Losing Weight and Improving Your Booty-Part 2

Walking on an incline is probably the easiest way to lose weight while improving your booty.  I honestly don't think this is the best way, but it's low impact and great for beginners (or just when you are too tired to do anything else).  Although I don't consider myself a beginner, I like to walk on incline especially when I am in a "bulking" phase and don't want to go to hard on my legs. 

The best thing about using a treadmill for incline is you get to adjust the incline.  My advice would be take it to the highest percentage.  You will get the most out of the exercise and also burn a lot of calories! When it becomes too difficult, try bringing down the speed instead of the incline.

If you are trying to lose weight, this is an excellent cardio workout.  Easier than running, but incline walking can definitely be challenging.  Your heart rate to be in the fat  loss zone. 

Why this sheds pounds:

Incline walking is a cardio exercise that gets your heart rate going, and essentially that's all you need to burn calories.

Why this helps shape your booty:

Like I said before, I don't think this exercise is more efficient than stair stepping in shaping the glutes, but it is an easier, more low impact way to make a difference in your body.  This also strength the hamstrings, which in my opinion, adds to the sex appeal of your body.

As with every exercise, you must give your body time to change!

Losing Weight While Improving Your Booty

For the most part, when trying to change your body you are either:
1: losing fat
2: building muscle

While you can do both of these together, one will be limited by your diet.  To lose weight: Calories consumed must be LESS THAN calories expended
To gain (serious) muscle: Calories consumed must be MORE than calories expended.

If you do need to lose weight, but you would like to reshape, tighten, or lift your booty, you can work on this while losing weight.  The most important thing  is to reach your goal weight and then if you still need mass in your glutes, begin a muscle building routine.

I'm going to post a 3 part series on 3 different cardio exercises that can help you lose weight and improve your booty.

3 weeks without lifting weights

I've spent the last three weeks on a trip to France.  I had no access to a gym and I was a little concerned about losing muscle in my glutes.  I tried to salvage my gluteals buy doing body weight exercises (hip thrusts, squats, lunges) and also by taking advantage on the hills in the French countryside.  I also did not count calories, but I did try eat as much protein as I could.  Before I left I was on a little junk food binge and had gained about 7lbs in pure fat, thank goodness I lost this while I was there.  Question is: did I also lose muscle? Yes, unfortunately I can see the loseness in my thighs and butt. But, on the bright side, I didn't lose inches on my butt.  Here are my measurements before and after my trip.

May 18, 2012              July 7, 2012

Waist-26 in                 Waist-25.5 in

Thighs                         Thighs

  upper-22.5                    upper-22.5

  middle-21                     middle-21.5

  lower-18.5                     lower-19.5

Butt-36.5                     Butt-36.5

I lost around my stomach, but my thighs are slightly larger, something I do not want.  My fitness goals for the next month are slightly different than before.  Instead of gaining more muscle mass in my glutes, I am going to try and maintain their size, while cutting down fat on the rest of my body.  The difficult part about that is I am going to be moving around and staying in hotels.  So, I'll write another post on staying in shape or losing weight while traveling.  Feel free to leave any questions or comments!

Fit and Curvy Body Shape

     Most fitness magazines show the same type of "fit-looking" women.

         Some, though, show women who are figure competitors.

                      But my ideal body type is more like this.

I want to have the six pack AND the big, full glutes.  The hard part for some women (who arenot blessed the genetic material to have full, round butt) is to chisel away body fat while keeping  their curvy parts curvy.  It basically comes down to weightlifting and diet, depending on where you are at with your body shape.  For example, women with a body similar to the first picture (average fitness mag cover girl) would have to incorporate more food into her diet.  She would need those extra calories to build up the muscle she is lacking in her lower body.  For someone who needs to lose weight first would need a different weightlifing plan and diet to achieve the same look.  It all comes down to hard work, but more realistically genetics.  But you can change the shape and size of your butt! More to come about diet and exercise to get a bigger butt!