I have 40% body fat, how do I change that?

msf74

myfitnespal22 wrote: »

msf74 wrote: »

Incidentally if you are trying to do ADF the idea is not to fast one day, and then eat a tiny amount the next but rather eat to at least your maintenance level of calories if not more.

What's ADF?

Alternate Day Fasting (which is more applicable to people who have a lot more to lose than you do.)

You are going to be fine.

Plug your stats into MFP.
Select a weight loss goal of 1lb per week at most (I would suggest 0.5lb per week would be more reasonable.)
Eat to the recommended calorie goal each day trying to eat a bit more fruit, vegetables and lean meat if you can.
Do some kind of resistance training that you like 3 times a week.
Reassess your results every 4 weeks and tweak as necessary.
Win

DeguelloTex

myfitnespal22 wrote: »

Haha Ignata, yes, maybe it's a conspiracy to scare us >< Yeah, my BMI is normal, but she said my body fat is obese...

Makes no sense, except based on a faulty body fat analysis.

Chabela53

myfitnespal22 wrote: »

The personal trainer scared me...she said that I'm going to have serious health complications

Did she/he ask you to join for the "$ saving 5 year plan".? 40%..that is outrageous. You should be eating every day you need fuel to burn.

amusedmonkey

You're smack in the middle of normal BMI. Instead of doing what you have been doing for the last week (which will degrade your muscles further and you need reverse the process right away), eat at a small surplus, which means eat enough food to gain a tiny bit of weight, while eating enough protein and starting a heavy lifting program. You may want to ask people who have experience in bulking/cutting cycles. It gets results much faster than recomp (eating at maintenance) and is less affected by error since you are a beginner.

MakePeasNotWar

myfitnespal22 wrote: »

Haha Ignata, yes, maybe it's a conspiracy to scare us >< Yeah, my BMI is normal, but she said my body fat is obese...

It's not common, but it's possible. I was 32% body fat (obese) at a 23BMI years ago before I started doing Muay Thai. I'm almost there again, due to an illness that causes muscle wasting, even with adequate protein and strength training.

The good news is that the risks that come with obesity (normal weight obesity and regular obesity) tend to happen over years, not weeks or months. So if you start losing body fat now, you don't have anything to worry about. There is no emergency or need to do it quickly, just take your time and do it in a healthy way. FYI, when I started to train, my body fat dropped to the high 20's (normal) within about 6 months, low 20's (fitness) in a year or so. Eventually I got it down to 17% last year while cutting for a tournament, so it is possible and not overly difficult to lose the fat, no matter where you start.

whmscll

myfitnespal22 wrote: »

I came to the 40% body fat conclusion after doing an in body composition at the gym....I'd love to know which foods have high protein low carb. Before, I just ate stuff and I really don't know much about nutrition. And yes she said I don't have enough skeletal muscle mass, whatever that means...

To simplify, your body weight is made up of muscle and fat (it's more complex than that, but this is the basics in a nutshell). When you severely restrict calories to lose weight, your body not only burns fat for energy, it burns muscle. So you can end up being a normal weight but a high percentage of body fat, with not enough muscle. To combat this you must not restrict calories too severely (this is why MFP won't let you go below 1200 calories a day), get enough protein, and, ideally, do strength training/lift weights.

To reduce bodyfat and build muscle, lift weights. If you are still losing weight and eating at a deficit you will not be able to build muscle, but if you lift weights you will keep the muscle you have (and strengthen it). Then, when you are at the weight you want, lifting weights and eating at maintenance calories will build muscle.