Toning up

[richkat]

Hey everyone... Bottom line, figuratively, is that I'm looking for some suggestions as to how I can get my lower half to match my upper half. After 2 kids (last birth 10 yrs ago) I have been fortunate to retain a decent figure, toned for the most part. However in recent years it seems my hips and lower abs have completely decided to go off and do their own thing. My midsection, arms and back are well defined and tight. Given up until 6 mos ago, I had never stepped into a gym, I will say my 'cycle' is helping. Between the weights and the cardio, the lower is defining itself but I seem to have plateau'd. Is there a 'jumpstart' I can do to get my metabolism going again...?

[daem]

this might seem like a stupid question, but are you a male or a female? the only reason why i ask is that you said 'after 2 children,' which leads me to believe u are female...if u aren't don't be offended if you are female you can pm a mod and they will set up your female status so u can take advantage of the female section of the board.

to jumpstart my metabolism i always do cardio on an empty stomach in the mornings and make sure to eat small frequent meals. depending on your response to my question i would have different suggestions as well, so please enlighten us.

[Buddha_Red]

there is no way to spot reduce, some talk about this cream or that pill but it comes down to a matter of if one thing gets smaller the rest will follow.

low carb diets can jumpstart the weightloss, i find that i get a 20 lbs reduction the first week. its all water but who cares!! its a reduction hehe

a solid diet, and some form of cardio every day will melt the fat off of you.

My wife has seen greata results from atkins or keto diets, i suggest limiting them to "cycles" of a month to three.

If you ad some light weight lifting, you can add some carbs back and still continue to lose body fat.

just shoot for a goal of 2-3 pounds a week and i bet you will do great.

cardio can be anything from taebo videos to treadmill or plain walking.
anything that gets your heart rate up to about 60-80% of max for 30 mins everyday is like an anti fat pill.

if you can buy a heart monitor, some as low as 30 bucks, comes with a chest strap (some with sports bras) and that will tell you the exact zone you need to be in.

that means you can stop wasting time in the gym

hope this helps