So you want a nice stomach

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Replies

  • bsbprincess
    bsbprincess Posts: 161 Member
    My TDEE set me at 1600, taking into account that I exercise. MFP has me at 1550 without the exercise calories, so if I eat those wouldn't I be going over what TDEE says? Sorry, still learning all this :P
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I'm guessing your TDEE is higher than 1600, based on just the stats I can see from your profile. The calculator probably gave you 1600 calories as a 15-20% deficit from your TDEE. For now it's probably easier to stick to MFP's method. The TDEE-20% method is suggested for people who want a flat rate food intake, rather than eating back exercise calories.
  • bsbprincess
    bsbprincess Posts: 161 Member
    edited January 2016
    Thanks so much again, you rock!

    I was told it was probably low due to my sedentary selection. But I don't work so I'm pretty lazy at home when I'm not working out lol
  • angelamichelle_xo
    angelamichelle_xo Posts: 646 Member
    bfa
  • notmyrobot
    notmyrobot Posts: 14 Member
    I'm struggling with this whole calorie thing ... According to MFP I should be consuming 1670 calories /day to lose.. But according to the link in The original post it says I should be eating 2650 or so. That's quite the difference!!!! I want to know if I'm stunting my progress by sticking around 1600.

    About me :
    294lbs
    Female
    5ft6in.
    26 years old

    I do light activity for an hour 5x a week, mostly because I just joined the gym and have no idea what I'm doing .. But I'll ask for help with that in a separate post. I'm just confused about the calories for now.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    @notmyrobot I ran your numbers and 2650 is about the number of calories you would maintain your current weight at (this is known as TDEE/maintenance). MFP calculated a similar number for you then subtracted 1000 calories from that to give you a loss of 2 pounds per week. They do assume if you exercise that you will eat some of those earned calories.

    You can stick with MFP's method. You might want to consider changing your goal at some point from losing 2 pounds per week to lose 1 pound per week. Not everyone does and not everyone needs to, but often people find that 2 pounds per week is aggressive and leaves them very hungry which makes it hard to stick to. I only want to mention that so you can keep it in mind during this process.

    If you followed the TDEE method (the one I suggested in the first post) you would not eat the earned exercise calories, but your daily goal would be around 2,000 to 2,300. It will be a slower rate and you will have to recalculate every 20 pounds or so. MFP recalculates automatically when you update your weight.

    If you want help on exercise stuff there are some great posts in the fitness area or you can start your own thread asking about it. My suggestion is some form of training with weights a couple of times per week. There are many beginner plans on Bodybuilding.com, but one of my favorites for people who are starting is New Rules of Lifting for Women. It teaches you a lot through the book.

    Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.
  • noah_mac
    noah_mac Posts: 30 Member
    honest advice- great to see :)
  • RachelX04
    RachelX04 Posts: 1,123 Member
    Bumping. great post.. will be reposting for others. thanks
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    Glad to see this thread still going strong :)
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
    Is there a thread on here where people post there monthly progress tummy pics?

    I'd like to post 3 monthly frontal, side, bending over tummy shot and I plan to have a dexa scan every 3 months.

    Whos in?? We can spur each other on, even have a little healthy competition.

    Starting Feb 1st 2016 - Feb 1st 2017

    And beyond... I'm at the healthy weight range and have a couple of rolls of fat still that feel like taking ages to lose. I'm thinking that it's going to take a lot longer than I thought. But that's ok, with patience and dedication time will pass anyway.

    Or shall I post my photos in this topic.

    @ChristineE63
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
    I think the photos will get lost in this thread plus this topic is in general discussion for those who wmt help.

    I'll post in the success stories forum.

    ... As soon as I get my hair cut lol... It's n absolute mess haha :smiley:
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    @Kim55555 This is not the best place for progress pictures. I think creating a thread for that in Motivation and Support might be better. This thread is a question and answer thread.
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
    Yep. :smile:
  • EmyQ
    EmyQ Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you for your advice. Definitely helps
  • mrsfabbanks
    mrsfabbanks Posts: 49 Member
    Sw: 314
    Cw:299
    Gw:160
    So instead of cardio (just started running/walking) for an hr a day and alternating days with legs and arms is wrong? Ofcourse cleaning up my diet is priority #1. I have started the high protein diet . 40%, carbs 30%, fats 30%? I'm trying to get to my goal weight and with all the different ways to do this, I get lost in wgat to do everytime. Please someone help. I would love if someone who's been as overweight as I am to comment as well to share your experience and how you were able to get to your goal!
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    mrsfabbanks wrote: »
    Sw: 314
    Cw:299
    Gw:160
    So instead of cardio (just started running/walking) for an hr a day and alternating days with legs and arms is wrong? Ofcourse cleaning up my diet is priority #1. I have started the high protein diet . 40%, carbs 30%, fats 30%? I'm trying to get to my goal weight and with all the different ways to do this, I get lost in wgat to do everytime. Please someone help. I would love if someone who's been as overweight as I am to comment as well to share your experience and how you were able to get to your goal!

    @mrsfabbanks I got all the way up to 265, so not nearly as high as you, but far from being healthy.

    I think walking/running every other day and doing some form of resistance training every other day is a good plan. Just doing legs and arms isn't going to be as effective as finding a full body program to follow. Bodybuilding.com has tons of free programs and videos of every exercise the program suggests. Even starting with at home workout programs that do focus on lifting more than just jumping around are going to help. There are also body weight exercise programs out there if you don't go to the gym.
  • ontosinc297
    ontosinc297 Posts: 43 Member
    Awesome post. Thanks for all the great info. Semper Fi Marine!
  • karmaheart
    karmaheart Posts: 75 Member
    bump
  • valcala23
    valcala23 Posts: 35 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    You want to lose belly fat and have a nice flat toned mid section? We see that a lot on this site. Hell, that was my goal for my birthday last year. We all want to be able to take our shirt off at the pool or beach and look great, but how do we do it?

    1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.

    2. Strength training. If you want that toned mid section look you have to put some muscle there. If you just want a nice flat stomach muscle will still help it look tight. You can begin with Strong Lifts, a hypertrophy routine or a strength program from bodybuilding.com (free!). One that includes compound lifts like deadlift, squat, bench press and pull ups will help. Work on increasing the amount of weight you use. When the weight gets heavier you engage your core more and it builds the muscle.

    3. Muscle insurance. There are a variety of studies done on the amount of protein the body needs. I like to think of higher protein as muscle insurance. My suggestion is about .8 grams to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass. Make sure to get fat in your diet to help joints and metabolic processes. Make sure to get carbs in your diet to fuel workouts.

    4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

    5. Patience! It is not going to happen overnight. If you stick with it you could lose around 1% body fat a month. We aren't going to be perfect all the time. Enjoy birthdays and holidays. It is life and things will happen. Don't stress, learn to love the process.

    FINALLY: Losing fat is like trying to dry out a sponge. You can't dry a corner while the rest of it is still wet. You won't magically lose belly fat or thigh fat or any other fat. It will come or where it wants to. Keep working at it! It is possible!

    You said cardio 30 min but what about strength training how many days a w3k
  • valcala23
    valcala23 Posts: 35 Member
    2. Strength training. If you want that toned mid section look you have to put some muscle there. If you just want a nice flat stomach muscle will still help it look tight. You can begin with Strong Lifts, a hypertrophy routine or a strength program from bodybuilding.com (free!). One that includes compound lifts like deadlift, squat, bench press and pull ups will help. Work on increasing the amount of weight you use. When the weight gets heavier you engage your core more and it builds the muscle.

    4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

    You said cardio 30 min but what about strength training how many days a week how many hours??

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    valcala23 wrote: »
    2. Strength training. If you want that toned mid section look you have to put some muscle there. If you just want a nice flat stomach muscle will still help it look tight. You can begin with Strong Lifts, a hypertrophy routine or a strength program from bodybuilding.com (free!). One that includes compound lifts like deadlift, squat, bench press and pull ups will help. Work on increasing the amount of weight you use. When the weight gets heavier you engage your core more and it builds the muscle.

    4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

    You said cardio 30 min but what about strength training how many days a week how many hours??

    I didn't say on that because it's more important to pick a program that you enjoy and will stick to. Some programs are two days per week, some are three, some are five. You want to pick something that will fit your schedule. There are free programs on Bodybuilding.com. Many people here like Stronglifts or Starting Strength. There's New Rules of Lifting for Women. There's You Are Your Own Gym. Even doing a single day per week is going to help, but two is better and three is great for most people.
  • kcdambuster
    kcdambuster Posts: 217 Member
    bump
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
  • allenpriest
    allenpriest Posts: 1,102 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
    Pretty thin. If you pinch a fold together and don't feel like your fingers are touching as through a first aid glove there is still fat in there.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    HappyCampr1 wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
    Think back of your hand. Skin is pretty thin.
    allenpriest wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
    Pretty thin. If you pinch a fold together and don't feel like your fingers are touching as through a first aid glove there is still fat in there.

    Thanks, d'oh, of course!

    Not at all sure it would be healthy for a woman to have just skin on her stomach and no fat.

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    HappyCampr1 wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
    Think back of your hand. Skin is pretty thin.
    allenpriest wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
    Pretty thin. If you pinch a fold together and don't feel like your fingers are touching as through a first aid glove there is still fat in there.

    Thanks, d'oh, of course!

    Not at all sure it would be healthy for a woman to have just skin on her stomach and no fat.

    I'm a woman who has had no fat on her stomach for a significant length of time. It's not necessarily unhealthy. To reach that level of body fat takes time and effort, as well as feeding your body well and getting adequate exercise (lifting and cardio). It's actually really important to eat enough calories and get adequate nutrition in order to maintain that.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    HappyCampr1 wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
    Think back of your hand. Skin is pretty thin.
    allenpriest wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I can't tell if my muffin top is all skin, or still has fat.

    How thick is skin?
    Pretty thin. If you pinch a fold together and don't feel like your fingers are touching as through a first aid glove there is still fat in there.

    Thanks, d'oh, of course!

    Not at all sure it would be healthy for a woman to have just skin on her stomach and no fat.

    I'm a woman who has had no fat on her stomach for a significant length of time. It's not necessarily unhealthy. To reach that level of body fat takes time and effort, as well as feeding your body well and getting adequate exercise (lifting and cardio). It's actually really important to eat enough calories and get adequate nutrition in order to maintain that.

    Wow, thanks, that makes sense!
  • chopup
    chopup Posts: 8 Member
    great advise and the proof is in the photos, OP you look stunning
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    chopup wrote: »
    great advise and the proof is in the photos, OP you look stunning

    Thank you! I wanted to make the advice relatively easy to follow and give hope that getting into shape is not as complicated as the diet and fitness industry make it seem.
  • stephaniesegersconey
    stephaniesegersconey Posts: 3 Member
    Came here via link on another thread. I noticed (on page one) #4 of your great advice was deemed cringe worthy. What is wrong with Cardio? I'm slowly but surely readjusting my lifestyle to get healthier, and Cardio is a big part of my journey. Is it a bodybuilding thing to limit/restrict cardiovascular exercise?

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