How to lose fat

y'all are giving me a friggen headache!

I just wanna lower my BF% & I am having a HELL of a time doing it.

I lift weights 3 times a week (30-45 min) I eat clean (protein..check, healthy fats only.. check, complex carbs..check)

I cant walk... I end up running which includes hilly terrain and sprint intervals 3 times a week for about 45 minutes

I drink like a gallon of water a day.

WHATS MY PROBLEM? I am 135 @ 5'6 and 26% BF

y'all are giving me a friggen headache!

I just wanna lower my BF% & I am having a HELL of a time doing it.

I lift weights 3 times a week (30-45 min) I eat clean (protein..check, healthy fats only.. check, complex carbs..check)

I cant walk... I end up running which includes hilly terrain and sprint intervals 3 times a week for about 45 minutes

I drink like a gallon of water a day.

WHATS MY PROBLEM? I am 135 @ 5'6 and 26% BF

y'all are giving me a friggen headache!

I just wanna lower my BF% & I am having a HELL of a time doing it.

I lift weights 3 times a week (30-45 min) I eat clean (protein..check, healthy fats only.. check, complex carbs..check)

I cant walk... I end up running which includes hilly terrain and sprint intervals 3 times a week for about 45 minutes

I drink like a gallon of water a day.

WHATS MY PROBLEM? I am 135 @ 5'6 and 26% BF

Are you accurately tracking your calories? Sounds like the exercise piece is in place, so you must be eating more than you think. Lower your calories by 200-250, give it 2-3 weeks, and see if that does the trick. The human body is incredibly complex, but at the same time ridiculously simple and predictive. If you follow those 3 rules, you will lose fat and retain muscle.

y'all are giving me a friggen headache!

I just wanna lower my BF% & I am having a HELL of a time doing it.

I lift weights 3 times a week (30-45 min) I eat clean (protein..check, healthy fats only.. check, complex carbs..check)

I cant walk... I end up running which includes hilly terrain and sprint intervals 3 times a week for about 45 minutes

I drink like a gallon of water a day.

WHATS MY PROBLEM? I am 135 @ 5'6 and 26% BF

What kind of weight lifting are we talking here? 5lb Barbie weights or something on a bar that's taller than you? If the former, drop them and go for the big stuff. If the latter, keep it up and make sure you're pushing yourself. And try dropping some of the cardio.

Might want to try changing your macros, too. MFP, by default, gives you a high carb level and low protein level. It might also be worth trying something like getting most of your carbs from veggies instead of grains if you're not already.

1. Lift Weights at least 3 times a week
2. Eat 1g of protein per lbs of LBM
3. Adjust calories to lose 1lb to 2lbs per week

Edit: typos yet again...ughh

1. Lift Weights at least 3 times a week
2. Eat 1g of protein per lbs of LBM
3. Adjust calories to lose 1lb to 2lbs per week

Edit: typos yet again...ughh

Wait?! What?! No cleansing or detoxing? Or green coffee beans, raspberry ketones? I don't have to give up pasta for the rest of my life? And what if I have a desk job?! Do I need to become a gluten free vegan low carb intermittent faster? Should I not eat after 7pm?!?!?

Sorry I've been on the forums to much lately. Excellent solid straight forward advice!!! Thanks for the post!!! :flowerforyou:

y'all are giving me a friggen headache!

I just wanna lower my BF% & I am having a HELL of a time doing it.

I lift weights 3 times a week (30-45 min) I eat clean (protein..check, healthy fats only.. check, complex carbs..check)

I cant walk... I end up running which includes hilly terrain and sprint intervals 3 times a week for about 45 minutes

I drink like a gallon of water a day.

WHATS MY PROBLEM? I am 135 @ 5'6 and 26% BF

What kind of weight lifting are we talking here? 5lb Barbie weights or something on a bar that's taller than you? If the former, drop them and go for the big stuff. If the latter, keep it up and make sure you're pushing yourself. And try dropping some of the cardio.

Might want to try changing your macros, too. MFP, by default, gives you a high carb level and low protein level. It might also be worth trying something like getting most of your carbs from veggies instead of grains if you're not already.

LOL. The only time I do "barbie" weights is when I am not at the gym... because the heaviest I have at home is 12lbs. BUT, yes when at the gym I do lift heavy. It alternates sometimes I do lower weights higher reps.. other times I do the absolute max I can lift until I fail.

I do a lot of HIIT with the weights.

I do eat brown rice but usually no later than lunchtime and no more than a few times a week.. My veggie intake is HUGE. I love them and cant get enough.

Maybe I am not pushing myself hard enough?

Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but I have a couple of method questions:

I don't have a gym membership, nor any weight machines at home. Do things like push-ups or squats counts as a form of "lifting", because me doing a push-up is kinda like benching quite a bit of weight...
And how do you find out your LBM so you know how much protein to eat?
I can feel that I have some great muscles hiding under the fat and I'd love to get rid of it.

Some of you have been curious about my workout that I used to lose the initial 35+lbs at home. Well, it was 100% bodyweight based, no weights. I'll lay it out here:

This is your basic 5 x 5 template. (To clarify, 5x5 is 5 reps x 5 sets. The idea is to work at a difficulty level where you could only do maybe 7-8 reps on the first set, and are struggling to finish 5 reps on the last set). You would do strength training 3 times a week, say Monday-Wednesday-Friday with the weekends off. These are done "lazy circuits" style, with about 1 minute rest between each set. The explanations of the exercises you'll use for each group are farther below.

Workout A
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Horizontal push - 5 x 5
1C. Horizontal pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - flexion - 3 x 5
2B. Ab - static 3 x 30 seconds

Workout B
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Vertical push - 5 x 5
1C. Hip dominant - 5 x 5
1D. Vertical pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - rotation - 3 x 5
2B. Grip and neck training - 3 x varies

Exercise Progressions - with regular weight training you can just add weight to the bar. With bodyweight progression is mostly about changing your leverage. These are just a few examples, I could come up with dozens more if needed. Google is your friend if you are unsure what an exercise is or how to perform it properly. Youtube is usually a good resource. Remember also, you can always add resistance in the form of a weighted vest, backpack, or resistance bands if necessary.

Explanations of exercise in order of difficulty (easy-hard)
1. Knee Dominant -- squats, lunges, step-ups, bulgarian split squats, unilateral bent leg deadlift, partial one leg squat, one leg squat, box or stair pistols, full pistols.
2. Horizontal Push -- pushups, decline pushups, resistance pushups, side to side pushups, stair one arm pushups, negative one arm pushups, full one arm pushups.
3. Horizontal Pull -- body row, resistance body row, negative one hand row, incline one hand row, full one hand row.
4. Ab - flexion -- crunches, situps, resistance or incline situps, reverse situp, resistance or incline reverse situps, hanging knee or leg raise, hanging pikes, rollout from knees, rollout from feet, dragon flag. Also included are oblique moves like side lying crunches with or without resistance and side lying two leg raise.
5. Abs- static -- 4 point prone bridge, 3 point prone bridge, 2 point prone bridge, 4 point supine bridge, 3 point supine bridge.
6. Vertical Push -- pike pushup, hindu pushup, divebomber pushup, decline pike pushup, decline hindu pushup, decline divebomber pushup, one arm pike pushup, negative handstand pushup, handstand pushup with head touching floor, full handstand pushup.
7. Hip Dominant -- supine hip extension, good morning, one leg stiff leg deadlift, split one leg good morning, one leg supine hip extension, hyperextension, one leg hyperextension, natural glute-ham raise.
8. Vertical Pull -- jumping or assisted pullups, pullups, resistance pullups, side to side pullups, negative one hand pullups, one hand pullups. All these can refer to chinups or neutral grip pullups as well.
9. Ab - rotation -- twist crunches or situps, resistance or incline twist crunches or situps, russian twists, lying windshield wipers, standing rope rotations, hanging windshield wipers.
10. Grip and Neck Training -- for grip you can use handgrippers, deadhangs from a pullup bar (especially a fatbar or gripping a towel). For neck nothing beats wrestlers bridges. If you are involved in a striking martial art or sport, finger and fist pushups are very important also.

None of these lists have to end here. If you get strong enough you can always add resistance to your full range of motion one limb exercise. Or if you can do more than 5 one hand pushups do decline one hand pushups, or start working on one hand hindu and then eventually one hand dive bombers, and so on.

The nice thing about this routine is it scales dramatically depending on your fitness level. If you can't do even ONE regular pull up, you can scale it down and do assisted pull ups (legs on a chair), or ballistic pullups (where you jump to provide the initial momentum). It's actually easier to do properly when you're very unfit...because once you're healthy and strong...you're going to be searching for challenging enough exercises to only allow you 5 reps max by the finish of the 5 sets.

If you need any help with choosing exercises, or anything else, let me know!

Oh well, I guess people don't like simplicity.

y'all are giving me a friggen headache!

I just wanna lower my BF% & I am having a HELL of a time doing it.

I lift weights 3 times a week (30-45 min) I eat clean (protein..check, healthy fats only.. check, complex carbs..check)

I cant walk... I end up running which includes hilly terrain and sprint intervals 3 times a week for about 45 minutes

I drink like a gallon of water a day.

WHATS MY PROBLEM? I am 135 @ 5'6 and 26% BF

how many calories are you eating?

y'all are giving me a friggen headache!

I just wanna lower my BF% & I am having a HELL of a time doing it.

I lift weights 3 times a week (30-45 min) I eat clean (protein..check, healthy fats only.. check, complex carbs..check)

I cant walk... I end up running which includes hilly terrain and sprint intervals 3 times a week for about 45 minutes

I drink like a gallon of water a day.

WHATS MY PROBLEM? I am 135 @ 5'6 and 26% BF

how many calories are you eating?

I am eating 1300. But I eat my exercise calories back. I sit at a desk all day with a little walking... So I am pretty much Sedentary. I JUST read a forum that said I should try a 30% Carb intake, 50% Protein, and 20% Fat... is this about right? I am going to change my settings if so...

Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but I have a couple of method questions:

I don't have a gym membership, nor any weight machines at home. Do things like push-ups or squats counts as a form of "lifting", because me doing a push-up is kinda like benching quite a bit of weight...
And how do you find out your LBM so you know how much protein to eat?
I can feel that I have some great muscles hiding under the fat and I'd love to get rid of it.

Absolutely. ANY lifting is heavy lifting, if you can only lift the item in question 5-8x or so.

Take a look at this:

Some of you have been curious about my workout that I used to lose the initial 35+lbs at home. Well, it was 100% bodyweight based, no weights. I'll lay it out here:

This is your basic 5 x 5 template. (To clarify, 5x5 is 5 reps x 5 sets. The idea is to work at a difficulty level where you could only do maybe 7-8 reps on the first set, and are struggling to finish 5 reps on the last set). You would do strength training 3 times a week, say Monday-Wednesday-Friday with the weekends off. These are done "lazy circuits" style, with about 1 minute rest between each set. The explanations of the exercises you'll use for each group are farther below.

Workout A
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Horizontal push - 5 x 5
1C. Horizontal pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - flexion - 3 x 5
2B. Ab - static 3 x 30 seconds

Workout B
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Vertical push - 5 x 5
1C. Hip dominant - 5 x 5
1D. Vertical pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - rotation - 3 x 5
2B. Grip and neck training - 3 x varies

Exercise Progressions - with regular weight training you can just add weight to the bar. With bodyweight progression is mostly about changing your leverage. These are just a few examples, I could come up with dozens more if needed. Google is your friend if you are unsure what an exercise is or how to perform it properly. Youtube is usually a good resource. Remember also, you can always add resistance in the form of a weighted vest, backpack, or resistance bands if necessary.

Explanations of exercise in order of difficulty (easy-hard)
1. Knee Dominant -- squats, lunges, step-ups, bulgarian split squats, unilateral bent leg deadlift, partial one leg squat, one leg squat, box or stair pistols, full pistols.
2. Horizontal Push -- pushups, decline pushups, resistance pushups, side to side pushups, stair one arm pushups, negative one arm pushups, full one arm pushups.
3. Horizontal Pull -- body row, resistance body row, negative one hand row, incline one hand row, full one hand row.
4. Ab - flexion -- crunches, situps, resistance or incline situps, reverse situp, resistance or incline reverse situps, hanging knee or leg raise, hanging pikes, rollout from knees, rollout from feet, dragon flag. Also included are oblique moves like side lying crunches with or without resistance and side lying two leg raise.
5. Abs- static -- 4 point prone bridge, 3 point prone bridge, 2 point prone bridge, 4 point supine bridge, 3 point supine bridge.
6. Vertical Push -- pike pushup, hindu pushup, divebomber pushup, decline pike pushup, decline hindu pushup, decline divebomber pushup, one arm pike pushup, negative handstand pushup, handstand pushup with head touching floor, full handstand pushup.
7. Hip Dominant -- supine hip extension, good morning, one leg stiff leg deadlift, split one leg good morning, one leg supine hip extension, hyperextension, one leg hyperextension, natural glute-ham raise.
8. Vertical Pull -- jumping or assisted pullups, pullups, resistance pullups, side to side pullups, negative one hand pullups, one hand pullups. All these can refer to chinups or neutral grip pullups as well.
9. Ab - rotation -- twist crunches or situps, resistance or incline twist crunches or situps, russian twists, lying windshield wipers, standing rope rotations, hanging windshield wipers.
10. Grip and Neck Training -- for grip you can use handgrippers, deadhangs from a pullup bar (especially a fatbar or gripping a towel). For neck nothing beats wrestlers bridges. If you are involved in a striking martial art or sport, finger and fist pushups are very important also.

None of these lists have to end here. If you get strong enough you can always add resistance to your full range of motion one limb exercise. Or if you can do more than 5 one hand pushups do decline one hand pushups, or start working on one hand hindu and then eventually one hand dive bombers, and so on.

The nice thing about this routine is it scales dramatically depending on your fitness level. If you can't do even ONE regular pull up, you can scale it down and do assisted pull ups (legs on a chair), or ballistic pullups (where you jump to provide the initial momentum). It's actually easier to do properly when you're very unfit...because once you're healthy and strong...you're going to be searching for challenging enough exercises to only allow you 5 reps max by the finish of the 5 sets.

If you need any help with choosing exercises, or anything else, let me know!

I ended up losing 40lbs of primarily FAT in 3mos with that workout. I didn't eat clean, I didn't obsess over how small or large my deficit was every day (just that I had one). I didn't do cardio either. I just lifted my own body in ways where I failed in 5 or so reps, and ate under my maintenance.

Period.

As for the protein question, just eat .75-1g/lb of bodyweight. You can't realistically overdo protein.

Just make sure you're drinking enough water, and getting your fiber in...thank me for that bit of advice later!

Thank you very much! I do a fair amount of cardio, but a LOT of what I do would count as one form of lifting or another. And I'm already pretty focused on my water and fiber intake.

Thanks again!

Holy crap - hold up... other than protein shakes/supplements, how the hell am I supposed to eat 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight? I weight 210 right now, and 210 grams, or even 158 grams of protein is 2-3 times as much protein as I eat in a regular day, and I thought that was a LOT of protein!