Hi, I'm Louise, im 22. I am 5'3 and weigh 73kg - far too much for my height. I do quite a lot of taekwondo training so some of this weight is muscle, I don't look particularly obese. However, recently I stopped raining for 1month and put on one stone (my normal weight is 11stone). Unfortunatly, my body is now used to taekwondo training and I need to go to the gym I think to shift the stone, and hopefully a little extra.

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on the best way to go about weight loss in the gym? Im quite fit I would say, could run 2.5mile on treadmill, though I have quite a lot of body fat. The main places i want to lose it from is my tummy, hips and arms. I'm not sure if I should wait until i lose some weight before starting weights, or do them along with cardio from the start? Also, are metabilism boosting agents any good? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Spend time reading the stickied threads in exercise, nutrition and on topic - you will get all the answers to your questions there...

Metabolism booosting 'agents' are a waste of money - dont bothrer - learn to eat correctly and exercise consistently and y ou won't need them - there is NO magic behind them -the instructions on every bottle say they only work in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise

and as you read - you will learn that spot reducing is not possible - fat comes off where it comes off

It sounds as if you have been pretty active movement-wise. But haven't built up any muscle. So once you stop being active, then the weight starts to build up. When you have more muscle, you have a grace period before you begin to lose the muscle and then gain weight (more muscle=more calories burned during the day). I would do weights and cardio together. That way you are building a good foundation while losing the weight.