[Maddymadge]

Hello

My name is Maddy and I have decided to lose weight as I am quite overweight.
I am 5ft5 and weigh 11 st 9 or 163 pounds. I dont have mirrors but when I took a picture of me in my bra and nickers I was in for a shock. My belly looks like an enormous piece of flesh glued to my body with the very end of my belly drooping miserably. My measurements are:
Chest: 33 inches
Waist: 38
Hips: 40
Thigh: 22 inches
Calf: 16
Ankle: 9
Wrist:6

I am currently a size 14 or large 12.
I would like to lose at least 35 pounds and lose this ugly belly of mine.
I am now eating a 1600 calories diet and am doing about 15 minutes a day exercise.being a full time mum I dont find a lot of time to exercise.
My main focus is my belly. Any advice on what works best?
Thanks

Ps:
I also stopped smoking

[Brandis]

Good job on qutting smoking!!!!!! That is awesome. But as far as the belly fat goes, there is no real trick to it. You just have to keep losing, and eventually when you lose enough, your body will have no choice but to burn the fat for fuel. I can recommend that you do some weight lifting, because you don't want to be a jiggly mess when you get down to your goal weight. Weight lifting has made the biggest difference in how my body looks. Unfortunately, we don't get to pick where we lose fat. If we did, I wouldn't still have big fat arms! Just don't get discouraged, and you will see results if you keep going!

[worththeeffort2]

I'm new here, too. The exercise program that has worked best for me is interval walking. Basically, you warm up with a moderate walk for about 7 minutes, then move to a brisk walk for 5 minutes (like you're late for an appointment and are really hurrying). Once you're warmed up, do 60 second "speed bursts" of speed walking or light jogging followed by 60 seconds of brisk walking. Do 10 repetitions of speed bursts followed by brisk walking (for a total of 20 minutes), then slow to a moderate walk for five minutes followed by a cool down of strolling for another couple of minutes. The timing doesn't have to be perfect, just don't shortchange yourself.

I actually have a recorded program from Prevention magazine that I use that coaches me through my walking interval workout but I also use a half-hour play list I created for my iPod shuffle so my beats per minute increase and decrease over the course of a 40 minute walk. The aerobic nature of the workout helps burn fat, which includes belly fat. (P.S. If you do this workout going up hit, it really works your tail side!)

[Misti in Seattle]

to both of you