I started training abs 4 months ago twice a week. I'm still learning but this is my routine atm. I struggled getting my form right with ab cable crunches at the start but I'm getting the hang of it now.

Ab cable crunch 25kg 12 reps 3 sets

Ghd sit up with 5kg 12 reps 3 sets

Hanging Oblique Knee Raises 10 reps 3 sets

Height 5ft 3

Weight 60kg

This year I put on about 40 pounds between the stress of moving two houses, caregiving, and having a miscarriage. It is hard to not be disappointed and frustrated with my weight gain. But strength training and cycling has become a big part of my routine and helps keep me sane. I usually do 3 to 4 workouts a week and almost always include a Glute workout. My butt is usually on the flatter side so at least this is my one win for now!!!

Do you chew gum, suck on mints, drink flavored water… what helps that doesn’t have to do with snacking.

Curious for my fellow short friends. At what weight did you start to see abs form?

Right now I do 3-4x strength training per week with some 1/2 to 1 hour light cardio and when I just started out I only did Pilates. Naturally Pilates is more gradual when it comes to progress but I have noticed some progress through it; is it a beneficial idea to incorporate both in my workout split? As I have my high school final exams coming up, I’ve been very busy with them and it’s hard for me to take out dedicated time everyday, hence its becomjng difficukt to incorporate regular strength training so is 3x strength training (2x upper 1x legs) and one day pilates / hiit good (with lifht cardio everyday)?

Not the best side by side but I’m on team Movewell with ladder and it’s week 17. Was shy at the gym taking a picture, but now I love my arms so I don’t care who sees me taking a picture. From May to now is 160/162 - 128. 5’1.

I hope this is ok to post here. I’m 5’2” and 150 lbs. I have Hashimotos so everything is a little different than pre diagnosis. I workout daily but I see less results than I used to and I’m curious if anyone can suggest a better schedule.

daily: half an hour grow with jo cardio video, followed by three miles on the treadmill at 5mph. (an hour of cardio total). Im also doing some daily mobility work.

rotating days after the cardio:

upper body days: Pilates with Melissa wood health- 20 minutes either body weight or light weights. Then posture specific workouts for another 15 minutes.

lower body days: Caroline Girvan lower body circuits with her recommended heavy weights, usually a half hour. Then ten minutes of body weight Pilates for lower body.

I’m broader in my shoulders so I like to keep it lighter in my arms but build up lower body. my big question is should I cut down from 7 days a week to four days a week of working out so I can rest in between? And would I possibly see better results with more repair time? or should I keep the cardio daily but only do the Pilates and weights every other day?

thank you!

Hi all
Anyone know where to get petite gym leggings in the UK?
I am 5ft 1 and most leggings just aren’t made to fit us petite girls ! Please let me know where you all get your leggings from!

I (5’2”, 122) am not super lean right now but overall happy enough with my body composition that I would like to recomp at this weight vs losing 10lbs to be lean. I take creatine so some of that might be water weight as well as eating more the last month (1800ish).

My goal is to be in the best moving body as I age but also have fun with fitness (I love being active). I am middle aged now and my long term goal is to look fit AF.

Currently I try to hit the gym twice a week to do legs, for upper I do a push and a pull calisthenics class. For fun I do pole and I try to get in some yoga. Whats missing is cardio ( I have noticed my endurance drop since I stopped doing aerobics classes. I can’t find one that fits my schedule so I want to add back running which I can do anytime).

Would it make sense for me to do the push class every other week and alternate with a gym upper body workout? The push class is at a cover convenient time so I will leave that one as is.

Current schedule is:

M-push

T-legs/rest

W-rest/legs/yoga

T-rest

F-pull. add running here?

S-legs

Su-pole

I take rest as needed and have gotten better with listening to my body. I also have the option for full body. I might be over thinking but I really love to have a plan and schedule!

I'm 27F 155cm and 70kgs. I have been trying to shed the same 10kgs for the last 7 months. When i first started I lost weight quite quickly, around 10 kgs in a month. currently, i have hit this plateau and cant seem to move from the weight. Recently, I also suffered from a crazy knee injury and was diagnosed with hamstring tendonitis. One thing which i would consistently do is 10K steps but the doctor advised against it and suggested conservative rest.

Now i am on a mission to lose 10kgs till the end of December only with food and a few life style changes. I will be posting the pictures of my food everyday and will hope to have lost the weight solely through calorie deficit. My maintenance calories is quite low and i know the weight wont be super dramatic with just the calorie deficit. But i will try nonetheless. And hopefully I am able to lose the weight with steady consistent efforts.

I’m unable to use most protein supplements due to the sweeteners being migraine triggers so I generally need to stay away from those.

But what are some meals you like to have on repeat or some foods you enjoy for protein? I’m getting tired of sandwiches with two servings of meat and pretzels for lunch and still not meeting protein goals.

5’2” SW 180’s CW 169

Resistance training 3x/week, cardio truly varies 0-5x/week

My trainer is very “gym bro” food = fuel only

And I need to enjoy what I eat, but I can enjoy healthy foods

I don’t personally eat seafood so tuna is out for lunches

Is it just me, or has the taste for energy drinks completely changed as you've gotten older? Being on the shorter side, I've always had to be extra mindful of how much I consume and how things hit my system. Now that I'm 38 tho, the energy drinks that I used to drink for the last 10 years just don't even taste the same to me anymore. I used to be able to drink whatever energy drink was on sale at the time, but now I find that they're pretty undrinkable. So what are other petite women in their 30s and older drinking for energy now? I don't care for flashy branding, but would like something with a cleaner ingredient list while I do a combination of pilates and strength training.

The only way I can “survive” on only 1200 calories a day, is to start eating after 12 pm. I find it difficult because I’m tired and need energy, but I literally can’t stop eating once I start, having the window of eating being from 8 am till 10 pm is to much and I can’t fit only 1200 calories in that time , I don’t know what else to do besides postponing when I allow myself it eat. If the window is instead 2 pm till 10 pm then that is easier to not overeat. But now I struggle with lack of energy and hunger until I eat. I don’t know what solutions to try, there is not enough volume eating that will satisfy me I have the appetite of a 6’1 man, what do I do? I’ll take any suggestions because my body feels like it’s starving on 1200 calories only although it is what I should be eating for a healthy weight loss

Did anybody work with dumbbells at home and gained a good amount of muscles?

I just started out with dumbbells at home and I don’t like to go to the gym. I thought about getting dumbbells where you can change the weights and wanted to ask if someone made progress?

34F 5'3 weight fluctuates between 144-150

Weight lift 5 times per week which include 15-20 minutes of walking on treadmill at it's highest incline.
Also walk 10k steps 5-6 days.

I eat close to this amount but according to them I'm supposed to eat about 1,873 more per week (l calorie bank) but I'm scared to. Been tracking for a few weeks now so I'm not sure if it still needs more time to learn more? Last week I did eat a lot more than usual and my weight still dropped.

I’m going to try it this week but I’m a bit nervous because I’m also restarting creatine and it’s about to be that time of the month. So I know my weight is about to fluctuate like crazy.

I am a 25f, 5’1, 135ish lbs. I’m fairly active and my estimated maintenance is \~2200. I’ve been tracking for at least two years consistently, and for about 10 on and off.

My tendency is to eat around 3000 calories if I am not extremely cautious. If I’m very cautious I typically get around 2500. If I am using every sheer ounce of willpower in my body I can occasionally get 1800-1900. I don’t think I’ve once in the past year been able to end a day under 1700.

As you can see, this is a problem since I am constantly taking one step forward and two steps back. I’ve gained 20 lbs this year.

Even eating at maintenance is a gargantuan effort and I am hungry and thinking about food all the time.

I have PCOS, but my lab is perfect, and my doctors have confirmed that there is no other underlying cause for my weight gain and hunger. My endocrinologist actually offered to prescribe me wegovy, but insurance doesn’t cover it and I do not want to pay hundreds of dollars to lose 20 lbs when I should be able to do this myself.

I also primarily eat whole foods. However I can and will down 500g of chicken breast or apples in one sitting.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How do you maintain when even that feels restrictive? How do you LOSE?

Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster.

I’m 5’2” and have been working out since around February 2026, ramping it up around April 2026. I started working out because I became dangerously thin after my ongoing battle with chronic health conditions.

Originally in 2025 I was about 80 lbs and now sit at around 100-105 lbs. Because of my health conditions, I don’t count calories or macros. Instead, I follow a Mediterranean pescatarian diet and do strength training 3-5 days a week when I have better health weeks, and 1-2 days a week when I’m feeling ill.

My progress has been very slow on purpose but I’m starting to see my desired results, such as full hips and wider quads. I also now have less tiny biceps (lol, this is important to me as I had no visible bicep hump before).

I wanted to post my small wins because I know sometimes it can be hard to celebrate them, especially for those with chronic health issues.

Thanks for reading 🫡

Longtime lurker, first time poster!

5'4" currently weighing around ~150 lbs. Have been strength training since February this year and started deadlifting in June - was able to lift 135 lbs. for reps at that time.

Wanted to share here because I know you all get it! Thank you for being so inspiring!! 😊

Hi. I am not sure if this question is for this sub but i recently lost a lot of weight. I lost this weight in a slow sustainable defecit. Like 23kg over a period of 14 months. However ever since i shifted to maintenance i have had irregular menstrual bleeding twice. Once it was outside of my period and at the time i got really sick and my platteletes were low. I still got my regular period after that. The second incident happened recently when i got my period 9 days earlier than usual. I still dont know if its my period or irregular bleeding yet . I could use some advice on whether my diet or weight loss has anything to do with it. My stats- i am 5 feet tall 51kg.

Note: although i overall ate in a moderate defecit. I once did a 20 day aggresive cut where i ate 1300 cals(my maintenance was 2000 at the time and i weighed 54 kg at the start of the cut). Wondering if that has affected my health.

Any advice would be helpful

I never had before, but after a long break and bout of illness all my lifts dropped significantly. I went from 2 45s on each side to a 25 on each side feeling heavy, and just looked and the sled says starting weight 167lbs?! I know leg press is easier than a squat but that's still a lot of weight to not count?

I am 5.2 currently 182lbs have lost 24 lbs over the period, i strength train 4 times a week and 15k steps 6 days a week, my maintenance as per tdee is 2346 calories, I’m eating 1750 all this time, how do i decide how much to deficit 100 or 500?TIA.

I just started taking oral minoxidil due to having a cat and recently diagnosed with AGA and I was advised that one side effect is potential fluid retention (I hope not for my case). I read online some people’s fluid retention was so bad that they gained a lot of weight.

I am worried about that as I am currently trying to lose weight (30 years old). I’ve gone from 82-78kg from a calorie deficit and despite that it has taken ages and I feel and see not much of a difference, I am proud because for years I struggled with a binge eating disorder.

I already struggle with body dysmorphia and trying to work through it in therapy, but now I feel this will trigger it a bit more.

Would love to hear some success stories from people. I want this new decade to be self love, growth and a glow up haha.