try to minimize your alcohol, and full calorie soda and juice are worse than a king sized candy bar.
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (8 June 2013): With all due respect to largentsgirl89 20 pounds in 4 weeks is not healthily, also paying money for information that's freely available online is stupid. Especially when it's quite literally the easiest thing in the world.
The best way to tone up is to regulate your diet and exercise. How hard is that? Count the amount of calories you eat and count the amount that exercise burns off. The most you can lose in 4 weeks healthily is 8-10 pounds. But weight is a shitty measurement anyway because it's body fat % that matters when toning up and in order to tone up you also build denser muscles and they weigh 3x as much as fat (not bigger because women can't bulk up you don't have the testosterone to gain mass in that way).
So even by losing 10 pounds you will achieve the look you want because you'll have improved your musculature and that will have added a bit of weight in terms of muscle and lost a good bit in terms of fat if you know what I mean.
Exercise is easy. day 1, cardio plus legs only (look up leg toning exercise such as jumping squats, regular squats, lunges etc.) 10 minutes cardio warm up, leg resistance or weights, then 20 minutes cardio to cool down. day 2. cardio 30 mintues. day 3 rest, day 4 cardio plus upper body only (abs, back, arms, shoulders, chest look up exercises and use weights, or body weight callisthenics.) 10 minute warm up, upper body, then 20 minute cardio for the cool down. day 5, cardio 30-40 minutes, day 6 full body weights/resistence no cardio and day 7 rest.
OP rest days are the most vital component of any training regime, it's the day your body repairs and improves itself.
OP weights and resistance are vital, they burn far more fat than cardio does, plus they make your muscles stronger fat burning machines, they speed up your metabolism too because your muscles require more nutrients. This is what a woman's body turns out like from lifting weights and this is peak too, the best you could hope for in terms of muscle size
http://jamiesays.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/ryan-christensen-140-e1286805049652.jpg
body builder women that look like men have to take huge amounts of testosterone, it's not possible for a woman to look like that without steroids.
How you exercise is also easy. For cardio do skipping (jump rope) it burns twice as much as jogging/running, in 30 minutes of skipping you can burn about 500-600 calories, make that 40 mins and you're looking at about 700. Do intervals too, so 4 minutes of moderate skipping then 1 minutes as fats as you can, repeat that 6 times and you have 30 minutes.
OP don't 'diet', eat your regular 2000 calories a day just balance it well the exercise will take care of the fat you want to burn off, don't cut out carbs they're essential, don't cut out fat either that too is essential, don't eat too much protein or you'll fuck up your kidneys. Just go online and find the healthy amounts of each for a balanced regular, non-fat loss diet. Think about it, you'll burn off about 600 calories with your exercise, unless you sit on your computer all day you'll burn off about 300+ more just living your life normally, walking to the store, going hanging out with friends etc. So you're looking at a pretty large deficit without the need to cut down on your nutritional intake. That's a lot of fat being burned off and a big improvement in your shape as your muscle become more defined.
OP people who diet only will end looking shit in a bikini, they'll look like this
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4bSUVgZPljo/TdHWvNryPdI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/McJ92t2mwxE/s1600/skinny_model.jpg
I don't know about you OP but skinny looks crap in a bikini there's no shape at all.
I much prefer and ask any man they'll agree with me, the fitness physique is way sexier, that is what being toned is. If you only diet you lose most of your weight from your muscles therefore no tone, you look like a wretched stick, it takes far longer to lose weight because you fuck up your metabolism and I'll say it again, it looks disgusting.
Best of luck. it's easy as hell OP, just takes patience and consistency.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (8 June 2013): In 4 weeks you can lose a healthy 8 pounds - to lose any more would not be healthy and the weight would not stay off.
Join Slimming World - their diet is easy and won't leave you hungry.
To tone up your body quickly start doing Callanetics three times a week - it really does work.
And keep up with the walking - try to walk for 30 minutes to an hour each day.
Once you get back from your holiday continue with the above and you'll have lost all those pounds in a few months and your body will be super toned.
Good luck and have a fabulous holiday.
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A
female
reader, largentsgirl89 +, writes (8 June 2013):
 Go to drfuhrman.com and get the eat to live book. Guaranteed you lose at least twenty pounds, healthily, if you follow his plan. He is amazing and it's well worth the thirty dollars.
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