yoga works great too for toning - which it sounds like that's what you need....
but as yallolorry said - pilates works good too -- just find something you like to do...
or try "mix and match" -- yoga today, pilates tomorrow, walking the next day....why bet bored with the same thing every day??
Thank you so much for your advice !
great advice from Barb as ever. Barb you are so wonderful.
ECF - if you just have a bit of a tummy but your weight is normal for your height you shuldn't be dieting but focus on cutting out reducing sweet stuff including fizzy drinks and maybe paying attention to how much white flour based food you're eating and reduce that as it's not good for you anyway and can make your middle look a bit swollen. that includes pasta unless it's wholemeal.
pilates is incredibly effective for toning your stomach and trunk and sometimes seems easier than yoga so you might like to try that too.
you're young so it will be great for your long term health and figure if you get into healthy exercise and diet now. sounds like you are already doing lots of exercise and pretty healthy, focussing on stuff that will tone your middle will probably pay extra dividends for you and help you have the shape you want.
For your height, you are just about perfect weight. Losing 20 pounds would put almost in the "underweight" category. I would not advise doing that. Here's part of a height/weight chart that applies to YOU.
Height Small Frame Medium Frame Large Frame
5'6" 120-133 130-144 140-159
I would suggest that you eat a well balanced diet and continue with your exercise. You don't have to devote a lot of time to exercise -- just walking for 10 minutes, 3 times/day will help immensely. When you go somewhere, try parking further away and walk to the door or something like that.
Most likely, in your case, just tweaking your diet would be enough to help you either lose a few pounds (don't lose more than that) or maintain your current weight. If you drink sodas, try cutting them out and drink water instead. If you snack on sweet things, like candy, cookies, etc, try snacking on fruit, sliced carrots, celery, etc. Apples are great snacks because they have plenty of fiber to fill you up, are sweet enough to satisfy the sweet tooth and crunchy enough to satisfy that craving also. Try to eat higher protein meals/snacks.
My height is 5' 6. My weight is 143 pounds. I try to do some sort of exercise, everyday. I do Jump- Rope. In the summer I swim. I walk on a Treadmill, sometimes I just do regular pushups, or situps. Walking, or jogging. I do one of those activities everyday. I am on a very busy schuedule right now, and I just don't get time to exercise for that long, everday.
Just walking will help your mid section. If you notice when you walk you kind of twist. Barb135 is right about the DVD's. I only use ones from the library because they are free and if I don't like it I can bring it back. There are some just for your mid section. Look for Core or Ab workouts. If you Google stomach exercises they will pop up everywhere.
I also believe that it sometimes depends on what type of food you eat. I think some foods are more prone to go to the belly but it's just a theory of mine.
Forget Mega- Tea- Green Tea. Just drink plain green tea. It's good for you.
And yes most of the time it is a little more difficult for women to lose weight than men. It's in our genetic makeup from caveman days. On the other hand women are used to eating the same things as men and the same amounts. That's just not possible to do, at least not if you want to keep your weight down.
Can you please tell us your height, current weight, activity level, etc are?
Do you really need to lose weight or do you just need to tone muscles?
I've read that it IS harder for women to lose weight than it is for men, but I'm sure that's not an "across the board" determination.
I did try Mega-T Green Tea with Hoodia --- it did nothing for me......however, drinking a cup of "actual" green tea sweetened with Stevia, has a tendency to make me feel less hungry.......
Diet aides very often don't work and if you *do* manage to lose weight on them, most likely you will gain it all back once you go off.
The most healthy way to lose weight is by implementing a sensible eating plan, with moderate exercise.
You can do a search for "abdominal exercises" or something similar -- there are tons of videos that you can watch online or you can go to your local library to "borrow" them. *MY* favorite is Biggest Loser - Yoga for Weight Loss -- yes, it's yoga -- will help firm/tone your entire body AND if you let it, it will even relax you....
If you care to stick around, we can help you come up with diet/exercise ideas that will be healthy for you...........