It seems like no matter what I do, I can’t lose the extra fat on my lower body. I have been working out with weight and doing cardio for about a year now but I have not seen any significant improvements in my legs, butt or hips. It’s starting to get extremely frustrating and just feel fat and out of shape! I wanted to see if you can help. How can I lose the pockets of fat around my hips and butt?
I completely understand your frustration. It is harder to live life to the fullest with all that extra weight on your lower body and not being able to slim down even though you have been working out hard in the gym can be difficult to deal with. With the negative stereotypes about fat flying around, very few people want to be labeled in the “fat category”. The reason why you have not been seeing any results might just come down to a small tweak in your current fitness program. I’m going to give you some exercise and diet tips on how to tone up your lower body so you can lose those fat pockets around your hips and butt which will hopefully get you out of this slump so you can start seeing some amazing results!
It’s All in Your Diet
In order to see big time results in your physique, you need to be honest with your current diet and the foods you are eating. Try your best to clean up your diet and really analyze everything you are eating to determine where you can make changes and improve. You need to stop eating any extra junk food and cut out all those trips to any fast food restaurants you might like hitting a few times a week when things get stressful and you don’t have the time to cook up a healthy meal. Changing these habits of occasionally snacking on tasty treats and using greasy fast food as a crutch for a busy schedule will not only help you lose extra fat around your hips and thighs, but your general health will also greatly improve.
Watch your saturated fat intake also. You will find saturated fat in most animal products. This type of fat can really add some extra pounds onto your frame. Instead, adopt clean eating habits and get serious with your diet if you really want to make changes in your body. You should consume five to six small healthy meals each day that include lean protein, clean starchy carbs and healthy fats. Choose organic produce to avoid dangerous pesticides and to achieve maximum health benefits. Add healthy monounsaturated fats like olive oil, avocados and fish into your diet. These types of fat will help maintain a good hormonal production as you cut down your body fat and also provide heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
Exercise
As you work on reducing your pockets of fat with your diet, make sure to use the right types of exercises when your goal is to shed fat from your lower body. Increase the overall activity level in your daily routine and kick up your cardio program. This will speed up your metabolism and help burn excess fat stored in your hips and butt. Amazing cardio exercises for your legs include running stairs, doing sprints, jumping rope and regular jogging. Shoot for 45-60 minutes of cardio per session and do this 5-7 days per week to see incredible results.
If possible, try doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach to burn even more fat. Make sure to drink some protein before you start doing cardio in order to preserve your lean muscle tissue. A great supplement to use is BCAA powder which you can mix up in water and drink before and during your workout. BCAA stands for branched-chain amino acids and they are super important for providing the key amino acids to your muscles so they can repair and rebuild during a hard cardio workout. Just make sure the BCAA supplement you choose does not contain any calories or carbs in order to maximize the fat burning effects you want to achieve by doing cardio in the morning in a fasted state. Great BCAA products include Amino X by BSN, Xtend by SciVation, and Amino1 by MusclePharm.
Along with cardio, you should be weight training to get the best results in toning and tightening your hips, butt and thighs. Join the gym if that is your thing and hire a personal trainer if you need some extra help and motivation. Concentrate on exercises that work your glutes and hips. Examples of such exercises include lunges, squats, leg press and step-ups to a bench. Always warm up by doing some cardio before starting your workout (about 10 minutes of cardio). Here are some great exercises to tone and tighten your butt, hips and thighs:
Your overall weight training workout should last no longer than 45-60 minutes and then get out of the gym so you can recover and grow from your workout. Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights either! Adding some extra weight when you do lower body exercises will only help build up and tone your muscles which is huge for burning calories each day. Muscle is the key tissue for increasing your metabolism, so don’t be shy to mix it up in the free weight section at your local gym.
Get Professional Help
The advice I have provided above might sound simple but it is in no way easy to apply. It is more difficult especially for those who have led an inactive lifestyle for quite some time. If you fall under this category, you might need some assistance to lose those pockets of fat on your lower body. As mentioned earlier, you might find it extremely helpful to hire a certified personal trainer. This goes a long way to help in your efforts to losing fat and getting toned up. Make sure the trainer you hire is well qualified for the job and that you have a good rapport with them. If you cannot hire a trainer, join a fat loss support group to stay motivated as you follow your fitness plan.
Get Medical Help
If you have strictly followed the diet and workout tips I have provided above for 3-4 months and still have not seen any improvement in your weight or the level of body fat in your lower body, then your weight issues might be caused by a hormonal malfunction in your body. Have your doctor perform a full metabolic panel (blood labs) so you can find out the results of important hormones like insulin, testosterone, estrogen and glucose. You may also gain weight because of taking certain prescription pills and contraceptives so make sure you tell your doctor about everything you are taking. To find the root cause of your excess body fat, it is always a good idea to have a medical checkup as described above. This will help you know the exact cause of your weight problems so you can get on the right track to losing weight and getting healthy.
1 Comment
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