How to lower body fat?

[jogym]

I am currently about 117lbs (5`1"). I think my body fat is about 22%. Haven't had it measured but from all the charts I have looked at if you are my weight and have a 27 inch waist it's round about this.

Would like to get to 18%. Is it a case of continuing with what I'm doing and watching what I eat. 114lb I think to get down to 18% I worked out. Don't know. What if I do get my weight down more and my body fat hasn't dropped much. What then? Is your body fat worked out by your waist size and weight? How long do you think it would take to lose 4% body fat.

I am getting discouraged as I thought it would be lower. I am only a size 4 (must be a fat skinny ).

[SurfinAmy]

Sounds like you need to build more muscle jogym. Not sure what you're doing now though.
I know it's discouraging sometimes because it happens slowly, but after all my battles with weight loss I truly believe building muscle is the key to getting the fat off.
I think "dieting" really harms the body and we lose our muscle by not eating enough food (and good food at that)
What are you doing now?
-Amy

[jogym]

Originally Posted by SurfinAmy

Sounds like you need to build more muscle jogym. Not sure what you're doing now though.
I know it's discouraging sometimes because it happens slowly, but after all my battles with weight loss I truly believe building muscle is the key to getting the fat off.
I think "dieting" really harms the body and we lose our muscle by not eating enough food (and good food at that)
What are you doing now?
-Amy

Well Amy at the minute I am doing:

Sunday: 1 hour medium intensity cardio

Monday: shoulders/biceps - shoulder press/upright row/lateral raises -x3 (bar with 13lbs on each side) - same for biceps.

Wednesday: a.m - chest/triceps - incline machine/pec dec/chest press - x3 (not sure the weight 3weight bars/3 1/2 weight bars/4 weight bars - triceps french press - 5kg each side/triceps pushdown/cable machine with rope - 2 ab machines x3 and some crunches - - p.m 30 mins HIIT

Friday: back/legs - lat pulldown/cable row/dumbbell row on bench - - leg press 85kg I think/leg extension/leg curl/lunges x3


Not enough cardio. I am using enough weights so that on 12 I can hardly do any more.

What more could I be doing

[SurfinAmy]

I don't see any Squats in there. That will do wonders.
-Amy

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by jogym

Sunday: 1 hour medium intensity cardio

Monday: shoulders/biceps

Wednesday: a.m - chest/triceps - p.m 30 mins HIIT

Friday: back/legs

I agree with Amy - squats rock!. It works more than just the quads - it hits the abductors, the adductors, the glutes, sometimes the hamstrings. Does x3 mean sets or reps? I would make sure that you are lifting HEAVY weights. So heavy that you can only complete 4-6 reps.

I would also look at the diet. It is about 90% of your results. What does a typical day of eating look like?

[jogym]

Originally Posted by Lady C

I agree with Amy - squats rock!. It works more than just the quads - it hits the abductors, the adductors, the glutes, sometimes the hamstrings. Does x3 mean sets or reps? I would make sure that you are lifting HEAVY weights. So heavy that you can only complete 4-6 reps.

I would also look at the diet. It is about 90% of your results. What does a typical day of eating look like?

I have not been doing squats. I thought leg press was the same thing. I shall try and incorporate them into my training though should I use the bar or the smith machine? Lady C - x3 means 3 sets of 12 reps. Should I go as low as 4-6 reps, will that lower my body fat better than the 12 rep range. I thought only men went as low as this! You see my problem is I train by myself, for instance the lat pulldown if I put the weight up so I could get 4-6 reps (think that would be about 6 plates) I probably wouldn't use good form and I can barely reach the bar so I would find it difficult to pull that down. Is this low range still ok for legs? And for free weights say the shoulder press I would say use 6kg dumbbells but if I went to 8kgs I think that would be too heavy.. My arms usually start to shake..

My diet has been so far today:

8.15 - 1 probiotic drink, two shredded wheat with s/skimmed milk
10.45 - half a low fat range chicken tikka with rice dish
1.30 - rest of this dish with sushi pack, 1 apple
rest of day not sure..

(am working out later this evening)

Have no protein left!!

Yesterdays was:

8.00 - 1 probiotic drink, 1 bowl oatmeal with s/skimmed milk
10.30 - prawn and pasta salad, 1 pear
1.00 - small bowl of chilli (from tea night before)
3.15 - rest of prawn and pasta salad
5.30 - small plate of stew

I have cut out bread from my diet. Ate too much of it.

I am trying to eat 1500 a day. I don't seem to eat enough veg. Could do with eating at night but don't know when and what.

Please criticise. It's not like this every day but sometimes I don't know what to eat...

[atherjen]

what is the probiotic drink?
what is the pasta salad made of?
is it homemade chilli?
whats in the stew?

you need more fiberous veggies and healthy fats to begin with.
between what meals do you workout?
you can defintily eat in the evenings. if you worked out earlier in the day then go with lean proteins (chicken, all fish, cottage cheese, whey protein, egg whites), fiberous veggies and healthy fats (olive oil, hempseed oil, flax oil, fatty fish and/or fish oil caps, natural peanut butter, nuts/seeds in moderation).

as for low rep for legs. staying within the 4-6 rep range will help to build strength and not so much muscle. hypertrophy range(for muscle gains) is 8-12 reps. make sure that you are lifting heavy and until failure!

[jogym]

Originally Posted by atherjen

what is the probiotic drink?
what is the pasta salad made of?
is it homemade chilli?
whats in the stew?

you need more fiberous veggies and healthy fats to begin with.
between what meals do you workout?
you can defintily eat in the evenings. if you worked out earlier in the day then go with lean proteins (chicken, all fish, cottage cheese, whey protein, egg whites), fiberous veggies and healthy fats (olive oil, hempseed oil, flax oil, fatty fish and/or fish oil caps, natural peanut butter, nuts/seeds in moderation).

as for low rep for legs. staying within the 4-6 rep range will help to build strength and not so much muscle. hypertrophy range(for muscle gains) is 8-12 reps. make sure that you are lifting heavy and until failure!

It's called actimel

pasta salad was prawns, tiny pasta shells, lettuce, shredded carrot, tomatoes and some kind of marie rose sauce (low fat)

Was homemade chilli - tinned tomatoes,kidney beans,lean mince,peppers,mushrooms,onions, basmati rice

stew well my mum made it - mince (might not have been lean if there is lean, you know what mums are like), carrots,onions,steak pieces,low fat gravy

I work out Sundays (times vary), Wednesday a. m after breakfast p.m. about 8.00 so after small dinner, Friday same.

I do my weights usually 12 reps but sometimes on the 3rd set I can't get to 12.

I do eat chicken, cottage cheese, nuts and seeds (what would you say is in moderation). I take what's called a trail mix which is: raisins,pumkin seeds,sesame seeds,almonds,papaya and would snack on this maybe once a day.

I'm not very good at what to eat and when to eat.

Thanks. It's good to get replies

[Lady C]

More veggies are needed. A big salad everyday can cover you in both volume and variety of veggies. Throw on a chicken breast for the protein and you're set!

[jogym]

Thank you all. I am doing my legs and back tonight. So am going to aim for say 8-10 rep range and try and lift a bit heavier. And do the squats!

[Octagon]

Originally Posted by jogym

Is your body fat worked out by your waist size and weight?

In a word: no.

There are a variety of methods of measuring body fat percentage and while some of the calculators that utilize tape measurements can be quite useful even the best tape measure bf calculators are prone to a fairly wide margins of error and they measure more than one body part and they all include height as well.

The charts you're talking about (that simply compare weight to waist size) are likely measuring BMI (Body Mass Index) which is entirely different (and for the most part useless).

[jogym]

Originally Posted by Octagon

In a word: no.

There are a variety of methods of measuring body fat percentage and while some of the calculators that utilize tape measurements can be quite useful even the best tape measure bf calculators are prone to a fairly wide margins of error and they measure more than one body part and they all include height as well.

The charts you're talking about (that simply compare weight to waist size) are likely measuring BMI (Body Mass Index) which is entirely different (and for the most part useless).

Where I got this information from is a website called `am-i-fat.com under body fat percentages and it gives a table simple body fat percentage calculator where you put in your gender,weight and waist and it calculates it for you. It's definitely not for body mass.

PS No I was not looking up this website it came up in a search.

[SurfinAmy]

Hi Jogym!
How did the squats go last night? :
-Amy

[jogym]

Originally Posted by SurfinAmy

Hi Jogym!
How did the squats go last night? :
-Amy

Well Amy the squats went ok. I could only use 10kg dumbbells though. The thing is in the smith machine the guys leave the 20kg plates on each side when they're finished and they're a bit heavy for me to pull off. I'm a bit shy to ask anyone to remove them. Though I did up all my weights on my legs which I was pleased about...

[MAURER]

Originally Posted by jogym

Well Amy the squats went ok. I could only use 10kg dumbbells though. The thing is in the smith machine the guys leave the 20kg plates on each side when they're finished and they're a bit heavy for me to pull off. I'm a bit shy to ask anyone to remove them. Though I did up all my weights on my legs which I was pleased about...

im sure nobody would mind taking the weight plates off for you