I need serious help - Bikini Body in 3 months

[phoenix1212]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum, I'm 23 years old, I weight 118lbs, 5'4" tall and have been told (by a gym guy?) that I have 25% fat percentage. I am a petite sized woman however I carry the majority of my weight in my arms and midsection. My thighs, butt everything else is in (not body building shape but) bikini worthy shape. I need to get in model bikini (think Miranda Kerr) shape by mid October as I will be part of a tv show in Asia. I know you can't spot train, and by no means am I trying to spot train but really I'm carrying the weight in my arms and midsection and no where else.

I'm pretty active, have lifted weights occasionally at the gym but never on a consistent basis, I've been a dancer and have pretty good stamina. Lately I've been doing workout dvds like Jillian Michael's (HIIT) in the evening as well as doing 30 min on the elliptical during my lunch hour. Besides's that I also take swimming lessons 3 times a week that I NEED to do for a job coming up and that's about an hour each lesson.

I'm eating 1200 calories/day - basically a isolate whey protein drink (mixed with water) in the morning+5 egg whites made in 1 tblsp of olive oil,1yolk and 1 piece of whole wheat toast with 1 tablespoon of all natural peanut butter. I have tuna and spinach/kale (no dressing) for lunch, broccoli with 2 tablespoons of light ranch dressing as a snack, 1/2 a banana, a handful of berries and 12 almonds as a snack throughout the work day, whey protein drink when I come home from work after my workout and either lentils or mixed vegetables+baked chicken drumstick for dinner. Occasionally (about 2-3 times a week) I have one cup of brown rice with cooked mixed vegetables for dinner around 5pm.

I've been on this for about 3.5 weeks now and went from 125 to 118 lbs but the fat around my stomach and arms is the same as it was when I started... I've basically just lost an inch around upper thigh and my love handles have decreased.. the front fat of my stomach is still VERY much there (think three rolls when I bend over).

What I'm confused about is whether I should continue doing cardio on my lunch break and then a HIIT workout dvd at home as well as Jamie Eason's 12 week weight training, or if I should cut my cardio, cut my dvd's and simply do Jamie Eason's 12 week. The initial month of no cardio really scares me because my main goal is fat loss fast and from everything I've read that seems to be HIIT training+lots of cardio??! I know that lean muscle helps to burn more fat overall when at rest but I'm not really looking to have cuts in my arms, legs, or stomach - I just want less fat around my midsection.

Also, how long does it take for someone to see results?? Should I be worried that I haven't lost anything since hitting 118 in one week?.. this is pretty much the "last 10lbs" that I'm trying to lose (although it's less about the weight for me more about fat loss).

Let me also just say that I DO have some muscle definition, being a dancer my core is really strong (most ab workouts do not get me sore so perhaps I need to add weights or do more reps), I have good shoulder definition and biceps, my tri's are weak, I can leg press 3 sets of 60x12 no problem.

Any help would be appreciated, I can post pics later!
*Miss Confused*

[Euqinom]

Up calories, and up heavy lifting.
Pull ups, dips, front squats 3x a week, and see where you're at in 6 weeks time. Then, adjust accordingly

[oregonchick76]

In three months you won't be able to gain much muscle. In my mind your best bet is to bring those cals (and fat intake) up to just below maintenance and do a full body routine 3-4 days a week in the hypertrophy rep range (10-15). You'll continue to lose fat slowly ( shoot for maybe .25 lbs per wk) and hopefully develop a little muscle if your lifting appropriately and eating right. In three months you can def get leaner but prob only gain abt 2-3 lbs of muscle, but you sure don't want to lose any on some crazy cut, which will happen if you're nor careful. Slow down.

[theculture]

Do you do crunches or ab work? Good to see you taking initiative!

You could also do oblique leans to tighten up core.
Take this with a grain of salt, since I never train women or anything, but If I were a woman and wanted to get slimmed down, i'd simply run 3 miles 3x a week, do light upper body lifting twice a week. One day do bicep curls/back/abs, other day to tricep/shoulders/abs. This should tone you up rather than get buff or muscular.

1200 cals seems quite low for if you are lifting and running, i'd definitely be eating 2000 cals of lean meats like chicken/fish, veggies, eggs, etc.

[Lourissa]

You are already at a low weight for your stats, and in your photographs you look great. What is probably making you think you're carrying weight is that you lack muscle mass and so you are slim, but softer than you want. Unfortunately three months is way too short a time to build up enough muscle to tighten up significantly, but if you are new to weightlifting then by eating at maintenance calories and following a heavy lifiting program, you can hopefully lose some body fat without losing muscle.

If you continue to eat so few calories (by my calculations you are eating UNDER your maintenance, which should be around 1280 calories per day just to stand still - never mind with all that cardio) you may lose weight but you will lose muscle mass, so the number on the scale will drop but you probably won't like the results, and it won't help any with the stomach rolls. You'll probably also look and feel pretty worn down for your TV show.

[koryman101]

The gaining muscle thing can help yes because muscle burns more calories than fat but you don't have enough time, but you clearly have unnecessary fat. You could lose another 10% body fat (if your truly at 25%) and still be healthy as a woman. If your ONLY goal is to look slimmer then no dont up any calories, when your at a decent shape losing the last few body fat percentages can be tough because your body is used to storing that amount of fat. 7 pounds in 3.5 weeks when your semi-skinny IS good results. Honestly any faster and your being unhealthy with your diet. If you can loose another 20 pounds in 3 months (very easily achievable) you will look how you want.

the thing is with weight loss is everyone's body will eat fat in certain areas before it eats away at others. some people get lucky and immediately lose the gut first, others its the legs first (you). Don't lose motivation after only a month because any type of decent body image in fitness is not achievable in any short amount of time even if your gifted. Your having a common problem among EVERYONE who is trying to achieve a specific goal in a very short amount of time, even when you do everything right after a short amount of time people get way too anxious because they arent seeing insanely amazing quick results. it takes time, have patience and hang in there!

[Meg127]

My ever so humble suggestion....do the Jamie E 12-week trainer for sure! You need to get some muscle on you and you can build a much tighter body than you have now in 3 months. I did Kris Gethin's Body By Design at the beginning of the year and built a good base in that amount of time. I would definitely continue to do your cardio. Do slightly intense 20-30 minute cardio on your non-lifting days and a light 20 minute cardio on your lifting days. If you find yourself exhausted because of lifting, cut back on cardio on lifting days. Not sure how intense your swimming lessons are. That should be all the cardio you need if you do it on lifting days. You need to eat more. Sounds scary but if you are going to lift, you need more calories but they need to come from more whole lean foods. Knock out the PB, bananas, "lite" ranch dressing and drumstick. You can always come back to them after you reach your goal. Stick to chicken breasts, tuna, fish, lean steak, etc for your protein (other than your whey drink). You need more complex carbs in the first part of your day (yams, brown rice, oatmeal, etc.) And you need to eat more often. 5-6 times a day at the minimum. 250-300 cal. each meal. I think Jamie lays that out for you. Follow her direction.

When you lift, start slow and listen to your body but don't be afraid to lift heavier when you need to. Staying low weights for more than 2-3 weeks is going to get you nowhere. You will NOT bulk up so don't even worry about that. If you can leg press 3 sets 60x12 no problem, you need to lift heavier. "Less about the weight and more about fat loss" is good thinking

Good luck and make every workout count!

[penny0527]

Do you do crunches or ab work? Good to see you taking initiative!

You could also do oblique leans to tighten up core.
Take this with a grain of salt, since I never train women or anything, but If I were a woman and wanted to get slimmed down, i'd simply run 3 miles 3x a week, do light upper body lifting twice a week. One day do bicep curls/back/abs, other day to tricep/shoulders/abs. This should tone you up rather than get buff or muscular.

1200 cals seems quite low for if you are lifting and running, i'd definitely be eating 2000 cals of lean meats like chicken/fish, veggies, eggs, etc.

The only decent advice here is that your calories are too low. The rest is just bullshyt.

[koryman101]

The only decent advice here is that your calories are too low. The rest is just bullshyt.

More input and less flaming would be great penny.

[penny0527]

More input and less flaming would be great penny.

It isn't necessary. This subject is broached so many times that reading other posts would help her get answers.

Telling her to lift light weights so she doesn't get bulky goes against everything women are trying to teach on this forum.

[koryman101]

It isn't necessary. This subject is broached so many times that reading other posts would help her get answers.

Telling her to lift light weights so she doesn't get bulky goes against everything women are trying to teach on this forum.

everything anyone would ever want to know about fitness is in these forums in random posts. so we should just ignore all new threads and tell them to go read the forum? It doesnt take long to take the time and try to teach people things, but i do agree his post wasnt very informative.

[penny0527]

everything anyone would ever want to know about fitness is in these forums in random posts. so we should just ignore all new threads and tell them to go read the forum? It doesnt take long to take the time and try to teach people things, but i do agree his post wasnt very informative.

You have to understand that the same questions and answers are repeated almost daily here.

[koryman101]

You have to understand that the same questions and answers are repeated almost daily here.

i may be new to this site forum but i am definitely not new to forums by any means. i realize that EVERY forum has repeat info damn near hourly depending on the flow of traffic. my point is just that if your going to be here and post, be informative and be helpful or dont bother posting. I'm not trying to attack you, just more love and less angry posts make a forum a nicer place for everyone. If say a new person comes by and the only responses they get are "omg someone ELSE asking this?! go read FFS!" then they will most certainly leave. Sure a lot of people are lazy and should take the time to actually read through some stuff before asking common questions but people shouldnt be shunned for it.

[MelnCrash]

everything anyone would ever want to know about fitness is in these forums in random posts. so we should just ignore all new threads and tell them to go read the forum? It doesnt take long to take the time and try to teach people things, but i do agree his post wasnt very informative.

When i was new i came on here and read the forums for a few months before posting anything. Everything the OP has asked is already here.
I might still ask questions but at least they are new questions.

[koryman101]

When i was new i came on here and read the forums for a few months before posting anything. Everything the OP has asked is already here.
I might still ask questions but at least they are new questions.

yes but you and penny have to realize that is not what the average person does. the average person on forums just posts without reading anything. if this was a rare thing then i would agree to ignore these people but its not, its the opposite. its extremely common. so lets just be helpful to these people, sure you can say "hey you should probably read the forum more" but also with helpful input as well.

[dreamer_x]

yes but you and penny have to realize that is not what the average person does. the average person on forums just posts without reading anything. if this was a rare thing then i would agree to ignore these people but its not, its the opposite. its extremely common. so lets just be helpful to these people, sure you can say "hey you should probably read the forum more" but also with helpful input as well.

You sir have a very good attitude I guess there are two ways this whole thing could go..its easy to get frustrated by "the same old" questions being asked and it would be great if people DID take the time to read up on things, but you are right, most new people come on here for advice on a plate..they dont take the time to read through things. But then maybe these people just dont know how forums work,and think older posts wont exist for very long. But I certainly agree that its good to be attentive and friendly.

[penny0527]

i may be new to this site forum but i am definitely not new to forums by any means. i realize that EVERY forum has repeat info damn near hourly depending on the flow of traffic. my point is just that if your going to be here and post, be informative and be helpful or dont bother posting. I'm not trying to attack you, just more love and less angry posts make a forum a nicer place for everyone. If say a new person comes by and the only responses they get are "omg someone ELSE asking this?! go read FFS!" then they will most certainly leave. Sure a lot of people are lazy and should take the time to actually read through some stuff before asking common questions but people shouldnt be shunned for it.

I was helpful. I told her that post was bullshyt. As in.....don't buy into it.

[catskills]

Telling her to lift light weights so she doesn't get bulky goes against everything women are trying to teach on this forum.

When I first started a consistent exercise program years ago, the first thing I did was join a gym and started lifting weights. I wanted a lean muscular body type. So I did and because I had a healthy layer of fat, I did get bulky, in fact in photos I looked fatter! (This gym was new and in a small town and there were no personal trainers so I didn't know that you had to lean out to see the muscles...LOL). So I stopped lifting weights. After that I started doing mainly cardio and that is how I lost most of my fat. The problem with me is that even with a low BF I still have cellulite. So I basically had to get into BB to get a body that looks decent in a bathing suit. Now that I am at a low BF I have to be on a serious lifting program. The OP probably doesn't have this issue so the advice may not be way off base. Just dropping a few pounds of fat might give her a bikini body. Some people don't necessarily need to lift weights to look good in a bikini, it just depends on how the body fat looks over the muscles they already have. Some people look great in bikinis with a higher body fat and never having lifted a weight in their lives.

[penny0527]

My ever so humble suggestion....do the Jamie E 12-week trainer for sure! You need to get some muscle on you and you can build a much tighter body than you have now in 3 months. I did Kris Gethin's Body By Design at the beginning of the year and built a good base in that amount of time. I would definitely continue to do your cardio. Do slightly intense 20-30 minute cardio on your non-lifting days and a light 20 minute cardio on your lifting days. If you find yourself exhausted because of lifting, cut back on cardio on lifting days. Not sure how intense your swimming lessons are. That should be all the cardio you need if you do it on lifting days. You need to eat more. Sounds scary but if you are going to lift, you need more calories but they need to come from more whole lean foods. Knock out the PB, bananas, "lite" ranch dressing and drumstick. You can always come back to them after you reach your goal. Stick to chicken breasts, tuna, fish, lean steak, etc for your protein (other than your whey drink). You need more complex carbs in the first part of your day (yams, brown rice, oatmeal, etc.) And you need to eat more often. 5-6 times a day at the minimum. 250-300 cal. each meal. I think Jamie lays that out for you. Follow her direction.

When you lift, start slow and listen to your body but don't be afraid to lift heavier when you need to. Staying low weights for more than 2-3 weeks is going to get you nowhere. You will NOT bulk up so don't even worry about that. If you can leg press 3 sets 60x12 no problem, you need to lift heavier. "Less about the weight and more about fat loss" is good thinking

Good luck and make every workout count!

Actually peanut butter is an excellent source of protein and healthy fats. Keep it in your diet.

[penny0527]

When I first started a consistent exercise program years ago, the first thing I did was join a gym and started lifting weights. I wanted a lean muscular body type. So I did and because I had a healthy layer of fat, I did get bulky, in fact in photos I looked fatter! (This gym was new and in a small town and there were no personal trainers so I didn't know that you had to lean out to see the muscles...LOL). So I stopped lifting weights. After that I started doing mainly cardio and that is how I lost most of my fat. The problem with me is that even with a low BF I still have cellulite. So I basically had to get into BB to get a body that looks decent in a bathing suit. Now that I am at a low BF I have to be on a serious lifting program. The OP probably doesn't have this issue so the advice may not be way off base. Just dropping a few pounds of fat might give her a bikini body. Some people don't necessarily need to lift weights to look good in a bikini, it just depends on how the body fat looks over the muscles they already have. Some people look great in bikinis with a higher body fat and never having lifted a weight in their lives.

You built muscle then burned the fat to reveal the muscle. That's how it should be done. She doesn't have that base to reveal.

OP, do the cardio and just get skinny. After that come back with a real program because you probably won't be happy just being skinny.

[sonti]

Kory, please educate yourself about female training and nutrition (or, perhaps, lack of "female" training and nutrition) before giving advice in this section.

**ATTENTION**: Men, before you post, YOU NEED TO READ THIS!
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=117327411

[koryman101]

Kory, please educate yourself about female training and nutrition (or, perhaps, lack of "female" training and nutrition) before giving advice in this section.

please read my reply in the other section.

[penny0527]

Kory, please educate yourself about female training and nutrition (or, perhaps, lack of "female" training and nutrition) before giving advice in this section.

**ATTENTION**: Men, before you post, YOU NEED TO READ THIS!
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=117327411

He can't be bothered with reading old posts.

[koryman101]

He can't be bothered with reading old posts.

men and women arent much different, i know that. i havent said anything to the contrary like i think women are the complete opposite of men when it comes to fitness. Although women should stop telling other women that they need to up calories and lift heavier weights like that is the holy grail of only things to do for fitness because everyone's goals are different.

[sonti]

Although women should stop telling other women that they need to up calories and lift heavier weights like that is the holy grail of only things to do for fitness because everyone's goals are different.

You're going to be negged into oblivion soon.

I wouldn't go to Running.com and ask about how to get fit without running, would I? So we tend to assume that girls who come to a bodybuilding website for help, generally have an interest in lifting weights or having an above-average fit physique. So yeah, we don't recommend under eating or lifting light weights without medical reason to do so.

If some girl only cares about the # on the scale, or wants to only do running, or just wants to go on Weight Watchers, just wants to look 'average', or WHATEVER, that is her prerogative to do so, but we are a forum dedicated to bodybuilding for women and obviously our recommendations are going to reflect that.

[koryman101]

You're going to be negged into oblivion soon.

I wouldn't go to Running.com and ask about how to get fit without running, would I? So we tend to assume that girls who come to a bodybuilding website for help, generally have an interest in lifting weights or having an above-average fit physique. So yeah, we don't recommend under eating or lifting light weights without medical reason to do so.

If some girl only cares about the # on the scale, or wants to only do running, or just wants to go on Weight Watchers, just wants to look 'average', or WHATEVER, that is her prerogative to do so, but we are a forum dedicated to bodybuilding for women and obviously our recommendations are going to reflect that.

i was under the impression that this website was for fitness in general, the interpretation of "bodybuilding" isnt just bigger muscles or bust. building your body, how you want it.

[sonti]

i was under the impression that this website was for fitness in general, the interpretation of "bodybuilding" isnt just huge muscles or bust. building your body, how you want it.

You are a TROLL sir. You are telling a 5'4 118lb female that she should lose 20lbs in 3 months to look how she wants which is easily achievable, that is utterly ridiculous. You are recommending a girl go from a BMI of 20 to a BMI of slightly over 16 which suggests a serious red flag for anorexia nervosa, not to mention complications of amenorrhea, bone density loss, etc. Do you not understand the medical implications of a woman getting to that weight?

Do you understand that you are recommending she get down to the equivalent of a 6'0 man being 125lbs???

Look, this is just my humble advice, but you'd be surprised how many future clients come onto these forums, and how popular they really are with average folk in a gym community. If you want to become a PT like you stated in the PT section, then consider how your reputation here may help or hinder your future business. Some PT's here, like Emma-Leigh and Kimm4, actually gain business because of their solid educated advice. Heck, I've even hired Kim myself. Right now, you are making yourself look completely uneducated with giving poor and even unhealthy advice to women. That isn't based off of any BB aesthetic, that is just common sense about not giving out nutrition information that is medically harmful to a person.

[penny0527]

i was under the impression that this website was for fitness in general, the interpretation of "bodybuilding" isnt just bigger muscles or bust. building your body, how you want it.

Cardio does not build your body. A ton of cardio will just burn away fat and any muscle you have. If she wants to look decent then go ahead with all the cardio. However 90% of the people here will do that for years then come back and admit it did not get them where they wanted to be. They looked better maybe after dieting but it still wasn't enough.

[koryman101]

You are a TROLL sir. You are telling a 5'4 118lb female that she should lose 20lbs in 3 months to look how she wants which is easily achievable, that is utterly ridiculous. You are recommending a girl go from a BMI of 20 to a BMI of slightly over 16 which suggests a serious red flag for anorexia nervosa, not to mention complications of amenorrhea, bone density loss, etc. Do you not understand the medical implications of a woman getting to that weight?

Do you understand that you are recommending she get down to the equivalent of a 6'0 man being 125lbs???

Look, this is just my humble advice, but you'd be surprised how many future clients come onto these forums, and how popular they really are with average folk in a gym community. If you want to become a PT like you stated in the PT section, then consider how your reputation here may help or hinder your future business. Some PT's here, like Emma-Leigh and Kimm4, actually gain business because of their solid educated advice. Heck, I've even hired Kim myself. Right now, you are making yourself look completely uneducated with giving poor and even unhealthy advice to women. That isn't based off of any BB aesthetic, that is just common sense about not giving out nutrition information that is medically harmful to a person.

ah well for the other girl just losing around 10 lbs i dont agree, which she was 128 lbs 5'4. although you are way over exaggerating what i said with this girl considering i merely told her to keep going with her healthy diet and 15% body fat as a women is WELL within healthy ranges, your height/weight doesnt really tell you crap considering how monumentally different a lot of peoples bodys are. i did mess up a little and i'm sorry, i didn't pay attention to her height/weight ratio enough and just read the rest. but everyones body is different, sometimes extremely different. as in people have different levels of bone and other tissues that make over half of your body weight in a person who isnt very muscular. such as one of my close friends is very close to me in height and body type yet he weighs 20 lbs more because he has very dense bones. and BMI is THE worst calculation for body fat as im sure you know. but thanks for the harsh input because i needed to pay more attention. the last thing i want to do is give out incorrect advice or harm anyone. thank you

[phoenix1212]

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your responses. I do understand that there are multiple women out there who have posted something similar but I don't think everyone has the same goals or body so I'm assuming that's why people continue to post on forums even though it's in the same vein as another post. If you do not think it is worth your time to respond to something when there are other threads out there that I can look at - you don't need to reply and I don't mean it in a harsh way it's just as simple as that. I am very, very appreciative to the people who are responding, as everyone here joins this community to get some personalized feedback. If we all just reviewed what was already on the net - we probably wouldn't join this site! "When i was new i came on here and read the forums for a few months before posting anything. Everything the OP has asked is already here." = If I had a few months to do that - that would be lovely but I'm like crash coursing here - the job I'm training for is pressure like I've never felt before and I do want to succeed . SO THANKS again to everyone!!

Ok - so = UP MY CALORIES! Got it. I will follow Jamie Eason's more closely in terms of calorie/what to eat. I have been feeling SO exhausted that literally I slept through my whole weekend ( I slept till 2pm was up for 2 hours and then slept till 830pm) and then same thing on Sunday. Will def up calories to compensate for the amount of activity I am doing...As for which activities to focus on though I am a little confused by the feedback I have rec'd but will try to research some more before asking any more questions. Feel free to keep commenting and helping me!!!!!!!!!