So, I decided to get really serious and start toning up as i'm getting stretch marks on my stomach from being lazy and chubby. I'm not big at 245 but i'm stocky... people constantly tell me I don't like much larger than 190-200 who knows. ANYHOW I've been seriously working out at the gym for 4 months straight now and I went from 245 to around 233 as of yesterday. I lift a different muscle group every day during the week mon.-fri. then I run about a mile and a half to 2 miles. I have cleaned up my eating routine and i'm eating alot less than I used to and i'm eating better and drinking pretty much only water.

I've decided to start focusing on slimming down instead of gaining muscle lifting and trying to burn off the fat by running.

Is the treadmill really the best place to start slimming my body parts down? (Gut and thighs are the main areas i'm trying to slim down). There's those elipticles, stair steppers, bikes, and rowing machines.... all I touch is the treadmill... I don't mind running to much. But, I'm trying to really get this stuff off of me... should I stick with the treadmill or am I wasting my time by running my heart out on there 15 minutes a day.


ALSO, i've decided to drop weight while lifting and increase reps hoping to tone things out instead of gain that muscle... is this a good method to help slim down or should I just focus on tough cardio and ab workouts?

Those are some great questions!! I think you'll find some useful information around this forum in the stickies. Unfortunately, I don't know enough to be educating you.

A super mega treadmill.

polyjuice potion =P morph to your dream body

Thanks for the responses.... i'm not afraid to try new things however I only do what I know. When I was in highschool we would run through the halls with lots of clothes with the heat all the way up for wrestling practice. It was so easy to eat VERY little and just constantly exercise. But, having left school and almost done college my steady regiment of school, food, and the exercise became working 9 hours eating on terrible fast food brunch going home and sitting on my ass and eating chips.

Now I goto the gym 5 days a week... i'm trying hard to drop the chub but it won't budge. I'm ready to try new things... i'm not going to wear tons of clothes and sweat it away BUT I want to use the perfect routine for trimming the fat with an intense workout in mind.

I like working hard for what I want but running the treadmill is extremely tedious and is yielding zero results thus far.

Where can I find and intense weightloss routine and what would be good supplements to use to speed up the process?

Use the elliptical. I sweat my ass off doing that thing and it's not as "tedious" as the treadmill, IMO.

I'm going to try it... makes me feel like an old person when I do it since that's primarily what the older people in my gym are always on... one of my buddies that I go to the gym with told me I should start sprinting more to help boost my heart rate and help burn up fat faster... is this a better approach to the treadmill?

Basically i'd sprint for about a minute then take a break to get my breath back and do it again... he said it's better for what I want compared to just running 2 miles a day because that is more for keeping fit not losing weight.

I need to start using a more aggressive approach to losing weight I think.

Are there any good supplements I should look at to help me out with slimming down? I tried Hydroxycut for a month and I saw nothing so I was very disappointed. However I would like to hear of something that may help better.

I'm sure he is referring to interval training. I think intervals are GREAT, for your heart and body. Try them. Maybe try the Couch to 5K program, that will let you progress through the stages of running. You can also download podcasts and music specifically for the program that tells you when to run, slow down, etc. It's very cool!

No.

I just couldnt agree more

Couch to 5K... i'll look into that and see if i can find it on itunes for my ipod.

Thanks!

It's actually on podrunner.com, for free.
Click on "Podrunner Intervals" and then it's the "First day to 5K".

I think there are a couple threads about Couch to 5K on this site also. And you can read more about the program at c25k.com

And they also have other free "workout" music on there too!

Good luck and have fun!

I just did the first one of those. About three minutes into it I started cursing your name for bringing it into my life.

I'm sure you've heard this before, but you cannot spot reduce. You can't dictate which body parts get smaller through exercise and you can't dictate which fat the body chooses to burn.

I've lost 87 pounds and I found that my fat loss has been fairly even, but I was delighted to lose a lot of the belly fat I had accumulated. I also lost a lot of butt and my breasts. I still have fat around the hips, butt, and thighs...I'd love slim thighs but I don't think it's in the cards for me. In high school I was a size 4-6 and I didn't have slim thighs (or arms) then, so I'm sure I never will. But at 257 lbs I couldn't dictate where the fat came off, and at 169 lbs I can't dictate where the fat comes off! All I can do is dictate the fat loss. The location of the fat loss is up to my body. You can't control everything!

But I digress.

Slow, steady fat loss will eventually get rid of your gut and slim down your thighs but you may find that your body chooses to burn your butt fat first, or your arm fat. Or your back fat. Just keep going, and you will eventually reach your goal.

As for the effectiveness of your workout...ask Steve! He's the resident expert in these matters. He'll be brutally honest too; if he thinks it sucks, he'll say it sucks. But he won't steer you wrong. Good luck!