How to lose body fat without losing weight

ainokea8

I know this one sounds kind of weird but hear me out. I'm already at a low weight due to genetics (114 lbs at 5'5) and I guess I can lose up to 5-10 pounds max but I really don't want to lose much weight because I would become underweight. However I do have a relatively high body fat percentage of 25%. Considering my weight, this is pretty high in my opinion.

Particularly, I have fat on my stomach and I really want my abs to show through (I don't want to be ripped, just toned). What can I do to lower my body fat percentage without losing overall weight? Do I continue to diet and do ab exercises? do I do cardio?

wheird

You could try a body recomp. You will eat at maintenance levels and strength train in the hopes you will slowly lose fat and slowly build muscle.

jonnythan

You can sorta do it, but it's a slow slow process. The more efficient process is to slowly bulk (gain weight while doing strength training) and then cut (lose weight while strength training). But there's not much time for that if you're looking for visible abs by summer.

ModernNerd

Hi lovely:) I'm doing the same, and thankfully have had a lot of helpful advice from my FL. We're similar in stats, I'm 5'6'' at 107lbs and somewhere between 18-22%bf. I actually scaled way back on cardio, I only run now as a stress reliever. I've started doing strength training with fewer reps and higher weight (which is still low but hey, gotta start somewhere :flowerforyou: ). Bodybuilding.com is a great resource as are many women who lift on mfp. Try to do a full-body routine and really challenge yourself with compound exercises like deadlifts and squats. Also, I upped my calorie and protein count so be sure to not starve yourself!

Hope that helps, good luck OP:)

KarenJanine

In terms of exercise, you would benefit from adding some full body strength training if you want to preserve muscle mass - ab exercises and cardio alone aren't going to cut it.

My_Own_Worst_Enemy

25% bodyfat at 114 isnt that much. To put things in perspective, there have been plenty of MFPers to lose your entire body weight in fat alone.

So, with that being said, if you wanted to get down to only 10% body fat. Which means cutting your entire body fat by more than half you only need to lose 15lbs of fat. Thats not a lot compared to a lot of people trying to lose weight.

My suggestions is to do this. Figure how how much you want to weigh, what your body fat percentage to be, and then adjust your caloric intake and macros to meet that goal. Do that while picking heavy stuff up and putting it back down a few times a week. Youll be alright.

TheRealParisLove

About 1.5% of the human population is able to achieve body recomposition. If you've noticed that you can put on muscle easily, you may be one of the genetic lottery winners. Natural professional body builders fall into this category. Otherwise, in order to lose fat you are going to have to sacrifice some muscle mass as well.

Your best bet is to increase your protein consumption to 40% of daily calories. Then work out like a beast while eating a maintenance.

deksgrl

Your best bet is to increase your protein consumption to 40% of daily calories. Then work out like a beast while eating a maintenance.

This.

aling01

I agree, weight train and eat at maintenance calorie. Bodybuilding.com is a great place for resources. Add me if you do get an account! xxaimsxx

Amy

Hi lovely:) I'm doing the same, and thankfully have had a lot of helpful advice from my FL. We're similar in stats, I'm 5'6'' at 107lbs and somewhere between 18-22%bf. I actually scaled way back on cardio, I only run now as a stress reliever. I've started doing strength training with fewer reps and higher weight (which is still low but hey, gotta start somewhere :flowerforyou: ). Bodybuilding.com is a great resource as are many women who lift on mfp. Try to do a full-body routine and really challenge yourself with compound exercises like deadlifts and squats. Also, I upped my calorie and protein count so be sure to not starve yourself!

Hope that helps, good luck OP:)

bachampion04

I'm actually doing the very same thing right now and im seeing great results and not too much weight lose well at least for my height and body composition

I'm 215, 5'11" athletic build and i got this tip from a battle buddy of mine and its working for him just as much as me

Its 80% diet, 20% workout....You have to find your Fat Burning Heart Rate.....very very important!

To get this you need to find your Target Heart Rate (HR), the formula for that is: 220 - (your age)

After you get that, your fat burning HR is 60-70% of your Target HR; for example, im 27 so my Target Heart Rate is 220 - 27 = 193

So my Fat burning HR is 115 - 135 (Equation: 193 * .6 = 115, 193 * .7 = 135)

I prefer to help monitor this throughout your cardio workout is find a treadmill put it at a nice incline (i put mine at 15(max incline))and keep the speed range at 3.0-3.5 and only adjust the speed to keep your HR at around your HR range and perform this for a straight 45-60 minutes. You will be surprised its a great calorie burn for basically 1 hour of walking and the fat will just melt away.

Since i started this routine (Jan 13) i have lost 10 lbs and 5% BF and i can tell.

The workout is going to seem weak, you wont hurt might not even feel like you even worked out but it works!!!

If you have any more questions, dont be afraid to friend me or msg me i would be happy to go into further detail if needed.

ainokea8

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information
I'm a little bit confused because of all the different advice people are giving here but I guess this is the gist of what I came away with: Eat my normal amount and strength training.

jonnythan

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information
I'm a little bit confused because of all the different advice people are giving here but I guess this is the gist of what I came away with: Eat my normal amount and strength training.

I was surprised that everyone basically agreed.

The gist of it is that if you eat enough calories to maintain your weight, eat a lot of protein, and lift weights, you will slowly lose fat and gain muscle. Key word is slowly. It's a very slow process.

ainokea8

So now my second question is, is there any way to do strength training without weights?
I don't have easy access to a gym at the moment and I've really just been doing cardio exercises at home or going out for a jog most days.

jonnythan

So now my second question is, is there any way to do strength training without weights?
I don't have easy access to a gym at the moment and I've really just been doing cardio exercises at home or going out for a jog most days.

Eh. That part is tough.

wheird

So now my second question is, is there any way to do strength training without weights?
I don't have easy access to a gym at the moment and I've really just been doing cardio exercises at home or going out for a jog most days.

Look into You Are Your Own Gym, Convict Conditioning, Nerd Fitness, or any other bodyweight strength training program.

bachampion04

Oh most defnintely! Calisthenics is what you are describing. These are some samples: pullups, bar dips, pushups, planks, wall squats, crunches.

Like everyone has been saying, you want your rep range to be within 15-30 reps for each set. You set the number of sets you want to do.

For me in addition to what i stated above on the cardio piece....i do 5 sets of 15-20 reps of these exercises: Bar Dips, Biceps Curls(15 lb weights), Pullups(Wide grip, close grip, neutral grip) and i switch daily between kettle bell squats,pushups and double crunches (learned those from Frank Medrano).

Hope this helps you find what you are looking for

ainokea8

Thanks guys! You've been a major help. I took a quick look at You are your own gym and some of the things that bachampion04 mentioned and as it turns out, it's kind of similar to some of the things I had already been doing in my workouts

My_Own_Worst_Enemy

So now my second question is, is there any way to do strength training without weights?
I don't have easy access to a gym at the moment and I've really just been doing cardio exercises at home or going out for a jog most days.

Eh. That part is tough.

Achieve Hypertrophy?

Now the techniques and theories as to which way to do this vary ;-)

kelly_e_montana

About 1.5% of the human population is able to achieve body recomposition. If you've noticed that you can put on muscle easily, you may be one of the genetic lottery winners. Natural professional body builders fall into this category. Otherwise, in order to lose fat you are going to have to sacrifice some muscle mass as well.

Your best bet is to increase your protein consumption to 40% of daily calories. Then work out like a beast while eating a maintenance.

I've done it. What's your source on the 1.5%?

Most of the stuff I've read indicates that unless you are an advanced body builder, many newbies can achieve some body recomp.

getoffurFatass

look up 10% bodyfat vs 10% you can be 10% with no abs or muscle at all, probably not the look your going for

nancybuss

Great Thread!

duffypratt

Do a google search on "body weight exercise" and you will find a host of info about resistance exercises you can do without access to a gym and without weights. Almost any weight lifting exercise can be substituted for with a body weight exercise.

Topsking2010

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karinaApplebombinos

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sunman00

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