How long to reduce body fat %

martinh78
martinh78 Posts: 601
edited October 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering how quickly peoples body fat came down when they started dieting, and how much weight they lost with it?

I've lost 16lbs in weight but only 1.4% body fat over 6 weeks (from 25.2% to 23.8%)

Is this normal/average for people or does it seem slow?

Any tips for giving this a kick up the backside? I'm happy with my weight loss, at this rate I shall be at my goal weight in about 6-8 weeks more, but my body fat % would, at it's current rate, be at maybe 22%

Don't get me wrong, happy with my progress so far and will continue to exercise four times a week (or more when I can).

Just curious, and thinking out loud :o)

Replies

  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    That's almost exactly the rate my body fat is changing... Which also seems ridiculous to me because that means it will take almost a year to get to the bf% I really want...
  • VegGrrl
    VegGrrl Posts: 336 Member
    Strength training will help you lose fat while building/maintaining muscle.
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
    When I was doing cardio only, my BF% didn't change even if I lost 15 pounds.....that mean that I was losing muscle. The result is that I got skinny fat. I was fitting in a size 4 but still had 26% body fat. Now that I've reduced the cardio to twice a week and added strenght training, all my lost is just fat.
  • rockylucas
    rockylucas Posts: 343 Member
    In June I weighed 214 and was 23% body fat. About 10-12 weeks later I was 191, and 17% body fat. So 23 lbs lost and 6% body fat lost. Gives you a general idea for me. I try to do at least 30 min of intense cardio per day.
  • deja_blu
    deja_blu Posts: 359 Member
    I lost about 19% of my body fat in about 6 months but most of my body was fat. But I believe that it will slow down once I have less fat on my body.
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
    strength training will help with the bf% loss. Add some to your cardio. I do arms/mon...Legs/Wednesday...core/Friday....With arms I also work my back/shoulders....There are some great free resources out there that have great exercises to keep it mixed up....

    Have fun and good luck
  • steve81872
    steve81872 Posts: 23 Member
    This is awesome if you want to loose body fat and makes lots of sense. I hope this helps you.

    http://trainerjosh.com/workouts/hiit-workout-rapid-fat-loss/
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
    This is awesome if you want to loose body fat and makes lots of sense. I hope this helps you.

    http://trainerjosh.com/workouts/hiit-workout-rapid-fat-loss/

    VERY interesting link.

    Also interesting to read everyone elses experiences.

    I do a few HIIT sessions, maybe one every two weeks, but shall focus on these for every session for three weeks, see what happens.

    Also regarding strength/resistance training, I have started to incorporate that into my routine once a week. I do a full body for one hour with minimal breaks, sort of like the metabolic resistance training in the link above.

    I shall split my training for three weeks, doing two resistance sessions and two HIIT sessions a week, see what happens. I knew the benefits of HIIT but not fully until reading that blog.

    Thanks for everyones input, as I say, I'm not just interested in tips for me, but overall how the body changes fascinates me.


    Cheers, Martin
  • Michelle_M2002
    Michelle_M2002 Posts: 301 Member
    With working out (cardio and strength training) I have been loosing about 2% body fat per month. I'm in my third month of my lifestyle change, so will get my measurements done again the first week of October.

    God bless!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    lift heavy and get an adequate amount of protein everyday to limit lean muscle loss
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
    Well I have come up with a lifting plan.

    Monday and Friday lift, Wednesday body combat and spinning classes, weekends for outdoors (rock climbing etc) or a gym day, which would include strength and cardio sessions.

    I have been speaking with a few people abou this though and they also recommend cutting out the carbs. Apparantly I am fuelling my workouts nicely, and I do have plenty of energy through the day (mostly). But I'm burning the carbs off rather than the fat as I do fuel through the day on gym sessions (ie bananas, oatsmeal etc extra, so I don't have to eat my exercise calories back on the evening!).

    My typical day sees maybe 120g carbs, 35 fats and 130 protein, which increases with exercise calories accordingly.

    A lot of days I am close to or over 200g carbs.
    '
    This may explain my weight but not fat loss, and also my bloating? I am "slim" in teh morning but have my gut back in the evening. My waist grows 2" during the day but my weight only goes up 1lb??

    All tips appreciated, I take them in, and try to see what I can work in with my routine.
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