Anybody wants to lose/gain weight and trying to get fitter? Encouragement thread!

[Amulya]

Depends on the dancer, if it suits them. Toned abs look good on Rachel Brice for example.

[Taluma]

Well I saw a photo from my last performance the other day and I do really wanna lose a little weight.
Not too much because I think a bellydancer looks good with some curves.

[Shadawing]

Hmm... when I look at this performance, she has a liitle fat on her belly but it doesn't have that "jo-jo" effect. Wonder how....

Shakira - Ojos Así - YouTube

[Amulya]

Hmm... when I look at this performance, she has a liitle fat on her belly but it doesn't have that "jo-jo" effect. Wonder how....

Shakira - Ojos Así - YouTube

What is a 'jo-jo effect'?

[Shadawing]

Hm.. how to explain that in English Let's take belly again for example. When you walk, and it shakes while walking (it's not fit like Shakira's). I have that size of belly, but it's all over the place when I'm dancing.

Read this explanation: When we are on a diet we burn fewer calories, but our digestive system works harder. Sudden decrease of calorie intake causes our fatty and muscular tissues to burn; it also slows down the basic metabolism. The success we notice at the beginning is illusionary, because it is mainly caused by water loss within the tissues. After we finish the diet the body all of a sudden reconstructs the supply of the fatty tissue, also in the places where previously muscles were present. The body quickly switches to the smaller intake of calories, but at the end of the diet the metabolism does not switch so fast.

Hope you understand it now If you don't, I'll try to explain it further.

[Amulya]

Ah you mean yoyo effect. The gain and loss of weight in quick succession.

What I find intruiging is that Shakira's belly fat doesn't jiggle. I have the same amount of fat, but more spread out. Hers is more centered in the middle. But my fat jiggles and there isn't much of it at all. Same for some belly dancers who have more belly fat than me but it doesn't jiggle much.

Reason I dislike the jiggle is that if I do crisp hip drops (or other crisp movements) I have a jiggle going on that makes it all look like a shimmy. Sounds like a nice freebee shimmy, but it you try to do nice crip tribal fusion movements you don't want the free shimmy!
That's why I am trying to get rid of more of my belly fat. The problem is though that I can't afford to loose more weight in kilo's, I am getting too skinny and I don't like that.

[Shadawing]

JIGGLE!!! That's the word (I love posting on english-speaking forums and building up my vocabulary, it's awesome )

I was searching for years how to get rid of that, but nothing. My mum had it too, and everyone tells me that it's genetical. But there must be some way to get it fitter!

Well, we're not the only ones, at least

[Amulya]

Yes English speaking forums are great for that It's fun to learn new words and it's interesting how English language varies in different English speaking countries (even spelling is different sometimes)

[Harry]

For what it's worth, ladies, even men have a hard time trying to get some definition in the abs area... It doesn't seem to matter how many sit-ups, yogic abdominal lifts, leg lifts, or diligent weight loss programs...whatever... some of us just can't get it going. Like Amulya, I've got some great muscles behind that layer, but just can't get them to make an appearance.

[Amulya]

I have no idea what would help, only dieting till all fat is gone LOL (probably with hitting the gym 6 hours a day). Easier said than done! I am jealous of my boyfriend, he has that 6 pack without working out all the time (he runs twice a week) and even with a little layer of fat. Grrrr why can't I have that?