[lumifan4ever]

Hey jay....I do some weight lifting in my cardio class but I am wanting to get started doing more. I am definately hiring a personal trainer in february. Not that i don't know a few things to do on my own but i need the accountability so i dont' find an excuse to not go like i should and just to give me the push i need when i am doing it. I'm really hoping that when i start working out more with weights, that i'll start seeing some toning up. I just don't know that it's going to really help the abdominal area. My gyn and a couple others are telling me my tummy pooches like it does because my ab muscles are all streatched out and stuff. I don't really need to have a flat taunt tummy and i definately don't want a 6 pack abs....i just want it to be somewhat flat and smooth and toned. Right now i have two protruding round bellies that jiggle when naked. I do know women are suppose to have some fat on their hips and bellies but just not as much as it does now. It makes me very uncomfortable when I am changing clothes in front of anyone (like my boyfriend or my kids). But i do know that some of it might go away with strength training. Especially the back fat I still have and my bat wings on my arms.

(oh...and i don't know my body fat percentage....i got on my boyfriends scale last night and i weighed 4 pounds more than i did this morning and my body fat percentage was less last night than it was today....yeah....right...last night it said 29 percent, this morning it said 32. )

[JayEll]

Hey Lumifan,

I'm a fan of strength training, and I do like weight machines and hand weights--but I'm not a big lifter--I just like to keep my muscles toned, and it has made a difference in my belly. Be sure you do the right kind of ab training, though, because when a woman has had children, there are some additional issues. Maybe post in the Exercise forum or Ladies Who Lift for tips.

Those resistance scales--the body fat percent varies with water weight, so they are not accurate from one time of day to the next. But, compared with me, your body fat percent is good, although it could be lower according to the book that came with my scale. (I also use a resistance scale.) Mine is around 33%, and I'm still "overweight" on BMI and body fat percent. (When I started, I was around 44% )

So, it's not that you are carrying a lot of excess fat. Toning will help--and also, just waiting it out for a year or so to see how much your skin will tighten up on its own.

Jay

[lumifan4ever]

I know i've read somewhere what womens body percent fat should be but i can't remember the range. Anyone remember what our range is suppose to be?? My boyfriend is at about 19% (according to his scale).

[JayEll]

My Tanita booklet says for your age range, 23%-34% is in the healthy range. That's for women. For men it's 11%-22%.

Jay

[lumifan4ever]

awwww....well that's nice to know that my body fat % supposedly with a 29% reading and a 31% reading puts me in the normal range. But i personally want to be a little closer to that 23%. I don't have to be at the 23%, just a little closer to it than the high end would definately make me happy.

[sumu1]

Morning...I love this question. When I was running regularly ( as I will again ) at 147-148 I was in a size 7/8 and even managed a size 6 in some cases. My goal, which is 135, is reasonable and I'll probably end up a 5/6 since I'm medium boned. I can't imagine being 115 lbs. I'd be a size 2 easily. Interesting to think about though.

[Meg]

Lumi, check out this thread about how to drop body fat when you're at a "normal" weight: Body Composition, %fat too high

[trying2Bbuff]

Lumi, I completely agree with the above posters that mention body fat and weight training. It is very possible to be a skinny "fat" person. In all the research I've done (and believe me, I've done alot!) the scale is a very bad indicator of fitness, regardless of weight. Get your body fat professionally checked so you know exactly what you are dealing with, and go from there. Congratulations on the loss you have acheived so far and best wishes for it to continue!

[JayEll]

trying2Bbuff,

Jay