Stubborn belly fat

nsirrra25

I dropped from 220 lbs to 172lbs currently. Now my goal is to be 180-185lbs with lean muscle, but I can't seem to get rid of this stubborn belly fat. Any tips or help on how to get rid of this stubborn belly fat while gaining weight/muscle?

Aaron_K123

Just more time losing fat I'm afraid. I'm similar in that my belly is the last place fat seems to come off. It comes off eventually though you just have to continue to lose weight. No way to "target" it or force it.

As for how to lose fat while gaining muscle that is a very tall order indeed. It might be much better to take a break from gains and go on a cut for a bit to deal with the belly fat if that is your goal.

usmcmp

Belly fat means you still have body fat. You can't target fat loss through specific foods or exercise. Gaining weight and losing belly fat are opposite goals, you can't accomplish them together.

Spliner1969

Agree with the above posters. You can't spot reduce. You can, however eat at maintenance (or slightly above) and increase strength training to build muscle. I've been at maintenance for about five months now. I try to eat right at my daily goals plus exercise (minus about 20% of the exercise which I figure is over-estimated). I sometimes eat more but I have kept up my exercise routines, and even increased them so I could eat even more. I've steadily lost fat slowly but no weight so the trade off (sometimes called re-composition) seems to be working for me. I still have what looks like belly fat, but it in fact is mostly loose skin. Not much I can do with that other than wait for my body to re-absorb what it can (all if it will never go away without surgery, I'm simply not young enough). I figure if I build muscle in my abdomen/core, and my chest and arms some of that skin will be used elsewhere so that's what I work on daily.

On days that I have the time (rare occasions) to do a bunch of weight training I'll eat above maintenance to help the muscles out, but still not by much because I don't want to gain more fat. It's a long process unless you're willing to eat above maintenance for a while and gain some fat with the muscle (bulking). I'm not willing to do that so for me it's a very slow process but I'm willing to take the time.

When I started maintenance I was at 16% body fat. I am now just below or around 13% five months later. I figure it'll take me another 6-8 months at the rate I'm going to hit 10% which is where I figure all of the belly fat will be gone, but the loose skin may remain.