Reducing that bodyfat percentage...

lessfatmatt

Hi all,

My getting-fit adventure started about 2 years ago, when I looked like this:



I lost around 5kg with a nutritionist, and then discovered MFP (huzzah) and lost another 15. I got to more or less my goal weight about a year ago. I now look like this:



Which I'm a lot happier about. The thing is, I play beach volleyball semi-competitively, and it's a sport where people tend to look more like this:



or this:



So I'd quite like to lose a little bit of body fat so I can look a bit more like the great players in the pics above! Ideally, I'd like to have visible abs by the time of my 30th, in April (superficial goal, I know, but who's counting?)

Unfortunately since reaching my initial goal weight of about 76 kilos I have struggled for motivation. Things were a lot simpler when I just wanted to lose weight. Nowadays I wouldn't mind losing a few kilos (the scales have crept back upwards beyond 78kg), but I'm really interested in the more subtle goal of changing my body composition. And with a bit of lacking motivation, I tend to have too many days where I'm way over on calories, said calories too often being derived from a beer bottle or plastic packet as opposed to proteins and veggies.

I'm not too stressed about gaining more muscle - lightness beats strength in my sport - but would really rather not lose much muscle from where I am now. According to my FitBit scale I have a body fat percentage of about 15%.

I'd love to hear any tips for reducing my body fat, and would also love to make some new friends (even ones who'll put in the hard word when I've had a bad day!) Looking forward to hearing from y'all

thatch1234

Hi there, I would suggest a decent lifting routine. It is actually a lot of hard work to gain muscle and takes a long time. But the fat burns quicker so you wouldn't get too muscly in the time that you were happy with body fat I imagine. Also some hit training is great. Hill sprints etc etc. But I really think some lifting could do the job. High reps. Medium weight range for toning good luck

lessfatmatt

Hi there, I would suggest a decent lifting routine. It is actually a lot of hard work to gain muscle and takes a long time. But the fat burns quicker so you wouldn't get too muscly in the time that you were happy with body fat I imagine. Also some hit training is great. Hill sprints etc etc. But I really think some lifting could do the job. High reps. Medium weight range for toning good luck

Thanks! I do lift a bit, but struggle to find enough time for it at the moment (maybe 2-3 times a week). I probably need to spend a bit more time on that. I also do track training and hill sprints once a week (great way to start a weekend ) Thanks for the good wishes!

SezxyStef

Hi there, I would suggest a decent lifting routine. It is actually a lot of hard work to gain muscle and takes a long time. But the fat burns quicker so you wouldn't get too muscly in the time that you were happy with body fat I imagine. Also some hit training is great. Hill sprints etc etc. But I really think some lifting could do the job. High reps. Medium weight range for toning good luck

Thanks! I do lift a bit, but struggle to find enough time for it at the moment (maybe 2-3 times a week). I probably need to spend a bit more time on that. I also do track training and hill sprints once a week (great way to start a weekend ) Thanks for the good wishes!

I lift 3x a week..for about an hour each time...and I have lost 4.5% bf in 18 weeks...mind you I am still at a deficet in calories but you could start lifting with a very small deficet or even at maintenance and eating enough protien to ensure you don't lose muscle

check out Strong lifts...or starting strenghth

psych101

I second the Stronglifts recommendation

lessfatmatt

Thanks, I'll check out Strong Lifts. Having a proper programme might be a good idea for me, I tend to be a bit disorganised in terms of what I actually do at the gym!