Muffin Top
 

hiya
im currently doing 40-45 bike every day which is about 18k (350 cals) I then do leg weights as its my legs that needs toning up...

I also do a little weights a home for my arms which is working slowly

I then do 40-50 sits up alternating sides etc..BUT for all the work everything else is toning and dont get me wrong the sides are losing weight but they are not really going anywhere..im typically rounded around there and i think alot is my hips...but im still battling this muffin top..once thats working im on a roll...

any ideas?
:)

Yes-
to lose the muffin top you HAVE to lose Body fat, simple as that. I know from experience. You may have the strongest, rock hard abs in the world, but if they are coverened by too much fat, you wont see them. As soon as i started droppping BF, the FIRST thing i noticed was my muffin top shrinking (along with my boobs!!), and then my abs starting to show definitioin, and then the muffin top went completely away!!! Plus i found out id had a six pack all along underneath the candy coated crunchy fat layer around my middle!! The only way to reduce BF is though diet...plus exercise, of course! BTW, my muffin top was dissapearing within the first couple percentages of BF lost...

I agree with mkroyer....what is your diet like? Keep up with the exercise....cardio is important to battle fat.

hiya, to be honest im doing well with the diet and the gym

I have fruit for breakie then probs some fish salad or something similar for lunch and then veg with lean meat evening time again or something similar.
Im keeping carbs as low as I can and cals to about 1000-1200 and fat to about 50g. Low I know but its the only way for me im afraid..im in no way starving I feel full after every meal and snack on fruit, nuts and olives.

Im thinking of upping the bike to about an hour and half hour weights on both arms and legs and then I will up my sit ups to about 50-60...

im finally seeing some shape in my bum....its the cellulite and the muffin top that needs work....

if youre going to up your worout times, you will also need to up your calories.......

i like this lady Kathy Smith: Here's some helpful tips from her videos

http://healthcorner.walgreens.com/display/2305.htm

she demonstrates the plank, and side planks and explains why they are the best for a flat stomach. I agree BF% had to go down in order for you to see those abs. MY SO does not live a very healthy lifestyle. He never goes to the gym, he skips, breakfast and lunch most days. Eats a good dinner. Stuffs himself with junk at night. Drinks 5-6 beers. Yet he has a delicious six pack. He has barely any fat on his body. (He burns it off quickly not eating anything during the day) That's the key. I think the Lean Gains method is what my SO is inadvertently following. He has no clue and wouldn't care.

Just a quick pop-in to comment on this. If your BF is not overweight, it's because he eats approximately as many calories as he burns. Scientific study has shown, repeatedly, that it isn't when you eat, but how much you eat, that matters for weight management and loss (with one possibly minor exception of eating carbs before bed affecting HGH production, but that research is very preliminary).

Planks are awesome to tone abs, but to lose muffin top, you have to lose the fat that's there, which you can do with calorie control and exercise. You might see better results by upping your calories, though you say that doesn't work for you...1000 is awfully low, though. What do you mean by "work"? Do you stall out completely over 1000-1200 calories, or do you just slow up a bit?

I just seem to get really bloated when i up my cals, the way im going I eat as much as i need to fill me up and I feel good with it, I had a slice of pizza on the weekend, on top of my mixed ham salad and just felt really grotty...

Carbs really dont work for me and neither does more than about 1500 cals, i start to feel sluggish and bloated....its horrible!

id say i only have about 1000 cals 2-3 times a week and the rest of the days about 1200 ish...

no gym tonight though as too tired after long day but again this will impact on me tomorrow and I will feel awful and bloated for not doing anything its strange...

am going to work out my body fat tonight...

Upping calories doesn't have to mean upping with high fat/high sodium foods (which will definitely lead to that bloated feeling). You CAN, though, up your calories without upping volume much with a little bit of healthy fat (peanut butter, olive oil, etc) and a few other minor switches.

The issue with being that low is it's hard to fuel a higher activity level, which ends up being counterproductive to your goals.