I wanna get ripped!!

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kbinsobeih
kbinsobeih Posts: 8
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello pals,

I am 176lbs 5'11 and having some difficulties losing weight since I started tracking my weight loss. I train three days a week and have seen tremendous changes in my body such as muscle growth. However, my goal is to get ripped but what seems to be a layer of fat is preventing that from happening. Plus I have huge theighs which I need to kind of trim down along with the small tummy that keeps my lower abs and v-line from showing.

I have maintained my weight although my goal is to lose 12 lbs. I lost fat but gained muscle, now I simply need to get rid of the fats so I took a break from weight training for this week, and ride my bike for an hour three days a week and play tennis with my brother once a week.

Diet-wise, I'm not following a strict diet plan besides consumiung a lot of protein and generally eating the daily 2150 calories that MyFitnessPal assigned me at the beginning (around one month ago).

What can I do in order to lose fat and maintain my muscles? Increase cardio? follow a more strict diet plan? Please share you experiences/tips on this.

Thanks :)

Replies

  • kbinsobeih
    kbinsobeih Posts: 8
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    Bump. Have any of you faced a similar plataue?
  • rjt1000
    rjt1000 Posts: 700 Member
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    Hello pals,

    I am 176lbs 5'11 and having some difficulties losing weight since I started tracking my weight loss. I train three days a week and have seen tremendous changes in my body such as muscle growth. However, my goal is to get ripped but what seems to be a layer of fat is preventing that from happening. Plus I have huge theighs which I need to kind of trim down along with the small tummy that keeps my lower abs and v-line from showing.

    I have maintained my weight although my goal is to lose 12 lbs. I lost fat but gained muscle, now I simply need to get rid of the fats so I took a break from weight training for this week, and ride my bike for an hour three days a week and play tennis with my brother once a week.

    Diet-wise, I'm not following a strict diet plan besides consumiung a lot of protein and generally eating the daily 2150 calories that MyFitnessPal assigned me at the beginning (around one month ago).

    What can I do in order to lose fat and maintain my muscles? Increase cardio? follow a more strict diet plan? Please share you experiences/tips on this.

    Thanks :)

    2100 calories at 175 pounds sounds more like maintenance than weight loss. I'm 170 pounds and set my goal to lose 1.5 pounds per week and my calorie goal from MFP is 1200 calories. Check how your goals are set in MFP first.

    Only weigh to lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat. Reduce your calorie intake, increase your calorie burn and you'll lose more weight. Add strength training so you don't lose muscle and fat but lose mostly fat.
  • Himi16
    Himi16 Posts: 13 Member
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    Cardio. The best way to lose the layer of fat is via cardio - or so I'm told. Can't say I've ever managed to be successful at it - but then again I'm too lazy to do much cardio!
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    To lose fat, you need to do cardio. Unless, I have missed something, you are only riding your bike. I want to suggest Tae Bo workouts to you, but first let me say this. It's easy to lose scale weight. A person can lose 5 pounds of scale weight in an hour, but they can't lose 5 pounds of fat in an hour. Scale weight loss and fat loss aren't the same thing. It takes time to lose fat. A 2 to 4 pound fat loss a month is good.

    Incorporate these Tae Bo workouts into your routine. Check Walmart, Target, Barnes and Nobles, if you have one in your location or Amazon.com. The workouts are cheaper on Amazon.com than it's on Collagevideo.com


    1. Tae Bo Cardio Sculpt

    http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-video/dance-off-the-inches-fat-burning-belly-dance-7966

    2. Tae Bo Insane Abs:

    http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-video/billy-blanks-tae-bo-insane-abs-5939

    You can view other Tae Bo workouts and buy others if you want to. I think these can help you out.
  • RebeccaEveSic
    RebeccaEveSic Posts: 4
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    I wouldn't stop weight training--that will help you reach your goal much faster then the cardio alone!

    I would incorporate interval style training, or HIIT sessions as your cardio, as opposed to just steady state. There are many options out there you can google.

    Be careful reducing your calories too much, because that may reduce your protein intake. Usually, if you keep your protein intake high (about 1-2g per pound of your body weight as a rule of thumb), then the rest of the calories take care of themselves because protein is so satisfying.

    You can try zig zaging your calorie intake so that you do not reduce your metabolism--I highly recommend looking into this option. You can google "zip zag calories" or, you can try 3-6 days low calorie with a high calorie day thrown in there. This will prevent your metabolism from downregulating, and convince your body that you are not starving.

    I would take out all sugars, and even watch your fruit intake. Eliminate it completely, or reduce to one piece per day.

    Also consider changing your MFP macro ratios to 40/40/20, or, 40% protein/40%carbohydrates/20% fat.

    Above all, be patient! Even world class body builders will set aside 12 weeks to follow a strict training, and diet program before they step on stage. Goodluck!
  • beerbomber
    beerbomber Posts: 184 Member
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    See here is the problem you are going to fight your trying to lose weight without losing muscle. So your workouts have to be tailored to maintain muscle but lose fat. Not sure if you ever heard the saying you cant gain muscle by eating less and you can't lose fat by eating more. Its kind of the catch 22 you are in. The fact is if you cut calories your going to lose some muscle but trick is to make sure you lose more fat than muscle.

    Here are someways you can do this.

    1. Protein Shake before and after workouts (help stop your body from eating up muscle not going to stop it but will slow it down)

    2. Keep resistance training in your workout just tone it down increase intensity decrease weight ( I wouldn't exceed 20 minutes of resistance training)

    3. Cut your calories down to like 1800

    4. Drink Water

    5. Intense Cardio hell with the "fat burning stage" get heart rate up and keep it up for 30 minutes.


    If you want to keep your muscle i wouldn't do this for more than 21 days then spend 10 days eating more and working out heavier.
  • kbinsobeih
    kbinsobeih Posts: 8
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    Oh boy, it seems like I'm stuck in the lose-fat-but-maintain-muscle cubbyhole! Weight training can really make a man hungry throughout the day, hungry for carbs that is, fruits ain't cutting it for me at least. From my understanding, it is a diet dilemma that I'm facing and MFP's proposed calorie intake is basically a dud, oh well from now I'll lower my daily intake to a minimal 1800 kcal and see what happens.

    The body cannot absorb more than around 30 grams of protein at a time, that's why I don't have my shake before my workout since most of the time I am well-fed after a proper meal. I just take it afterward. Also I certainly must lose my sweet tooth haha i have a huge appetite for sweets.


    Thanks for the tips, truly helpful. I'll def check out the Tae Bo, HIIT and the cool-sounding zigzag calorie diet.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    Kbinsobeih, keep me posted about Tae Bo. Your local library might have some Tae Bo workouts. If they do, you can check them out to see if Tae Bo is for you.
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Cardio. The best way to lose the layer of fat is via cardio - or so I'm told. Can't say I've ever managed to be successful at it - but then again I'm too lazy to do much cardio!
    You were told wrong.

    The best way is via diet. Period.
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    See here is the problem you are going to fight your trying to lose weight without losing muscle. So your workouts have to be tailored to maintain muscle but lose fat. Not sure if you ever heard the saying you cant gain muscle by eating less and you can't lose fat by eating more. Its kind of the catch 22 you are in. The fact is if you cut calories your going to lose some muscle but trick is to make sure you lose more fat than muscle.

    Here are someways you can do this.

    1. Protein Shake before and after workouts (help stop your body from eating up muscle not going to stop it but will slow it down)

    2. Keep resistance training in your workout just tone it down increase intensity decrease weight ( I wouldn't exceed 20 minutes of resistance training)

    3. Cut your calories down to like 1800

    4. Drink Water

    5. Intense Cardio hell with the "fat burning stage" get heart rate up and keep it up for 30 minutes.


    If you want to keep your muscle i wouldn't do this for more than 21 days then spend 10 days eating more and working out heavier.
    1. Wrong
    2. Wrong
    3. Why
    4. Good.
    5. He doesn't need this.

    Your last comment is just comical.
  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
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    :laugh:
  • JennieAL
    JennieAL Posts: 1,726 Member
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    Slight caloric deficit to lose fat. Lift heavy weight to maintain muscle. Eat a minimum of 1g of protein per lb of body weight.
  • kbinsobeih
    kbinsobeih Posts: 8
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    Thanks for the tips everyone. A slight caloric deficit seems to be what would do the trick but it surely would be difficult in the presence of my big appetite. Does a daily 120g protein sound ideal? i don't really know the exact forumla if i'm aiming for maintaining/slightly increasing muscle mass? your help will be appreciated.

    Pu_239 what an accomplishment man!

    Fitnesssocial, Why is what was suggested all wrong? I'd appreciate it if you could back it up.

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