Body Percentage :(

My body fat % is high. Higher then I thought. 42% is what I calculated. Please tell me I must have calculated wrong. :/. What can I do at home to burn more calories? I walk as often as I can and I lift weights( 5-15lbs). I don't have extra money to get a gym membership.

Replies

  • Fitiny
    Fitiny Posts: 24 Member
    I don't know about the body fat %.
    For exercises you can do at home i know there is Jillian 30 day shred that you can get on amazon i think.
    Many people had succes with it.

    There is P90X, Insanity..
    There is also Fitness Blender, ( Google it)
    They have a wide selection to choose from.
    It is free.
    I personaly like their 1000colories workout.
    Althought acording to my HRM i burn 550 to to 600 calories..
    It all depends on how fit you are and how well you do the moves.

    And no, i do not work for them or what so ever.
    I just enjoy the videos.

    Good luck
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
    I used some online body fat calculators and got several different answers. What helped me was to use google images to look for pictures of women with different body fat percentages. By taking an average of three calculators and comparing myself to the pictures I have a pretty good idea what my body fat percentage is. But what helped me the most was to just let it go completely because it was getting to me. I'm doing the best I can to get in better shape and if I'm not going to get an accurate body fat measurement I won't really know what it is.

    This might help. Scroll down for women's info.
    http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
  • kinsellae
    kinsellae Posts: 167 Member
    Start jogging and do body weight exercises. Squats, lunges, push ups, etc. Take your little one to the park as often as possible. Walk there, take the longer route. Keep busy at home. Do yard work, clean house, anything just keep moving. Soon you'll start to enjoy it.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    You can get a body fat estimate here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/826435-bodyfat-estimation-thread

    There's no way for us to tell you whether you've calculated correctly or not without a lot more information. If you're not comfortable posting pics you can definitely use the photo comparison posted above. It's not perfect but it should give you an idea.
  • buildingdreams
    buildingdreams Posts: 173 Member
    I don't know about the body fat %.
    For exercises you can do at home i know there is Jillian 30 day shred that you can get on amazon i think.
    Many people had succes with it.

    There is P90X, Insanity..
    There is also Fitness Blender, ( Google it)
    They have a wide selection to choose from.
    It is free.
    I personaly like their 1000colories workout.
    Althought acording to my HRM i burn 550 to to 600 calories..
    It all depends on how fit you are and how well you do the moves.

    And no, i do not work for them or what so ever.
    I just enjoy the videos.

    Good luck

    Jillian Micheal video you can get on youtube. req me as a friend, we can support eachother
  • appygirl84
    appygirl84 Posts: 105 Member
    You can also watch the 30 day shred on youtube. I have started it many times, but never finished it.

    Up your cardio, it's the work horse, i mean muscles help you burn fat, but cardio is great! Also find a work out buddy, or online encouragement friend.

    I have been trying to do that myself. I think it would be great to have someone that you exchange video challenges with every other to every few days. A "Hey I did this video it kicked my butt! What do you think?"
  • You very likely calculated correctly, I experienced the same shock. Look you can do what I did... I got a gym membership worked out ate right and lost 20 pounds and then I couldn't loose anymore, I was frustrated. Finally I did my fitness pal and lost a little more, but ultimately it was my hormones and my lack of understanding them. I purchased a book on Amazon called ' the 7 principles of fat burning." for a week I sat and read. then I went and bought the food.I started this Saturday and by Wednesday I had lost 6 lbs. It was my hormones and thy were keeping me from loosing weight. Walking is the best exercise, you don't need a gym, Unless you like Zumba which I do. In the book they give you a test and it tells you how to loose weight through healing your liver first then specific diet for you. They also explain to you what exercises you should do. All of the info is to heal your health so your body naturally looses weight. Most people are fat because of the environmental toxins we are exposed to, this book teaches you how to remove the toxins and shows you how to level your body so you loose weight.
  • l3cupcake
    l3cupcake Posts: 11
    My body fat % is high. Higher then I thought. 42% is what I calculated. Please tell me I must have calculated wrong. :/. What can I do at home to burn more calories? I walk as often as I can and I lift weights( 5-15lbs). I don't have extra money to get a gym membership.

    A very common misconception is that weight lifting will burn calories...no. Weight lifting builds muscle, which burns calories. If you want to lose weight by lifting, you'll be in for the long haul.

    You absolutely need cardio if you want to see weight loss results quickly. For me, I run 6 miles every other day, which takes about an hour, and I burn around 1000 calories. If I were to spend that hour in the gym lifting, I'd burn maybe 300 or 400 calories.

    So, in a nutshell, go jog 20 minutes a day. a 20 minute, two mile jog will burn about 300 calories for you.

    If you're not willing to stick to a cardio plan, you just need to watch your calories very closely. Skip unnecessary carbs (cookies, donuts, etc.) Replace them with fruit and low fat yogurt.

    Here's a sample of my daily diet (If it helps):

    Breakfast:
    1/2 cup of oat meal (with two tablespoons of brown sugar, and one serving of raisings) (300 calories)
    glass of orange juice (100 cal)
    two hard boiled eggs (140 calories)

    lunch:
    salad with two tablespoons of light ranch dressing (70 cal) and a chicken breast (110 cal) 1/4 cup mozz (70 cal)
    an apple (80-100 cal)

    snack: piece of fruit or vegetable, granola bar, etc (100 cal)

    Dinner:
    Tilapia fillet (80 cal)
    steamed broccoli two cups (60 cal)
    brown rice 1/2 cup (100 cal)

    All of this together will sit you around 1200 calories per day. If you're adding in a significant cardio workout, you should increase portions appropriately. Dropping below 1200 wouldn't be safe, and your body would begin to eat muscle as well as fat in order to make up for the caloric deficit.
  • DiamondRubyMom
    DiamondRubyMom Posts: 147 Member
    while it is true you don't burn as many calories while you lift weights. weight lifting increases your metabolism and you burn more calories through out the day.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    Take a lot of walks. Walking is an easy way to get moving and burn some calories and start researching programs you can do at home. A lot of people like Jillian Michaels DVD's. She's extremely motivational and you don't need heavy weights to do her workouts.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    The reason you lift while eating at a deficit is not to burn more calories. It's to preserve your muscle mass while you lose weight so that your body percentage goes down instead of staying pretty much the same. That said, I'm not sure how much result you can expect from lifting the same amount of weight all the time. Ideally you lift progressively so that you're continually challenging the muscles. Since the gym isn't a possibility google You Are Your Own Gym for body weight strength building you can do at home.

    Neither cardio nor strength training is necessary for weight loss. Calorie deficit is for weight loss. Exercise is for health.

    Also, faster isn't necessarily better. Muscle, once lost, is hard to get back.
  • Thank you for the replies. I do plan on starting the 30 day shred when my DVD gets here. Which should be Monday. Also I tried to walk everyday for at least 1 1/2 hours. I carry all my weight in my stomach and back. The widest part of my stomach is 42 inches and I'm only 5'3. Diet is hard for me ( I have crohns- lots of trigger foods). But I try not too go over my 1200 cals.