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

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  • TinkrBelz
    TinkrBelz Posts: 866 Member
    For women that are confused if they should do cardio or weight train. I would say do both...and not worry about the scale.

    About 14 months ago when I started back into the gym, I needed to lose fat, but I wanted to make sure that what was underneath the fat looked good. I did eat at a deficit, did cardio, and weight training. The scale did not move that much...in fact, I am only 10lbs lighter than what I was last year. But, I am down 2-3 pants sizes and my body is a lot more leaner.

    Now a year later, I am tinkering around to get more muscle, but not too much....but also make sure that I do not gain any fat in the butt and mid section, and this is when I did increase the protein and limit the carbs. Actually, eating this way dropped my weight more than eating at 1200 calories, cardio, and weight training....I was not on MFP! ;)

    I would not call what I am doing as a low carb diet, but just as a moderate carb diet. I also can not do low carb...had a shaking thing happen years ago, and NEVER EVER will stay below 20 grams...scared me to death. My body does great around that 100-120 range.

    Anyway, I think if we focus on the mirror and see that we look better and our bodies are changing for the better AND our clothes are getting bigger...then who cares if the scale says that we have only lost 1lb!

    I am about to start up Brazil Butt Lift and I am preparing my head that the scale might go up. if I am building that butt muscle up, it would make sense that the scale might go up a pound or two...but I plan on having a great butt. If I look in the mirror and see the fat coming back, then i know that I need to tweak with my eating again.
  • ItsLessOfMe
    ItsLessOfMe Posts: 374 Member
    bump
  • lisakyle_11
    lisakyle_11 Posts: 420 Member
    bump
  • Blessedmommy_2x
    Blessedmommy_2x Posts: 419 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/496228-the-secrets-to-cutting-fat-and-looking-awesome

    LOVE it!!! LOL!
  • imjustlisa
    imjustlisa Posts: 79 Member
    That's just way too complicated.

    I eat when I'm hungry. I exercise when I feel like it. I eat real, whole foods with real ingredients - most food I eat doesn't come with a nutrition label. I eat junk food occasionally but not like I used to. I don't log, count calories, worry about portions. (I track my carbs because I have blood sugar/insulin issues caused by my high refined carb diet I ate my whole life that I wasn't able to reverse).

    I don't touch grains because giving them up was the best thing I did for my health and my digestive system. Funny how every doctor told me to get plenty of whole grains to help my IBS (get plenty of fiber!!) but when I dropped the fiber and the whole grains my IBS (and hiatal hernia and indigestion and constipation and all day flatulence) went away and MY BELLY WENT FLAT. 6 Months of calorie restriction and lots of cardio didn't do this. 2 months of P90X did not do this. Experimenting with Primal Blueprint took all of 6 weeks to get rid of my belly. With less exercise, too.

    I lift heavy, I sprint every once in a while, I stay active but will be lazy if I feel like it.

    Maintaining a healthy weight and health just should not be this complicated. There is some good information in there, though. Good for people who just want to follow.

    People - be your own scientist. Do your own research and figure out what applies to you personally. Learn a little bit about biochemistry and biology and the metabolic pathways of carbs, protein, and fat. And then see how it can work for you.
    Amen!!!! It shouldn't be so difficult..
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    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


    Here is the results:

    "I just wanted to thank you for your help. You helped me a few months back and I just wanted to give you an update on my progress. 12 weeks ago I started at 154 and 28% bf. I got my bf remeasured last Friday and it was 24%. But I only lost 1 pound. It is crazy to me but I have learned to ignore the scale. You were right that keeping consistent and not giving up my body would finally adjust.

    Thanks again for your help!

    Stephanie"

    Hi psulemon...

    Okay, so I'm trying to ignore the scale and rely on measurements, but I still want to understand. Here is the way I'm interpreting what I've read so far.

    My BMR is 1,740. According to this site: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html my TDEE, NOT including exercise, is 2114, but it's 2730 including moderate exercise (I'm currently doing 30-60 min of various types of exercise 5 days a week). Calculating a deficit at 20% of 2114 is 422.8, and 20% of 2730 is 546. If I quit logging exercise and use the higher TDEE, these numbers suggest I should eat 2184 calories a day (2730 - 546 = 2184).

    My current MFP allowance is 1,680 calories/day and I am supposed to log and eat back my exercise calories. However, the most I've ever logged in a day is 2186 and most of the time I'm under 1700 (including eating back all the exercise cals I can manage to eat).

    Background: I plateaued for a few weeks and finally, last week, broke through with a .9 lb loss. However, I am steadily losing inches. I've dropped 1 pants size and 1.5 bra band sizes. I have been interpreting this to mean I am losing body fat.

    What's your recommendation? Thanks in advance!

    My recommendation is this, eat 2100-2200 calories a day. Do that for a month and monitor the difference. Try to set your carbs at 40%, protein at 40% and fats at 20%. This should help level out some of the water weight. Also, I dont know what you do for exercise, but try to do 3 days of weight training and 2 days of cardio. This should help with muscle retention. Also, lift heavy. Meaning, you should fail at 8-12 reps.
  • DataBased
    DataBased Posts: 513 Member
    My recommendation is this, eat 2100-2200 calories a day. Do that for a month and monitor the difference. Try to set your carbs at 40%, protein at 40% and fats at 20%. This should help level out some of the water weight. Also, I dont know what you do for exercise, but try to do 3 days of weight training and 2 days of cardio. This should help with muscle retention. Also, lift heavy. Meaning, you should fail at 8-12 reps.
    Thanks so much! I'll do that for a month and keep measuring as well as weighing.

    For exercise I have been doing traditional calisthenics such as lunges, squats, curls, kickbacks etc . with resistance bands. I am enormously out of shape and, at 242 lbs, a lunge is... well, most often an epic fail. However I am getting stronger. I am also doing walk/run combinations every other day. My "strength" days are M-W-F and my walk-run days are Tue-Thur.

    The first workout I did incapacitated me and I couldn't lower myself into a sitting position without assistance. It isn't that bad now, but it still leaves me quivering with exhaustion and sweating. I'm 56 yrs old. Is that "heavy lifting" enough?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    My recommendation is this, eat 2100-2200 calories a day. Do that for a month and monitor the difference. Try to set your carbs at 40%, protein at 40% and fats at 20%. This should help level out some of the water weight. Also, I dont know what you do for exercise, but try to do 3 days of weight training and 2 days of cardio. This should help with muscle retention. Also, lift heavy. Meaning, you should fail at 8-12 reps.
    Thanks so much! I'll do that for a month and keep measuring as well as weighing.

    For exercise I have been doing traditional calisthenics such as lunges, squats, curls, kickbacks etc . with resistance bands. I am enormously out of shape and, at 242 lbs, a lunge is... well, most often an epic fail. However I am getting stronger. I am also doing walk/run combinations every other day. My "strength" days are M-W-F and my walk-run days are Tue-Thur.

    The first workout I did incapacitated me and I couldn't lower myself into a sitting position without assistance. It isn't that bad now, but it still leaves me quivering with exhaustion and sweating. I'm 56 yrs old. Is that "heavy lifting" enough?

    Another thing that has provided me with some success is writing down the moves with the rep/weight counts. It shows your progress you have made and will allow you to strive for more weight.
  • Angybabefitzg
    Angybabefitzg Posts: 30 Member
    bump
  • Lukazetta
    Lukazetta Posts: 427 Member
    psulemon, thank you for answering everyone's questions.

    When I first made this thread, I didn't want it to be so controversial. Just wanted to start something that will help people have a better understanding of losing BF %. If I were to do it again, I would probably make it a lot more simplistic and leave my recommendations out of it.
  • mamamudbug
    mamamudbug Posts: 572 Member
    Bump for later
  • Megclark37
    Megclark37 Posts: 111
    bump
  • Skeeweesummer98
    Skeeweesummer98 Posts: 15 Member
    bump
  • shellsie_j
    shellsie_j Posts: 132 Member
    bump
  • skywa
    skywa Posts: 901 Member
    some of this information is lacking. but generally i think these are all great tips. might wana ignore some of the bro-science thats been thrown in there though. >->
  • BorderMommy
    BorderMommy Posts: 13
    Bump. Thanks.
  • SparkleShine
    SparkleShine Posts: 2,001 Member
    bump:flowerforyou:
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,032 Member
    I've recently plateaued on my body fat percentage.
    I can't seem to move it AT ALL even though I do cardio for an hour fives times a week.
    And not moderate cardio, my shirt is soaking by the time I'm done.
    In addition to 30-45 minutes of weight training by myself and with a trainer.

    I calculated my TDEE and BMR.
    TDEE: 2899
    BMR: 1685

    Should I not stay at consuming 1200 cals a day?
    Should I bump it up to maybe 1500? 1600?

    Definitely increase your calories to at least 1400 for a few weeks, and make sure you're doing intervals, not just steady-state cardio. You may be soaked when you're done, but intervals is where it's at. Good luck plateauing when you're hauling @$$ as fast as you can on a stairstepper or treadmill.

    ^^^They are right, increase your calories closer to your BMR. Another thing, make sure you pick the right amount of carbs during your plateau, they are typically what stands between your way when it comes to body% loss. This is a great post on the type of carbs you should choose:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/532247-let

    My current carb source right now comes in the morning from oatmeal (I workout right after), and then veggies/beans the rest of the day. I RARELY even touch brown rice, wheat bread,potato...etc I do lose some energy at the gym, but it have to sacrifice that in order to get through my plateau.

    Thanks! I'm definitely going to try both your suggestions.
    I don't eat rice or potatoes. The carbs I get throughout the day are mostly through dark rye @ lunch, nuts I snack on throughout the day and of course veggies at night.
    But I'm still willing to continue to limit my carbs even further and see what happens!
    bump
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    images.jpg
  • yogibella
    yogibella Posts: 321 Member
    bumpity~bump! :happy:
  • emyishardcore
    emyishardcore Posts: 352 Member
    :)
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,374 Member
    Bump...I need to read this later!! :) Thanks for posting...


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  • RubyRed1999
    RubyRed1999 Posts: 233 Member
    bump
  • hk2008
    hk2008 Posts: 49 Member
    bump
  • Glamour60Xtreme
    Glamour60Xtreme Posts: 290
    Thanks for this :)
  • ShalisaClam
    ShalisaClam Posts: 190
    bump
  • kardsharp
    kardsharp Posts: 516 Member
    Thank you for making this so clear.

    Kristine
  • TheNewLeslie
    TheNewLeslie Posts: 44 Member
    Bumpage
  • LeggyKettleBabe
    LeggyKettleBabe Posts: 300 Member
    I am probably gonna get flamed for saying this.

    How in the world are you gonna consume 2600 calories daily and eat right???? I see people saying they drink and eat bad and still have calories left. I dont think its a point of how many calories you consumes its WHAT YOU CONSUME.

    I am eating mainly fresh fruits/veggies lean meats and I try to stay at 150 carbs. There is no way i can consume 20% less than me TDEE and eat healthy.

    Im with the female posters, eat when your hungry but eat natural stuff. Exercise regularly but dont kill yourself. If you eat bad portion it small, if I eat out I eat 1/2 to 1/3 of the meal.

    I am eating around my BMR before exercising and I have lost 12 lbs in 6 weeks. I am doing some form of movement/exercise daily and im not going hard core on it.

    I think you have to personally experiment with calories/protein/carbs/fats/exercise till you find the right mix for you.

    Never use a forum post for advice, if you really are worried i would seek out a professional.

    Off my soap box now.
  • mbvan
    mbvan Posts: 30
    bump
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