I'm not a gym member, but I'd like to try and tone up everything. I'm not sure what to do, though, as the web seems to be split on the subject ("you should NEVER do crunches! They'll make your stomach bigger!"/ "You should ONLY do crunches! All other exercises are stupid!" etc ).

You ladies haven't led me astray so far, so I'm turning to you once again. Right now, I guess planks, squats, and pushups????

Help! Pretty please with splenda on top?

Lunges/squats. Do you have dumb bells? If not, use cans from your kitchen. Wall sits, dips on chairs.... I will get more info soon, I am at work lol

No equipment - Lunges, squats (including all of their wonderful variations...one-legged squats, sumo squats, curtsy squats...), pushups, planks, triceps dips on a chair, etc.

Here's one great workout from Women's Health:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitne...quired-workout

One legged squats? That's a thing? Wow. That article is great, though, thank you.

Jillian Michaels DVDs! They will have everything you need

Pushups!

I've found yoga great for my arms so far! I concurr with other people's recommendations! I love my exercise videos!

The pressure is doubly on now, because I just found out that the party in two weeks includes a hot tub. Meaning I have two weeks to improve my relationship with that bikini! Haha
Thanks for the help, guys. =)

doing just about anything uphill is probably going to help your legs xD

I watch a lot of videos. My favorite is Cardioke for when I want to get movie. I also have 6lb weights that I use for bicep/tricep exercises. Lastly, I do crunches, push ups, and squats.

I take it you want to tone your stomach? Because if that's the case, crunches are your best friend. Crunches, sit ups, bicycle crunches (my fav), reverse crunches are just a few variations of ab toning exercises that help tone.

But to get strong toned abs, you need a good core. So doing lower back exercises to balance out the stuff you're doing to your stomach is essential. So supermans, planks and various Yoga moves (probably find some online!) will help balance out your strength.

For legs, squats, lunges, jump rope, butt kicks, they're all great for legs.

Arms can be toned with push-ups and generic weight lifting exercises such as bicep curls, hammer curls, shoulder raises etc are all good for the arms and shoulders.

Love handles can be reduced by a particular crunch (can't remember the name now) where you start knees bent, then tip them off to the side (knees still together) and then crunch straight up. Your body will be all twisted, but you'll definitely feel a pull on your side. Also, this sounds super lame, but really big skipping movements are great for your sides. Try and get as high up as you can and really swing those arms with you - the next day you'll feel your sides hurt like **** and all for skipping!

Hope this helps!

I'm going to quibble with a few of these comments. For abs, there is a lot of evidence that crunches are not the most effective tool for toning your ab muscles, and they are certainly not the best for protecting your back. Check out this sticky thread in the exercise forum. It links to a good article on alternatives to crunches, and why crunches should not be your "best friend", or the focal point of an ab work out: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/exer...ody-wants.html.

But, this is just the perspective of some people, others do put crunches and trunk flexion exercises at the center of their ab workout and think that's the best way. Different opinions.

Also, regarding reducing love handles, you can't "spot reduce"- or reduce certain amounts of fat deposits by exercising that specific area, through a crunch, etc. You can tone the muscle underneath, but you can't reduce the love handle.

I've noticed that, even while i've lost weight, my tummy (i.e., my "fat roll") kind of...well, hangs over, if that makes sense. I know that some of it will be helped with weight loss, as I've been doing, but even at 155, it hung over a little bit, almost like...I guess the letter "P", where the bottom of the rounded part is flat, and then it goes straight to the stick bottom? I don't think I'm making any sense.

Other women seem to have a "pooch" like mine, but theirs seems not to hang over like mine does.

I've got fifteen pounds till final goal, and five pounds to what my doctor calls my "green zone", and she (that is, my doctor) said that at 155-145 I'd be really skinny...

See my confusion? I don't think fat rolls should still be present with so little to lose, so I assumed it was present because i just wasn't toning enough/the right way/etc.

I always thought that would be helped with toning my abs, and assumed I was doing it wrong because it never went away. So will it REALLY go away with weight loss, or do I need to work my butt off toning?

Hey...I loathe the gym (I don't wanna pay!!!LOL) I have a few pieces of advice that have helped me lose a few inches all over in the past month:

-Buy a resistance band: do it, they are like $10 and can be used in a variety of ways, plus we're tall peeps, you and I, so that means more resistance and a better workout...I work my arm, glutes and bum with my resistance band
-Pilates at home: Why pay? I know a teacher would make my form better but I've started doing it in the past few weeks and I already feel better, when I'm done being a broke college student, I'll join a studio, but for now I'm at Studio 716 (that's my house number! lol)
-Youtube is your friend: Seriously, there are so many peeps out there, with credentials and credibility, that are giving away free routines and advice, I love Youtube for a good workout
-Finally, ab vacuum: So I have a lot of tummy...it runs in my family and I was complaining about my gut recently and my me told me to measure it because in recent pics it looks less fat (those were her words! lol, gotta love her) and she was right! It has went down 3" (and that's the lower pouch we all hate), and I've been hitting the ab vacuum 3 times a week...look it up, it rocks.

I'm trying to become more diverse and serious in my workouts and get my body tones while I lose weight, and avoiding the gym...you can do it!!!