Best Way To Lose Those Love Handles...

Zichu

Hey, I'm a guy, around 5' 6", I way 124lb and I am currently eating around 2130 calories. My TDEE is around 1870 as I don't do a lot of exercise.

I try my hardest to lift weights throughout the week. Depending on the lifts, the weights can range from 20lb to 30lb on each arm. I will at some point get a Barbell and get more weights when I get the money.

I'm what you would consider skinny fat, I don't really do any cardio and would like to start it up again. It would consist of bike rides and jogging, but having trouble getting myself motivated to get out there and just do it. I get up for it as I go to work quite early and get back around 7am, so the getting up part is the problem, it's just getting back in, and knowing I can have a cup of tea and just relax... :ohwell:

Now, I probably wouldn't consider myself heavy for my height and age, 124lb sounds kind of low, even though my BMI is in the center of healthy.

I try to hit my protein goals before any other macro, if I want a treat I check to see if I have enough calories and macro's before I go for it, some days I don't bother with a treat and just eat simple, high protein meals with a decent amount of carbs and fat.
My % are 35/30/35 (C/P/F).

Now, even at 145lb last year I had love handles and even though I was jogging 3 times a week, doing crunches, push ups, etc every night and eating healthy meals, I still had them, but managed to lose over 20lb.


I know you can't specifically work at losing fat in only one place, it all comes off equally, sort of lol. Now, because I am just at the right weight, I heard to burn fat you need to eat at a deficit, do cardio and lift weights, but to be able to put on a good amount of muscle you have to eat at a surplus, so this is what confuses me.

If I eat at a surplus, I will obviously gain weight, but that isn't really happening for me. If I eat at a deficit, I thought I would lose muscle along with fat. It's just quite confusing. I just want to get rid of the extra fat around my abs and where ever the fat is lying on my body without go so far down on the scale.

Any tips?

Zichu

Bump

teez52

Your answer is in your first post, your eating more than you use, which means you will gain weight. Your TDEE is 1870 (which seems pretty low to me, but at your weight maybe not) and you are eating 2130 which means that you are eating 260 extra calories a day which means you are eating 1820 extra calories a week which means your gaining just around a half pound a week if your doing everything else correct. Cut back on your calorie intake and you'll see the weight drop. Start lifting heavy, push yourself and you start seeing gains in your lifting. More muscle increases your metabolism as muscle needs to feed.

I would suggest going with a 15 - 20% deficit on your calories to start and see where your weight loss goes.

1870(.85)=1589.5
1870(.8)=1496

Try one of those two calorie targets and you should start seeing some weight loss. However, be careful as you have a low bodyweight as it is so make sure you your protein and fats each day.

Personally if I were you, having not seen any pictures, I would do a bulk before I tried to lose weight. At 124, your probably pretty small as it is and losing weight might not be good for you, you might want to do a 15-20% surplus on your calories and do a beginner lifting program like Starting Strength (google it) and build up some muscle and a bit of fat before you try to cut down further than you are.

1870(1.15)=2150
1870(1.2)=2244

I would target one of those two calorie goals (almost what you're doing now) and do that Starting Strength program, you'll build muscle and gain a bit of weight, then you can do a cut at around 15% calorie deficit and get rid of your love handles.

Trust me, if you start doing the Starting Strength program and you stick to it for a few months plus have your diet (meaning what you eat, not eating at a caloric deficit) in check, you'll be amazed as how much less you notice your love handles because you'll be building muscle everywhere else.

Also I did your math using the Mifflin-St Jeor formula and here's what I've got for you in case you were wondering.

BMR: 1521.16 calories per day
TDEE at 1.2 activity factor: 1825.4
TDEE at 1.3 activity factor: 1977.51

And you get the picture for the rest of the activity factors, but either way, your math was pretty good, I just didn't know with your low body weight and wanted to make sure that everything was correct.

Zichu

So just carry on with what I am doing now, but keep lifting heavier?

I have noticed since I started lifting I was only able to lift like half the amount, but I am lifting like double almost.

Would you still suggest I do some cardio just to speed up the fat burning process, but eat back the calories? This way I am burning the fat, but eating back to feed my muscles.

BOLO4Hagtha

For the best ab workout I will recommend you Ab Ripper X from P90X. For 20mins you will sweat and work every muscle in your core.

teez52

So just carry on with what I am doing now, but keep lifting heavier?

I have noticed since I started lifting I was only able to lift like half the amount, but I am lifting like double almost.

Would you still suggest I do some cardio just to speed up the fat burning process, but eat back the calories? This way I am burning the fat, but eating back to feed my muscles.

Well I gave you 2 options and personally at your size I would go with the second option of eating more and lifting heavy to actually gain some weight and muscle before I worried about losing your love handles. If you have already dropped 20lbs and are only 124, you're probably pretty small. I would say because of that you should eat more and lift heavy using either Starting Strength or a full body workout 3 days a week (google all pros beginner workout for a full body workout).

As for cardio, it's a tool that can be used to keep your calories in check. You don't HAVE to do cardio to lose weight, but if you like to eat more than should for your goal, cardio can be used to keep your calories in check. I eat back my cardio calories because otherwise I'd be adding another 200 calories to my already 20% deficit and that's not needed (1800 goal calories - 200 cardio calories =1600 calories so I can eat an extra 200 calories through the day). Cardio is a great thing for overall health, but is not a must have in your weightloss plan, your caloric deficit is the must have.

You cannot gain muscle while on a caloric deficit (which you are on now) except for noob gains during the first bit of weightlifting and you cannot lose weight while on a caloric surplus.

As for the Ab Ripper X from P90x, that's all well and good, but it won't make him lose his love handles. Those are a direct relation to his bodyfat %. It may help strengthen his midsection, but he won't have visible abs until he's around 10-12% bodyfat depending on genetics and other factors. Plain and simple, you can do all the situps, crunches and other ab workouts all you want, but until you lose the proper amount of bodyfat, you won't have abs.

NoxDineen

I second (third?) the lift heavier suggestion. If you don't like/want to do cardio there's no point telling you to do it.

Maybe try kettlebells. I've only recently started using them, but they seem like a fantastic workout: compound exercises and man do you ever sweat!

Zichu

Thanks for the help guys. Just needed that bit of information to guide me through this, else I could of been doing something that wouldn't of worked.

As soon as I left school I started putting weight on...


Now, with the lifting part. I know lifting heavy will help me build up my strength, but I also read that doing the opposite (high reps, low weights) will give my muscles more definition compared to how they are now. I know body fat plays a part in them showing through or not, but even though I am lifting and getting stronger, my muscles are showing through at all, my arms are just getting bigger lol.

teez52

Thanks for the help guys. Just needed that bit of information to guide me through this, else I could of been doing something that wouldn't of worked.

As soon as I left school I started putting weight on...


Now, with the lifting part. I know lifting heavy will help me build up my strength, but I also read that doing the opposite (high reps, low weights) will give my muscles more definition compared to how they are now. I know body fat plays a part in them showing through or not, but even though I am lifting and getting stronger, my muscles are showing through at all, my arms are just getting bigger lol.

High reps, low weights isn't going to give your muscles any more definition. What will give your muscles definition will be the loss of the body fat and lifting to grow your muscles. Stick with the lift heavy theory especially while you're just starting off and you'll notice more "definition" because your muscles will be growing.

Zichu

Cheers. Will definitely stick to what I am doing. I managed to look in the mirror today and my arms do look bigger. Quite scary really seeing as how I never really had much arm muscle to begin with. Just wish I could test my strength out...

Will be getting paid in 2 weeks. Kind of hard for a gamer who spends alot of money on games, nothing is being released that i want this month. So I need a new mattress and will see if I can get some more weight plates and a barbell. Then the real heavy lifting can begin.

reereejandro

Billy Blanks Tae Bo, Insanity, P990x...

teez52

Billy Blanks Tae Bo, Insanity, P990x...

And again, none of this will work if your diet isn't in check...

teez52

Cheers. Will definitely stick to what I am doing. I managed to look in the mirror today and my arms do look bigger. Quite scary really seeing as how I never really had much arm muscle to begin with. Just wish I could test my strength out...

Will be getting paid in 2 weeks. Kind of hard for a gamer who spends alot of money on games, nothing is being released that i want this month. So I need a new mattress and will see if I can get some more weight plates and a barbell. Then the real heavy lifting can begin.

Your arms look bigger because of 2 reasons:

1. You've lost bodyfat so your muscles are now more defined
2. You've started lifting and have experienced noob gains and may have packed on a slight amount of muscle.

Do not get depressed when you don't see more changes over the coming months because you're eating at a deficit. After you get to your goal weight, eat at a surplus around 10% over and you will start packing on some solid muscle as long as you keep lifting.

MoveTheMountain

Cheers. Will definitely stick to what I am doing. I managed to look in the mirror today and my arms do look bigger. Quite scary really seeing as how I never really had much arm muscle to begin with. Just wish I could test my strength out...

Will be getting paid in 2 weeks. Kind of hard for a gamer who spends alot of money on games, nothing is being released that i want this month. So I need a new mattress and will see if I can get some more weight plates and a barbell. Then the real heavy lifting can begin.

Your arms look bigger because of 2 reasons:

1. You've lost bodyfat so your muscles are now more defined
2. You've started lifting and have experienced noob gains and may have packed on a slight amount of muscle.

Do not get depressed when you don't see more changes over the coming months because you're eating at a deficit. After you get to your goal weight, eat at a surplus around 10% over and you will start packing on some solid muscle as long as you keep lifting.

Agree. Also, keep reading - this guy's site is phenomenal:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/reps-per-set-for-optimal-growth.html

Acg67

5'6 124lbs and still have love handles? If you continue to lose weight you'll prob still not look all that great as you'll have no muscle. Eat in a surplus and lift heavy things, then focus on shedding fat