Don't want to lose weight but want to lose fat

GothyFaery

I'm not sure what I need to do. I want to lose fat, I know that. I'm sitting around 30% (guessing) and I would like to get somewhere around 25-28%. I'm happy at my weight and I really don't want to lose anymore. My husband even told me I need to eat a cheese burger so he is happy with my weight. I just feel a little "floppy" and I want to tighten everything.

What do I do to keep my weight the same but lower body fat? Do I still need to eat at a defict?

JoRocka

lift heavy
eat at a deficit
lather rinse repeat
be fabulous

GothyFaery

lift heavy
eat at a deficit
lather rinse repeat
be fabulous

Follow up questions:

Eating at a deficit won't cause me to lose more weight?
Will lifting heavy help me get out of the "eat a cheese burger" catagory?

1 stupid question:
How heavy? (I know it's stupid but I'm being serious)

limecrush

lift heavy
eat at a deficit
lather rinse repeat
be fabulous

Follow up questions:

Eating at a deficit won't cause me to lose more weight?
Will lifting heavy help me get out of the "eat a cheese burger" catagory?

1 stupid question:
How heavy? (I know it's stupid but I'm being serious)

Not a stupid question, I've wanted to know the answer, too. I see "Lift Heavy" a lot and I have no idea what that means since I'm a total beginner. I've just started researching (yesterday lol) and want to get started with weight training. So far what I've found is heavy enough for you to be able to do 5-8 reps without losing proper form. Once you can do more than 8 reps, increase weight by 5 lbs. Hopefully someone with knowledge can enlighten us Good luck to you!

JoRocka

not stupid- if you never learned- then you didn't know- and the only way to learn is to ask.

Eating at a calorie deficit = weight loss
Lifting heavy while on a calorie deficit optimizes FAT loss- and minimizes muscle loss.

I'm confused about the body fat % but yet you are happy with your weight- do you mean you don't want to get smaller? or you actually LIKE the number on the scale? because that's- I mean that's largely irrelevant. It's just a number. and at 30% body fat you could probably easily lose 15- 20 pounds and still look healthy and fit. (I'm taking a swinging guess- because I know I'm under 30%- and I could probably drop 15 to 20 pounds- I wouldn't want to- but I could.. My ideal # weight would be 145- but that's long term not realistic for me for a lot of reasons).

Anyway- heavy... good question.

heavy is completely relative. My heavy right now is your impossible. My heavy is my friends warm up weight- so it's really relative to where you are in your training.

how can we help clear that up- think of it this way: heavy isn't a number- it's a rep range.

So a good rule of thumb on this subject
0 reps = TOO HEAVY
1-2- one rep max- that's probably too heavy for working reps
1-5 - pure strength trains- some potential hypertrophy (meaning size gains) zero cardio
5-10- optimal for hypertrophy- some strength gains- minimal cardio
10-15- muscle endurance and potential minimal aspect for hypertrophy- no pure strength
15+ reps = muscle endurance pushing into cardio- no strength gains.


again- good rule of thumb- it's not hard and fast- I did a program that included 1 set of 20 reps of squats- it was designed for hypertrophy AND strength- and it sucked. A lot. So there are variations- and some of this is highly diet dependent (like- for hypertrophy- you need to be eating a calorie surplus- so if you're lifing that 5-10 range- you aren't going to get swole without the diet surplus to back it up).

Some good resources for you
strong lifts 5 x 5
starting strength
strong curves
new rules of lifting

Body weight workouts
nerdfitness.com
lovingfit.com
strengthunbound.com
you are your own gym
convict conditioning.

because strength training can be weights or body weight.

also body building.com has some good layouts as well.

GothyFaery

I'm confused about the body fat % but yet you are happy with your weight- do you mean you don't want to get smaller? or you actually LIKE the number on the scale? because that's- I mean that's largely irrelevant. It's just a number.

It's not the number I like, really I would like the number to go down by about 5. It's the calories I can eat to sustain that number that I like. I don't want to lose weight because I don't want to have to eat less. I have a 10+ hour a day desk job and it's everything I can do to keep active enough to eat what I want. If I lost weight I would have to stop eating ice cream and cookies every night. :sad:

As I said before, my husband is okay with my weight now but still says I need to eat a cheese burger. I don't want to be "eat a cheese burger" thin either which I personally feel I'm borderlining right now.

JoRocka

hold up- at roughly 30% body fat you're husband is giving you "eat a sammich" joke??

How much are you eating now???

Honestly I would suggest getting on a lifting program and seeing how it goes for you- you can always stop if you hate the results.

Get on a program- don't mess with your food- do what you're doing for 2 -3 months with no food adjustments and then reassess if you need to go up or down with food.

It's unfortunately very surprising how much (or rather how much ISN"T) 1500 calories- I can easily eat that in my day at work and comfortably go home and put away another 5-900 calories.

It's just SO easy to over eat. I eat 1500 + a portion of my workout calories- so I settle in on average around 18-900 daily- my low days- then I have high days that are around 2100 or so.

It's not an exact science- it's a lot of tinkering to get you dialed in to what works for you and what numbers you can ball park and live with- very trial and error and the big portion is- "trial.... then wait and adjust".

GothyFaery

Well the eat a cheese burger came from him hugging me while I was stretching and he felt ribs.

I end up netting anywhere from 1300-2000 (1750 is my goal) depending on the day. Saturdays are usually over for me because I get less activity and we eat more but I make up for it throughout the week. I've been maintaining on that for a few months now.

I will try some strength training without messing with my food and see how that works out. I just don't want to feel so soft anymore but I still want to be femine (old world mentality). I guess I'll just have to experiment.

Thanks for your advise!!

JoRocka

no problem.

lifting should do the thing you need- and like I said- it's not like results come over night- if you hate the results- it's easy to stop or change.


as far as being feminine- that's on you- I do not ascribe feminine to anything tangible... plus it's personal- but for me being feminine is a mental and a way of being- an air. Class vs trash.

I'm not "feminine" in the traditional sense- I'm brisk- straight forward and I'm well muscled (I think) with short hair- but yet I do believe when I chose to be I can be quiet feminine... it's not my first trait- but it's not something that I "don't" have just because I lift and I have short hair- I'm a belly dancer - I MUST be in touch with that side of myself LOL So I wouldn't get so hung up on looks- it takes a long time to really carve yourself a chiseled body.

go forth - lift and be fabulous- and if you don't like it- go back to not lifting- easy peasy lemon squeezy!!!

good luck- and if you have more questions- ask away! we're here to help.

asdowe13

lift heavy
eat at a deficit
lather rinse repeat
be fabulous

Follow up questions:

Eating at a deficit won't cause me to lose more weight?
Will lifting heavy help me get out of the "eat a cheese burger" catagory?

1 stupid question:
How heavy? (I know it's stupid but I'm being serious)

JoRocka offers solid advice, just wanted to add a little tidbit.

If you are only looking to lose a little weight, eat a small deficit like 100-200 calories under your maintanence.
This will also help maintain more of your muscle.

NRBreit

Losing fat without losing weight is considered a 'recomp'. Do a search here and you'll find endless views on how effective or ineffective recomping is. From my own experience, it is possible to gain muscle and lose some fat if you are just starting to weight train or you are coming back from a long period of not training. Once you get past the first couple of months of training, the only real way to lose fat is to eat at a deficit and lose scale weight.