analyze your food intake. For a great-looking butt (and body), it’s a must to be on a nutrition program that places you in a slight caloric deficit. In other words, you need to consume fewer calories than you burn. However, that doesn’t mean starving yourself and eating as little as possible.
The key to manipulating nutrition is eating the correct foods in the correct amounts at the correct times. If you’re an eDiets member using one of our specially designed nutrition programs, you’re automatically on track with this necessary piece of the formula.
I’ve written several articles about the glutes, and they all send the same message. The formula never changes and your level of consistency is the foundation of the formula.
Nutrition, strength training, cardiovascular exercise and consistency make up the components of the formula. Then, we add a bit of specialization work for trouble areas and we create the final product.
If you do not adhere to the nutrition part of the formula, you will not shrink your butt. You might tighten the muscles, but the size will not decrease. The same applies to your “saddlebags.”
Walking for 10 minutes is not nearly enough. I want you to gradually increase the time to 30 brisk minutes. It should not be a casual walk – I want you moving at a brisk pace but not so fast that you're unable to carry on a conversation.
Along with the walking, I want you to begin a strength-training routine. You didn’t mention if you have any experience with strength training or if you belong to a gym, so I’m not going to make any assumptions related to your experience level.
Two days per week (not back-to-back days), I want you to perform upper body exercises in a beginner workout I created. It’s video based and can be found here.
Perform two sets of each exercise in the Beginner section for only the upper body movements.
Two to three other days per week (not back-to-back days), I want you to perform the following classic specialized butt routine. It will work your butt as your legs, but its main focus is on tightening the glutes.
Many of my customized workouts are based on years of my own personal experience as well as trial-and-error with my training clients and eDiets members.
You will be performing a tri-set for your routine. The tri-set refers to performing three exercises in a row without rest. The workout is challenging, so you must focus on impeccable form and concentrate completely on the muscles you’re working.
1. Broom Stick Squats
Start -- Position yourself under the broom stick with the stick on your upper back. Make sure the stick is not resting on your neck. -- Feet are shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in the knees.
Movement -- Slowly begin to lower your body by bending from your hips and knees, stopping when your thighs are parallel with the floor. -- Contracting the quadriceps muscles, slowly return to the starting position, stopping just short of your knees fully extending.
Key Points -- Inhale as you lower down. Exhale while returning to the starting position. -- Do not let your knees ride over your toes (you should be able to see your feet at all times). -- Do not fully extend your knees when you return to the starting position. -- It helps to find a marker on the wall to keep your eye on as you lift and lower. Otherwise, your head may tend to fall forward and your body will follow. -- Think about sitting back in a chair as you are lowering down. -- Push off with your heels as you return to the starting position.
Perform 20 repetitions and immediately go to the next exercise
2. Bent Leg Reverse Kick Up
Start -- Start this exercise on your hands and knees on a mat. Raise your left leg up until it is parallel with the floor with a slight bend in the knee. Support your weight with your arms and right leg.
Movement -- While contracting the butt, lift your left leg up and toward the ceiling, maintaining a bend in the knee. -- Slowly return to the starting position. -- After completing the set on the left side, repeat on the right side.
Key Points -- To increase the difficulty, you may want to add an ankle weight to the working leg.
Perform 20 repetitions on each side and immediately go to the next exercise
3. Dumbbell Walking Lunges
Starting Position -- Stand straight with your feet slightly spread apart. -- Hold a dumbbell or cans in each hand with your arms down at your sides.
Movement -- With control, slowly step forward with the right leg and lower the left leg until the knee almost touches the floor. -- The step should be long enough that your left leg is nearly straight -- Your chest should be lifted and your front leg should form a 90 degree angle at the bottom of the movement. -- Your right knee shouldn’t pass your right foot. -- Don’t let your knee touch the floor. -- Raise yourself up then, push off with the left foot and take the same long step you did with the right leg.
Key Points -- Inhale while stepping forward. -- Exhale while rising up and pushing off the back foot. -- Make sure your head is up and your back is straight.
Caution -- Discontinue this exercise if you feel any discomfort in your knees.
Perform 15 steps with each leg in one direction and then turn around and go back to the start with 15 steps each leg again.
All three exercises are considered one cycle. Perform two cycles. Wait 90 seconds between cycles before repeating. Believe me, you’ll cherish those 90 seconds.
If you incorporate the above recommendations concerningnutrition, walking, strength training for the upper body as well as my specialty butt workout, you’ll see some great results.
DIET TIPS
Take some baby steps and make short-term goals; it will help to get you there successfully. Start with jotting down a few of your goals. Make a list of the way down the road goals and a list of the ones you think you can accomplish short term. Having a long-term goal of losing X amount of pounds is a goal to strive for, but having a few short-term goals or changes (I like that word better) is just as effective.
A goal of exercising two extra times this week or cooking a meal at home instead of eating out are good short-term changes. Many of the short-term changes you make add up: You’ll begin seeing results sooner while staying motivated.
Pick out a nutrition plan that works for you. It’s important to make sure your meal plan fits your lifestyle and preferences; determine the right amount of calories and what fitness plan will work best. That’s where eDiets comes in! Our Nutrition Support Team can assess your needs and recommend a plan that is right for you.
Here are a few of my tried-and-true success tips: 1. Start with a cleared head (rid yourself of the negative and start fresh)
2. Surround yourself with supportive people (I promise you we can help with that – check out our community! Whenever I need a pick-me-up, they're there!)
3. Get moving anyway you can (even dancing around the house)
4. Rid your house of things that tempt (especially in the kitchen – check out our online meeting below!)
5. Eat well, feel satisfied and make it healthy (your perfect plan)
6. And most important, tell yourself something positive each day. You deserve it!
How to Lose Love Handles
If you’re running three times per week for at least 2-3 miles, strength training three times per week with intensity and horseback riding five times per week, then it sounds like you have a very good exercise program.
I’m going to provide an 8-step plan for you, but I first want to clear up a misconception related to spot reduction. Many people think that if they focus on a trouble spot, whether it's abs, butt or legs, that it will magically begin to shrink and tighten up.
Spot reduction isn’t possible. Focusing on exercises specifically for your obliques (love handles) and fat around the top of your hips won’t work.The good news is that I’m going to tell you the truth about how to correctly reduce those annoying trouble spots.
If you want to reduce your love handles and fat on your hips, then you’re going to have to lose body fat all over your body. You can’t remain at your current body fat level and achieve smaller trouble spot areas. I don’t know how tall you are or how much you weigh, but a reduction in body fat is the only way to attack the areas you mention.
Mother Nature actually protects us from making ourselves look like cartoon characters. For example, let's say you have 15 pounds to lose and your focus is on shrinking love handles and hips. If nature allowed you to lose only in those areas and no where else on our body, that would result in a very odd-shaped body lacking balance and symmetry.
Instead, Mother Nature forces us to lose fat all over the body so that we can be in balance and look lean. However, the first place we gain fat is generally the last place we lose it, so I suspect your love handles and hips are the first place you tend to gain body fat.
That being said here is my 8-step plan for breaking through your plateau:
1. There must be a plan for food intake -- aka your diet. If you're using one of the eDiets food plans, then you can easily determine the amount of calories you take in per day, as well as the ratios of protein, carbohydrates and fats. My recommendation is to reduce your calories by 150-200 (as long as it does not fall below 1200 calories). If you’re not using an eDiets plan, the same 150- to 200-calorie reduction applies.
2.Add one additional day of running to your program. This doesn’t have to be forever – just until you achieve your goal and then you can eliminate this extra day. Keep the rest of your workout (strength training and horseback riding) exactly as you currently perform it.
3.Make sure you record your scale weight and measurements. Contrary to popular belief, there's nothing wrong with weighing yourself once per week. Even if you get a body composition test (also called body fat tests), you'll still have to step on a scale.
4. Remain on the program for three weeks and don't make any changes at all. If you start reducing food or increasing activity before the three-week point, you might sabotage your efforts. It's important to have a clear starting point. Some people stay on a specific program for months and never make a change -- that's insanity. After three weeks, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn't have some degree of fat loss. If you're losing up to 1 to 2 pounds per week, you're on the right track. Even a bit less is fine.
5. If you haven't lost weight yet, it's time to make a change. At this point, I do not recommend adding more activity and manipulating calories. Do one or the other -- not both. It's vital to have an understanding of what's working. The change in parameters needs to be tightly controlled. Reduce your daily caloric intake by 100 (again assuming it does not fall below 1,200 calories).
Here comes the tricky part. In some cases, you might not be eating enough, so calories would need to actually increase. For example, a person can't work out six days per week for 90 minutes and take in 1,200 calories per day. The person most likely won't lose fat -- the body will rebel. This is one of the reasons I always tell members to contact eDiets Nutrition Support and always mention their activity level. We need that information to increase or decrease calories. However, I’m going to go on the assumption that you need a reduction in calories.
6. If you haven't lost weight in 10 days after the above change, I would then increase activity --but do not decrease or increase food intake. Again, exercise tight control -- you want to know the formula that works for you.
7. Allow 10 days to pass. Most people are losing fat by now and have the formula for their personal success. It may sound like a hassle, but it's actually not that many weeks when you consider your entire lifetime.
8. If you've followed the above advice and you're stuck at a plateau, it may be time to shift the ratios of protein, carbohydrates and fats. It's possible that the food plan you're using isn't working efficiently with your biochemistry. In this case, eDiets dietitians can be of enormous help in guiding your program.
