[SOS_Please]

...how do I achieve a more hourglass figure? I like my breasts and my bum, but I want my stomach to be more toned. How do I tone it (make it slimmer) without lossing my breasts and bum?

Thanks!

[fral945]

You can't spot reduce. Genentics is the main factor in weight distribution. If you reduce your overall weight I'm sure the stomach will get tighter. There's really no way to know if you'll lose your breasts and butt until you actually lose the weight.

Best way is through diet and exercise (sorry to sound so cliche, but it's true). I've found diet to be a bigger factor than exercise. How's your diet?

[OpenBook]

OpenBook's Diet Tips For The Waistline: Don't eat at night. Avoid pasta. Drink orange juice and grapefruit juice, which helps burn off the food faster in your digestive system. I've discovered these things do more than anything else (except exercise) to help keep my stomach flat.

[Trialbyfire]

You can't make your waist slimmer without weight reduction but you can tighten up your abs and affect your posture, which will give you more of a T & A look.

My broken record suggests core strengthening with a combination of yoga and pilates. Both are targeted towards longer, leaner muscles and will also help your flexibility/posture/back, in latter years.

[SOS_Please]

Thank you all for your replies!

To address some of your questions/remarks: I am 5'9" and a size 12. My weight distribution is already fairly hour-glass shapped (36, 32, 38), but I want to really whittle down my stomach even more. I wouldn't mind losing some off of my bum, but I really like my 36 DD's, and don't want to lose them!

My diet is getting better--I'm in college, so it is hard to eat extremely well, but I've been trying. So, there's no exercise that can target abs? I don't want them bulky and muscular, just trim. Haha, I'm thinking of going out and getting a hoola-hoop! They make weighted ones now. Maybe that would help?

Anyway, thanks again for the replies!

[SOS_Please]

Originally Posted by OpenBook

OpenBook's Diet Tips For The Waistline: Don't eat at night. Avoid pasta. Drink orange juice and grapefruit juice, which helps burn off the food faster in your digestive system. I've discovered these things do more than anything else (except exercise) to help keep my stomach flat.

Openbook, that is interesting. Yeah, I've heard that the digestive track plays a large role in stomach inflamation. I also hear that cutting out all carbs (not just pasta) is beneficial. I'll have to try drinking more juice though. Thanks!

[Elyssa]

Originally Posted by SOS_Please

Openbook, that is interesting. Yeah, I've heard that the digestive track plays a large role in stomach inflamation. I also hear that cutting out all carbs (not just pasta) is beneficial. I'll have to try drinking more juice though. Thanks!

Cutting out all the carbs is not only not beneficial, but potentially harmful to one's body. Don't buy into fad diets. Instead of eliminating the carbs and negating your body a very important source of energy, lose weight in a more healthful manner (ie: no more living on pizza runs, mcdonalds and ramen noodles), do some targeted exercises using weights and you will see your body improve slowly over time, and stay that way.

Anyone that tells you to completely cut off a certain kind of food is simply misinformed. The basics of losing weight is spending more calories than you ingest, period. There's no magic pill or food to avoid that will change that principle.

Also... juice is good for you, but remember you're ingesting anywhere from 100 to 200 calories in one 8oz serving, so keep that in mind when counting your calories.

-E

[fral945]

Originally Posted by SOS_Please

Thank you all for your replies!

To address some of your questions/remarks: I am 5'9" and a size 12. My weight distribution is already fairly hour-glass shapped (36, 32, 38), but I want to really whittle down my stomach even more. I wouldn't mind losing some off of my bum, but I really like my 36 DD's, and don't want to lose them!

My diet is getting better--I'm in college, so it is hard to eat extremely well, but I've been trying. So, there's no exercise that can target abs? I don't want them bulky and muscular, just trim. Haha, I'm thinking of going out and getting a hoola-hoop! They make weighted ones now. Maybe that would help?

Well, I can assure you that I speak for most men when I say I hope you don't lose your DD's.

Diet will be the biggest factor. No amount of exercise will work if your diet is poor. I can tell you this from 1st hand experience. I didn't see my abs until I changed my diet. My advice:

1) Avoid liquid calories, drink mainly water. If you drink juice or soft drinks, eliminate them
2) Eat a mostly whole foods, largely uprocessed diet if you are not already doing so. That means plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts, lean meat, fish, and low-fat or fat-free dairy.
3) Get most of your carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits, and beans (these are unprocessed carbohydrates). Don't eliminate carbohydrates (like the one poster recommended), that's unhealthy and you're cutting out a whole food group. Instead, try to avoid refined and processed carbohydrates (i.e., the junk carbohydrates, like candy, cakes, pies, biscuts, all the other good stuff, lol)
4) Avoid eating out too often, make it an occassional thing. If you do, stick with grilled chicken or fish
5) Eat smaller, more frequent meals (I eat 7-8 times per day)

Other than that, try to get into the habit of doing cardio a few times a week (i.e., maybe take a cycling class at a local gym). That'll probably help.

Find some exercises that target the obliques and abs. My 2 favorites exercises are Russian Twists (for the obliques) and pre-stretch crunches (for the abs) on a medicine ball. These give you the most "bang for your buck" as far as ab exercises go. Start slowly without weights then you might want to add some light weight doing them.

I know it's difficult to eat well being in college (I've been there myself). If you want to see results, though, there aren't really any safe shortcuts. Diet and exercise, hard work and perseverence.