A little advice here? anything..

stroutman81

I don't feel like the weight I lost has all been FAT. I'm looking for ways to lose more FAT, as I continue working out and eating clean. not just loosing, water weight, muscle or whatever. and im not limiting myself at the gym. The three machines I use for weight lifting are just my favorites at the gym.

It'll never be ALL fat. That's not the way this works, from a physiological perspective. Genetics play a big role in deciding how much of each pound lost is fat vs. muscle. On top of this, as has been discussed above, sufficient protein consumption and a properly structured weight training routine can help sway muscle preservation in your favor.

But you still have a number of issues to address as per the other points in this thread.

SezxyStef

I don't feel like the weight I lost has all been FAT. I'm looking for ways to lose more FAT, as I continue working out and eating clean. not just loosing, water weight, muscle or whatever. and im not limiting myself at the gym. The three machines I use for weight lifting are just my favorites at the gym.

You are right...at 1200 calories a day, 2lbs a week and not enough protien you have lost Lean body mass(muscle) and you will continue to lose muscle if you continue eating so little and losing so fast.

1/2lb a week is a good rate ( you might not like it but it's healthy) and getting enough protien and some sort of resistence training is needed to help preserve the muscle while losing fat...other wise you get to goal and you still feel/look squishy...

AsaThorsWoman

You may gain a bit of weight from lifting, but that's what you need to do to get the tight look it sounds like you're going for.

LadyBoss_1989

How much protein do I need per day? I will up my calories higher than 1200, with the extra protein that I will be using.
Sound good?

stroutman81

My goal weight is 120lbs at least. and even when i was that weight in the past, i still had a decent sized belly.
Im trying to figure out a way to be that weight again WITH a flatter stomach..does that make sense?
That is my absolute goal here..what I just said above...

Boil all the advice you've been given into an action plan.

1. Bring calories up systematically over the next week or two. My suggestion would be to bring them up to maintenance. At 136 lbs, this might be something like 1800 calories. If you're very sedentary outside of the gym, maybe shoot for 1700 calories. So from 1200 ramp up 10% or so every few days until you're at 1700-1800 and park yourself there for a week.

2. Once you've given your body a break and gotten yourself to a baseline intake, start dieting again with more sensible parameters. Shoot for an average daily intake of 1500 or so. Stay consistent and see what that does for you over the course of 3-4 weeks. If it's not giving you the desired results... you NOW have wiggle room to adjust accordingly.

3. Make this more than simply about calories. Shoot for .8-1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight. Get 25-35% of your calories from a balanced array of fats. Obtain 1-3 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of fibrous veggies per day. Fill in the remainder of your calories with whatever suits you.

4. Adopt a better strength training routine. Something that covers a larger array of your body and has you working reasonably hard in the 5-12 rep range for the majority of the time. You certainly wouldn't need more than 3 sessions per week that focus on your entire body. I'm biased toward free weights for the majority of work... but if you're not comfortable with them... so be it. Machines aren't the poison many make them out to be.

5. Add in cardio as needed. I'd say 2-3 sessions per week is more than enough. If you aren't realizing progress with that paired with everything else outlined above... something is likely off with your nutrition. Either you're not being as consistent with your calories as you believe, you're not tracking everything, you're not tracking everything precisely with a food scale, or you still have something going on metabolically in which case I'd be heading back to the doc to get more blood panels drawn and make sure the meds are actually helping you.

6. Most importantly, set realistic expectations. It's pretty obvious that your expectations aren't in line with what should be expected with this sort of process. And when this is the case, it's too easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed.

LadyBoss_1989

Anyway to simplfy that? and Does anyone know anything about CLA? and its effectiveness in body fat reduction as it claims?

stroutman81

Anyway to simplfy that? and Does anyone know anything about CLA? and its effectiveness in body fat reduction as it claims?

Simplify it? Ummm...

Eat more for a little. Then eat less after, but not so much less that you're back to square one. Balance the diet out better making sure protein is the foundation. Lift weights a few times per week hitting your entire body.

I mean, how else can we put this?

You're far from being at a point where you should be worrying about supplements. I don't say that to belittle you. You need to focus your attention on those items that are going to give you the biggest return on your investment of time and those are the things I addressed in my last post.

And the fact that you want it simplified even more concerns me a bit. Can I ask your age?

IronPlayground

Anyway to simplfy that? and Does anyone know anything about CLA? and its effectiveness in body fat reduction as it claims?

http://examine.com/supplements/Conjugated+Linoleic+Acid/

It's very science-y, but the conclusion can be drawn from the many studies that CLA isn't effective in fat reduction. I saw you started another thread regarding CLA a few days ago. That response you got in that thread is consistent with what many others will tell you, IMO.

WendyTerry420

I'd suggest eating more high-protein, low-carb snacks. 1200 calories a day is very low for someone exercising as much as you are.

At 24 years old, I have serious doubts that 1200 calories is appropriate for the OP at all. WAY too low...

jmv7117

How much protein do I need per day? I will up my calories higher than 1200, with the extra protein that I will be using.
Sound good?

You need .7 g to 1 g of protein per lb of lean body mass. Calculate your %BF to figure out your lean body mass weight.

ahamm002

Where the macros are divided is not going to be what makes the difference in weight loss..

OP you need to eat more, don't use MFP as your caloric needs calculator, rather use one on another website that allows you to insert the amount that you're working out weekly as well

Weight loss isn't her problem, she's losing weight just fine. The problem is most likely her body composition, which means she needs to eat plenty of protein and start resistance training with lots of compound movements.

LadyBoss_1989

How do I calculate that? and your correct ahamm02. I seems like losing WEIGHT is not too much of struggle for me, but I need to lose FAT...

LadyBoss_1989

Also my lean body mass estimator was 90.18. What does that mean for me??

stroutman81

I wouldn't go by some online estimator. A good surrogate measure for lean body mass is goal body weight. It'll get you close enough. This isn't a science. Lean body mass or goal body weight is simply one way of estimating your protein needs. And in the context of physique optimization, behind calories, protein is about as important as it gets.

So shoot for .8-1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight.

There's really nothing more to it.

If your goal body weight is 120 lbs... shoot for 100-120 grams of protein per day.

LadyBoss_1989

what are some examples of 100 to 120 grams of protein?
so I know how to incorperate it in my diet

ahamm002

Also my lean body mass estimator was 90.18. What does that mean for me??

Unfortunately the online calculators are not accurate. There are many ways to determine your optimal protein intake. 1.6 grams per kilogram is a decent number to shoot for once you start resistance training. That will maintain your muscle while you burn fat.

ahamm002

Anyway to simplfy that? and Does anyone know anything about CLA? and its effectiveness in body fat reduction as it claims?

Supplements won't help you improve your body composition. There is no miracle fix.

ahamm002

what are some examples of 100 to 120 grams of protein?
so I know how to incorperate it in my diet

In order to eat that much protein you have to incorporate it into every meal. The big sources are eggs, any kind of lean meat, cottage cheese, etc. But if you're not having any of them, then just make sure something else you're eating has protein.

SLLRunner

Im worried upping my calories will just make me gain more, It was hard to even lose this much weight, it seems like I lose weight very very slowly, that or im just not working hard enough or eating well enough. as far as excerising, I do a mixture of walking and running on the treadmill, using the Eplitical, and using 3 different weight lifting machines at the gym.

What are these 3 machines?

And, why machines? Are you not comfortable using free weight? Don't know what to do? Gym doesn't have any? Medical issues prevent using free weights?

I agree. Great if you like the machines, but add in lots of free weights and start lifting heavy. Since I've been doing heavy lifting, I've noticed amazing changes in my body.

LadyBoss_1989

So weight training and eating a certain amount of protein every day will help me lose BODY FAT?