Losing weight but still fat

Boogage

Hi I'm looking for some advice.

I've been working out most days (dancing, 30 day shred) and watching what I eat (no more eating huge bars of chocolate every night and lots of veg and salad) and I've lost 22lbs since the end of October.

I'm now 10 1/2lbs away from my goal of 135lbs but although I feel healthier, stronger and have lost quite a few inches I'm still fat. In fact my scales tell me I'm nearly 33% fat which is down by 2% since I began this journey but still an unhealthy percentage.

Obviously what I've been doing is working on some level as I'm losing weight, gaining muscle so do I just keep on doing what I'm doing or is there something specific I should be doing to bust through the fat? How can I significantly lower that percentage and improve my health and body?

Cheers

trogalicious

Obviously what I've been doing is working on some level as I'm losing weight, gaining muscle so do I just keep on doing what I'm doing or is there something specific I should be doing to bust through the fat? How can I significantly lower that percentage and improve my health and body?

be patient. If what you're doing is working, why change now? The last bit of weight to lose is typically the hardest... there's no "bust through the fat" changes.

I WOULD recommend heavy lifting, but that's up to you.

aliciamorgan21

I would agree with trogalicious that you should keep doing what you are doing and be patient! The last 10 pounds is exactly where I am at and is definately the hardest. I think it requires a bit of physical work that includes strengths in addition to cardio to really "shred the fat".
I would recommend any strength workouts and/or strength/cardio videos. I personally love Jillian Michaels. She incorporates cardio and strength so you not only lose weight, you also get firm and toned up!!!

Hang in there. Sounds like you have been working very hard!

madamecj82

I WOULD recommend heavy lifting, but that's up to you.

I agree; if you're looking to tone, consider strength training.

jonnythan

So you went from 157 lbs, 35% bf - 55 lbs fat, 102 lbs lean
to
133 lbs, 33% bf - 44 lbs fat, 89 lbs lean

If those numbers are accurate, you've lost 13 lbs of lean mass and 11 pounds of fat.

This is why it's so important to lift weights when you lose weight. If you had, and 90% of the weight loss was fat, you would now be:

133 lbs, 26% bf - 35 lbs fat, 98 lbs lean.

133 lbs 33% bf and 133 26% body fat is a huge difference. 9 lbs of muscle is a huge difference.

Start lifting.

angieleighbyrd

pick up the weights

Ge0rgiana

I WOULD recommend heavy lifting, but that's up to you.

^^^ This.

Tlbrown1985

i believe what shes trying to say pertains to her fat % and health wise not loosing pounds... mabey her BMI.... shes lost tons of weight but health wise it still says shes fat.. how can she get her BMI lowered?

Angie_Fritts

I don't trust those scales. Go to your local gym and have them measure your body fat %. Or you can purchase a cheap set of calipers from your local sporting goods department and figure it yourself.

But, I agree with the rest. Start lifting weights. What are your measurements from before and after?

jonnythan

i believe what shes trying to say pertains to her fat % and health wise not loosing pounds... mabey her BMI.... shes lost tons of weight but health wise it still says shes fat.. how can she get her BMI lowered?

BMI is height and weight, period. That's it. Since our height doesn't change much our BMI is a product of our weight and nothing else.

LoraF83

Obviously what I've been doing is working on some level as I'm losing weight, gaining muscle so do I just keep on doing what I'm doing or is there something specific I should be doing to bust through the fat? How can I significantly lower that percentage and improve my health and body?

be patient. If what you're doing is working, why change now? The last bit of weight to lose is typically the hardest... there's no "bust through the fat" changes.

I WOULD recommend heavy lifting, but that's up to you.

All of this.

Greenrun99

So you went from 157 lbs, 35% bf - 55 lbs fat, 102 lbs lean
to
133 lbs, 33% bf - 44 lbs fat, 89 lbs lean

If those numbers are accurate, you've lost 13 lbs of lean mass and 11 pounds of fat.

This is why it's so important to lift weights when you lose weight. If you had, and 90% of the weight loss was fat, you would now be:

133 lbs, 26% bf - 35 lbs fat, 98 lbs lean.

133 lbs 33% bf and 133 26% body fat is a huge difference. 9 lbs of muscle is a huge difference.

Start lifting.

This, also huge deficits in your TDEE to what your eating also can speed up this process as well as not getting enough protein during your weight loss.. Numbers on a scale can not always be the best thing.

janeite1990

I don't trust those scales. Go to your local gym and have them measure your body fat %. Or you can purchase a cheap set of calipers from your local sporting goods department and figure it yourself.

But, I agree with the rest. Start lifting weights. What are your measurements from before and after?

perfect reply: get a better measure. Lift weights.

lizzardsm

how have you lost this weight? i.e. what are your calorie and macronutrient goals?

also, at what rate have you been losing - how many lbs/ week have you been losing?

kimimila86

So you went from 157 lbs, 35% bf - 55 lbs fat, 102 lbs lean
to
133 lbs, 33% bf - 44 lbs fat, 89 lbs lean

If those numbers are accurate, you've lost 13 lbs of lean mass and 11 pounds of fat.

This is why it's so important to lift weights when you lose weight. If you had, and 90% of the weight loss was fat, you would now be:

133 lbs, 26% bf - 35 lbs fat, 98 lbs lean.

133 lbs 33% bf and 133 26% body fat is a huge difference. 9 lbs of muscle is a huge difference.

Start lifting.

Lift, lift, lift! Try looking into New Rules of Lifting for Women or maybe venture into Strong Lifts!

bcattoes

I agree that you need to add some strength training, whether weights, resistance bands, body weight or other. You need resistance work to strength your muscles.

Also, you might consider asking a professional to measure your body fat. Home measuring usually isn't very accurate. You might not be as far from the healthy range as you think.

And congrats on your loss so far!

Edit: typo

da_bears10089

i would go ahead and start lifting heavy. That will help with your body composition. New Rules of Lifting for Women is something that i've heard is great, but i haven't done it myself. I used Stronglifts 5x5. I loved it.

RhodRhod

I was and am in the same boat. After reading all the tips on here and researching on the net, what seems to be working for me as fat as the body fat is weight lifting and interval cardio. Been doing it for 3 wks now which is no where long enough but my belly is finally starting to shrink and my body fat is down to 29% from 31%. Not a lot but it gives me hope that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! Good luck!

KenosFeoh

Weight training is a beautiful thing.

I wouldn't trust the scales for the body fat reading. I can step on mine 3 different times in a row and get different readings each time.

mmapags

I don't trust those scales. Go to your local gym and have them measure your body fat %. Or you can purchase a cheap set of calipers from your local sporting goods department and figure it yourself.

But, I agree with the rest. Start lifting weights. What are your measurements from before and after?

perfect reply: get a better measure. Lift weights.

^^^ This! BI scales are useless. They have a very high margin of error. Strength train to preserve lean mass.

Sarauk2sf

Incorporate a good progressive loading strength training routine.