Q:
I'm a 24 yr. old female, just a little shy of 5'9", and am 148lbs. I want to be in tip top shape for once in my life and lose about 10 more lbs. I bike ride about 4 miles every other day, and jog the other days about 2 miles (just started jogging). I have cut my diet in half, i will eat cereal for breakfast and eat a larger lunch and don't normally eat dinner. The diet seems to be what's giving the results because i have taken a meal out of the picture, especially at night. Along w/the running and biking, while on my lunch breaks at work, i do my sit ups and weight lifting. Situps-250 (varied kinds of sit ups), and w/weight lifting, i do them until it hurts basically.... At least on the backs of the upper arms cause that's where they're so fatty and loose. I need to know if this is a good plan, what you recommend i do. I want to tone the upper arms as much as possible cause they're sooooooo fatty underneath............. Thx. - Darcie

A:
Darcie--
thanks for your question. While you do have youth in your favor, I've got to admit, I'm more than a little concerned.

"The diet seems to be what's giving the results "?
The key word here is SEEMS. Initially, if you cut calories from you diet, you can lose weight. But in a short time, your body will figure out what's going on and it will do everything it can to put it back on (and then some).

"I want to tone the upper arms as much as possible"
There is no such thing as "spot reduction" (I address this question several times on this web site.  Check out the main Q&A menu for more details)

"Situps-250 (varied kinds of sit ups), and w/weight lifting, i do them until it hurts"  Why do a movement until it hurts? Have a sadistic streak? No pain, no gain? You certainly have to work beyond comfort, but training 'til it HURTS might be a bit much.
And why so many sit ups? (better re-read to the spot-reduction articles!)

"i have taken a meal out of the picture, especially at night"
As long as you're not eating "too much" (see next paragraph), it really shouldn't matter what time you eat. You don't have hormones or enzymes wearing little watches, saying "oops! 7pm, let's get fat!

To estimate the amount of calories you NEED to maintain your current weight (I know, that's not the goal! Just stick with me here...) use the"Harris-Benedict equation" Plug in your numbers to get an approximation of the amount of energy your body REQUIRES each day NO MATTER WHAT. (if you don't consume them, your body will have to use what it has already stored) Once you have this number, all you have to do is create a 500cal/day deficit (more or less) to safely and PERMANENTLY drop weight (sounds pretty good now, huh?).

If you're cutting calories AND doing a LOT of exercise (as it sounds like you are), you create such a large deficit, your body will fight back and do everything in its power to STORE FAT. You may even find you get a lot of nagging injuries that won't seem to heal. You MUST eat to lose weight and recover from your training. The more you do, the more you can eat and still lose weight. Make sense?


Probably not what you were hoping to hear, but these are the facts.

Good luck (and keep me posted!)
-Joe