Fast forward about 10 years. I moved across the country and considered joining the local YMCA. This is after I was actually in pretty great shape. But, I felt like a piece of meat in that environment and I did notice the stares and snickers toward people who were overweight. I never went back.

Luckily, I have found another gym that has been extremely helpful as I’ve struggled coming back from an injury and more weight gain than I’ve had in many years. It is for women only of all shapes and sizes and everyone is so welcoming and encouraging of one another. I wish that all women (and men) could belong to a gym like this. Everyone needs to feel like they are part of supportive community no matter what size they are.

As someone who struggles with depression and anxiety, this is the one area where I KNOW most trainers and health club professionals are clueless. So many people who are overweight have emotional issues to deal with. Trainers need to get to know clients as people and not just as numbers on the scale and a measuring tape. I have worked with clients of all shapes and sizes. We work on creating small successes and never try to jump into too many changes at once. I had one client who could barely walk up and down a flight of stairs when we first met. Weeks later, she could walk up and down 5 times and we celebrated that success.

I don’t have all the answers. Stereotypes in society SUCK, but health club owners and trainers can do a lot to help create an atmosphere where they work that is welcoming for all. Spend some true time getting to know clients as people. All gyms should have a quiet “chat” room for this type of thing.

Well, that’s all I have time for this week, but I am really excited to be part of this initiative. I could not agree more that we can work together to create a better FIT for all.

This post is part of a Blogging Carnival. If you would like to create your own post, or check out others, link up HERE! If you join in or have some ideas, use the hashtag #CREATINGABETTERFIT to share your ideas on Twitter too.

This is serving double duty as My Mamavation Monday post too. For info on Mamavation Monday, go HERE.

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You HATE them and have done thousands of adductor motions, only to realize in horror that all that time on that machine has done absolutely no good. Lying sideways on the floor raising your leg won’t do an ounce of good, either.

How to lose inner thigh fat: solutions

Stay away from hip adductor machines and floor exercises; you’ll waste your time. But don’t despair, because this aggravating situation is not the result of hopelessly jiggly and loose upper legs.

I assure you, it is because you have not learned the RIGHT kind of exercise routines that will create tight inner thighs.

How to lose inner thigh fat: Machines that isolate the muscles will not solve the problem.

If a personal trainer has told you that how to lose inner thigh fat is to use the adductor machine, that trainer is wildly mistaken with this crazy myth about how to lose inner thigh fat. Do not let the illustration on the machine fool you, either.

The illustration shows a person’s thighs, and the area that the machine “targets” is highlighted in red. This fools you into thinking that these kinds of isolation machines (including the ThighMaster) will slash off all that fat and leave you with firm, shake-free, wiggle- and jiggle-free inner legs.

No. These machines are useless when it comes to how to lose inner thigh fat.

So then, how to lose inner thigh fat?

With a type of exercise called compound. Have you heard of compound exercises? In the fitness world, compound exercise means that which works several joints at once.

When an exercise hits several joints at once, this means many muscle groups get involved. The more muscles that get involved, the more calories you burn not just during the routine, but afterwards during the recovery phase.

Don’t bother with isolation exercises for how to lose inner thigh fat. All you need to do are several good sets of the classic compound exercises, which will dramatically raise your body’s energy needs, and that energy will be pulled from your inner thighs where it’s stored!

Look, I have never seen a woman, who does big compound exercises seriously, with jiggly, flabby inner thighs! These women know how to lose inner thigh fat: multi-joint strength training routines!

One such classic compound exercise is called the deadlift. Not only does a deadlift program produce profound fat-burning effects throughout the entire body, but deadlifts will reshape your body and lean it out, stripping down fat and toning the daylights out of all the muscles in your legs, plus those in your shoulders and arms; this beautiful exercise works the whole body and forces it to make excess fat go up in flames: You will notice slimmer, firmer inner thighs in only a matter of weeks.

Compound exercises are your salvation from all the jiggling, dimpling and fat. In my “Complete Body Transformation Blueprint” I’ll show you precisely how to work out and structure your diet to lose inner thigh fat, as well as carve out a magnificent overall body! Get it here, Its FREE!

Kasper V. Christensen is a Full-Time Fitness Blogger and Body Transformation Coach. Fitness simplified – get in great shape while enjoying life. – Thanks Kasper for the great information – Coach Jenn

Anyway, I’m blathering on a bit, the main point I wanted to make was about the benefits of walking. Some folks think it’s fine to sit nearly all day and have a burst of fitness in one workout maybe 3 times a week. While this is better than nothing, it’s not enough, no by a long shot.

Researchers are beginning to suspect that even if you engage in regular exercise daily, it may not be enough to counteract the effects of too much sitting during the rest of the day. According to a recent article on NPR.org:

Epidemiologist Steven Blair, a professor of public health at the University of South Carolina, has spent 40 years investigating physical activity and health.

“Let’s say you do 30 minutes of walking five days a week (as recommended by federal health officials), and let’s say you sleep for eight hours,” Blair says. “Well, that still leaves 15.5 hours” in the day.

People who regularly break up their sedentary time with movement as small as taking one step had healthier waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), and triglycerides than people who didn’t take breaks during long periods of sitting. That’s what Australian researchers found in a 2008 study.

But how to make a habit out of taking breaks? Toni Yancey’s Instant Recess book offers the following suggestions for people who feel chained to their office desks:

• Take a 10-minute activity break at a scheduled time every day.
• Park farther away from the places where you work, shop, play, study and worship
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Put printers a short walking distance away from your work or study space instead of right next to it.
• Replace desk chairs with stability balls — or use a standing desk to get rid of the chair entirely — to burn more calories while working.
• Fidget, stand up and stretch at intervals during meetings.

Consider adding a measurement tool like a pedometer to really help you know how much movement you are getting. Start a challenge in your office where a group shares their daily steps. Creating a healthy competition can be another great motivator. What other ideas do you have? Share them!

MAMAVATION TV: Join us Monday night at 7pm PST/10pm EST on Mingle Media TV

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by Omron. Two blogging carnival participants will each receive an Omron pedometer. To be eligible answer the following blogging carnival question in your weekly Mamavation blog post and mention Omron with a link back to their site. Link up your post here.

What kind of activities have you done with a pedometer on?

I have not done many activities, but this week’s topic is a good reminder for me to get started. I even won an Omron Pedometer during a previous giveaway, so I have no excuse. I’m busting open the package today.

This post is sponsored by Omron and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women

SISTAHOOD: If you are interested in pledging to the Mamavation Sistahood, Monday is the time to do it. Please go here for instructions. Invitations are done on Wednesdays over twitter. (Or later if I get swamped)

Strategy #1: Ditch Your Diet Soda
More and more studies are coming out that link diet soda to weight gain.

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio concluded that those who drank two or more diet soft drinks a day had the largest waistline increases—about five times more than that of non-drinkers. They stated, “Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised: they may be free of calories, but not of consequences.”

Bottom line: Artificial sweeteners are addictive, lead to waistline increases, and cause you to crave sugary foods. By cutting diet soda out of your daily routine, and replacing it with water, you will lose inches and pounds—effortlessly.

Strategy #2: Swap Sandwich Bread for Lettuce
Move over bread, lettuce is better.

It’s time to re-define your sandwich. While bread has tradition on its side, lettuce wraps offer you weight loss and increased energy. Try my Tasty Tuna Lettuce Wraps recipe below.

Bottom line: Eating bread and other starchy foods always leads to extra pounds, so change your ways. Swap your sandwich bread for lettuce for 30 days and see how much you will effortlessly lose. I bet you’ll feel more energetic after lunch too.

Strategy #3: Trade Slow Cardio for Intense Intervals
Doing slow cardio will not give you results.

In order to really make your workout effective, you need to turn up the intensity. If you love the treadmill, then do a series of sprints throughout your workout. If you’re a swimmer, then push yourself extra hard every other lap.

Bottom line: Doing slow, easy cardio will not give you the streamline body you want. Only intense intervals will do that for you. Pepper your workout with bouts of intense cardio and watch as the fat starts to disappear.

Strategy #4: Avoid Sugar 99% Of The Time
Sugar will cause you to gain weight every single time.

There’s really no way around that simple truth. Sugar is standing between you and your perfect body. If you’re serious about looking and feeling great, then understand that sugar has no place in your diet.

Bottom line: If you avoid sugar 99% of the time, then you will be on your way to a lean and energetic body. If it’s your birthday or a special holiday, then partake in a small amount of sugar, but make that the exception and not the rule.

What other strategies do you use to lose weight or keep weight from creeping back?