Best way to lower BF%?

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Angelic_Fatty
Angelic_Fatty Posts: 10
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm a 19 year old girl (just had a birthday today actually, yay!) and I'm 140 pounds and about 5'3" and a half. After reading some recent posts here, I decided to use advice from Helloitsdan and start bumping my calories up after not losing weight for about 3 months. My TDEE is 2500 so I eat 2000 calories a day.

I spend a lot of time (usually an hour or so) daily cleaning, playing on my WII (moving a lot when I do for more calorie burn) or walking around outside in my backyard. I exercise 5 days a week. 2 times a week I do a circuit routine with cardio+strength training, and 3 days a week I don strictly cardio for 35 - 45 minutes. I change up my workouts, too.

I don't ever do "cheat" days, if I want a little treat or something, I'll have it. Even if it's something like one or two cookies (I never exceed 200 calories with my treats). Besides that (which I rarely eat sweet/junk anyways) my diet is full of chicken, beans, eggs, fat-free dairy, nuts, nut butters, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I never drink soda, only water (at least 8 glasses) and some green tea (with no sugar).

Anyone got any other advice? My BF% is about 26 and I hope by next summer I can get it down to 20%!

:))

Replies

  • postrockandcats
    postrockandcats Posts: 1,145 Member
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    Eat well and strength train :)
  • orishp
    orishp Posts: 214 Member
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    Good question. I don't know but I have a follow up question.
    I started NROL (new rules of lifting for women) a couple of weeks ago, before that I have been on a supervised diet, I am now on the maintenance phase but I still see a dietitian/physical trainer once a month.

    Yesterday I had an appt with her, she uses one of those scales that measures body fat. In the last month I have gained 2 lbs, but lost a bit of fat, and gained 2-3 lbs of muscle.
    She then took my measurements, my upper body is a few inches slimmer, but I have gained in my hips and thighs, precisely my problem areas (pear shaped)

    She said that I am lifting too heavy, and that I should do more reps with lower weight, just opposite to what the book says.

    Now I am really confused, is there a magical way to just lose fat????, without gaining (or losing) muscle? I know the book says I wont bulk up, but seeing my measurements up exactly where I don't want them to go up is nerve wracking.
  • postrockandcats
    postrockandcats Posts: 1,145 Member
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    When you loose weight, you loose fat and muscle. Weight lifting keeps/ builds muscle so you loose more fat than muscle, which is a good thing. Muscle takes up less space and makes you look good when you loose the body fat.

    Your trainer wasn't wrong, it's just a different school of thought. Tell her what you want and what you're reading and get a workout plan that works for you.

    That said, if lifting heavier works for you, then do it!
  • Angelic_Fatty
    Angelic_Fatty Posts: 10
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    Bump!
  • orishp
    orishp Posts: 214 Member
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    Bump to see if anyone else can provide useful info ;)
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    Eat at a deficit.

    Keep cardio brief and intense to spare muscle (<30 mins)

    Strength train

    You're not going to be packing on muscle on a calorie deficit (jk, but if so, I want some of what you're taking assuming it's legal), so heavy lifting (less than 10 reps where you do or almost fail on the last) is the way to go.
  • jstandfield
    jstandfield Posts: 150 Member
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    Good question. I don't know but I have a follow up question.
    I started NROL (new rules of lifting for women) a couple of weeks ago, before that I have been on a supervised diet, I am now on the maintenance phase but I still see a dietitian/physical trainer once a month.

    Yesterday I had an appt with her, she uses one of those scales that measures body fat. In the last month I have gained 2 lbs, but lost a bit of fat, and gained 2-3 lbs of muscle.
    She then took my measurements, my upper body is a few inches slimmer, but I have gained in my hips and thighs, precisely my problem areas (pear shaped)

    She said that I am lifting too heavy, and that I should do more reps with lower weight, just opposite to what the book says.

    Now I am really confused, is there a magical way to just lose fat????, without gaining (or losing) muscle? I know the book says I wont bulk up, but seeing my measurements up exactly where I don't want them to go up is nerve wracking.

    Basically you have to do what works for you but to answer you question you gained in your hips because of the muscle underneath the fat. You will gain muscle pretty fast at first but you will taper off. The human body is pretty amazing when you think about it. It's going to do whatever it takes to adapt to you daily activities. Definitely continue the weights but to burn the fat faster follow your weight session with a 30 min cardio session either walking at a brisk pace or the stairmaster on lower settings. You should be able to hold a conversation with someone and not be out of breath. This puts you in the fat burning range. Once your strength developed switch to HIIT this brings the fat off faster than cardio! I am speaking from experience on that!
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    Good question. I don't know but I have a follow up question.
    I started NROL (new rules of lifting for women) a couple of weeks ago, before that I have been on a supervised diet, I am now on the maintenance phase but I still see a dietitian/physical trainer once a month.

    Yesterday I had an appt with her, she uses one of those scales that measures body fat. In the last month I have gained 2 lbs, but lost a bit of fat, and gained 2-3 lbs of muscle.
    She then took my measurements, my upper body is a few inches slimmer, but I have gained in my hips and thighs, precisely my problem areas (pear shaped)

    She said that I am lifting too heavy, and that I should do more reps with lower weight, just opposite to what the book says.

    Now I am really confused, is there a magical way to just lose fat????, without gaining (or losing) muscle? I know the book says I wont bulk up, but seeing my measurements up exactly where I don't want them to go up is nerve wracking.

    Lower weight higher rep to lose weight is BS. You lift the same way on a cut as you do on a bulk, just with the understanding that your lifts will not keep going up. Continue on with what you have been doing.

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