I wonder if anybody is like me, whose upper body is larger than bottom. I wear size 16 at least for shirt but 12 for pants. My waist to butt ratio is about 0.9, so as soon as I lose some weight, my pants seem too loose to keep there, but I am not that easy to loose fat from the top, and it's much harder for me to find fit tops than bottoms.
Can anybody give me some suggestion on how to lose upper body weight? Is swimming a good way to go? And how do I wear clothes to make myself better balanced?
Any exercise will help take off the pounds, and since you can't spot-reduce (i.e. lose more weight from your top than your bottom), just keep up with being active, and it'll come off your body overall.
I think one of the keys to working out is finding something you enjoy doing, so you'll keep doing it and not make excuses to skip it. If you like swimming, go for it. Just make sure you're getting a workout, and not just hanging out in the pool (that happens to me about 90% of the time I'm in a pool - it's so relaxing that I feel like I'm on holiday. No workout happening there...) If you'd rather walk, maybe grab some headphones and a music player and go for a heart-pumping twenty minute quick walk.
As beerab asked, what are you currently doing for exercise? You might want to post your regular routine and ask people to give you pointers.
As for clothing, wear something that fits, and that makes you feel comfortable. If you're losing weight on your bottom half, you might want to consider pants with a drawstring, so you can tighten them up when they get loose, instead of having to buy new pants right away. For your top half, you probably want to make sure you have an excellent sports bra with the proper support, and something that doesn't chafe or move around and cause you discomfort. I shopped around for a while for workout clothes - I wanted to LOVE them so I'd want to wear them - and settled on Lululemon because they're comfy, the pants do amazing things for my butt, and I like how they look.
Thank you everybody.
Though I lost 20lb during the last 5 months already, I haven't had a routine yet. What can be said as a routine is that I walk at lunch time (30min at least) every weekday, and I keep an eye on my dish portion and fat intake.
Life during the last 5 months was stable but also full of change- I went back to my country twice for a time of 7 weeks total, where the diet and life routine are quit different. During those 7 weeks, I lost 10lb, quicker than I did in the U.S. .
Very recently, I started to add workout--- swim and run. My weekly plan will be swim/run/weightlifting/swim/run/weightlifting/off, plus walking at lunch time as before.
beerab suggested handweight, that's a good suggestion! I will do that too!
Thanks CharlieBaby for the clothes suggestion! I will look for some good sport bras!!
I have very narrow hips in relation to my upper body and shoulders. I find that wide leg trousers help balance me out a lot. Empire waist dresses, esp if they have a bit of fake wrap/crossover at the top and are a line instead of balloony.
Have you tried TTapp? I used it a few years ago and it is one of the only things that did take inches off my midsection. It's kind of boring, but if you like yoga and pilates then you probably won't mind it. I prefer cardio, y'know? Obviously it doesn't magically melt fat off your middle, but it really does tighten up and make a difference in the mid section.
I would PM you but I haven't got that privilege yet from the forum. I was wondering if you would like a buddy? We are the same height, have almost the exact same starting weight, our current weight is very similar, and our goal weight is the same.
I just thought it would be nice if each of us had some someone to be accountable to besides ourselves. If you're not interested then no worries, I just thought it would be a nice little way to help push ourselves to that wonderful goal of 140.
What is TTapp? I never heard of it.
I also wear wide leg pants, (narrow at knee section and then go wider.) On the top, I prefer big V or U shape, so the shoulders will not look that wide.
To me, since the 20lb lost was gained from 1.5 year to 2 years ago, and they were most at the abdomen, I shrunk the 20lb most from this part. There are still lots of fat on my back. I will keep doing cardio, and hopefully it will melt me down to a smaller size!
Thanks,
RLR
Quote:
Originally Posted by NiteNicole
I have very narrow hips in relation to my upper body and shoulders. I find that wide leg trousers help balance me out a lot. Empire waist dresses, esp if they have a bit of fake wrap/crossover at the top and are a line instead of balloony.
Have you tried TTapp? I used it a few years ago and it is one of the only things that did take inches off my midsection. It's kind of boring, but if you like yoga and pilates then you probably won't mind it. I prefer cardio, y'know? Obviously it doesn't magically melt fat off your middle, but it really does tighten up and make a difference in the mid section.
Sure, Hopeful8, let's team up, and encourage each other!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopeful8
RLR,
I would PM you but I haven't got that privilege yet from the forum. I was wondering if you would like a buddy? We are the same height, have almost the exact same starting weight, our current weight is very similar, and our goal weight is the same.
I just thought it would be nice if each of us had some someone to be accountable to besides ourselves. If you're not interested then no worries, I just thought it would be a nice little way to help push ourselves to that wonderful goal of 140.
What is TTapp? I never heard of it.
I also wear wide leg pants, (narrow at knee section and then go wider.) On the top, I prefer big V or U shape, so the shoulders will not look that wide.
T.Tapp is an exercise program from Teresa Tapp. A friend of mine used it and lost CRAZY inches so I had to try it. It works and works fast but I find it boring. It sort of pulls from her background in physical rehab, yoga, and Pilates. I like things that move faster. I don't think I have enough posts to post a link but it's ttapp(dot)com.
As for pants, I find straight from the hip works best from me. It fakes like I have a booty and balances out my long torso. Boot cut makes me look kind of squatty and dumpy.
Also a big fan of the V neck. Just this past fall I discovered that a really DEEP V with a cami works really well.
I'm learning. I've always been oddly shaped, but being oddly shaped and very large makes it hard to dress. I will be thrilled to be back in normal sizes one day.
I think swimming can be of help to your problem. I have a friend that has the same problem as yours and what she did is enroll herself in a swimming class and the result was excellent.
Suggestion on clothes and workout please
