Has anyone lost weight and really toned up successfully?

[MindBodyChocolate]

Hi all. I’m in the process of losing weight. I’m aiming for a 7-8 stone loss which will take me to 11-12 stone. So far I’ve lost 4.5 stone and have seen a big difference in my body.

Now the gyms have reopened I want to get a proper weights routine going for 2 reasons: general health from weight bearing exercise (I’m 42) and to tone up ie look better!

Can anyone recommend any particular exercises or tell me some positive stories of toning up from a pretty low base?! I’m going to get a PT when finances allow but want to get a head start!

Hi all - I have been going to the gym and while it’s very early days I did think to myself today that my biceps were definitely feeling slightly harder!!!! Need to take my triceps with them as they’re the problem area :) And most importantly I’m not completely hating going to the gym! Definitely progress.

I’m also investigating yoga classes for when indoors classes restart.

Well done! Keep at it.

Good news there @MindBodyChocolate! I'm definitely looking for some sort of (easy!) weights/ kettlebells class to do from home to tone up a bit more. I will banish those bingo wings...!

Don't worry too much about how long you can plank for, it isn't necessarily a case of the longer the better. Use an app to work your way up to 30 seconds and then add in other movements like side planks and leg raises.

I really liked Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred for building up a bit of muscle and aerobic fitness. It's cheap, only 20 minutes per workout, you can do it at home and you only need light hand weights. For a weights program I like the StrongLifts 5x5 program because it's very simple: only five different compound lifts to master and you only need to do three workouts a week. If you're more advanced or you have a willing trainer then the StrongCurves program is designed for women's figures and promises a beautiful "booty!"

Check out skull crushers for your triceps.

Hi everyone thought I’d do a quick update if anyone is still reading.

I’ve got a decent weights regime going and have been doing it twice a week and also a bit of c25k too. My weight loss is continuing - 1 or 2 lbs every week - and I am definitely noticing a difference on my forearms (actual muscle definition!!) and shoulders and back (less flab). Triceps remain a challenge and I may just have to accept that they’ll always be a difficult area.

I am carrying on though - weights in the gym is so much more enjoyable than plodding along on the treadmill so I feel like I’m making it a habit.

Still haven’t planked though :)

well done OP and thanks for posting as I've got some great pointers from this thread...

Good for you, OP. Very glad to hear you're carrying on.

Thanks I’ve found this thread extremely helpful too :)

Good to hear it's going well for you @MindBodyChocolate! I was in a good workout routine till a few days ago. Need to get back into the mindset, improve my eating and continue losing the pounds!!

I used to hate exercise, but now I get antsy if I don't do something every day! It's changed my life.

Lol at this. Yesterday I tripped over some clothes on the floor in a shop and landed on my hip. As I lay there I glared at the assistant and hissed "this better not stop me from exercising this week".

Just wanted to add that I have lost 19/20 pounds and have 7.5 to go to get to my goal weight and BMI. I have been doing running, body pump, and body combat on Les Mills demand. I have seen a massive change in my physique and it is going really well. It has been so good that I have another thread on the go asking how I can shift this up to the next level now that I have reached a point I'd never get to, but feel can do even better.

That's brilliant @WebCookiesAreIntrusive; have you been following any particular diet or just upped the exercise? Can I ask if you'd recommend the Les Mills app (presumably you would?!) as a friend raves about it, but I've never tried it!

I have Les Mills on demand. We have a TV set up in our spare room and bought some of the kit and signed up. It is a major game-changer in my life. I basically have my leisure centre class schedule in my spare room. It costs £10.99 a month and there is 4 people using it most days.

As for weight loss. I did WW's for a couple of months and then just kept eating healthy and left out the crap. I still drink wine 3 times a week though and have the occasional treat. I used to be quite a glutton with muffins and cafe lattes every day and cakes, crips and Dairy Milk. I've made a lot of swaps e.g. I always eat salad for lunch, I eat more fish and less red meat, I use skimmed milk and I melt a square of dark chocolate and dip fruit in it rather than eat a massive bar of chocolate. I had some Dairy Milk the other week and nearly vomited after upgrading to luxury dark and dipping fruit.

The running though is the thing that has literally dropped the fat off my bones. After a week of 3 runs, I literally shrink round the midriff.

I can't recommend body pump highly enough.

e.g.

It's both a toning and cardio workout and it's fun, and the best all-body workout I know.

I used to do it regularly alongside pure cardio training, but when gym's closed I stopped as I didn't have the space at home. I've just started again now and have added it to my weight loss program.

@WebCookiesAreIntrusive

I have Les Mills on demand. We have a TV set up in our spare room and bought some of the kit and signed up. It is a major game-changer in my life. I basically have my leisure centre class schedule in my spare room. It costs £10.99 a month and there is 4 people using it most days.

As for weight loss. I did WW's for a couple of months and then just kept eating healthy and left out the crap. I still drink wine 3 times a week though and have the occasional treat. I used to be quite a glutton with muffins and cafe lattes every day and cakes, crips and Dairy Milk. I've made a lot of swaps e.g. I always eat salad for lunch, I eat more fish and less red meat, I use skimmed milk and I melt a square of dark chocolate and dip fruit in it rather than eat a massive bar of chocolate. I had some Dairy Milk the other week and nearly vomited after upgrading to luxury dark and dipping fruit.

The running though is the thing that has literally dropped the fat off my bones. After a week of 3 runs, I literally shrink round the midriff.

Totally concur with the running! It's like your body is going, SH*T jettison the sand bags!!

For me, I've cut out snacking after dinner and I've cut out alcohol completely for now. I also used to love crisps, but I've started buying Aldi's frozen pineapple/mango chunks and eating a small bowl of them in the evening instead.

I eat smaller breakfasts/lunches - slightly fewer carbs, more green veg and fruit, a lot more water.

That's it, and I'm losing about 0.8kg/week, but I have been exercising almost every day for at least 1h.

Well done Bookworm.

A lot of the things I eat I don't think are slimming but they are good body fuel. For example, my fave breakfast now is wholemeal or sourdough toast with peanut butter and a sliced banana on top. It's lush.

I bloody love running. I get ME time, I get to think about my life and whatever else I need to lul over and I take my dog so he doesn't need walking. Running = multitasking and offloading the weight. I used to hate running and think OMG who would do this willingly, but at some point it becomes addictive doesn't it?

Thank you @WebCookiesAreIntrusive - another slightly dim question, how do you watch the workouts through a TV?! My friend who has it just uses the app, but frankly I need something on a bigger screen to be able to follow it!! (A laptop would also be ok but a phone is just too small!)

Would I need to buy actual dumbbell type weights? I have hand weights and kettlebells but nothing else...

Well done to you too @bookworm1632 and great advice I have to say running didn't do much for me in terms of weight loss probably because I was so incredibly slow but it did improve my mood a lot, I might start C25K again from week 3 or something. I got to week 8 last time, was really pleased with myself and then the schools closed, destroying my running time opportunities

I'm just very fed up of being fat and nothing seems to shift the pounds at the moment!! Although AF is due shortly which never helps!

Just found out that I can get Les Mills on demand through my gym membership so I’ve signed up for it! Another option to try.

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl

Thank you *@WebCookiesAreIntrusive* - another slightly dim question, how do you watch the workouts through a TV?! My friend who has it just uses the app, but frankly I need something on a bigger screen to be able to follow it!! (A laptop would also be ok but a phone is just too small!)

Would I need to buy actual dumbbell type weights? I have hand weights and kettlebells but nothing else...

Well done to you too @bookworm1632 and great advice I have to say running didn't do much for me in terms of weight loss probably because I was so incredibly slow but it did improve my mood a lot, I might start C25K again from week 3 or something. I got to week 8 last time, was really pleased with myself and then the schools closed, destroying my running time opportunities

I'm just very fed up of being fat and nothing seems to shift the pounds at the moment!! Although AF is due shortly which never helps!

There's various ways of doing it - you can connect your phone to your TV:

Connecting tablet/laptop to TV also works - you just need a TV with an HDMI input which is anything made in the last ~15 years!

If you have a SMART TV, there'll almost certainly be a way of mirroring your phone to your TV without a lead.

Some workouts don't need weights - Pump is the exception and unfortunately they're quite expensive right now with a basic kit - bar and 6 weights coming up at ~£150! The price of gym equipment has soared since last March.

You can do a free trial with Les Mills online to see what's what.

bookworm has pretty much covered it Clara. The only thing I can add is that we have Apple TV and play it through the app on this. If you go onto the Les Mills website online there are loads of instructions on how to set it up on different devices.

Weights and the bar are ££ but honestly, this is one of the best investments I have made. I go without other stuff to have it. These workouts have had a massive effect on my physical and MH health.

You should check out local Gumtree and FB selling places to see if anyone is selling any of the kit you need. Also, when I was looking around I saw weights and kettlebells being sold on and off in Aldi, Lidl and TK Maxx.

Well done op! I've been doing the body coach exercises on YouTube. I'm just under 5 stone down now so following the thread for more inspiration!

Well, inspired by everyone on here I actually went for a run after dropping the DC at school!! It was only week 3 of C25K and I was slow as ever but I did it, and arrived home with a puce face to show for my efforts

Thank you for the Les Mills advice @bookworm1632 and @WebCookiesAreIntrusive, I'm finishing a short local weights course at the moment (online) but will have a look at LM after that.

That's really handy of your gym @MindBodyChocolate! How are things when you physically go there? DP hasn't been to his gym for about 18 months - a real shame as he'd been going consistently for a year but then got out of the habit - and is now using Covid as his excuse for staying away I'm very frustrated with his constant "I need to lose weight and go to the gym" refrain, followed by him parking his arse on the sofa and eating crisps all night...

5 stone is fantastic @EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall!! Joe is great isn't he? My exercise kick was really started this year by PE with him during lockdown. The DC had zero interest after a bit but I kept going! He actually puts some helpful stuff on social media too and all his YouTube videos are free, which has helped. Although I did invest in some of his cookbooks, which are not the cheapest

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl - my gym is fine. It's just a bog standard leisure centre but you book an hour slot on the app, which is limited in numbers. So it's not usually very busy, no waiting for machines etc. Everyone also looks as if they're taking the hygiene precautions seriously too, by wiping down machines after use which is good.

The only thing for me is the hour slots only start on the half hour, which is a bit inconvenient on days when I have kids' activities to pick up from, hence wanting to give the Les Mills a go at home for extra flexibility.

Good on your gym for being Covid secure @MindBodyChocolate but yes, I can imagine fixed time slots are a pain!

Our local leisure centre was never really value for money but now they've had to restrict class numbers (and make everyone wait outside beforehand!) then I know a couple of people who just aren't bothering any more. One friend has given up her membership in disgust and is attending all her classes via Zoom instead - and she could walk there in 5 minutes, so it isn't about time/ convenience.

DP's gym is massive; he assures me that all their preparation has made it Covid secure, just waiting for him to go and see for himself really...!

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl

Good on your gym for being Covid secure *@MindBodyChocolate* but yes, I can imagine fixed time slots are a pain!

Our local leisure centre was never really value for money but now they've had to restrict class numbers (and make everyone wait outside beforehand!) then I know a couple of people who just aren't bothering any more. One friend has given up her membership in disgust and is attending all her classes via Zoom instead - and she could walk there in 5 minutes, so it isn't about time/ convenience.

DP's gym is massive; he assures me that all their preparation has made it Covid secure, just waiting for him to go and see for himself really...!

When gyms reopened, I wasn't vaccinated, but desperate to go. Based on the number of cases in my area (50 back then - now 9) per 100,000 people (readily available info), and the numbers in my gym, perhaps 200 people come and go while I'm there, it was easy to figure out that the chances of a covid infected person being there while I was, was less than 10%.

THEN I considered the data on transmission in households - secondary attack rate is ~17% - so if the risk of passing it on in a gym was similar to a household, my risk would now be 17% x 10% = 1.7%.

But of course, a gym is FAR safer than a household - I'm only there for 60 mins, vs LIVING there! And the opportunities for surface transmission are far lower... so it's likely the risk of picking up the virus is a lot lower than 1.7%.

That correlates quite well with the total lack of reported infections picked up through gyms.

If you factor in the risk should I contract covid, then I figure there's a bigger chance of me coming to harm from over-exerting myself on the treadmill .

Incidentally - on value for money gyms, I use PURE. Most places it's £19.99 a month and open 24/7. I used to use "The Gym", which was also excellent and cheap (apart from the time I forgot they locked the changing rooms at 11pm and left my car keys/phone/wallet in there, so had to spend the entire night exercising to stay warm until the cleaners arrived at 7am and I could go home!).