Reduce body fat % ?

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  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    Body fat percentage written as a whole number / Original weight = Future body fat percentage

    Original weight x Future body fat percentage = Future pounds of fat

    I'm curious where these formulas come from. These would say that everyone who starts off wih 36% body fat should set a goal of 36 lbs of body fat. Everyone who starts off with 50% should strive for 50 lbs body fat, etc. It seems like goal weight of fat has to depend on gender, height, age, etc, not just beginning body fat percentage.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    I completely agree, there are very few dads that can give you what lifting actual heavy weights can. The best part about really pushing yourself (HEAVY WEIGHTS, your purse weighs more than those five or ten pound weights you do videos with) is that you can see result rather quickly. I swear every time I lift that I can see more definition the next day.

    A lot of women on here thinks that every woman's purse weighs more than 5 pounds and that's not true. Why? Every woman doesn't carry a big purse full of junk. Some women carry small purses.

    I would love to hear that a woman that believes in lifting heavy, use 20 pound weights while doing a cardio sculpt workout. For example. I would love to hear them say that have used 20 pound weights doing Tae Bo Ripped. I'm sure they wouldn't do it.

    Huh?
  • cherirae
    cherirae Posts: 9 Member
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    I'm new to this forum and am amazed at the information provided. Thank you! When I started, my doctor tested my body fat and it was 48%! I've lost 69 pounds - but have 61 to go. It will be interesting to see what my body fat is when I lose the rest of my weight! I do a really cardio workout on my treadmill and shoveling snow - but haven't done strength training. We live 30 miles from town and it's just too hard to go there and use a gym. I measure every two weeks and I'm just now losing inches. That doesn't make sense to me, as I've gone down three sizes.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    Body fat percentage written as a whole number / Original weight = Future body fat percentage

    Original weight x Future body fat percentage = Future pounds of fat

    I'm curious where these formulas come from. These would say that everyone who starts off wih 36% body fat should set a goal of 36 lbs of body fat. Everyone who starts off with 50% should strive for 50 lbs body fat, etc. It seems like goal weight of fat has to depend on gender, height, age, etc, not just beginning body fat percentage.

    You've misunderstood what I have posted. Please go back and read what I have posted to see that I'm not saying, what you think that I'm saying.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    Whatever. Sorry for wasting your time.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    Whatever. Sorry for wasting your time.

    You haven't wasted my time. I just wanted you to go back and read what I have said to see if you can understand what I was saying.

    I wasn't saying that a person should strive to lose a certain amount of pounds that matches their body fat percentage.
  • doubglass
    doubglass Posts: 314 Member
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    Can't beat your genes. Why worry about it? Accept the fact that you are on the high end of the spectrum for women and aim for your "ideal weight."
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    I wasn't saying that a person should strive to lose a certain amount of pounds that matches their body fat percentage.

    That's the result of the equations you posted. Which is why I asked where you got the equations from.
  • pukekolive
    pukekolive Posts: 237 Member
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    posting for later
  • prettygirlhoward
    prettygirlhoward Posts: 338 Member
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    bump
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    As someone who has been working with clients on fat loss for several years, my recommendations would be to combine heavy weight training (weights you can lift for no more then 5-6 reps without losing form and doing 3-5 sets of each exercise with a 2-4 minute rest between sets and a variety of exercises for the total body without repeating the same muscle group two days in a row) followed by cardio to get the most fat burn for your exercise time. Circuit training, resistance for endurance (light weight and high repetition), toning classes, etc. are great for working the type one muscle fibers that are needed for those types of activities, but the heavy weights are needed to work the type 2 muscle fibers that are what have to be worked so they aren't broken down and burned in place of fat during the workouts. The cardio after working those type two fibers from heavy weight training will burn primarily body fat because the muscle glycogen will have been mostly used by the weights first. As for nutrition, the 1200 calorie rule is not accurate for everyone. In fact, it is not accurate for most people. Ideally, to burn fat while maintaining or even gaining lean tissue (yes you can gain lean tissue on a deficit but it is additional glycogen storage that is needed to fuel the heavy weights not muscle fibers for the first 4-6 months), I recommend finding an estimate of your total daily energy expenditure that is determined based on your body composition, activity level, and exercise and eating no less then 80% of that. So, if you add your BMR and activity not counting exercise and your exercise Calories burned and get a TDEE of 2000 Calories for the day, then you should eat no less then 1600 Calories that day so that the body doesn't look to muscle for Calories to burn instead of body fat. If you need help figuring your Calorie needs, PM me and I'll be glad to figure it for you.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,806 Member
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    I completely agree, there are very few dads that can give you what lifting actual heavy weights can. The best part about really pushing yourself (HEAVY WEIGHTS, your purse weighs more than those five or ten pound weights you do videos with) is that you can see result rather quickly. I swear every time I lift that I can see more definition the next day.

    A lot of women on here thinks that every woman's purse weighs more than 5 pounds and that's not true. Why? Every woman doesn't carry a big purse full of junk. Some women carry small purses.

    I would love to hear that a woman that believes in lifting heavy, use 20 pound weights while doing a cardio sculpt workout. For example. I would love to hear them say that have used 20 pound weights doing Tae Bo Ripped. I'm sure they wouldn't do it.

    Holding a weight for a long time will give you great muscle endurance. Doesn't do anything for building muscle.

    To the OP: check out bod pod testing. You may have one in your area. It can cost up to 50-75 dollars, but it's supposed to be the most accurate way to measure body comp.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    I wasn't saying that a person should strive to lose a certain amount of pounds that matches their body fat percentage.

    That's the result of the equations you posted. Which is why I asked where you got the equations from.

    Treetop57, my equation doesn't show that a person has to lose the same amount of pounds that equals to their body fat percentage. But, yes, the formula shows that the future body fat percentage will make the current body fat percentage and future pounds of fat match.

    I don't know if you have ever found out your body fat percentage, but you can't do so without the following status being known: Your gender, your height ,your age and your weight. The formula I have shared is the standard formula for everyone.
  • gardenimp
    gardenimp Posts: 185 Member
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    After losing some weight, I went to get the body fat % checked yesterday. It came out so high(above 30%). Even the people checking were surprised because they didn't see me as one who would have such a high body fat %. Especially when they say my "ideal" weight is 7 lbs less than what I am now. They did not give me any reasons why it should be the case. Also I have lost weight but not inches....

    I also do decent amount of strength toning in my workouts. 30 mins zumba toning and two 40 mins toning classes in a week.

    I have two questions:

    1) Why? Why is the body fat % so high? I understand no one is an expert here but any reasons you might have can help me figure out what I am doing wrong

    2) What do I do to reduce it? Does anyone have suggestions of some strength training workout dvds? Or some exercise suggestions? Some routines you might follow and works for you? Any dumbbell routines?


    I am with you on the high percentage of body fat. I had mine tested by DEXTRA machine. Mine came back at 34% which was surprising to the techician too. I am within the "normal" range of weight for my height and age (though I still want to lose 15 pounds) The best explaination I've been told is that my years of crash dieting caused the higher fat percentage. I have struggled with my weight my entire adult life and when you go on extreme diets, your body metabolizes your muscle before fat. So when I started eating and gaining weight again, I gained back all fat. Do this several times over 20 years.... I have a higher fat percentage then if I would have just stayed fat all those years. I finally lost weight the right way but am still at a high fat. I will continue to strength train and run to gain muscle and lose fat! Good luck and keep an eye on your goal!
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    I wasn't saying that a person should strive to lose a certain amount of pounds that matches their body fat percentage.

    That's the result of the equations you posted. Which is why I asked where you got the equations from.

    Treetop57, my equation doesn't show that a person has to lose the same amount of pounds that equals to their body fat percentage.

    You're right. I misread that post where you misinterpreted what I had asked. In any case, you have still not answered the question: Where did you get those formulas from?
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    I wasn't saying that a person should strive to lose a certain amount of pounds that matches their body fat percentage.

    That's the result of the equations you posted. Which is why I asked where you got the equations from.

    Treetop57, my equation doesn't show that a person has to lose the same amount of pounds that equals to their body fat percentage.

    You're right. I misread that post where you misinterpreted what I had asked. In any case, you have still not answered the question: Where did you get those formulas from?

    Search it.
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
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    Intermittent Fasting is a good way to reduce body fat %
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    Can't beat your genes. Why worry about it? Accept the fact that you are on the high end of the spectrum for women and aim for your "ideal weight."

    Sorry to call you out, but this is terrible advice. Ideal weight is based on BMI which is a poor indicator of health for certain groups of people. On one extreme you have bodybuilders who can be diagnosed as overweight or obese, despite the fact that they have extremely low body fat. On the other extreme, you have people who are diagnosed with a "healthy weight" but still have high body fat. Excess fat, not excess weight, is the cause of health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. And while genes may play a role in how much fat your body stores, hard work and discipline can help almost everybody improve their fitness and wellness.
  • adamlb
    adamlb Posts: 106 Member
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    What worked for me was regular weight training (2 or 3 sets of about 10 reps per exercise), two 40-minute random hill cross-trainer sessions a week, and really watching what I ate - that's what brought me to MFP. I was running a 300-500 calorie deficit a day under the MFP target for a while but now try to be much closer. In 6 months my body fat percentage has dropped from 24.5% to just over 14%. Still hoping to maybe lose a little more!
  • Jill_newimprovedversion
    Jill_newimprovedversion Posts: 988 Member
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    It's been my understanding that while using the handheld monitor, that SEVERAL factors can and DO influence the reading
    particularly how much water you've drank, whether or not you've had a BM, or TOM, or recent salt intake/water retention,
    etc etc etc....
    so while it can be accurate, it will fluctuate A LOT.
    which is why I bought one and keep track on a regular basis- found my on Amazon for less than $30.


    Just adding my 2cents.

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