Your paunch may be tougher to lose than Zofia’s dude-friend. We guys tend to get paunches of viceral fat (fat that sits in around our organs) whereas women tend to get little tubbies that have more subcataneous fat (fat that sits under the skin). The latter can be a bigger pain in the butt to get rid of than the former, but it will go down in time if your calories usage exceeds your calorie consumption.
At 5’4" and 130 lbs, you don’t sound like you’re terribly unfit, so you’ll probably get really toned legs at first, and you may gain a bit of weight from increased muscle at first, then you’ll notice your clothes getting baggier because you’ll start to slim down. Bear in mind that if you’re only have a little wee spare tire, that weight can be a bitch to lose.
I’d second the recommendation of following a program like Couch to 5K that eases you into running. Otherwise it’s just too easy to get pesky over-use injuries like shin splints if you start off doing too much too fast.
IIRC, for beginners, they recommend you run at a pace that is easy enough that you can still carry on a conversation almost normally, rather than -puff, puff- trying to -huff puff- keep -gasp- a pace -huff- that -harf- has you -gasp- too -puff- outofbreath!
Pilates or Yoga - if you really want to change your body. Yoga leads to completely changing how you stand, how you “orient” your body when you move - all based on the fundamental changes that happen to deep-down muscles groups and the balance and motion you put them through. It is much more likely to change your body unless you get very hardcore with your running…
I’ve been running about 5k three times a week and combined with a good diet and some weight training I’ve lost 82 pounds as of this morning. It’s been 35 weeks, so there’s that.
Running also took away my plantir fascititus (sp?), about 1/2 through the couch to 5k program.
Take it from an admittedly vain girl just like you, take up serious weight training (and don’t be afraid to go HEAVY after a couple months of learning the ropes and correct form) Nothing will do more for your body. Sleek, lean muscle that burns fat like a furnace. I’m in my late forties and still thanking myself for taking it up in college, although I do about three-quarters of what I used to.
I admire serious women runners for the athleticism, but never found their figures appealing - the “beef jerky” look and somewhat out of proportion. I know, they don’t care about that, but your goals seem to be different.
Yes running changed my body. I have six pack abs and that is how you get them, by running.
Your abs are actually very easy to work. The trouble is getting the fat from above the muscle so you can see them. I always get a kick when people say “How can I get a six pack like yours.” I tell them, “you need to run, run, run and then run some more. And when you feel like you’re about to drop, run again.”
Running slow and steady for long periods of time (at least 1 hour per day, five days a week) is what burns the fat off, so you can get definition
I’m one of those skinny male freaks who gained weight when I started running, and then gained more weight when I started swimming. All the weight gain was muscle.
My observation would be that weight lifters always talk about how it helps to keep weight off, but the thin women with toned legs all run, and some of the runners also lift weights. (IMHO, who who run or play tennis have the best legs.) Without changing your diet, any amount of running helps women lose weight, but you probably need to run more than 20 minutes a day for it to be noticeable. You won’t look like “beef jerky” unless you run 30+ mile weeks, for a few years.
It’s that subcutaneous fat thing that I mentioned above. Women tend to get a layer of fat over top of their ab muscles. You may have the six pack, but it’s under a blanket, basically. That layer of fat is also why women are nice and soft and sexy smooth, rather than being all wirey like we hairy dudes.
Well, I checked out that Couch to 5k website. It looks like a great site for someone who literally sits on the couch all day but I decided to start with something a little harder because I’m eighteen years old after all… I have decided to start jogging for 30 minutes straight every other day. The first day I went 1.75 miles in 30 minutes which is really slow. But, I’m working on it! Today I did two.
Yeah, the point with running isn’t necessarily endurance, its that its really hard on your bones to put all that repetitive stress on them without building up to it.
If you can get 30 minutes on an elliptical or in the pool, where your body doesn’t stress, go for it. But starting running is something its best to work up to.
too.