Guide: Properly lose BODY FAT % (For Women)!

so my TDEE is 3181. my BMR 2052. i have been eating in the 1500 cal range but last couple months my weight loss has slowed. anyone have thoughts on where i should be at calorie wise? 41 male weights 4 days/week for an hour cardio on those days for about 20 mins. and 2 other days walking for 60 mins.

id like to lose as close to 2lbs a week as possible.

thanks.

Take your TDEE and cut 20%. Start strength training. Cardio is for heart health. ST is for muscle and cutting fat. ST is more practical in your daily life and will burn more calories in the long run.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/496228-the-secrets-to-cutting-fat-and-looking-awesome

Op- you know that article is from 2001. Spend some time in the nutrition section instead of the misc if you really want to learn.

The a whole post is about the basics of body fat % which really isn't brain science and nothing significant has happened in the past 3 decades to change the rules of it.

If you look at articles from 2012, they will say almost the same thing. Please feel free to add what you find will help and criticize what I wrote...just don't post something saying I'm wrong without any reasoning behind it. We are all here for help and everyone's body is different so TAKE EVERYTHING WITH A GRAIN OF SALT when it comes to fitness.

Perhaps I should have been more clear. Most of the articles on bb.com are filled with broscience. A major change in the last several years is meal timing. Something you advocated in your initial post. I assumed you were a miscer since your inspiration is Zyzz. I'm being dead serious when I say head to the nutrition section and just read. They know their **** there.

Not everything on BB.com is broscience but you're right a lot of it is.

I have pointed out in the first paragraph that this the BASICS of fat loss %. If you believe there is a better way to set up meal timing for fat loss, please go ahead and let us know exactly what it is.

Zyzz being my inspiration does not mean I spend time in the misc section. I have not posted one post on BB.com in the misc section or even pay attention to it. He is just someone who motivated me to start working out so please don't judge people based on 0 information.

Because these are not the basics. You're making it much more complicated than it needs to be. See what psulemon posted:

You are making this WAY too complicated for every. Here is the simplest way to cut body fat"

1. Figure out BMR
2. Figure out TDEE (include exercise into your TDEE, so you don't need to eat back exercise calories)
3. Cut 20% from your TDEE

^ that is the basics.

Ok, break it down for my brain to understand.
Currently, MFP has me set up to lose one pound a week at a base of 1560 cals a day. (sed. job, I use a HRM and add cals when I work out) I suppose I keep at that rate of a pound a week, I don't weigh in every week.
My BMR is 1646.
My TDEE with moderate (3-5 days of excercise) is estimated 2586.

I'm 5'8, 190 pounds, and 27 years old. I have a large amount of body fat to lose while also building muscle.

Now I'm lost as to what you're suggesting. Am I to be consuming between 1646 and 2586?

Your calories should be (IMO) around your BMR (1646) as you're trying to lose weight but you can't overdo it by going too much under because you will lose some muscle mass you already have. So that's the basics of it but you really need to find that sweet spot where you're still losing weight but not losing strength/recovery at the gym - because your BMR is an estimation everyone has a different metabolism.

Thank you :happy:
I've been wanting to build muscle and burn the embarassing amount of fat from my midsection and rear. I'll play around a little with it all.

Not to be a downer, but it's going to be fairly difficult to burn fat and build muscle. Both are different approaches. You burn fat with caloric deficits, you build muscle on a caloric surplus. But you can make those muscles more visible.

BTW, just take your TDEE and cut 20%. As well as lift weights.

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Great post! I just recently started eating back my calories and added more protein to my diet and I can really tell a difference in my body.

Is this a good site to check the calculations?

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators

I've recently hit a wall in my weight loss (funny how that continues to happen). I hit one during the first five pounds, so I upped my calories from MFP's recommendation of 1200 to 1410 and started lifting heavy and promptly lost four pounds. But my initial four pound weight loss after I upped my calories turned out to be a net of two since the other two can't decide whether to come back or go away for good. So I re-figured my TDEE this morning (1971) and my BMR (1433). I figured a little low on the activity part of my TDEE since I have a relatively sedentary job although I get exercise every day. I've come to the conclusion that at 1410 calorie allowance per day, I must be short-changing my BMR and that is why my body is holding fast to fat. So, today I upped my calories to 1625--which shortchanges my TDEE by 346 calories a day. But I don't know if I should continue to eat back my exercise calories while continuing to lift heavy three days a week along with getting at least 20-30 minutes of good cardio on non-lifting days (15-20 minutes on lifting days) through the week and several hours of cardio each weekend in the form of hill and mountain hiking.

I can't do the low-carb/no carb thing. The last time I tried, I nearly passed out over my keyboard at work. But I am trying to get more protein every day.

I'm going to see how it goes. One way or another, I've got to figure this out. Weight loss has never before in my life been such a science project! I just ate less and exercised more. Super simple. Amazing how when you get older, that just doesn't do the trick any more.

BUMP:drinker:

I'm trying to figure all of this out because I have not been successful at all with 1200 calorie diets, just miserable with no energy to excercise, and I really want to exercise. I'm a stay at home mom of two toddlers, so at first I was thinking I would be 'sedentary', but that's comparable to a desk job and I definetely don't sit all day...so I was wondering if I might be more along the lines of lightly active? There's a difference of 256 between my tdee as sedentary or lightly active. any thoughts or suggestions?

I'm trying to figure all of this out because I have not been successful at all with 1200 calorie diets, just miserable with no energy to excercise, and I really want to exercise. I'm a stay at home mom of two toddlers, so at first I was thinking I would be 'sedentary', but that's comparable to a desk job and I definetely don't sit all day...so I was wondering if I might be more along the lines of lightly active? There's a difference of 256 between my tdee as sedentary or lightly active. any thoughts or suggestions?

lightly active maybe active if your on your feet most of the day seeing to your children.

BUMP

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BUMP thank you so much for sharing this!!!

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