How Do You Lose Body Fat?

BigBoneSista
BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
edited September 24 in Fitness and Exercise
Ok I need help because I'm in new territory. I'm 5'11", 218 lbs and my digital scale says I have 41.9% body fat *OUCH* I need to seriously change that. What can I do to bring that down? I know I can lift, but what type of lifting...reps and such. Should I use as much weight as possible with less reps or light weight with more reps?

I just started the 30 Day-Shred. Will that help me any? Last month I did all Zumba & nothing else because I wanted to see what effect it would have on my body. In January I was hitting the gym. I would do 15 mins cardio, 30 minutes strength training, 15 mins cardio. Before January I was doing all cardio.

Thank you in advance for your help.
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Replies

  • ChefJenn
    ChefJenn Posts: 350 Member
    bump
  • EbonyGemstoneHealth
    EbonyGemstoneHealth Posts: 249 Member
    BUMP!
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
    want to know the answer sine I am 37% bf
  • missrugby
    missrugby Posts: 31
    I have always heard to trim body fat you use lighter weights and higher reps. To build big muscle you would use heavier weights and lower reps. I think 30 day Shred will definitely help. As you lose weight and build muscle your body fat percentage will definitely come down. Good luck!
  • sneakers71
    sneakers71 Posts: 106
    curious to.
  • godsgiftjcp
    godsgiftjcp Posts: 50
    I was told that strength training really helps. I cant remember the website I was on, but it said that using more weights with less reps is more effective. When I find the site, I will post it up here....
  • chazspk
    chazspk Posts: 159 Member
    :laugh: BuMp!!
  • JennLifts
    JennLifts Posts: 1,913 Member
    Losing weight... you will lose body fat. There's a possibility if done wrong, or depending on how much you're losing, inevitable that you'll lose a little muscle in the process, but if you're doing weights you're working on keeping it. Kudos there.
    If you do high weight low rep, you will struggle. Greatly. And as a woman, you generally are looking for long lean muscle. Which is lower weight higher rep. It's a journey, and I'm sure you know it's a time taking one. If you're diligent with your weights and cardio, the number will come down, paired with adequate nutrition ;)
  • ProTFitness
    ProTFitness Posts: 1,379 Member
    Ok I need help because I'm in new territory. I'm 5'11", 218 lbs and my digital scale says I have 41.9% body fat *OUCH* I need to seriously change that. What can I do to bring that down? I know I can lift, but what type of lifting...reps and such. Should I use as much weight as possible with less reps or light weight with more reps?

    I just started the 30 Day-Shred. Will that help me any? Last month I did all Zumba & nothing else because I wanted to see what effect it would have on my body. In January I was hitting the gym. I would do 15 mins cardio, 30 minutes strength training, 15 mins cardio. Before January I was doing all cardio.

    Thank you in advance for your help.

    Ok the scale may be close it may be off. I would not rely on it. The best way to determine body fat is skin fold test or hydrostatic(dunk tank) Sick with the 30 day shred. Do it every other day not every day. Do it 2 times through to make an hour workout if you hav time. Repeat level 1 ect . All cardio for fat loss generally does not work. I find as a personal trainer my clients get there best results doing circuit training- weights with cario all combined...keeping the HR up. Like Jillians concept in her DVDs. I also suggest getting her Banish Fat Boost Metabolisim dvd and do that every other day with the shred. These are great at home DVDs and will help you on your journy.

    PS CLEAN EATING, GREAT NUTRITION IS WHAT YOU NEED FOR FAT LOSS. YOU NEED TO NOT JUST CUT BACK BUT CUT FOODS OUT. Expecially when your trying to loose FAT!
  • CarterGrt
    CarterGrt Posts: 289 Member
    Building muscle will decrease your body fat. I would highly suggest taking measurements that you track over time. As you exchange fat for muscle, you can feel like you are not "losing weight" fast enough. The measurements will keep you sane and show improvement even when the scales aren't moving. I wish I had taken my own advice when I started losing.

    Good Luck!!!

    --Carter
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    Yes.....low weight + high reps + slow movements.....you should be breathing heavy and sweating (as if you were doing cardio) with these weight workouts.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
    Here is what you do.

    1. find out your maintenance calories
    2. Eat at a calorie deficit. (3500 calories = 1 lbs) or 500 calorie deficit a day = 1 lb per week loss
    3. Do 5-6 days a week resistance training followed by cardio and 1st thing in the morning on an empty stomach is best.
    4. Walk at a brisk pace 3 nights a week for 20-30 minutes.
    5. Eat 5-6 small meals about
    6. Drink 1/2 your body weight in water
    7. Get rid of all processed foods, white sugars, breads, junk foods, all sodas and crap. Clean up your diet right away.

    This should get you started. Add me as a friend for more help.
  • MaryDreamer
    MaryDreamer Posts: 439
    My digital scale says I have over 40% bodyfat too. I'm 5'6 166 lbs. I've heard the body fat isn't accurate on those scales from reading here in the boards. I've read that you need to get a true bodyfat testing done. Some people have done it whose scale said 40% and they were really 20% fat. So no worries! (I'm ignoring mine!)
  • jamie1888
    jamie1888 Posts: 1,704 Member
    Any exercise that you do that puts your heart in the "fat burning zone" will help burn fat. Use a heart rate monitor if you don't have one. Working out too hard or too easy, although will burn calories, but will not burn as much fat as if you are in the zone.

    Light weights with lots of reps will get you NOWHERE fast! You will NOT bulk up lifting heavy weights. Use heavy enough weights that you REALLY feel the burn and struggle with that last 2 - 3 reps. Shoot for 8 - 12 reps. You will build some muscle. But, muscle helps you firm up and burn more calories even when at rest. If you are eating at a calorie defecit, you can't bulk up.
  • RedneckWmn
    RedneckWmn Posts: 3,202 Member
    A friend of mine sent me this article.
    http://health.yahoo.net/articles/fitness/4-things-women-should-be-doing-their-fitness-training-arent
  • carmelasergi
    carmelasergi Posts: 163 Member
    Bump!
  • beerbomber
    beerbomber Posts: 184 Member
    Your doing what you need to do right now to lose body fat and that is eat right and excercise. Now here is where it gets tricky because when you lose weight you can lose 3 kinds (water, fat, muscle) obviously everybody is trying to lose fat . Now keep in mind that muscle will burn fat. So ideally you want to do cardio and btw everybody t hat has a HRM and wondering what is it good for this is exactly it you wan't to keep your heart rate at a rate that will burn fat and not go into cardiovasicular area, because when you get to cardiovascular area your body will burn fat or if your not getting the nutrition you need or depriving yourself of calories it will start burning muscle. So not to get into this to much here is simple solutions

    1. Weight Training - Ladies you have way less testorone then men so don't worry about looking all ripped its very hard to do for ladies.
    A. High Reps/Low Weight- Great for toning areas and getting them lean
    B. High Weight/Low Reps- Great for getting stronger
    Either way you go though it will help burn fat

    2. Cardio- When you run/walk/jog/bike/hike/climb/stairmaster/ect if your goal is to burn mostly fat figure out about 70% of what your maxt heart rate and try to stay around there. Nothing wrong with getting up to 85-90% of your max but just make sure your getting enough calories.

    3. Diet- What you put in your mouth will either do pretty much 1 of 2 things: 1. Burn up as energy. 2. Store For Energy late. Your goal is not to have it stored because it stores as fat. So watch your diet
  • DeadZip2010
    DeadZip2010 Posts: 111 Member
    to burn the body fat you need to get your heart rate up and keep it up while you are working out. this means either doing interval cardio training or lifting weights. you want to find a weight that you can lift between 12 and 15 times. take short breaks between sets, and do three sets of the lift.
    remember to focus of larger muscle groups such as your legs, back and chest. the three best lifts are squats, dead lifts, and bench press. these are great because they work multiple joints and muscle at once.
    the difficult thing is to find a weight that is challenging enough. this may take a few trips to the gym to figure out. but be patient, it will happen.
    what i do is pick two lifts that are opposite ov each other, like bench pres and bent over rows. one works your chest while the other works your back. perform one lift and then rest for 45 second and then perform the other lift. so it will look like this: bench press 15 reps, row 15 reps, bench press 15 reps, row 15 reps, bench press 15 reps, row 15 reps. all with 45 seconds of rest in between. this will keep your heart rate up and work your muscles a good deal.

    just remember, lighter weight, not too light though, 12 to 15 reps, 30 to 60 seconds of rest depending on how you feel. two or three sets of each lift. focus on larger muscle groups. pair lifts that work opposite sides of your body.

    if you would like me to send you a copy of one of the workouts i do, just message me. i am sorry this was such a long post.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    Light weights with lots of reps will get you NOWHERE fast!

    This depends on each person's definition of "light."
  • jamie1888
    jamie1888 Posts: 1,704 Member
    Light weights with lots of reps will get you NOWHERE fast!

    This depends on each person's definition of "light."

    Good point! I'll clarify to say, no matter how much weight you use, you should always feel a burn doing the last 2 - 3 of them; really feeling like you can't do another rep!
  • terrivision
    terrivision Posts: 58 Member
    I agree with all the comments about low weight high reps is best for building lean muscles. Also, muscles helps burn fat so it is a good idea to start strength training. You won't get bulky from it because women don't have enough testerone in their body for that.

    I'm a beachbody fan, so if you are looking for an at home workout check out P90X (that is what I am currently doing) or Power 90. I started with 5 - 8 lb weights for every exercise and I am now using 10 - 15 lbs and 20 lbs on some of the back exercises. I'm on week 7.

    I'm keeping it short because I'm in agreement with a majority of the advice in this post thus far. Good Luck!
  • RedneckWmn
    RedneckWmn Posts: 3,202 Member
    Would Insanity be considered a strength building workout? Or would you strickly suggest lifting weights?
  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
    Ok I see you are mentioning HEART RATE. I have my max heart rate set at 182. My heart rate when exercising is normally between 150-170. Does this sound like I have it set correctly? I have the Polar FT4.
  • beerbomber
    beerbomber Posts: 184 Member
    150-170 is good your in the stage where you are working your cardiovasicular system and since you said your only going for 15 minutes that is a nice place to be, you start doing 30min+ eat a bananna/apple/orange/ect about 15 mins before you start so your body uses that + fat to run itself
  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
    150-170 is good your in the stage where you are working your cardiovasicular system and since you said your only going for 15 minutes that is a nice place to be, you start doing 30min+ eat a bananna/apple/orange/ect about 15 mins before you start so your body uses that + fat to run itself

    Ok Thanks.

    Now I do the shred in the morning (4:30am) on an empty stomach. It makes my tummy hurt to eat that early but I do have my lemon water. I eat between 6:30-7am Mon thru Fri
  • riley711
    riley711 Posts: 298 Member
    BUMP
  • Janworkingitout
    Janworkingitout Posts: 434 Member
    bump
  • ProTFitness
    ProTFitness Posts: 1,379 Member
    Ok I see you are mentioning HEART RATE. I have my max heart rate set at 182. My heart rate when exercising is normally between 150-170. Does this sound like I have it set correctly? I have the Polar FT4.

    It sounds like it and if it is a polar it should have a chest strap.
  • ukgirly01
    ukgirly01 Posts: 523 Member
    Im also 5'11 and at the min im 225lbs (no idea about fat %) I'll worry about that when im at my goal weight of 176lbs (ish) Im just concentrating on fitness and healthy eating, Sticking to my calories, cardio work out 5/6 times a week and strenght training 3/4 times a week. I'll start worrying about fat percentage late and the min I just want the weight off.
  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
    Ok I see you are mentioning HEART RATE. I have my max heart rate set at 182. My heart rate when exercising is normally between 150-170. Does this sound like I have it set correctly? I have the Polar FT4.

    It sounds like it and if it is a polar it should have a chest strap.
    Yep I have a chest strap. Thanks for the help.
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