need tips for lowering body fat %

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salamander
salamander Posts: 22
in Food and Nutrition
I've been exercising and eating healthy (90% of the time) for over 5 years now. I'm not unhappy with my weight (142lbs/5'6), but I would love to lower my body fat percentage so that I "lean out" and my muscles show through that little layer covering them up.

For the most part, my weekends are my downfall (eating on the run, sporadic meals) and I've been working on that. I change up my workout routine regularly and I try and eat as many clean foods as I can. I have increased my fat intake as I was lacking in that, and now I'm noticing that my sugar as well as my fat are always well over. I have MFP settings to 45% carbs / 35% protein / 25% fat.

Does anyone have suggestions as to what I could be doing different? I exercise 5-6 times a week and eat healthy most of the time with the exception of treats here and there.
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Replies

  • sngnyrslp
    sngnyrslp Posts: 315 Member
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    commenting because i'd also like to know!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    Are you lifting weights or doing any kind of resistance or strength training? Muscle burns fat so if you're not, you need to work on building muscle as well as still maintaining your cardio.
  • rose1617
    rose1617 Posts: 469 Member
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    My suggestion would be to lift weights (looks like arielle beat me to that one lol).
    If you work on building your strength, you'll burn that fat more easily.
    In 3 months I've lost 3% body fat with a combo of olympic lifting, cardio, endurance exercises, gymnastics and others.
    The lifting always seems to do the most damage, though (to fat).
  • LastFighter
    LastFighter Posts: 175 Member
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    I went over your diary you are going over your goals several times during the week. You said your problem area is the weekend. I checked 2 weekends in a row, nothing was tracked, and by the sounds of it I would say you are probably significantly going over your goals.Your weekend glut is probably taking away any progress you make during the week.
  • BeSexy
    BeSexy Posts: 94
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    Yes.... MUSCLE BURNS FAT!!!! AND DIET... you will not see the results of the hard work until, your diet gets better! You want a body like an athlete you have to train and eat like an athlete!
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    First of all, eating fat doesn't make you fat. I eat something like 30-35% of my calories from fat and I have a body fat % of 18 or less. I got that body fat % from doing endurance workouts combined with strength training.

    Strength training tells your body to build lean muscle mass and cardio burns excess calories which uses up your fat stores.The exercises that leaned me out the most are running and swimming.

    I didn't build up significant muscles, though, until I got into maintenance and started eating more. Supposedly you can't build muscle if you are in a calorie deficit and I think that makes a certain amount of sense. Your body uses excess calories to build tissues and it breaks down tissues (hopefully mostly fat) when you are in a calorie deficit.

    However, I swear my biceps got a bit bigger while I was losing. So I think it's one of those "rules" that isn't 100% absolute. Either that or it was my imagination. :laugh:
  • SarahNicole317
    SarahNicole317 Posts: 302 Member
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    You can't out train the dinner table.

    If every weekend is bad, I can guarantee that your workouts go out the window as far as making any progress goes.

    I'm currently training for a figure contest and like you, before I began I ate ~90% clean with a cheat meal or two a week and managed to basically maintain my body. I can also tell you that if you really want to look lean and reveal muscle definition your diet needs to be very clean and balanced. Like the others said, you have to lift weights and any processed foods are going to hold you back.

    Doing tons of cardio isn't the answer either. I know plenty of women who have achieved a lean physique (14% body fat, give or take) doing only a couple of short, steady state sessions a week and HIIT workouts. Hope this helps... just be consistent and clean up your act on the weekends. It's all about the nutrition.
  • salamander
    salamander Posts: 22
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    thanks for the replies everyone!

    My current gym schedule is weight lifting 4 times a week, a bootcamp class once a week, I kickbox once a week, spin once a week, run once or twice a week, and try to manage something on the weekend (even if it's just an hour long walk). My problem isn't my fitness routine, I definitely think it's my diet (even though I seem to eat great through the week).

    The weekends I eat pretty much the same, but it seems like it goes to pot when I'm at a BBQ, or at someone's house and they offer a treat... even though you decline, people make you feel guilty because "they slaved" over the dessert all day, etc.

    I'm curious how true this is, a lady at my bootcamp class last night had a theory that since I was an obese child, I have to work twice as hard at my diet and my routine because my fat cells won't go away, I'll always be cursed with them. Is this true? I realize they might not dissappear, but I know lots of people who were obese and are now ripped (one of my guy friends is down to 10% body fat).

    Thanks again for your replies, sometimes a reminder about diet, etc. is what you need, even if you know better.
  • Spatrowich
    Spatrowich Posts: 15
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    Hi,
    fairly new here, not to exercise and fitness but this site. Anyway, to cut body fat %, is mostly diet and up the cardio a little. A lean diet, no processed foods, sugars etc...low fat, and nothing burns fat like cardio. Yes weight traning will burn some, but lifting really doesn't burn as much as you might think. I am male, 5'11" 165 with 11% body fat. The hard part for me is gaining muscle weight while still trying to sut BF% under 10.
    But anyway, just my opinion. Good Luck to all!!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    thanks for the replies everyone!

    My current gym schedule is weight lifting 4 times a week, a bootcamp class once a week, I kickbox once a week, spin once a week, run once or twice a week, and try to manage something on the weekend (even if it's just an hour long walk). My problem isn't my fitness routine, I definitely think it's my diet (even though I seem to eat great through the week).

    The weekends I eat pretty much the same, but it seems like it goes to pot when I'm at a BBQ, or at someone's house and they offer a treat... even though you decline, people make you feel guilty because "they slaved" over the dessert all day, etc.

    I'm curious how true this is, a lady at my bootcamp class last night had a theory that since I was an obese child, I have to work twice as hard at my diet and my routine because my fat cells won't go away, I'll always be cursed with them. Is this true? I realize they might not dissappear, but I know lots of people who were obese and are now ripped (one of my guy friends is down to 10% body fat).

    Thanks again for your replies, sometimes a reminder about diet, etc. is what you need, even if you know better.

    nobody's fat cells go away. Fat cells don't leave the body, they only fill up or are emptied. the only time we lose siginficant fat cells is when liposuction is performed. Other than that, they are always there.

    I would mostly agree with what has been said, a combination of strength/resistance training and cardio will be important. But nutrition is always the biggest factor in fat loss, not only what you eat, but how much. If you're at a healthy weight, eating close to maintenance and keeping a very small deficit is a great way to shred (I.E. become stronger and more lean without gaining lots of muscle mass).
  • amicklin
    amicklin Posts: 452
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    thanks for the replies everyone!

    My current gym schedule is weight lifting 4 times a week, a bootcamp class once a week, I kickbox once a week, spin once a week, run once or twice a week, and try to manage something on the weekend (even if it's just an hour long walk). My problem isn't my fitness routine, I definitely think it's my diet (even though I seem to eat great through the week).

    The weekends I eat pretty much the same, but it seems like it goes to pot when I'm at a BBQ, or at someone's house and they offer a treat... even though you decline, people make you feel guilty because "they slaved" over the dessert all day, etc.

    I'm curious how true this is, a lady at my bootcamp class last night had a theory that since I was an obese child, I have to work twice as hard at my diet and my routine because my fat cells won't go away, I'll always be cursed with them. Is this true? I realize they might not dissappear, but I know lots of people who were obese and are now ripped (one of my guy friends is down to 10% body fat).

    Thanks again for your replies, sometimes a reminder about diet, etc. is what you need, even if you know better.

    I have heard that as well! And am VERY curious how true that is. That once a fat cell is created, it is there, you can shrink it but you cannot get rid of the matter that created the fat cell.
  • salamander
    salamander Posts: 22
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    I have tried to increase my cardio while doing weights by doing calisthenics in between sets (mountain climbers, jumping jacks, skip rope, etc) to make my strength trg sessions into cardio sessions as well.

    Do you have any recommendations on how to cut my sugar? I try to not eat refined sugars, and I am watching my fruit (I used to eat more fruits than veggies), but even now I'm finding I'm 40 - 60 g over every day just from my banana and yogurt, etc.

    Thanks for your reply! Advice and constructive criticism is always appreciated:)

    Hi,
    fairly new here, not to exercise and fitness but this site. Anyway, to cut body fat %, is mostly diet and up the cardio a little. A lean diet, no processed foods, sugars etc...low fat, and nothing burns fat like cardio. Yes weight traning will burn some, but lifting really doesn't burn as much as you might think. I am male, 5'11" 165 with 11% body fat. The hard part for me is gaining muscle weight while still trying to sut BF% under 10.
    But anyway, just my opinion. Good Luck to all!!
    [/quote]
  • oats4breakfast
    oats4breakfast Posts: 225
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    Try googling "cutting phase" or something close to that. It may help. It's what the "bodybuilders" do to elminate their fat (reduce %) that is covering their already built up muscles - without loosing all their gains.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    Try googling "cutting phase" or something close to that. It may help. It's what the "bodybuilders" do to elminate their fat (reduce %) that is covering their already built up muscles - without loosing all their gains.

    Yes, body builders have specific phases. Be careful with this though, some of the things they do are rather extreme.
  • oats4breakfast
    oats4breakfast Posts: 225
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    Try googling "cutting phase" or something close to that. It may help. It's what the "bodybuilders" do to elminate their fat (reduce %) that is covering their already built up muscles - without loosing all their gains.

    Yes, body builders have specific phases. Be careful with this though, some of the things they do are rather extreme.

    Yes, I agree. Execllent point to add. They take pills, dehydrate and do all sorts of crazy things. I was just thinking it'd be a usefull source to pick some of the healthier aspects out of it and see what types of things they do and eat. Like increase meal intakes,types of foods eaten and not eaten, work out on emptier stomachs etc.
  • Serenifly
    Serenifly Posts: 669 Member
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    replace two or three cardio days with weight lifting and strength training. Particularily using your own body weight (not the machines you just sit down on)
  • Serenifly
    Serenifly Posts: 669 Member
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    Maybe I missed this, but what is your current fat % and what do you want to get down to ?
  • Spatrowich
    Spatrowich Posts: 15
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    We all know how good fruits are for you, but like anything, too much is not a good thing, so keeping you fruit intake under control is great, but when it comes to sugar, any kind of "natural" sugar (fruit etc...) is good because it is released into the body at a slower pace than refined sugars, HFCS etc...those type of sugars, are rapidly released into the system, hence you will get a "sugar rush" from a candy bar.
    So really, all you can do is read labels, make sure low amounts of sugar, look how high up the ingredients sugar is listed, and try to avoid things like Sucrose and the dreaded High Fructose Corn Syrup.
    Basically EVERYTHING has sugar in it, the only way to beat it is to check labels, and stick to fruits and starches which are made of sugars that breakdown beofre then enter the bloodstream. If you really want to learn, you could look up the glycemic index of foods, the lower the number the better.
    Hope that helps, good luck
  • salamander
    salamander Posts: 22
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    I have no idea - I have done it on the scales at the gym that read body fat %, but one day it says 30% and the next day it will say 24%, so I really have no idea. I know it's probably not as high as 30%, but it may not be 24% either. I would love to get to a point where I'm 18-22%. What is the best way to get measured for BF? I think those scales lie to me each time.
    Maybe I missed this, but what is your current fat % and what do you want to get down to ?
  • salamander
    salamander Posts: 22
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    I definitely don't want to take pills. I do take a multivitamin, siberian ginsing, and a tsp of hemp oil a day, but other than protein powder, I'm not into doing detox, pills, or anything like that. I'll look into cutting phase though and see what they say about nutrition, etc.
    Try googling "cutting phase" or something close to that. It may help. It's what the "bodybuilders" do to elminate their fat (reduce %) that is covering their already built up muscles - without loosing all their gains.

    Yes, body builders have specific phases. Be careful with this though, some of the things they do are rather extreme.

    Yes, I agree. Execllent point to add. They take pills, dehydrate and do all sorts of crazy things. I was just thinking it'd be a usefull source to pick some of the healthier aspects out of it and see what types of things they do and eat. Like increase meal intakes,types of foods eaten and not eaten, work out on emptier stomachs etc.

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