Help with losing body fat / gaining definition

lornathewizzard

Hi guys, I wondered if you could offer me some advice. I have recently hit my target, so now weigh 138 lbs (I am 5ft 4). I am happy in terms of weight lost and last week upped my calories to maintenance level (1680), which seems to be going ok.

But I have just measured my body fat percentage, for the first time ever, and it is 31.2%, which I understand is at the bottom of the 'obese' range.

My maintenance mission was to get more toned etc, but I am just not sure on the best way to go about it.
I do a kettlercise class once a week (with a 4kg kettlebell), a zumba circuit class (circuit including planks / sit ups / kettlebell exercises with 4 or 6 kg/ lunges etc) and zumba and bokwa on a Thursday.

So I guess my real question here is, in order to reduce body fat % and get more toned, without working to a calorie deficit - is this the right sorta routine? Should I add anything in? If it helps the calculator said my lean body mass was 94.9lb and my waist to height ratio was 0.5. (using http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html)

Thanks everyone!

YoungerNextYear59937

What method did you use to measure your body fat? I was tested with an ultrasound a couple of months ago and was at 28.4%. At that time my scale registered 32% body fat. The ultrasound is much more accurate. So first of all I would make sure the measurement is correct.

Secondly, there's the "satisfaction factor." How satisfied are you with your muscle tone? Are you satisfied with how your clothes fit?

I'm in the same boat as you are. I am finding that my muscle tone is improving and I am exchanging what little fat I have left for muscle, but it takes time. I do spinning class two to three times a week for my cardio. I don't do cardio every day, although I would like to, but when I do I really attack it. Spinning also firms up my legs. I do strenght training a couple of times a week, which is toning the rest of me.

I am finding that throwing in something totally different every now and then helps. Like my 1,006 stair thing yesterday. My legs are just screaming today. I never would have thought that 12 minutes of stairs would do that, particularly since my legs are in shape from spinning.

Lastly, and this is important--there are three things your body needs to build muscle. Protein, water, and rest. You must be sure you are eating enough protein and drinking a lot of water on days you strength train. Rest the muscle group you worked on for a minimum of 48 hours after working out. The muscle needs a chance to repair itself and grow.

I'm finding it's a fairly slow process, but it's working. I'm getting muscles where I didn't know I could. Soon you will be too!

lornathewizzard

What method did you use to measure your body fat? I was tested with an ultrasound a couple of months ago and was at 28.4%. At that time my scale registered 32% body fat. The ultrasound is much more accurate. So first of all I would make sure the measurement is correct.

Secondly, there's the "satisfaction factor." How satisfied are you with your muscle tone? Are you satisfied with how your clothes fit?

I'm in the same boat as you are. I am finding that my muscle tone is improving and I am exchanging what little fat I have left for muscle, but it takes time. I do spinning class two to three times a week for my cardio. I don't do cardio every day, although I would like to, but when I do I really attack it. Spinning also firms up my legs. I do strenght training a couple of times a week, which is toning the rest of me.

I am finding that throwing in something totally different every now and then helps. Like my 1,006 stair thing yesterday. My legs are just screaming today. I never would have thought that 12 minutes of stairs would do that, particularly since my legs are in shape from spinning.

Lastly, and this is important--there are three things your body needs to build muscle. Protein, water, and rest. You must be sure you are eating enough protein and drinking a lot of water on days you strength train. Rest the muscle group you worked on for a minimum of 48 hours after working out. The muscle needs a chance to repair itself and grow.

I'm finding it's a fairly slow process, but it's working. I'm getting muscles where I didn't know I could. Soon you will be too!

Hi Joni

The website calculator just asked for weight, height, neck, hips and waist management, so I guess pretty bog standard in terms of accuracy.
Satisfied with clothes, pretty much yeah, but in terms on tone, it is really not very obvious as far as I'm concerned, particularly around the stomach area, I think this is my main area that needs work. Thighs have definitely improved (i always joke about my thighs of steel, not quite there yet, haha!). I think this week is the first week i have started to notice a bit of shape in the stomach area, so I guess this is going in the right direction.
Protein, water, rest. I like this new mantra!

YoungerNextYear59937

I think you are definitely going in the right direction. Be patient. It takes time. One day you'll start noticing a drastic improvement. You'll get there. I know it!

Sidesteal

I would start a heavy weightlifting program and I would increase your protein consumption to roughly 1g/lb LEAN mass.

lornathewizzard

I would start a heavy weightlifting program and I would increase your protein consumption to roughly 1g/lb LEAN mass.

Ok, thanks. What sort of 'heavy' are we talking about do you think? I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to weights, kettlebells are my only experience really.

carrie_eggo

I would start a heavy weightlifting program and I would increase your protein consumption to roughly 1g/lb LEAN mass.

^This. HEAVY resistance training.

A good place to start is the book "New Rules of Lifting for Women." I've also see "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe listed as a good suggestion (I have not read it myself though).

silkysly

Cardio...

carrie_eggo

What sort of 'heavy' are we talking about do you think?

In a nutshell......as heavy as you can lift for 6-8 reps with good form.

grendella

throw in deadlifts, squats, lunges, military presses, bench press, pull up, chin up.

all of a sudden you'll look like madonna.

lornathewizzard

I would start a heavy weightlifting program and I would increase your protein consumption to roughly 1g/lb LEAN mass.

^This. HEAVY resistance training.

A good place to start is the book "New Rules of Lifting for Women." I've also see "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe listed as a good suggestion (I have not read it myself though).

Ok, I will check that out, thanks

lornathewizzard

Ok, this all sounds like achievable advise! thanks for comments so far.

Helloitsdan

Hi guys, I wondered if you could offer me some advice. I have recently hit my target, so now weigh 138 lbs (I am 5ft 4). I am happy in terms of weight lost and last week upped my calories to maintenance level (1680), which seems to be going ok.

But I have just measured my body fat percentage, for the first time ever, and it is 31.2%, which I understand is at the bottom of the 'obese' range.

My maintenance mission was to get more toned etc, but I am just not sure on the best way to go about it.
I do a kettlercise class once a week (with a 4kg kettlebell), a zumba circuit class (circuit including planks / sit ups / kettlebell exercises with 4 or 6 kg/ lunges etc) and zumba and bokwa on a Thursday.

So I guess my real question here is, in order to reduce body fat % and get more toned, without working to a calorie deficit - is this the right sorta routine? Should I add anything in? If it helps the calculator said my lean body mass was 94.9lb and my waist to height ratio was 0.5. (using http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html)

Thanks everyone!

Body fat seems high. Check it at Fat to Fit http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ and look for something like 18-20%.

As for recomposition you could do several things.
1) slight bulk phase to raise lean mass.
This will have you eating above maintenance for about 2-3 months gaining appx 1lb-2lb a month while lifting heavy to stimulate growth.
2) Intermittent fasting. You fast for 16hours daily and eat for 8 hours.
Lift heavy and youll see the fat melt off. www.leangains.com

eddyca

Protein!
I just looked at your diary and you are not eating enough. You have a very tough time getting lean without it. Go to My Home/Goals and readjust your protein to 30% at least. A good starting point for your macros would be 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein.

Topsking2010

Bump

lornathewizzard

Protein!
I just looked at your diary and you are not eating enough. You have a very tough time getting lean without it. Go to My Home/Goals and readjust your protein to 30% at least. A good starting point for your macros would be 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein.

Funnily enough I was just looking at that myself (the fact I had to check what my protein has been like this past week probably speaks for itself!)! I will definitely need to work on that. Thanks.

kyledo

Hey. I agree with Carrieogg...in that you are looking for a weight that you can perform 6-8 good, quality reps with for each exercise. Most importantly, never worry about how much weight it is...that's irrelevant. The quality and form of each rep is the most important. The "Nautilus Method" of strength training is one of the best ways of training that I know of. You don't need to spend 3 hours in the gym each day doing multiple sets of the same exercise like all the muscle head freaks. The Nautilus method is built on completing one set of each exercise to failure, and then moving very quickly to your next exercise. Working your entire body three days a week, from legs to bicep curls, starting with maybe 8 exercises out of the chute to 15 or so once you are well into the program. Your strength work-out shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. If you are going to "failure" on each exercise, and moving quickly to the next, you won't have the energy for more than 30 minutes. This method is one of the most effecient out there...and it is easy to pinch in an extra 30 minutes three days/week. You will see results quickly, and won't get tired of the gym. People often tell me that it looks like I work out "all the time." I tell them no, but I just know how to work out correctly. Just do a little research on "The Nautilus Method" of strength training...and you can use this method whether you have Nautilus equipment to work out on or not. Good Luck!

PoochPottery

This website can give you a great program for getting toned. It is what I am following now:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/

Momkat65

SergeantSunshine_reused

Starting Strength is an excellent book :]

Make sure you are eating enough calories too. I would do a bulk phase (yes add on a little fat too) to build some muscle, then cut later and reveal those muscles. Or you are going to have to lose a lot more weight to see them

jenniebean1680

Great advice everyone! Lifting and eating more is the plan I'm following now. Cardio is great, but you have to make sure you're not wasting muscle. This will only slow your metabolism, which is exactly NOT what any of us want.

Love threads like this!

lornathewizzard

Thanks for the responses folks, lots to be working on here!

HeidiMightyRawr

I would start a heavy weightlifting program and I would increase your protein consumption to roughly 1g/lb LEAN mass.

This!!
'Heavy' is different to different people. Basically 6-8 reps is good as someone else mentioned. The last couple of reps should be a struggle but still maintaining good form.
Squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench press, overhead press are all good exercises.

I've also heard of "starting strength" and "The new rules of lifting for women" both as great programs for beginnings just starting to lift, and not quite sure of routines etc yet.

As a couple of others have mentioned, a bulk phase might be beneficial (adding muscle + fat) and then cutting later (maintaining muscle + losing fat) as it's very hard to build muscle on a deficit / while losing fat - and having muscle is great for definition, provided body fat is low enough.

An example: At the beginning of MFP I was 150lbs, ~27% body fat. I lost weight, did strength training at the same time, got down to 130lbs and around 17% body fat. Now I'm back up to 150lbs after "bulking" but ~22% body fat. 5% less than same weight before!

CharleneYoga

Hello everyone
I'd recommend yoga... Might sound like a strange choice in comparison to weight lifting but it totally depends on the style and intensity as to whether it helps you to lose weight. I do Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga - Sadie Nardini is the instructor/founder and you can find tons of free videos and real time routines on youtube. You can also download 'instant dvds' on her website. I think it's amazing and you might be surprised by how much you sweat!
Good luck with finding something that suits you
Charlene

oaker

I think lifting heavy weights is the way to go. But start out light. You have plenty of time to get to your 6-8 max reps for each lift. Since you are new to lifting, get your form down for all lifts. By starting light, you can work on form and that will pay divedends when the weight gets heavy. Keep things simple and light in the beginning. This way you won't get discouraged and you will feel like you are accomplishing something. Add wt to every workout after that and in a matter of months you will be lifting heavy and have good form. Lifting heavy for a beginner can lead to increased injury.