by Butterfly_Dawn » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:23 pm
Hi Megz!
Good news: fat on the hips and thighs is the healthier kind, fat tummies is more risky for your health
Bad news: targeted fat loss isn't really all that possible in my opinion - you gotta get it off all over (which basically requires cardio, cardio and more cardio, plus a good diet). What you CAN do is tone the muscles in that area which will make things appear better and less wobbly so to speak. More muscle mass will also increase your basal metabolism helping you burn more while you're not doing anything.
Things to do for that area: squats, lunges, cycling, running (both of which are also good cardio), the most awful exercise in the world, known as the Jane Fonda. Basically be on all fours, raise one leg up sideways (like a dog cocking it's leg to take a pee) keeping your back/pelvis flat then rotate your leg around, knee still bent (like you're trying to knee yourself in the head) keeping your leg up (imagine there's a small child sitting next to you and you have to get your leg over its head), then rotate your leg back the other way. Repeat for a number of reps, then leg down. Change sides. Do as many sets of these as you can possibly manage (my boot camp instructor likes to make us do pyramids of these up to say 10 or 20 if she's feeling particularly evil - start at one rep, then 2, then 3 etc, then you count down from 20, 19, 18 etc. If you do this you will be saying what I said "Jane Fonda must die!!!!!")
Leg raises - standing and keeping hips/pelvis level (i.e. don't twist your back to get your leg higher - that's cheating), lift your leg straight up behind you like a ballet dancer, you should feel this in your bum.
35kg lost. (November 2005 - October 2006)
15kg gained again (as at October 2010).
Back to the drawing board - Let's do this thing!
"You can't change the winds, but you can change the sails"
"Reach out and take control of what lands in your lap"