How to lower body fat percentage

[5KFreak]

Christine,
I know exactly where you are coming from on your post, and it's in my opinion that most of these other posters have no idea what they are talking about.

I am with you though! I can help or give some advice. I need to know though if you have been professionally measured to know your current BF% or if you are relying on a measuring device that you use yourself. To get the look you are describing you are going to need to cut fat, however to be sure, I need to know what we are working with, I need to know your lean body mass from a professional measurement.

 

[christine159]

I still don't see how wanting to add a bit of muscle to a thin frame is indicative of psychological issues, but I don't feel like arguing about it. I know I'm healthy both physically and psychologically, so I'll just move along...

Christine,
I know exactly where you are coming from on your post, and it's in my opinion that most of these other posters have no idea what they are talking about.

I am with you though! I can help or give some advice. I need to know though if you have been professionally measured to know your current BF% or if you are relying on a measuring device that you use yourself. To get the look you are describing you are going to need to cut fat, however to be sure, I need to know what we are working with, I need to know your lean body mass from a professional measurement.

Thanks.

I had my BF% measured by a personal trainer at my gym with a hand held body fat analyzer.

Again, I'm not too concerned with reaching an exact percentage, 15% is just a ballpark. If I acheive the look I'm after at 18% or 19%, fine. My main goal is to have some muscle definition on my arms and abs (my legs are already pretty toned from cycling and running). I don't want to look like a bodybuilder, just more athletic...

 

[Jeanette401]

Ummmmmm these pictures are GROSSLY incorrect!

Really? Do you have some that are more accurate? These are the best I could find - plus as the 15 vs 15 pictures shows, it's not intended that everyone at that BF% will look just like the pictures.

 

[5KFreak]

Really? Do you have some that are more accurate? These are the best I could find - plus as the 15 vs 15 pictures shows, it's not intended that everyone at that BF% will look just like the pictures.

Yes I do, however I am not where I can cut and paste and stuff. However you can go to SITE REMOVED and look at the contest pictures of women's figure and I can tell you that most of those ladies are under 10% BF. The woman that you show with the medal in the suit is a figure competitor and I can promise you that no one looks that lean on 15% body fat! Like I said my partner competes at or under 5% and she looks like the chick in the suit.

I will see if I can put together some more realistic pictures though to give you an idea =)

 

[5KFreak]

I still don't see how wanting to add a bit of muscle to a thin frame is indicative of psychological issues, but I don't feel like arguing about it. I know I'm healthy both physically and psychologically, so I'll just move along...



Thanks.

I had my BF% measured by a personal trainer at my gym with a hand held body fat analyzer.

Again, I'm not too concerned with reaching an exact percentage, 15% is just a ballpark. If I acheive the look I'm after at 18% or 19%, fine. My main goal is to have some muscle definition on my arms and abs (my legs are already pretty toned from cycling and running). I don't want to look like a bodybuilder, just more athletic...

Okay those devices are always inaccurate, and in my experience they are usually on the low side, however they are good for tracking progress. So I would say to cut fat due to my experience of those hand helds being on the low side. That meaning I would assume that you are a bit more than you think.

I would recommend leaving the weights alone for right now and focusing on moderate cardio. Do that about 4 days a week and for about 40 minutes. You will need to adjust your diet a bit. What are your days currently like?

Just a note, what I recommend will go against what people on this forum think is correct so you will just need to decide if you have anything to lose and just try it for a month. =)

 

[Jericho]

As always, you decide what you think is right. I hope you reach what you are looking for with health and happiness. Good luck.

 

[5KFreak]

As always, you decide what you think is right. I hope you reach what you are looking for with health and happiness. Good luck.

Jericho,

REALLY? I have posted as many times as I have and you think that I would wait to leave a spam post until now?

I have not read the rules, however I find it EXTREMELY unfair that you can post a link to FitDay, Calorie counters are us, among other sites, but you send me a warning because I posted a bodybuilding site to someone who asked what a picture looks like??????

I happen to be in that industry so those are really the only sites I know to go to for certain reference, but I did not advertise anything or tell them to go look at my products. I sent someone to a site for reference when they asked a question.

You take your unpaid job as moderator super seriously dude!

 

[Jericho]

Jericho,

REALLY? I have posted as many times as I have and you think that I would wait to leave a spam post until now?

I have not read the rules, however I find it EXTREMELY unfair that you can post a link to FitDay, Calorie counters are us, among other sites, but you send me a warning because I posted a bodybuilding site to someone who asked what a picture looks like??????

I happen to be in that industry so those are really the only sites I know to go to for certain reference, but I did not advertise anything or tell them to go look at my products. I sent someone to a site for reference when they asked a question.

You take your unpaid job as moderator super seriously dude!

1) you really haven't posted that much so don't make yourself as some sort of old site regular. Even if you was, it would have nothing to do with the removal of the site.

2) The sites fall under the exemption of the forum rules about links located under the Newcomers thread.

3) I take my job seriously cause the people who run the site asked me to do this. It is part of being there for the community.

4) Next time you have a problem with one of my actions, you take it to PMs instead of complaining about it here ok?

 

[MAR1984]

I would recommend leaving the weights alone for right now and focusing on moderate cardio. Do that about 4 days a week and for about 40 minutes. You will need to adjust your diet a bit. What are your days currently like?

Just a note, what I recommend will go against what people on this forum think is correct so you will just need to decide if you have anything to lose and just try it for a month. =)

Why "leave the weights alone"? Even if the goal was to cut fat, wouldn't you recommend at least lifting weights to maintain muscle mass while in a defecit?

 

[biggestloser105]

Really? Do you have some that are more accurate? These are the best I could find - plus as the 15 vs 15 pictures shows, it's not intended that everyone at that BF% will look just like the pictures.

I think the reason they look different is that before competitions/pictures body builders will dehydrate themselves to look more defined. So maybe the regular woman with 15% body fat was nicely hydrated, but the muscled one hadn't had water for a day and so looks more cut (dried out).

 

[christine159]

I would recommend leaving the weights alone for right now and focusing on moderate cardio. Do that about 4 days a week and for about 40 minutes. You will need to adjust your diet a bit. What are your days currently like?

Right now, I'm gradually making my way up to maintenance so I'm eating around 1700-1800 calories a day. While in a deficit, I was eating on average about 1400-1500 a day.

Breakfast is usually something like peanut butter and banana on whole wheat toast, skim milk and an apple or some other similar combination of foods; for lunch and dinner I usually eat lean protein with a big serving of vegetables and a small serving of starchy carbs. Then I have about 3 snacks a day, stuff like cashews, carrots and hummus, yogurt and berries, granola bars (I know these aren't healthy but they're kind of like my substitute for chocolate bars), fruit, low fat popcorn, etc. On weekends, I allow myself a couple of treats and at least one 'free' meal.

I'm running a 10K in September, so I was already planning to increase my cardio to train for that. However, I'm confused about not lifting weights -- it seems counter intuitive since my goal is to build muscle, but I'm willing to hear you out.

 

[5KFreak]

Christine,
Sorry for the dalyed response. Muscle is not as "expensive" if you will as most people seem to think. Your body is not going to start burning away all your hard earned muscle as you are trying to cut fat. It will try it's hardest to keep as much of it as it can. You might lose a little, but nothing major for your current goal.

Your goal is to look leaner, so instead of building muscle underneath all the fat (which actually can make you look bigger, and this is where a lot of women use the word "bulky") let's cut the fat to an acceptable level and then start building a little more muscle from there.

like I said, give up the weight training for a bit and focus on training for that 10K. Train for it about 4 days a week for about 40-50 minutes or longer as your training demands. It seems that you are eating about 6 times a day. Keep that up, but make sure you have a nice protein/carb balance. I recommend about 5oz protein (or 6 egg whites) and roughly a 3/4 cup of carbs (or one slice of whole grain bread)

Now as for fat intake, I recommend not consuming ANYTHING that has more than 20% fat calories per serving except for chicken breast which is just a bit over. That eliminates things like oil, nuts, avocado, salmon, catfish, etc! make sure you read that label.

After doing this for about a month then get yourself measured again and see what the progress looks like. Also take note how your clothes look and feel.

 

[5KFreak]

Oh and also if you want a cheat meal once a week then you should have one, but I would take off the 6th meal. Only have 5 meals each day and then once a week have a cheat meal.

 

[Jynus]

Christine,
Sorry for the dalyed response. Muscle is not as "expensive" if you will as most people seem to think. Your body is not going to start burning away all your hard earned muscle as you are trying to cut fat. It will try it's hardest to keep as much of it as it can. You might lose a little, but nothing major for your current goal.

Your goal is to look leaner, so instead of building muscle underneath all the fat (which actually can make you look bigger, and this is where a lot of women use the word "bulky") let's cut the fat to an acceptable level and then start building a little more muscle from there.

like I said, give up the weight training for a bit and focus on training for that 10K. Train for it about 4 days a week for about 40-50 minutes or longer as your training demands. It seems that you are eating about 6 times a day. Keep that up, but make sure you have a nice protein/carb balance. I recommend about 5oz protein (or 6 egg whites) and roughly a 3/4 cup of carbs (or one slice of whole grain bread)

Now as for fat intake, I recommend not consuming ANYTHING that has more than 20% fat calories per serving except for chicken breast which is just a bit over. That eliminates things like oil, nuts, avocado, salmon, catfish, etc! make sure you read that label.

After doing this for about a month then get yourself measured again and see what the progress looks like. Also take note how your clothes look and feel.

And I would recommend doing the exact oposite of everything you said here...

"tone" is the byproduct of muscle mass and low body fat. The BIGGEST problem with most people when they lose weight is they do mostly cardio with low calorie diets. So when they get to their target weight, they are left looking "skinny-fat". In other words, low weight, but still not looking fit, bit of a belly, etc.

Losing more weight like what you're recommending is just adding more to the same. She still is not going to get muscle mass to any level that will look "toned". She will just end up looking the same build, just a lil smaller if you will.

Honestly what she needs here is to up the calories, eat healthy fats (why anyone would ever recommend cutting them is beyond me, carb control for losing weight, not fat control) get lots of protien, and hit up the resistance training hard. Build a lil muscle mass. After a few months fo this, reasses, and go into a cuttin diet to shed off a few lbs of fat. Voila, results achieved..

 

[5KFreak]

Thanks for your input Jynus =) however I don't agree with you. Healthy fats are essential to stay healthy and maintain however those fats are NOT good for fat LOSS!

Also,

Losing more weight like what you're recommending is just adding more to the same.

I never mentioned losing more "weight" once. I am talking about cutting fat and maintaining her current muscle mass and then working from there.

 

[Tamago]

You say the poster needs to maintain their muscle mass to stay lean, you even correctly point out the body will start burning muscle for fuel as she tries to cut fat (the leaner you are the higher proportion of muscle you burn). But you recommend they stop weight training, which happens to be the #1 way, along with a higher protein intake, to make it so your body doesn't eat your muscles for energy. By doing weight training your muscles are telling your body they are actually needed for something, maintaining muscles is an expensive thing for the body to do so it's not going to do it if there's no reason to...

Unless you are a complete beginner you can't gain muscle while in a caloric deficit so no need to worry about "bulges", women are extremely less likely for that to be a problem anyways with how slowly they put on muscle.

Salmon, oils (like olive oil), avocados are all healthy foods especially salmon because of the omega-3s (in moderation, got to watch the mercury intake, fish oils capsules work too). I'd go very easy on the nuts though, just a small handful can add up to a few hundred calories. You don't NEED to eat these fats specifically, you will get enough from tag-along calories in other foods you eat, but a diet that avoids fats altogether can mess with your appetite which can sabotage your diet.

 

[5KFreak]

You say the poster needs to maintain their muscle mass to stay lean, you even correctly point out the body will start burning muscle for fuel as she tries to cut fat (the leaner you are the higher proportion of muscle you burn).

I went back to read everything I had written to make sure that you don't know what you are talking about and I was right. You should go back and read the entire thread and correctly state what I have said.

But you recommend they stop weight training, which happens to be the #1 way, along with a higher protein intake, to make it so your body doesn't eat your muscles for energy. By doing weight training your muscles are telling your body they are actually needed for something, maintaining muscles is an expensive thing for the body to do so it's not going to do it if there's no reason to

So tell me this, how do people who do NOT weight train at all maintain their muscle mass? How do they overcome their bodies devouring all their muscle mass? How do marathon runners who do not weight train look so lean without muscle that their body supposedly ate all up?

 

[Jynus]

So tell me this, how do people who do NOT weight train at all maintain their muscle mass? How do they overcome their bodies devouring all their muscle mass? How do marathon runners who do not weight train look so lean without muscle that their body supposedly ate all up?

They don't. marathon runners have no muscle mass to speak of, most look at best skinny. And they have higher body fat levels than most sprinters...

 

[Jynus]

Thanks for your input Jynus =) however I don't agree with you. Healthy fats are essential to stay healthy and maintain however those fats are NOT good for fat LOSS!

Also,



I never mentioned losing more "weight" once. I am talking about cutting fat and maintaining her current muscle mass and then working from there.

1) the hell?!? You seriously recommend not eating fats to lose weight? Out of curiosity, what do you think would be the ideal macronutrient ratio for fat loss and why?

2) Lose fat, and she will lose weight... And if she loses fat, she will also lose muscle mass. Can't beat the laws of thermodynamics. If you're in a caloric deficit, you lose fat and muscle mass, no 2 ways about it. At best, she can maintain her muscle mass levels to a degree where the loss is hardly noticed, but you're not going to get that by cardio. The rule of law has always been resistance training to retain muscle mass when cutting...

 

[Tamago]

I went back to read everything I had written to make sure that you don't know what you are talking about and I was right. You should go back and read the entire thread and correctly state what I have said.



So tell me this, how do people who do NOT weight train at all maintain their muscle mass? How do they overcome their bodies devouring all their muscle mass? How do marathon runners who do not weight train look so lean without muscle that their body supposedly ate all up?

very little muscle mass

lots of muscle mass

marathon runners look so lean precisely because they have little muscle mass..and indeed they don't need it..with how much the professional marathon runners practice and run it would take thousands upon thousands of calories to both do what they do AND gain muscle mass (these guys can burn 1000 calories or more in just an hour of running)

compare weight lifters, who are usually only interested in cardio to the extent that it helps them get rid of their bodyfat so their muscles can show.