fat loss

manic4titans

I searched online and the only answer I find is WEIGHT loss. I am not interested in how much weight I should lose but how much body fat I can lose.

here are my numbers:

CW 156
BF 30%
5'5

I have been implementing the New rules of lifting for Women since early April. I did not do a body fat test until a few weeks ago. I am curious to know , how much is a reasonable % to lose in a year's time?

Thanks for the help.

kaervaak

For losing fat without losing lean body mass, you can run a calorie deficit of 22Kcal/lb of fat/day.

That means that you can run a 1029 cal/day deficit and everything you lose will be fat.

At your height, weight and age, your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is about 1500 Kcal/day. Assuming you're mostly sedentary or lightly active (desk job etc), you're TDEE is around 1900 Kcal/day + your exercise. If you're lifting, it's hard to track exercise since most of your calories are going to be burned in the "afterburn" phase, but I'm going to assume that you're lifting enough to give yourself an afterburn effect of about 500 Kcal/day. This puts your TDEE at 2400 Kcal/day. This means that you can eat 1500 Kcal/day (your BMR, you shouldn't eat below this) and have a 900 Kcal/day deficit.

This will result in a weekly calorie deficit of 6300 Kcals, which will lead to about 1.8lbs of fat loss per week. If you're eating enough protein (1gram/lb of lean body weight, 110g/day) and lifting weights you should minimize your lean mass loss.

As you start to lose weight, you'll need to run a lower deficit. As it stands, with the numbers I laid out, you can keep eating at 1500 Kcal/day for 3 to 4 weeks before you'll need to up your daily calories if you want to preserve your lean mass.

Week 1: 1500 Kcal/day 110g protein Weight: 154.2lbs BF: 29%
Week 2: 1500 Kcal/day 110g protein Weight 152.4lbs BF: 28%
Week 3: 1500 Kcal/day 110g protein Weight 150.6lbs BF: 27.5%
Week 4: 1500 Kcal/day 110g protein Weight 148.8lbs BF: 26.7%
Week 5: 1525 Kcal/day 110g protein Weight 147.05lbs BF: 25.8%
Week 6: 1563 Kcal/day 110g protein Weight 145.3lbs BF: 25%

and so on. As you lose weight, the amount of weight you can lose in a week goes down. Eventually, you'll level off because your BMR and TDEE will also decrease somewhat as your weight decreases.

Your lean body mass is about 110lbs, very thin women have BF% in the high teens 17-20%, and you shouldn't really try to get much lower than that. That puts your target weight (assuming you preserve all your lean body mass) at about 135lbs. This leaves you with 21lbs of fat to lose. If everything works according to the numbers, you could lose that in about 15 weeks.

manic4titans

wow! I can lose that much fat in just weeks??

My caloric intake is all over the place and yeah, I don't get that much protein. I will try harder. thanks for the info.

kaervaak

Just to add some caveats:
All of these are just estimates, based on assumptions and really can't be relied on. They might be a good starting point, but don't put too much stock in them.

What you need to do is take data and adjust based on results. If you're not losing weight as fast as you'd like, add more exercise (especially weight lifting, don't be afraid to lift heavy), make sure you are getting plenty of water and sleep and be patient.

restoreleanne

the 30% maybe high. Im 5'6" 195 and BF is 31% last july I was 278 and 44%.so I lost 13% that was done the right way 1-2 pounds a week.

manic4titans

I am not losing weight at all though. I don't eat perfect but I do try to eat good foods along with the moderate portion of "junk" food. Main problem, I guess , is not getting enough protein. The average intake I get daily is about 70.

I like to think I am lifting heavy. My deadlifts are 120 which increased from 55. I squat with 2 (25) dumbbells on my shoulders. I could do more if I could get them up there. (shoulder injury prevents me from placing the barbell on my back)

My ab area is toning up but the lower half is a slow go. (that's where the majority of the fat is located)

restoreleanne

you may want to add cardio in and most people dont eat perfect all the time. My tummy has taken a long time but I had 3 kids ina little over 3 years and it was just a year ago.

kaervaak

Sounds like you're doing the right kinds of lifting. Just lift as heavy as you can and add weight every week. If you're eating at a deficit you won't put on any muscle, but you can still get stronger through a combination of newbie gains and neuromuscular training.

Fat distribution is largely genetic and for most people, stubborn lower abdomen fat is the last fat to go. Just stick with it, eat smart, lift heavy and enjoy life.

Bobby_Clerici

For losing fat without losing lean body mass, you can run a calorie deficit of 22Kcal/lb of fat/day.

That means that you can run a 1029 cal/day deficit and everything you lose will be fat.

^^^^^^^
WRONG -
Weight loss is NEVER 100% fat loss....sorry....I WISH!

chrisdavey

For losing fat without losing lean body mass, you can run a calorie deficit of 22Kcal/lb of fat/day.

That means that you can run a 1029 cal/day deficit and everything you lose will be fat.

^^^^^^^
WRONG -
Weight loss is NEVER 100% fat loss....sorry....I WISH!

agreed

Moderate deficit of approx 10% below TDEE (will depend on current BF% and you may be able to get away with a bit lower)
1g/lb of LBM minimum protein
.25g/lb of bodyweight minimum fat
regular resistance training (compound lifts, increasing weight each week)

kaervaak

You can lose fat without losing significant amounts of lean mass (yes you will lose some, but if you do it right this amount can be negligible).

http://www.jacn.org/content/18/2/115.short
Conclusion: The addition of an intensive, high volume resistance training program resulted in preservation of LBW and RMR during weight loss with a VLCD.

http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=/PNS/PNS50_02/S0029665191000575a.pdf&code=b9672c8efc3edcf301f7ea49a2a202a6

A very interesting survey paper that should probably get a lot of attention on this site. Covers a lot of the basic questions that I've seen people ask. For the purposes of this discussion: The average change in lean body mass to change in total mass across a range of dieting studies where exercise was included is about 0.15. Which means that 85% of weight loss was fat and 15% was lean mass. These results ranged from 0.35 to -0.1 however, so the standard deviation across the studies is quite high. Also, it does not list what each study did in terms of exercise or protein intake among the subjects.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/adis/smd/2006/00000036/00000003/art00005
Another interesting review article, unfortunately I can only get access to the abstract.

And finally: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/135/8/1903.full
An awesome article that shows just what I was looking for. The high protein plus resistance training group lost nearly 9kg of body weight and only 0.4kg of lean mass over the course of a 16wk trial. Only 4% of their total weight loss was lean body mass.

rhondagraymond

You need a weight loss plan (http://www.dukandiet.com/The-Dukan-Diet) that is low on carbs (to prevent you from putting on unnecessary weight) and high on proteins (to help you build muscle). Get in a good work-out at least thrice a week and drink plenty of water. The fat will melt right off you.