To ask for tips to lose half a stone and tone my tummy up in 3 weeks??

[Aria20]

I'm going on holiday in 24 days. I'd like to lose half a stone and tone up my tummy before. I realise I've left it late but we moved house a couple of weeks ago and we've had a lot of takeaways while we were busy unpacking/decorating etc and I've eaten lots of ice creams with the hot weather!!

I'm trying to eat more healthily, an apple in the morning and then salad in a wrap at lunch. Dinner is unfortunately usually carb based as kids are all pasta lovers.... do I need to quit the carbs and eat a different meal in order to lose weight? I have a dog so I walk for minimum of an hour/hour n half each day but it doesn't seem to make a difference! I don't have much free time for extra exercise or money for a gym membership. I don't drink alcohol but I do eat sweets/choc usually as a treat once kids are in bed - I know it's a bad habit and I'm cutting down but as I say it's my one treat.

I'm 35 and 5 years ago I could eat anything and not gain weight... people used to say it would catch up with me one day and it has

@PurpleDaisies that plus an apple in the morning and some strawberries from the garden. So def way less calories.

I know there is more than one way to lose weight but reading stuff saying actually sit ups and planks can make tummy muscles worse so it's very confusing! I don't want to be a twig, I just want to lose a bit of tummy fat.

I'm starving right now though... sainsburys delivery coming in 2 hours with more salad stuff for lunch!

You could lose the weight, but you won't tone your tummy in that time.
Personally I'd cut my calories to around 1200 a day, get my skin in great condition, fake tan and supportive swimsuit.

I think some exercises can make it worse if you have diastasis recti

With abs excercise it depends what you want to achieve. Sits ups may flatten your stomach (not in 3 weeks though!) but will also thicken your waist.
I prefer a tiny waist and am happy with a more rounded tummy as the trade off, so I do Russian twists and squats. Stomach vacuums are very good for overall core too. But honestly, it's a long game, not a quick fix.

So yesterday you ate:
apple
strawberries
half a sweet potato
turkey breast
salad

No wonder you’re starving. That’s too little to be anywhere near filling. You’re better eating more and not risking a snacking binge.

Others have already pointed out that if you’ve got diastases recti, you’ve got to choose ab exercises very carefully.

It's not surprising you're starving, that isn't enough to give your body what it needs. Calculate your BMR and then make the necessary adjustment for weight loss, by crash dieting not only is it unsustainable, its going to mess with your metabolism, probably drop your immune system through the floor, and when you do go back to eating more normally you'll bloat and be so uncomfortable.

Indeed a snack binge is what I fear...

Today I've had:
3 glasses of water so far
1 cup of tea, lactose free milk and half a sugar (cutting down but tea without sugar tastes horrible to me)
About to have salad: lettuce, cucumber, yellow peppers, carrot, beetroot and cherry tomatoes. I make my own dressing by squeezing half a lemon over and a small capful of olive oil. Plus a few cubes of feta.

Thing is I'm happy to eat salads while the weather is hot but I'm sure it will quickly get boring and less appealing in the autumn so I feel it's not going to be sustainable long term.

OP I don’t think that’s enough food. What about some porridge?

I can’t do without carbs but I’m trying to reduce slightly and add more fruit and veg and protein.
so for breakfast I had toast with peanut butter and a banana.
lunch - a crumpet with cheese plus lots of spinach, strawberries and tomatoes
dinner will be left over lamb from yesterday with a bit of rice and lots of green veg.
may snack on carrot sticks and humous.

Have you tried Canderel sweetener instead of sugar in your tea?

All you need to do is work out the deficit you need, plug all your food into My Fitness pal and either eat under the calorie goal or work off the excess.

You are already a healthy weight! This whole thread is madness, you will struggle to lose half a stone as you only weigh 9 stone as it is. Do some abs exercise if you want to tone that area up a bit, but please stop undereating.

For short term results I’d really cut back carbs. Have same as family but swap carb for veg. So Bolognese and courgetti, curry & cauliflower rice. Sainsburys do butternut noodles and butternut chips.
Up your protein so you aren’t hungry. If you eat eggs omelettes with veg are fab for lunch.
Lots of water.
Cut out the extras like choc and icecream.
Slimmingworld do a SP plan designed to boost weight loss that’s half a plate protein half a plate speed fruit or veg. It really suits me if I need a boost.

I find if I don’t eat enough protein in day I’m hungry and snack more at night. Have you tried logging protein on nutracheck etc it does make you think about your choices.
I’d be starving on no breakfast and a salad with just a tiny bit of protein for lunch.

lost 13 pounds in 3.5 weeks doing calorie counting, just eating 1200-1400 a day and mainly low carb, also ton of water, havent done much exercise, i believe the plank is good for toning up though. Best of luck definitely doable

You have no chance realistically

Not good for you at all but I did the cabbage soup diet for a week and lost 9lbs (I was 9.9) it was for a special occasion (trip to NY). I put 5 pounds back on after 5 days of eating normally. For tummy I'd do plank and side plank every day maybe?

You won't see much more than a slight improvement in 3 weeks but something is better than nothing!

OP, you are a healthy weight for your height. There is absolutely no need to torture yourself for three weeks on the basis of losing an amount of weight which will be imperceptible to the naked eye.

Eat healthy, enjoy your holiday.

Keto for 3 weeks.
No carbs, just healthy fats & protein...eg chicken salads/steaks/lots of veggies.
The first few days are difficult as your body adjusts to no sugar but by the 4th days, it's easier.
You will easily lose 7lbs but as with all crash diets, as soon as you start eating normally again, it will go straight back on.

So had dinner - chicken breast, sweet potato mash, broccoli and carrots. Straight after I'm bloated again 😩 literally until I ate dinner it was all going well no big belly then bam. This is a healthy meal and I've not had carbs or choc/sweets so why the big bloat? I have drank only water about 6 glasses so far.

Most likely gas from the brocoli. It'll go down by the morning.

If you want to be really strict with your carbs, fill up more on leafy veg rather than root veg like carrot.

I fry up a mix of spinach leaves, mushrooms and mini tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, it makes a nice side dish to most proteins and you could eat absolutely tons of it without breaking your calorie deficit. Can add pine nuts and/or feta for more protein and fullness.

Diet wise I'm not sure.

But get a weighted hula hoop.
I've had mine 2 weeks and it really has toned my stomach.
You do bruise for the first week though.

@katesbushh do you have a link to the one that you are using please?

this sounds great thanks for posting it