Mierra
June 18 at 4:20am
Hi Joanne,
I hope you do not mind me contacting you. I read your post on the Project Weight Loss site, and of course I had a peep at your website. You look absolutely amazing!
I hope you don't mind me asking for advice?
I put up a post about regaining a flat tummy after 2 c-sections, just wondering if that was possible? I had asked my Doc, he said no. But I am sure there must be something I could do to at least gain a flatter lower region than I have now. Right now my stomach is hanging and I hate it. I am doing lower leg lifts and crunches, the normal ab workouts, but my bulge is not shifting. I am wondering if it is because my muscles have been cut and is weak?
Thanks very much,
Gratefully yours,
Mierra
Joanne Lee
June 18 at 5:32am
I certianly dont mind, thats why I post on the sites, there's a lot of lame information out there and often I know I can help.
In your cahse I dont have children, but I have trained many many women through their pregnancies and beyond.
My first question
How long ago was the last c section ?
Did they go well (any compliations) ?
Do have any loss of sensation ?
Do you get sore after training abs?
C sections can take quite a while to heal and certain exercises work better than others.
let me know your answers, I dont want to say you can get back to 'perfect' but I'm telling you, you can make a tremendous difference by using the right routine reguarly.
let me know your answers and what I may be able to do this week is video an ab routine with some of the girls that I train to send to you.JO
Well in response to your questions, my last c-section was 6 months ago. Thankfully no complications, but I did have with my first one (7 years ago). There is a little tenderness / numbness, but I would think that that is considered normal for the time being. The only time I felt a little uncomfortable was when I was doing turns on the monkey bar last Sunday - just playing with my daughter. I feel no soreness after training the abs.
I know that I will never have the washboard stomach I had pre-kids, but I would love for it to go down.
Thank you so much again,
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
All the best,
Mierra
29 at 10:46am
Hi
just thought of you this morning check out my blog to see some interesting info I found out about C section (go to my website www.joannelee.com and then go to the blog page .. I posted it this morning)
Also I spoke with a doctor and he said it is often the case that the muscle adheres to the skin (which pulls the muscle outwards) making it look like your tummy is flopping over. She said there was a simple op that would take care of that (if that is the problem) and it just means that the muscle and skin have glued themselves together and snip snip would release it.
They didnt say it would make everything perfect because the reality is the muscle has been cut - but this can give the look that the muscle is literally hanging over.
does that make sense ? sort of like detaching the skin from a chicken breast (sounds gross I know) .... let me know what you think
jo xJOANNE LEESource: www.joannelee.com
Los Angeles Personal Trainer. Health and Fitness articles from which cardio is best to the truth about sugar. Trainer of figure competitors, Hollywood celebrities and everyday hard working individuals.
Monday, July 21, 2008
MOTIVATION
July 5 at 9:55pm
My wife is a natural, puts on muscle easily, and I love it when she does put on the muscle. However, she is hard to motivate, I do not want to force her to exercise so maybe you can give me a hint since you are an expert and train mostly women.
P.S. I function as my wife's "trainer"
Joanne Lee
July 6 at 10:07pm
Does she enjoy training when she does it ? If 'Yes' then ask her for help ... say that you are less motivated to train, feeling a little tired etc and it would really be a help if she trained with you.
Or set a personal goal and ask her for her help in your achieving that goal.
If she really doesnt enjoy training, then maybe its not for her .. another sport may be better - biking, running, kayaking, tennis etc etc.
if her confidence is down, then another sport might be best until she feels more comfortable in the gym
Motivation comes from results
My wife is a natural, puts on muscle easily, and I love it when she does put on the muscle. However, she is hard to motivate, I do not want to force her to exercise so maybe you can give me a hint since you are an expert and train mostly women.
P.S. I function as my wife's "trainer"
Joanne Lee
July 6 at 10:07pm
Does she enjoy training when she does it ? If 'Yes' then ask her for help ... say that you are less motivated to train, feeling a little tired etc and it would really be a help if she trained with you.
Or set a personal goal and ask her for her help in your achieving that goal.
If she really doesnt enjoy training, then maybe its not for her .. another sport may be better - biking, running, kayaking, tennis etc etc.
if her confidence is down, then another sport might be best until she feels more comfortable in the gym
Motivation comes from results
Q & A..TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT ?
Andrew
July 1 at 9:53pm
I just started this 6:30 AM boot camp thing (believe it or not, it's pretty intense) and was wondering if I should eat or not beforehand. I think I'll stick to the empty stomach thing, unless of course I find myself not being able to hit the softballs over the fence anymore. Now THAT would be tragic!Joanne Lee
July 1 at 9:05pm
Ah .. if I had a penny ...It isdifficult for fat to be broken down in the presence of insulin - so they say to do cardio on an empty stomach.However if your goal is to gain or maintain mass then I would say you can eat a protein meal (has no insulin response ) before cardiohope that helpsjoanne
Joanne@joannelee.com
July 1 at 9:53pm
I just started this 6:30 AM boot camp thing (believe it or not, it's pretty intense) and was wondering if I should eat or not beforehand. I think I'll stick to the empty stomach thing, unless of course I find myself not being able to hit the softballs over the fence anymore. Now THAT would be tragic!Joanne Lee
July 1 at 9:05pm
Ah .. if I had a penny ...It isdifficult for fat to be broken down in the presence of insulin - so they say to do cardio on an empty stomach.However if your goal is to gain or maintain mass then I would say you can eat a protein meal (has no insulin response ) before cardiohope that helpsjoanne
Joanne@joannelee.com
REVENGE IS LOOKING GOOD !
Neil
July 8 at 12:04pm
hi you may be able to help me, since my fiancée left i have put on 3 stone ( too much beer and drowning my sorrows )but now i want to take it all off an start respecting my body, she left me with huge debts so joining a gym is a no go at moment can you give me any advice on what i should be eating i have just started running again but finding it hard to stay motivated ,,
July 8 at 12:26pm
Hi Neil ... yep, I think everyone has been through something like you're going through. OK, so to lose 3 stone you dont need a gym. Running is THE BEST way to lose the weight ... for motivation, go online and see if there is a running group you can join - if there isnt one .. start one!
Start keeping a journal of your food - cut the junk and as for the booze, stick to clear spirits with diet mixers.Go to Nutritiondata.com (free) and you can enter every food that you eat and figure out how many calories you are eating. Eat breakfast ! no one losing weight if they dont eat breakfast, dont eat too much processed food (even diet food) ...cut the butter, the cream, the sugar - but dont get hungry .. if you get hungry you'll cheatThe journal is the best idea and if you cheat you're only lying to yourself - when you have to log everything down you think twice before you eat it.and finally - you have evey excuse to feel bad for yourself - but it aint going to help you and you will just feel worse ( i know you know that) .. the debt will go down in time .. its the price you are paying for not marrying her ! Imagine how expensive that would have been.your motivation will come from your results, but it is hard to go it alone - so really put an ad online .. find a running companion.Keep me up to date with how things go
ps ... she'll probably come back, they always do .. not straight away, but they always come back :) .. do you really want to be overweight and depressed when she sees you ?
if you want to invest in anything .. buy a stabilization ball and some dumbbells .. 10, 15, 20 lb - you can do just about anything with that.
Also .. final note (must get off ot work) buy a jump rope (skipping rope) .. you'll be clumpsy at first, but after one or two gos you'll be skipping like crazy ... burns soooooo many calories .. do 2 minute rounds with a minute rest ... let me know what you think jo x
Neil
July 8 at 2:19pm
thank you so much i will do it !!!
Q & A .... I'M NOT LOSING WEIGHT
A Question
Between You and Hester F. Roodt
Hester F. Roodt
July 16 at 10:20pm
Hi Joanne,I have a question I need to ask somebody who is informed about these things. I've been training really hard for the last month and watched my diet with a hawk's eye and yet I have not lost a single pound. I have, however, lost a few inches around my mid section and butt. I'm very happy about that, but I can't help to wonder how long these things take.I mean, how long do I have to excercise in order to get to my goal weight (and look) of 120 pounds (I'm currently 137)? I need a time frame to help keep me motivated, 'cause at the moment it just feels like i'm swimming in the dark.I understand you are probably busy and I don't mean to bug you. But if you could spare some time to answer me I would be very greatful.Thanks in advance and I hope you have a wonderful day!!H
Joanne Lee
July 19 at 7:22am
Hmmm there are so many ways I can answer this, but if you need numbers ... one pound of fat = 3500 calories so you have to do a combination of reducing calories and burning calories to get to your target weight.If you just diet youll mess up your metabolism and you'll rebound. If you just exercise and dont watch your diet you wont see the pounds come off.So as a real gestimate eat between 1500 and 1800 calories a day, dont eat processed (or that BS diet food) food and exericse to burn off 3000 calories a week. So say weight training is about 400 calories per hour (kicking ass) and cardio is say 600 calories per hour .. take an average of 500 cals per hour .. so thats 7 hours of exercise per week .. you have to judge your own intensity .. but if its easy you're cheating yourself.check the sodium in your food, try and keep it under 1500 mg a day - youll see weight come off just by doing that (sodium holds soooo much water)I have E books on my site about cardio and metabolism and carbs that might help you understand the processjo x
Hester F. Roodt
July 19 at 11:50pm
Thank you so much. I can now see where my problem lies. My workouts have been way too easy and I have a high sodium diet. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about that. I live in Korea and their food has alot of soduim. But I can do the rest and by the time I get back to SA my diet will change completely again. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Have a nice Sunday.H :-)
Between You and Hester F. Roodt
Hester F. Roodt
July 16 at 10:20pm
Hi Joanne,I have a question I need to ask somebody who is informed about these things. I've been training really hard for the last month and watched my diet with a hawk's eye and yet I have not lost a single pound. I have, however, lost a few inches around my mid section and butt. I'm very happy about that, but I can't help to wonder how long these things take.I mean, how long do I have to excercise in order to get to my goal weight (and look) of 120 pounds (I'm currently 137)? I need a time frame to help keep me motivated, 'cause at the moment it just feels like i'm swimming in the dark.I understand you are probably busy and I don't mean to bug you. But if you could spare some time to answer me I would be very greatful.Thanks in advance and I hope you have a wonderful day!!H
Joanne Lee
July 19 at 7:22am
Hmmm there are so many ways I can answer this, but if you need numbers ... one pound of fat = 3500 calories so you have to do a combination of reducing calories and burning calories to get to your target weight.If you just diet youll mess up your metabolism and you'll rebound. If you just exercise and dont watch your diet you wont see the pounds come off.So as a real gestimate eat between 1500 and 1800 calories a day, dont eat processed (or that BS diet food) food and exericse to burn off 3000 calories a week. So say weight training is about 400 calories per hour (kicking ass) and cardio is say 600 calories per hour .. take an average of 500 cals per hour .. so thats 7 hours of exercise per week .. you have to judge your own intensity .. but if its easy you're cheating yourself.check the sodium in your food, try and keep it under 1500 mg a day - youll see weight come off just by doing that (sodium holds soooo much water)I have E books on my site about cardio and metabolism and carbs that might help you understand the processjo x
Hester F. Roodt
July 19 at 11:50pm
Thank you so much. I can now see where my problem lies. My workouts have been way too easy and I have a high sodium diet. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about that. I live in Korea and their food has alot of soduim. But I can do the rest and by the time I get back to SA my diet will change completely again. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Have a nice Sunday.H :-)
Sunday, July 6, 2008
SLIPPERY ELM
Hope everyone had a fantastic July 4th.
Lucky me I caught a little bit of a cold - but always trying to find the positive I thought I would share this piece of information with you.
It started Thursday evening and my throat was sore and swallowing was tough. Friday I wake up and swallowing is like swallowing razor blades, I'm exhausted with a bit of a headache, but it is the throat that is the issue - very painful and to make matters worse my tounge has swollen up so now its about an inch too wide so I have this ridiculous lisp.
It was July 4th so maybe people thought I was drunk :) but it was hard to talk (and I sounded so stupid)
I take myself off to the health store and buy "Slippery Elm" which I have heard is good for sore throats but I have never tried it.
Long story short - but Saturday morning .. NO SORE THROAT !! NOTHING , NADA.
My tongue was still a little swollen but you would have had to have a sharp ear to hear the difference.
So theres a little useful information .... SLIPPERY ELM ... you can buy it at any health store
Joanne x
Lucky me I caught a little bit of a cold - but always trying to find the positive I thought I would share this piece of information with you.
It started Thursday evening and my throat was sore and swallowing was tough. Friday I wake up and swallowing is like swallowing razor blades, I'm exhausted with a bit of a headache, but it is the throat that is the issue - very painful and to make matters worse my tounge has swollen up so now its about an inch too wide so I have this ridiculous lisp.
It was July 4th so maybe people thought I was drunk :) but it was hard to talk (and I sounded so stupid)
I take myself off to the health store and buy "Slippery Elm" which I have heard is good for sore throats but I have never tried it.
Long story short - but Saturday morning .. NO SORE THROAT !! NOTHING , NADA.
My tongue was still a little swollen but you would have had to have a sharp ear to hear the difference.
So theres a little useful information .... SLIPPERY ELM ... you can buy it at any health store
Joanne x
WEIGHT WATCHER VS GYM RESULTS !
I am constantly amazed by the weight loss programs who have a failure rate of over 90% (based over 3 years) .. yet people still go back for more ! What other business can have a product that doesnt work and yet the customer blames themselves and buys it over and over again.
Lets not even get started with what that does to a persons self esteem ... here is an article recently published in Science Daily which goes part way to explaining why diet alone DOES NOT WORK !!
In the first study of its kind, using sophisticated methods to measure body composition, the nationally known commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, was compared to gym Participants who attended Weight Watchers for 12 weeks lost an average of 5 percent of their body weight, or about nine pounds. However, Steve Ball, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, found that a large percentage of the lost weight was lean tissue and not fat.
“Participants’ body fat percentage did not improve at all because they lost a much higher percentage than expected of lean tissue,” said Ball, MU Extension state fitness specialist. “It is advantageous to keep lean tissue because it is correlated with higher metabolism. Losing lean tissue often slows metabolism. What your body is made of is more important than what you weigh.”membership programs to find out which method wins in the game of good health.
Computer Tomography (CT scans) were used to investigate changes in abdominal fat, which is more predictive of cardiovascular disease. Although the fitness center group lost very little weight, they probably improved their health because they lost a significant amount of intraabdominal fat (fat around vital organs). These results imply that exercise may have positive influence on the metabolic syndrome despite the number on the scale
Lets not even get started with what that does to a persons self esteem ... here is an article recently published in Science Daily which goes part way to explaining why diet alone DOES NOT WORK !!
In the first study of its kind, using sophisticated methods to measure body composition, the nationally known commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, was compared to gym Participants who attended Weight Watchers for 12 weeks lost an average of 5 percent of their body weight, or about nine pounds. However, Steve Ball, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, found that a large percentage of the lost weight was lean tissue and not fat.
“Participants’ body fat percentage did not improve at all because they lost a much higher percentage than expected of lean tissue,” said Ball, MU Extension state fitness specialist. “It is advantageous to keep lean tissue because it is correlated with higher metabolism. Losing lean tissue often slows metabolism. What your body is made of is more important than what you weigh.”membership programs to find out which method wins in the game of good health.
Computer Tomography (CT scans) were used to investigate changes in abdominal fat, which is more predictive of cardiovascular disease. Although the fitness center group lost very little weight, they probably improved their health because they lost a significant amount of intraabdominal fat (fat around vital organs). These results imply that exercise may have positive influence on the metabolic syndrome despite the number on the scale
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