what does one do to lower body fat?

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MJ7910
MJ7910 Posts: 1,280 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
so i just found out i'm 27% body fat and would like to make it lower (22-24% possibly) but i have no idea how to do this or how to make this attainable. i really don't like meat which makes it hard to get the protein everyone thinks I need. so what does one do to lower body fat % ? i do jillian michaels dvd's right now.

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  • klbmarsh
    klbmarsh Posts: 11 Member
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    My husband has lost 70 pounds in the past 2 years by running. He's run 3 marathons and numerous half marathons. He's always training for something. He can't even eat the number of calories myfitnesspal says he should eat every day. Want to lose fat? RUN! And don't stop! (Now if I could just follow my own advice...I hate running.)
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
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    personally, i run & lift.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    a caloric deficit, adequate protein intake will help limit muscle loss from said caloric deficit
  • davejlee
    davejlee Posts: 43 Member
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    Strength train. With real effort.
  • klbmarsh
    klbmarsh Posts: 11 Member
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    <PS> His body fat percentage is about 12%.
  • wareagle8706
    wareagle8706 Posts: 1,090 Member
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    You do the same thing everyone else does- workout and eat right. That will take care of your body fat. You may or may not see the number on the scale change but checking your body fat % every two weeks or so will let you know if you're making the progress you want to make. If you want to lose more body fat faster... I'd say go to two workouts a day.
  • Kabula
    Kabula Posts: 97 Member
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    cardio and weight train burns body fat!
  • Samerah12
    Samerah12 Posts: 610 Member
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    Burn fat, build muscle! And yes you do need protein to build muscle (amongst other things- go put "essential amino acids" into wikipedia). Jillian DVDs are definitely going to put you on the right track.

    Clif builder bars, nuts and greek yogurt- all good non-meat protein boosters!
  • LisaMarieee
    LisaMarieee Posts: 176 Member
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    All I've done to lower my body fat is cardio (running, swimming, etc) plus switching to a healthier diet and it's worked for me.
  • SusanneWhittington
    SusanneWhittington Posts: 339 Member
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    you can get protein without eating meat. There are bocca burgers, muscle milk, all without anything from animals. Eggs in case you eat eggs.
    good mixture of muscle building sport and cardio.
  • trelm249
    trelm249 Posts: 777 Member
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    Hey Maureen. Congrats on getting this far in the process.

    Yes, you can change your body composition. The big trick is to exercise and maintain a reasonable caloric deficit.

    This falls into 2 primary categories -

    Aerobic activity - this consist of traditional cardiovascular activities such as ,walking, jogging, cycling, most home exercise dvd's (though some incorporate some resistance style activities), swimming, and most any other long duration activity that builds endurance. These activities focus primarily on cardiovascular health and endurance. This enhances your ability to do other types of training.. They tend to burn more fat for energy while doing them, which is the primary way they will help with changing body composition. While some muscle development may occur early on when an unfit persons begins aerobic training, it will quickly slow down. It should be included in your training routine at least a couple of days a week for at least 30 minutes at a time.

    Anaerobic activity - this consists of activities involving explosive movements for very short duration. These kinds of activities typically put the body under a load, such as sprinting and weight lifting. These kinds of activities burn more glycogen than fat typically. However they promote the retention and development of muscle tissue, those promoting your goal of improved body composition. Additionally these activities tend to boost the metabolism for a period of time following the activity itself when done at an adequate intensity level. Some form of intense resistance training should be incorporated into your training schedule on days that you are not doing your cardiovascular training.

    You do need adequate protein (30 to 40 % of caloric intake depending on the individual physiology and activity levels) to promote the retention of muscle tissue to enhance your ability to improve your body composition. The protein is key component in the cell recovery process when training. Great sources that are not meat based include eggs (a highly bio-available complete protein), dairy (greek yogurt jumps to mind), whey powder,and nut based products ( I mix my whey with unsweetened almond milk).

    I hope that is helpful. Best to you.
  • RenegadeAngel
    RenegadeAngel Posts: 1
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    What someone else said here, caloric deficit and making sure you're good with your protein intake so you don't lose muscle in the process. Running does a good job.

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