Lowering Body Fat and Shedding Excess Weight

Jess830409
Jess830409 Posts: 285 Member
edited November 28 in Health and Weight Loss
What is the best way to lose body fat for someone who is already active and paying attention to food choices.

A quick background - I am 5' 3" and currently 149 lbs - up 16 lbs from this time last year.
The big change this year has been lifting/strength has been my focus versus running (even though I still run)

I am liking the muscle development and strength, but I would like to shed some of the extra fluff - I feel very heavy.

Thanks for any tips!

Replies

  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Consume less calories.

    That's really all there is to it.
  • Jess830409
    Jess830409 Posts: 285 Member
    I went from 2,000 in December to 1,750 and then now at 1,600

    Hoping that's the trick
  • GsKiki
    GsKiki Posts: 392 Member
    To lower body fat you need to watch what you eat (which you say you do), do exercise both cardio and weights (which you also do) so I would say you have a pretty good plan. Just keep on going and you will see results :)
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Jess830409 wrote: »
    I went from 2,000 in December to 1,750 and then now at 1,600

    Hoping that's the trick

    If you're accurate and consistent, sounds like it should work (I should have added those qualifiers before).

  • Jess830409
    Jess830409 Posts: 285 Member
    juggernaut1974 wrote: »
    Jess830409 wrote: »
    I went from 2,000 in December to 1,750 and then now at 1,600

    Hoping that's the trick

    If you're accurate and consistent, sounds like it should work (I should have added those qualifiers before).

    Thanks :-) accuracy and consistency - and patience I guess lol
  • Jess830409
    Jess830409 Posts: 285 Member
    GsKiki wrote: »
    To lower body fat you need to watch what you eat (which you say you do), do exercise both cardio and weights (which you also do) so I would say you have a pretty good plan. Just keep on going and you will see results :)

    TY :-)
    Sometimes you need to make sure you are doing the right things
    Appreciate the response
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    How do you log food? Do you measure everything? It was a huge eye opener for me when I did and has completely changed my journey and the efforts that I make along the way.
  • Jess830409
    Jess830409 Posts: 285 Member
    BecomingBane wrote: »
    How do you log food? Do you measure everything? It was a huge eye opener for me when I did and has completely changed my journey and the efforts that I make along the way.

    I do - I have an electronic scale here at my office and one at home. The only time I don't weigh food is if it is out to eat of course - which I try to limit.

    I guess I just need to find the right calorie goal for shedding fat - I am afraid to go too low, because I enjoy my activity level and I don't want to not have enough energy for running or strength training
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    edited January 2016
    For me it took several months of tracking and adjusting. Once I found true maintenance (which shifts around slightly based on my activity level) it was much easier. I was then able to identify an appropriate surplus or deficit depending on my goals at the time.

    My advice would be to eat at one level for 6 weeks and weigh yourself often. Track the trend of the numbers and not the numbers themselves during that time.

    If you maintain, take 200 kcals off your intake... if you gain... take 200kcal off and then reassess. If you lose, add 200 kcal and reassess.

    *edited to correct pre coffee stupidity.
  • Jess830409
    Jess830409 Posts: 285 Member
    BecomingBane wrote: »
    For me it took several months of tracking and adjusting. Once I found true maintenance (which shifts around slightly based on my activity level) it was much easier. I was then able to identify an appropriate surplus or deficit depending on my goals at the time.

    My advice would be to eat at one level for 6 weeks and weigh yourself often. Track the trend of the numbers and not the numbers themselves during that time.

    If you maintain, take 200 kcals off your intake... if you gain... take 200kcal off and then reassess. If you lose, add 200 kcal and reassess.

    *edited to correct pre coffee stupidity.

    That's good advice - thank you - I really appreciate it
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    Try this calculator

    http://www.weightloss-calculator.net/

    I'm vertically challenged as well, only 5"2.
    Plug your numbers into the MFP goal section so you get an idea of how many calories to consume based on your goal.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    BecomingBane wrote: »
    For me it took several months of tracking and adjusting. Once I found true maintenance (which shifts around slightly based on my activity level) it was much easier. I was then able to identify an appropriate surplus or deficit depending on my goals at the time.

    My advice would be to eat at one level for 6 weeks and weigh yourself often. Track the trend of the numbers and not the numbers themselves during that time.

    If you maintain, take 200 kcals off your intake... if you gain... take 200kcal off and then reassess. If you lose, add 200 kcal and reassess.

    *edited to correct pre coffee stupidity.

    This is what has finally worked for me. A lot of tracking, adjusting and waiting to see if any of my adjustments are actually working. Now I believe I finally found my maintenance number since my weight has been steadily dropping the past 2 months. The hardest part of all of it was my patience, giving my adjustments enough time to see if it's working. I realized that you just can't give it a week or two sometimes it takes a while longer.
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