maintain current weight but lose belly fat

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  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Ive never had my body fat measured. Id say prob about 18% tho maybe a little more.

    Here's a visual guide for you.
    body-fat-percentage-women.jpg
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    If you are made of more muscle all over, your body will consist of less fat.

    It will burn more calories at rest.

    Using the muscle will inform your body you need it and spare it during weight loss.

    You can also do body recomp look it up.

    All in all what you need to do is focus on building or preserving your muscle and losing the fat. It will come off of wherever there is excess with not a single crunch necessary or any specific foods required or avoided.

    Look into heavy progressive lifting to achieve either of these goals which will yield your desired result.

    There is a flat belly thread on this site that someone made that is great. If no one has provided it yet, you should look it up.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    If you are made of more muscle all over, your body will consist of less fat.

    It will burn more calories at rest.

    Using the muscle will inform your body you need it and spare it during weight loss.

    You can also do body recomp look it up.

    All in all what you need to do is focus on building or preserving your muscle and losing the fat. It will come off of wherever there is excess with not a single crunch necessary or any specific foods required or avoided.

    Look into heavy progressive lifting to achieve either of these goals which will yield your desired result.

    There is a flat belly thread on this site that someone made that is great. If no one has provided it yet, you should look it up.

    :drinker:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Ive never had my body fat measured. Id say prob about 18% tho maybe a little more.

    Here's a visual guide for you.
    body-fat-percentage-women.jpg

    I still look like I'm between the %30 and %35. :grumble:

    And while I'm griping, there is no image of the range I want to be: %18.5-19.

    Checks bodyfat calculator: Well no wonder that's what I look like. The one I found with wrist, hip, waist, forearm measurements says I'm %32 bodyfat.

    Now I'm utterly confused. Which is unhealthy? A bodyfat of under 18.5 or a BMI of under 18.5? How low can I healthily go?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    I still look like I'm between the %30 and %35. :grumble:

    And while I'm griping, there is no image of the range I want to be: %18.5-19.

    That's a very specific half percentage range. I think you'll find when you get lower it's more about the look than the number. I only monitor the numbers (weight, calipers and tape measure) to ensure that I'm losing mostly fat.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    I still look like I'm between the %30 and %35. :grumble:

    And while I'm griping, there is no image of the range I want to be: %18.5-19.

    That's a very specific half percentage range. I think you'll find when you get lower it's more about the look than the number. I only monitor the numbers (weight, calipers and tape measure) to ensure that I'm losing mostly fat.

    I'm all confused between body fat % by measuring wrist and waist and such and BMI now anyway. I can't figure out what is my lowest healthy weight I can go to because one seems to be saying one thing, the other something else.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Checks bodyfat calculator: Well no wonder that's what I look like. The one I found with wrist, hip, waist, forearm measurements says I'm %32 bodyfat.

    Now I'm utterly confused. Which is unhealthy? A bodyfat of under 18.5 or a BMI of under 18.5? How low can I healthily go?

    Calculators can be highly inaccurate in you hold most your fat in a specific area. They're slightly more accurate if you have even distribution. I have more glute muscle than average, which always puts body fat by measurement significantly higher.

    BMI:
    bmi.jpg

    Body fat:
    Ideal-Body-Fat-Percentage-Chart1.jpg

    My BMI is 26.7 and my body fat is 21%. If you have higher levels of lean mass you will have a high BMI because the BMI chart does not take into account body composition.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Checks bodyfat calculator: Well no wonder that's what I look like. The one I found with wrist, hip, waist, forearm measurements says I'm %32 bodyfat.

    Now I'm utterly confused. Which is unhealthy? A bodyfat of under 18.5 or a BMI of under 18.5? How low can I healthily go?

    Calculators can be highly inaccurate in you hold most your fat in a specific area. They're slightly more accurate if you have even distribution. I have more glute muscle than average, which always puts body fat by measurement significantly higher.

    BMI:
    bmi.jpg

    Body fat:
    Ideal-Body-Fat-Percentage-Chart1.jpg

    My BMI is 26.7 and my body fat is 21%. If you have higher levels of lean mass you will have a high BMI because the BMI chart does not take into account body composition.

    Thanks, I've been confusing BMI with bodyfat % all these years and it still trips me up and frustrates me. I guess if it ever gets to the point where I really need to know my true body fat percentage, I'll have to at very least get callipered. Obviously, I don't have higher levels of lean mass, I think I have the opposite problem, BMI going to put me as lower than I really am.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Thanks, I've been confusing BMI with bodyfat % all these years and it still trips me up and frustrates me. I guess if it ever gets to the point where I really need to know my true body fat percentage, I'll have to at very least get callipered. Obviously, I don't have higher levels of lean mass, I think I have the opposite problem, BMI going to put me as lower than I really am.

    This is where lifting comes into play. A great resistance training program will improve your body composition and retain the lean mass you have while you are losing. Many women who yo-yo diet for years have low lean mass. Eating at an appropriate deficit (trying to eat as much as possible while losing slowly) and reistance training are the two best ways to combat that and finally lose the weight.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Thanks, I've been confusing BMI with bodyfat % all these years and it still trips me up and frustrates me. I guess if it ever gets to the point where I really need to know my true body fat percentage, I'll have to at very least get callipered. Obviously, I don't have higher levels of lean mass, I think I have the opposite problem, BMI going to put me as lower than I really am.

    This is where lifting comes into play. A great resistance training program will improve your body composition and retain the lean mass you have while you are losing. Many women who yo-yo diet for years have low lean mass. Eating at an appropriate deficit (trying to eat as much as possible while losing slowly) and reistance training are the two best ways to combat that and finally lose the weight.

    I can only do so much without risking a back injury, but I'm working on it. A little at a time along with walking and swimming. Time to go pick up something heavy (to me, anyway) and put it down a few times.
  • Roxygrl20_02
    Roxygrl20_02 Posts: 50
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    Yes, MEGA important to keep belly sucked in while working out, sitting, walking, breathing, etc! Try it for a month. You'll see vast improvement!!!
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    You cannot spot reduce fat. Cardio, cardio, cardio. "You can tone all you want, but if there's a layer of fat covering it, nobody is going to see it." -Cassey Ho, Blogilates Pilates and Fitness Instructor. So... I'm sure with what you weigh, you don't have much fat on you. I've read that avocados help blast belly fat, but avocados in general are quite fatty, and daily serving is quite small. Great that you're eating clean. I assume you're doing a lot of abdominal exercises to target the toning for your stomach?

    Lolwut? Except for the part about not being able to spot reduce, this whole post is full of nonsense.

    "Cardio, cardio, cardio" is NOT the answer. The answer is a moderate calorie deficit, while strength training. OP, Jillian Michaels does not qualify as adequate strength training, I am sorry to say. You are going to need to amp it up. You need HEAVY weights, not the little soup can-sized girlie-weights Jillian uses. You lift weights to preserve your lean muscle so you lose more fat while eating at a deficit.

    Avocados, while a delicious and nutritionally beneficial food, do not "blast belly fat". (More lol.) No food blasts belly fat, or any fat. Calorie deficits blast fat. Nothing else.

    Also, abdominal exercises do not "tone" the belly (Lollercoaster). You can't target any body part, that is the same as spot reducing. Which we've already established as being impossible.

    To recap: eat at a deficit, lift HEAVY weights. Look up New Rule of Lifting for Women or StrongLifts to get started lifting. Good luck OP. :flowerforyou:
  • bullieforme
    bullieforme Posts: 37
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    I've lost just over 5 stone since January and don't need to lose more but I too have "flabby" belly ! I do a very physical job. Ten hours shifts walking and carrying heavy weight. My arms and legs look good considering the amount of weight I have lost but it's that loose belly that's defeating me ! I guess only excersize for that specific area will help? But I don't know what to do ? I reckon there's got to be a good half a stone in weight in the "loose" belly ! My friend said only surgery will get rid of it !
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    I've lost just over 5 stone since January and don't need to lose more but I too have "flabby" belly ! I do a very physical job. Ten hours shifts walking and carrying heavy weight. My arms and legs look good considering the amount of weight I have lost but it's that loose belly that's defeating me ! I guess only excersize for that specific area will help? But I don't know what to do ? I reckon there's got to be a good half a stone in weight in the "loose" belly ! My friend said only surgery will get rid of it !

    You can't spot reduce and there are no exercises that will specificially help that area. It's still fat and you can lose the fat without surgery. Loose skin may tighten over time. There was lots of great advice in this thread as well as a link to a helpful thread about stomach fat.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Thanks, I've been confusing BMI with bodyfat % all these years and it still trips me up and frustrates me. I guess if it ever gets to the point where I really need to know my true body fat percentage, I'll have to at very least get callipered. Obviously, I don't have higher levels of lean mass, I think I have the opposite problem, BMI going to put me as lower than I really am.

    This is where lifting comes into play. A great resistance training program will improve your body composition and retain the lean mass you have while you are losing. Many women who yo-yo diet for years have low lean mass. Eating at an appropriate deficit (trying to eat as much as possible while losing slowly) and reistance training are the two best ways to combat that and finally lose the weight.

    I can only do so much without risking a back injury, but I'm working on it. A little at a time along with walking and swimming. Time to go pick up something heavy (to me, anyway) and put it down a few times.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    Also, do you have an existing back injury you're afraid of re-injuring, or a medical condition that makes you prone to injury? If so, what is it? Knowing that will help us give you better advice.

    If not, just make sure your form is good -- your body really can handle it!
  • kassie212
    kassie212 Posts: 18 Member
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    By the visual id say im 20-22% range. Its just annoying bc I havent lost inches when I measure my waist in over three weeks! Grrr i have been tryig to lift heavier. Im only at 130 for squats and i use 20-30 lb dumbells and can only bench press 60 lbs and sumo dealift 60lbs.
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    By the visual id say im 20-22% range. Its just annoying bc I havent lost inches when I measure my waist in over three weeks! Grrr i have been tryig to lift heavier. Im only at 130 for squats and i use 20-30 lb dumbells and can only bench press 60 lbs and sumo dealift 60lbs.

    What are you using for the squats? You should be able to use it for the bench press and deadlift. You might also want to check your form on both squat and deadlift. Your deadlift should pretty easily outrun your squat, so odds are, your form is wrong on one of them if it's freeweights on both.
  • kassie212
    kassie212 Posts: 18 Member
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    I use the barbell weight thats connected as a machine for squats. I just started doing sumo deadlift last week though.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Thanks, I've been confusing BMI with bodyfat % all these years and it still trips me up and frustrates me. I guess if it ever gets to the point where I really need to know my true body fat percentage, I'll have to at very least get callipered. Obviously, I don't have higher levels of lean mass, I think I have the opposite problem, BMI going to put me as lower than I really am.

    This is where lifting comes into play. A great resistance training program will improve your body composition and retain the lean mass you have while you are losing. Many women who yo-yo diet for years have low lean mass. Eating at an appropriate deficit (trying to eat as much as possible while losing slowly) and reistance training are the two best ways to combat that and finally lose the weight.

    I can only do so much without risking a back injury, but I'm working on it. A little at a time along with walking and swimming. Time to go pick up something heavy (to me, anyway) and put it down a few times.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    Also, do you have an existing back injury you're afraid of re-injuring, or a medical condition that makes you prone to injury? If so, what is it? Knowing that will help us give you better advice.

    If not, just make sure your form is good -- your body really can handle it!

    It's genetic, and then I aggravated it in my twenties doing heavy lifting jobs. I know how to baby it properly along and how to listen to when it's had enough if I'm exercising, but it definitely limits what and how much I can do. Actually, getting rid of the rest of this gut might help, since all that weight is sitting right over where I have the most problems.
  • tinabell153
    tinabell153 Posts: 298 Member
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    I want to lose my belly fat too. I have been using circuit training so I get strength, cardio and abs all in one workout. I'm 5'0" 107lbs and hold all my weight in the abdomen, butt and thighs.

    I think my real problem is sitting at a desk all day. I may need to try sitting on an exercise ball at my desk! Wonder if I'd get any weird looks and comments hahahaha.

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