body fat

staceyw37 · September 2009

hi all!

q is--how do i really start losing the body fat?? it's everywhere but most annoyingly in my mid sxn.
i'm 5' 4.5", weigh 136ish, with goal of 130. i've had 3 kids

i've been consisting losing wt on mfp. and i have made some dietary changes. i do diff kinds of cardio workouts to burn the fat (and use hrm).
i've recently added parts of p90x (kenpox, cardiox, abripperx, xstretch). a 90day commitment is more than i can do rt now.

i've def incr tone and muscle but how to get rid of thick over layer? is it diet? or thru exercise (like truly committing to the p90x).

q aimed at banks, jess, arewethere, songbyrd, 3babybeans and others who have been at this awhile and act as coaches, too.
(if i didn't name you, but you have good info, please chime in with your answers too)

thanks all for your input!! :flowerforyou:

sandy429 · September 2009

Hello.

I see a lot of cardio, but no strength training. Muscle burns fat. Plain and simple. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories & fat your body will burn on a 24/7 basis.

I've done P90X four times, and can't say enough good things about it. I highly recommend doing a Classic rotation of P90X, especially since you already have it at your disposal.

benw · September 2009

From my understanding it is both diet and exercise. Keep working on it. Depending on the type of fat it is it may be harder to get rid of. For more information please see this link http://www.freedieting.com/body_fat_gain.htm. Remember your body uses fat as a survival tool.

santoshrane · September 2009

I agree with Sandy.

What i would like to add is make a log book. Record everything you eat. after a week review it.

youw ould be surprised to see the stuff that can go away from your plate and which without can contribute HUGE to your flat tummy.

Same with the workouts. Log and then review.

Your life is precious and weekly sitting and thinking about it for 20 minutes if worth 100%

staceyw37 · September 2009

thanks for the input. sandy, i've been trying to get up the courage to do p90x. i know it works--i've seen my husb's transformation (even w/o following the nutrition plan).
i think for me i have to look at it as i do it every day for as long as i can. or that i do it each day that i am able to. otherwise, it's too out of reach for me (mentally).

thanks also santosshrane--i do log everything (food and exercise) and i can easily see where i can make changes. just a matter of sticking with it for more than three days.
i'm pretty impressed with myself this week for not eating cookies, brownies etc.

and benw--will check out that website. thanks!

later--time to read tothe kids and get them into bed (fave time of day:laugh: )

msarro · September 2009

You're doing awesome so far, so don't get discouraged.

Cardio is your best friend for weight loss. Yes, muscle does help burn calories, however the amount it really helps to burn is NOT that great as people used to think it was. A pound of muscle burns about 6 calories a *day*. A pound of fat? That burns 2 calories. So if you're able to lose 5 pounds of fat (10 calories burnt a day) and replace it with 5 pounds of pure muscle (which banks, songbyrd, et al can attest is a pretty big feat), you're still only burning 20 more calories a day. And you still weigh the same. You could literally burn more than double that drinking 8 glasses of ice water a day (your body has to heat the water). I'm not trying to decry strength training by any means, its very important for weight loss, but I would still put most of my focus on aerobic activities.

General fitness programs like p90x are awesome because they include both. You may also want to check into kettlebells. They're both aerobic and strength training rolled into one.

SHBoss1673 · September 2009

yeah, I'm not going to disagree with any of the other replys on here. I'll just add that this is a long journey, once you get all the easy to burn fat off, it takes a while to get rid of the rest of it (trust me, after 2 years, I'm still working off a small bit in my belly, and I've been consistent for the whole time).

So all I can say is, keep a HEALTHY deficit, small enough to not throw your metabolism out of wack, but large enough to force your body to burn excess calories, if you're near your goal weight, that's usually between 200 and 300 calories a day INCLUDING exercise calories! Remember, our bodies need fuel to burn calories, you don't give it enough, it's going to start slowing down your metabolism, making further weight loss very difficult, and fat lost nearly impossible!

Keep a constant burn, smaller meals, with calorie shifting is usually the best way to do this. For example, start with a slightly larger breakfast, have a snack mid morning, have a decent sized lunch, have a mid afternoon snack, have a slightly smaller dinner, have an after dinner snack (at least an hour later), if you strength train, make your snack be something with about 10 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbs, within an hour of working out (before isn't as good as after with strength).

I think it's probably obvious to say that you should try to spread out your types of calories throughout the day.

Ahh, what else..... Oh, don't get discouraged week to week, when your weight get's close to maintenance, the pounds won't come off at any where near the same rate, nor will the fat. The only way to truly measure is either by doing body fat % measurements, or some kind of fitness testing. If either of those get better, then you are succeeding, no matter what the scale says.

Make no mistake, the HARDEST part of this journey is the end game, creating a program that works for the rest of your life, invest the time to make something that works for you, that you can be happy with, and that you won't get bored with or that is unreasonably time consuming or difficult. It's worth it to sit down for 3 to 4 hours one day and map out a plan, write down obstacles and how you can avoid or overcome them (parties, vacations, supportive friends/family...etc).
THEN
Once a month or so revisit the plan and tweak any places where you've found it doesn't work right.

that's about all I have, hope it helps.

paulamma1 · September 2009

yeah, I'm not going to disagree with any of the other replys on here. I'll just add that this is a long journey, once you get all the easy to burn fat off, it takes a while to get rid of the rest of it (trust me, after 2 years, I'm still working off a small bit in my belly, and I've been consistent for the whole time).

So all I can say is, keep a HEALTHY deficit, small enough to not throw your metabolism out of wack, but large enough to force your body to burn excess calories, if you're near your goal weight, that's usually between 200 and 300 calories a day INCLUDING exercise calories! Remember, our bodies need fuel to burn calories, you don't give it enough, it's going to start slowing down your metabolism, making further weight loss very difficult, and fat lost nearly impossible!

Keep a constant burn, smaller meals, with calorie shifting is usually the best way to do this. For example, start with a slightly larger breakfast, have a snack mid morning, have a decent sized lunch, have a mid afternoon snack, have a slightly smaller dinner, have an after dinner snack (at least an hour later), if you strength train, make your snack be something with about 10 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbs, within an hour of working out (before isn't as good as after with strength).

I think it's probably obvious to say that you should try to spread out your types of calories throughout the day.

Ahh, what else..... Oh, don't get discouraged week to week, when your weight get's close to maintenance, the pounds won't come off at any where near the same rate, nor will the fat. The only way to truly measure is either by doing body fat % measurements, or some kind of fitness testing. If either of those get better, then you are succeeding, no matter what the scale says.

Make no mistake, the HARDEST part of this journey is the end game, creating a program that works for the rest of your life, invest the time to make something that works for you, that you can be happy with, and that you won't get bored with or that is unreasonably time consuming or difficult. It's worth it to sit down for 3 to 4 hours one day and map out a plan, write down obstacles and how you can avoid or overcome them (parties, vacations, supportive friends/family...etc).
THEN
Once a month or so revisit the plan and tweak any places where you've found it doesn't work right.

that's about all I have, hope it helps.

gotta tell ya, I SO enjoy your posts!

Thanks

SHBoss1673 · September 2009

gotta tell ya, I SO enjoy your posts!

Thanks

why thank you my dear. I gotta say, good questions elicit good responses (or so the theory goes). So as long as people keep asking the right questions, I'll keep trying to answer them as best I can.

staceyw37 · September 2009

thanks msarro and banks! as usual, lots of solid advice.

i think i do need to creat a more structured plan. i make mini weekly goals (like do ab ripper x 2x, cardio x, walk x miles) but i'm still so scattered about it. and my eating plan.

i don't spread out the kinds of cals thruout the day. i tend to eat certain foods whether they fuel me the right way or not. espec come lunch. i eat the most in am and at 3/4 PM which works with my hunger cues. and then if i'm hungry dinner or later, i'm trying to do protein or fruit. now i just have to refine it better.
so, i'll take some time this weekend to figure out the next stage of the journey for me.

thanks again for all the advice and support!

mfp has been the greatest for me!

body fat

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