All I need to lose is 20 pounds PLEASE help.

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Brandonshields97
Brandonshields97 Posts: 52
in Motivation and Support
please just read the whole thing .. Iv'e been 15 percent body fat Dam near my whole life . for the past 2 years I just CANT get below that 15 percent ... Im 5'11 weigh 162. You might say thats a normal weight for my hieght but I have alot of body fat So I cant see my none of my muscles or abs whatsoever and I have NEVER had abs and because of that im depressed. Last month I got serious and started dieting and doing cardio RELIGIOUSLY 3 times day and hour each tine for like 30 days and I only lost 2 pounds .i was hopless . I broke down and just quit dieting and workingout . now im more serious than ever . I wanna lose these pounds by decemember but ive been trying for so long I feel its nearly impossible . I just really want to get down to 10 percent body fat and have my dream body by the end of this year . Pleaaaase help me guys ...

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  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
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    .. Im 5'11 weigh 162. You might say thats a normal weight for my hieght but I have alot of body fat So I cant see my none of my muscles or abs whatsoever and I have NEVER had abs and because of that im depressed.

    I just really want to get down to 10 percent body fat and have my dream body by the end of this year . Pleaaaase help me guys ...


    Pictures please.
  • elainematto
    elainematto Posts: 28 Member
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    The closer you get to your ideal weight the harder it is. Or at least that has been my experience. I've been trying to lose 15 to 20 pounds for at least 20 years! I lose the first 5 easily enough, but then get discouraged, and give up. Seems pretty clear to me now that the key is to just keep going... 2 pounds sounds like pretty good results to me. If you are maintaining a negative calorie balance, the weight will come off... Slog on!
  • Danger2OneSelf
    Danger2OneSelf Posts: 883 Member
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    please just read the whole thing .. Iv'e been 15 percent body fat Dam near my whole life . for the past 2 years I just CANT get below that 15 percent ... Im 5'11 weigh 162. You might say thats a normal weight for my hieght but I have alot of body fat So I cant see my none of my muscles or abs whatsoever and I have NEVER had abs and because of that im depressed. Last month I got serious and started dieting and doing cardio RELIGIOUSLY 3 times day and hour each tine for like 30 days and I only lost 2 pounds .i was hopless . I broke down and just quit dieting and workingout . now im more serious than ever . I wanna lose these pounds by decemember but ive been trying for so long I feel its nearly impossible . I just really want to get down to 10 percent body fat and have my dream body by the end of this year . Pleaaaase help me guys ...

    Hey bro, don't gotta down on your self it's all part of fitness journey. When your pushing your body, your body's always gonna be changing some times for the worst sometimes the best. 10% pretty dam lean dude, I've been around there in the past and if you don't have a lighting fast metabolism and lean genetics it's a ***** of a lot of effort to maintain. All I can really suggest is EAT CLEANER AND PUSH YOURSELF HARDER.....add me if you want and good luck man
  • leslturn8
    leslturn8 Posts: 505 Member
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    Make sure your fueling your body and maintain the calorie deficiet. (Cant spell haha)
    Keep on going or change workouts, lift weights, change your focus from weight to fitness commitment. Have a look on beachbody.com if you havnt already. Great workouts. Im currently doing insanity day 5 today. Fitness has increased and my pants feel looser. I Weigh more and havnt lost in a few days because my body isnt use to it yet, im retaining water.
  • donnace7
    donnace7 Posts: 147 Member
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    I'm not a dr. but (as I'm sure you've been told many times) your height and weight don't seem unhealthy to me. But, I realize its also about feeling good about yourself. Take comfort that from my perspective you don't have that much to lose. Take your time. Keep on keepin' on. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm curious as to how old you are? The reason I ask: 20 years ago when I was in my teens and early 20s, I was 5'4, 125lbs and convinced I was fat and always depressed about it. People would tell me how great I looked and I just brushed if off as politeness. Now at the ripe old age of 45:wink: and 175lbs. and REALLY needing to lose weight, I have more confidence and I find that I'm actually much easier on myself, so it makes it easier to fight the good fight and stick with it. In fact, I'm not sure if it helped or hurt that I have much more self confidence (of course it also helps that I know now that I looked damn good in younger years :glasses: ) but perspective does change with time.

    You are waaaaay too hard on yourself with this body fat percentage stuff. You are not unhealthy now and not in danger, so you have time. You'll get there.
  • rsalty
    rsalty Posts: 68 Member
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    You're still likely to get a couple of bouts of growth between now and 21... just work out and eat clean (make certain you get good protein consistently, and enough fuel for muscle growth), so your muscles outgrow the fat. That will probably work better for you than trying to diet it through on this one.

    You might need as low as 7% to see abs "as seen on TV", which is honestly a harsh goal: the ad photo guys don't look that good two days before or two days after, and below 5% you start getting joint problems, some metabolic weirdness, and other "fat too low for health issues" (including some losses in the "reproductive fitness" area - which is really no fun to lose). It's a small gap.

    I suspect that your best bet would be lots of cardio and intervals to force the calories you carry and the calories you eat into muscles, and once or twice a week do some high % of one rep max weighted crunches (the bigger the underlying abs, the higher the bodyfat you can have and see them). Add something similar for the obliques and the back to balance them against the rectus abdominis and keep your posture from going ugly on you.

    Edit: low fat effects as I recall them from nutritional biochem textbook in college, can't find it right away so I can't give a proper citation. : (
    ... and note, for girls, the percent where it all goes to pieces is about 7%, so thus the lower percentage of girls sporting six-packs.

    Edit 2: after rereading, ... with the cardio you describe, are you eating enough to build some muscles to go with it? Gains in lean might be the low road to the body you want, instead of trying to starve out the last stone of fat.
  • Orphis
    Orphis Posts: 7
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    see the finish line and focus on it. take your body weight and multiply by 12 that is the number of cal's per day you have to eat to sustain your weight (or so say's the fitness expert on dr. OZ) you can do it just cut some carbs NOT all of them cause everyone needs carbs and sugar to survive. just don't go crazy and remember rome was not built in a day. i know you said you have been at it for a while everyone hits a plateau, just push through it. keep the faith and it will happen.
  • catfive1
    catfive1 Posts: 529 Member
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    Have you tried lifting weights?
  • jennagoogles13
    jennagoogles13 Posts: 266
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    Have you tried lifting weights?
    ^This. If you want visible muscle definition, you are never going to get there by doing cardio alone.

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