Hi again, Dragon Girl!
I had a whole other response typed up, then reread your post and see that you are in a different situation than I had assumed. It sounds to me like you just have 'a bit of fat'in certain areas that you want to work on (in fact, your stats are exactly the same as mine right now!). In that case, I'd suggest increasing the intensity of your weight workouts, to build more muscle and burn more calories after working out. Do this by moving to a split routine, either a two-day split, like the Pyramids, done twice a week (lower body on day 1 and 4, upper body on days 2 and 5), or a three-day split, with each workout done once a week. Also, do a short cardio workout (10-20 mimutes) as an extended warm-up to your weight workouts, to raise the metabolism before hitting the weights, and to burn more calories). I also suggest doing 1 interval workout a week.
HTH!
I just can't let my original post float off into the ether, so even though it may not apply to you (it could apply to somebody else!) here it is:
I think it's difficult to both lose fat and gain muscle at the same time if you want to do much of either, though it's possible to do a 'little' of both at once. To get the most bang for your buck, though, you have to, IMO, pick what you want to do first and focus on that.
Both goals require cardio and resistance work, but in different proportions.
To drop fat, do longer or more intense cardio workouts (including 1-2 interval workouts per week on non-consecutive days). Don't exclude weights, though, but choose full-body, circuit-type weight workouts (either combining cardio and weights, as Cathe uses the term 'circuit,' or moving quickly from one exercise to another for different body parts, as Tony Horton does in workouts like Power 90 Masters Sculpt 5-6) or higher-rep weight workouts (like Jari Love's "Ripped" series, or Cathe's Power Hour(which have somewhat of a cardio effect).
The latest issue of Oxygen magazine (with Timea Majorova on the cover) has a good article on how full-body workouts can help with weight/fat loss.
To drop weight, you also need to reduce calories consumed and/or increase calories burned.
To build muscle, reduce cardio (length and/or intensity) so that it doesn't end up catabolizing your hard-earned muscle, increase calories consumed and work in an 6-12 reps-to-failure range (lower reps than this build primarily strength without as much hypertrophy--muscle growth--while higher reps build endurance, without as much hypertrophy or strength gains).
A possible rotation for you could look like this:
Day 1: full body weight workout
Day 2: interval cardio
Day 3: cardio/weights circuit
Day 4: steady-state cardio
Day 5: full body weight workout
Day 6: cardio
Day 7: off/stretch/yoga
You might also want to add in a bit more cardio by using a short (20 minutes or so) cardio workout as an extended warm-up for your weight training days.
Try this out for 2-3 weeks and see what happens. (I think 2-3 weeks is enough time to judge if something is working).
Just had my second baby and am needing to slim down and was wondering which approach to take. Thanks for your post.
