BELLYRING's fitness regimen - to start and maintain.

[BeLLyRinG]

Stats:

Age - 19 (female)

Height - 164 cm

Current Weight - 55 kg

Goal Weight (first) - 50 kg

GOALS:
Lose the post ballet pounds, get back the lean look with muscle tone.

Weekly Regimen:

4 days of cardio + upperbody toning (lifting 2 and 3 lbs dumbbells - and b4 anyone remarks about this, to me light weights make a big difference. I get cut muscle and nice definition, i don't lift heavy.)

3 days pilates/yoga.

Eating Plan: Ori's Hoefmekler's (name?) 'Warrior Diet'. This diet is the only diet i ever stick with, i've only been off it a week now just to try something else but i so prefer the warrior diet cuz it's so much easy to incorporate in my daily life. I don't have time for 6 small meals a day!

That's about it. Comments/suggestions/advice all appreciated.

[nate]

Dammit woman. LIFT HEAVY...

Atleast do something with your legs.

[gcs118]

He's right, gotta get the legs. Squats will take care of you :

By the way...you go to school anywhere?

[CF-OC_gal]

Hey if it works for you "do it".

It will be interesting to see what another training style can do. Are you going to start a daily journal?

[BeLLyRinG]

it just hit me that my plan is typically going to be viewed too sissy, since most everyone here's into the whole bulk up/lift heavy bodybuilding attitude. I totally understand it, my ex bf of 3 yrs was a bodybuilder and my other ex was an ex-bodybuilder, but just again that isn't anything i'm aiming for.

nate- about my legs, i'm doing pilates/yoga plus on my cardio days i rev up the intensity/weights on the machines. This may not sound much to all those in favor of racking up on the squat machines but it works for me

i'm an ex-ballerina and i used to have really thick dancer legs, i prefer thin legs to ones that are too shaped even if it's just muscle. It's just how i want my body to be.

gcs118- yep, used to go to VCU. i'm a visual communications sophomore.

Brat - it might not be a 'daily' journal but i'm gonna try keeping it up to a few times a week. I will provide an update of every workout day tho, even if it's a couple of days squeezed in one post.

I've always been slightly pear-shaped, but that was mostly because of ballet since a had a toned yet frail upperbody and muscled legs. I'm working against that bodyshape now, so my goal is to even out and get fitter.

TODAY:

CARDIO...........30 mins varying intensity on the elliptical
UPPER BODY.......pecs/shoulders/biceps/triceps/back and deltoid

upperbody detail (modified pyramid):

pecs
30 reps (2lbs): flat flye, flat press, flat overhead press
20 reps (3lbs): repeat
30 reps (2lbs): repeat

shoulders
30 reps (2lbs): side lateral, front lateral, shoulder press
20 reps (3lbs): repeat
30 reps (2lbs): repeat

biceps
30 reps (2lbs): standing curl, hammer, bent curl
20 reps (3lbs): repeat
30 reps (2lbs): repeat

triceps
30 reps (2lbs): kickback, overhead extension
20 reps (3lbs): repeat
30 reps (2lbs): repeat

Back
30 reps (2lbs): back lateral, upright row
20 reps (3lbs): repeat
30 reps (2lbs): repeat

[nate]

not everyone here is the "bulk up, lift heavy type" just most.

Different strokes for different folks. atleast you have your goals and you working towards them. dont give up and good luck:

[CF-OC_gal]

I've always been slightly pear-shaped, but that was mostly because of ballet since a had a toned yet frail upperbody and muscled legs. I'm working against that bodyshape now, so my goal is to even out and get fitter.

<banging head against wall> Your pear shape is genetics! Learn to love it because if you don't you'll spend the rest of your life ruining your health and self esteem trying to get it.

Frailness can be overcome by working out with weights. Big legs on a dancer is also a genetic trait. There are lots of strong agile dancers with slim legs. Your body grows and adapts according to the way it is pre-programmed to.

Define fitness (something measureable with little emotional subjectivity tied to it) and you will be on your way. Trying to change something like "blue eyes to brown" through exercise doesn't count.

[CF-OC_gal]

Originally Posted by nate

not everyone here is the "bulk up, lift heavy type" just most.

Funny, when I read through DF I see the bulk of the posters as recovering or recovered overweight fitness enthusiasts. The root of their motivation was because they were battling the pounds (stones, kgs) and inactive lifestyle that went along with it.

[Lady C]

Actually that diet is counter productive. Eating multiple smaller meals INCREASES the metabolism. Fasting for 16 hrs SLOWS the metabolism.

My suggestion is to try eating multiple smaller meals and see how it might work. I agress some ladies think thick leggs are because they are working them but in fact it is genetic. The more muscle mass one has the easier it is to stay in shape.

[BeLLyRinG]

nate - i said 'most everyone' : tnx for ur support.

Ladies ladies ladies... u're killing me cuz i know you're right GOD i wanna change my anatomy. I know what you mean about genetics.. I have many friends that are slim and stalky, and many that have thicker legs than mine. It's like no matter how low your body fat is, you'll still have big legs since the body is programmed that way. My legs muscle and define easy, they were rock hard and still are significantly muscled since i've left ballet for less than a year now. I'll see how things go anyway, but i'm far from 'learning to love' my pearshape.

And on the warrior diet, it's true that fasting for over 12 hrs can lead to catabolism and a decrease in metabolic rate, but 'controled fasting' (cycling phases of undereating and overeating) can actually rev up ur metabolism and stretch your glycogen reserves, regulate bodily functions because of the allowed periods of detoxification, increase alertness and metal clarity, as well as 'training' the body to be more efficient in utilizing protein. 6 small meals a day actually interferes with detoxification as it focuses ur body on digestion for the most part. I may not be the best person to talk about all of this, but i can provide you with information if you're interested.

I know the diet still is viewed fad by many, but i'm a huge devotee since it halted my weight gain after i stopped dancing and i still eat whatever i want/as much as i want. I tried the six small meals and it just kept interfering with my day since i ate a little even when i wasn't hungry just for the sake of eating a meal and i had to be choosy about what to eat... just reminds me of my past anorexia minus the food didn't like it!

toodlez

[tim_mcf]

Welcome and thanks to you for a different point of view. I also am on the "lift heavy" bandwagon, but that's because I want bigger muscles in order to look better and help burn fat off. My real goal, however, is overall health and fitness - I just choose to define it as "muscley and lean". If you don't want to bulk up, fine.

On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with having well-muscled legs. I like well-muscled legs, anyway. And, if you really want to be less "pear-shaped" it seems the best thing you can do for yourself is to really build the upper body...which will be best achieved with heavy weights.

[CF-OC_gal]

age 19, former dancer, past anorexia, pear-shape body, detoxification diet, fasting ....

Yup, where you are coming from is quite clear now. It will take some time and a leap of faith on your part. It really is not hard to be just plain fit and healthy, but you are going to have to work on undoing some of "indoctrination" you've had, that is if you want to.

A workout plan that has you putting in 30-60 minutes 4-6 x a week is all you need to stay and be fit. It will include components of strength training, cardiovascular training and flexibility training along with a wholesome diet designed to maintain a health weight range and body fat level (17- 25% for most women) . You might consider counselling for eating and body image disorders if you find yourself struggling with those things. There's no shame in it. Lots of women have BTDT.

I'll say it again. Glad you are joining us!

[BeLLyRinG]

tim - I'm already building my upper body with 2 and 3 lbs dumbells, i have a modified pyramid routine which i had tried before and i loved the results. I know many here don't even consider 2 and 3 lbs as weights lol but i have a considerably thin frame and even the slightest muscle really shows up defined on me. My goal is to tone and add slight size to my upperbody, not get a totally new one, so it works for me.

Brat - well... i don't really see how you could sum up someone like that , not that i'm offended or anything so please don't get me wrong. I know what fitness is and i've been quite athletic for as long as i can remember, and i thank you for your support anyway and small reminders when it comes down to understanding what's important. I don't have much to say about the counseling remark, and i know you're being helpful.
I've already included strength training, cardio, and flexibility, and i'm happy with the track i'm on for now.
I'm sorry if i hadn't said enough about the warrior diet, because it's neither a detox diet nor a fasting based diet. It includes the benefit of detoxification, and relies on cycling between fixed undereating and overeating periods, but juices that aid detoxification during the undereating phase are allowed as well as water/coffee/and tea and 6 ounces of protein if needed. Therefore it is not technically fasting, and i believe i could be misinforming everybody else aswell (possibly even now) so i hope that any skeptics would first do the research before taking up a stance.

TODAY - Pilates (i skipped the yoga for today, not proud tho.)

I did a full advanced mat pilates workout, it's from a dvd (Classical Pilates Technique) that practically circles around our dance studio, and is quite popular with the dancers with temporary knee injuries or inflamed tendons, like i got because of 5 years of bad turn outs. The dvd includes all levels (basic, intermediate,advanced,superadvanced). My instructor had always recommended pilates to complement our dance practice, and even when i started pilates 2 years ago i practiced it on the intermediate level almost immediately.

I totally recommend this dvd if u wanna steer away from all the commercial pilates bulls*it that's too readily available, since it demonstrates only the purely classical forms in the tradition of Joseph Pilates' NYC studio which he began in 1962. Love it, it really feels like a workout if you do it right and this is from someone who used to dance a minimum of 3 to 6 hours a day.

[BeLLyRinG]

Just a teeny revelation that hit me..

I've been skimming around the the journals and people are practically listing what they eat like it's an OCD fest. Now a year back i could've beaten everyone at it as the queen of eating disorders and the human calorie cruncher.. but i'm so over that and it took me 2 months in rehab to get over that mindset. I can't do that and i eat pretty much anything i feel like, in fact 2 hours ago my sweetie kept feeding me unknowledgable amounts of chocolate mousse royale ice cream from a sizey baskin robbins bucket as we were watching kingdom of heaven on dvd. And before that i had cream soup, tabbouli, fries, u name it. And it's all allowed as part of the overeating phase.

i'm not interested in makin a grocery list of everything that makes it into my digestive system, though i understand that it's fundamental to those following their own diets/regimens.

Seriously, thank God for the warrior diet.

[Lady C]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is OCD?