How did you cut down on body fat?

[Anonymous]

I'm 5'3" and 129 Ibs, and that's a healthy BMI weight, but my body fat is at 25% which I think is average but not that great. I want to lose inches, since my measurements are 38-29-39, and that sounds big to me. I jog for an hour everyday and do some strength training, but that's it. Should I be doing interval training? It sounds intense but I could do it if that works.

I don't have a gym membership (can't afford it) and have little experience with weights so if you could give me some advice on that it would help. My diet isn't exactly strict, but I don't eat junk food/fast food, instant or microwave foods, red meat, sweets, excessive carbs, and I rarely drink soda or sugary drinks, mostly water. I eat only until I'm not hungry, 3 meals a day with small snacks. Pretty low-calorie. I'm increasing the amount of vegetables I eat. Any other specific foods I should avoid or eat more of? Thanks.

[MyNameIsJonas]

Ok first off did you get your BMI off a website ? that stuff is bull spit...

If I for instance put in my BMI online link I'm 25.3 % bodyfat. That is incorrect I just carry a fair amount of muscle. Inaccurate. These ccalculators are for average readings.

If you want to lose more weight I would start counting calories. link

Basically you want to burn off more calories than consumed. 3500 calories = one lbs of fat. You should burn off just 500 over of what consumed. Throughout the week you want to burn off more calories than consumed in order to lose weight/fat. link

Ok now according to the chart if you jog one hour a day (lest say 6.0 pace) you burn 540 calories. 7x 540 = 3780 calories. What I would do is interval training if you can and watch the diet. Strength training is great/fun although its not the best way to lose weight. Jumping rope is cheap and also fun.

[Asker]

Oh, no I just put that out there to give people and idea of where I'm at. If I put my height and weight into that calculator I get 22.8, in the normal range. The 25% body fat I listed is from the beurer scale I have, but I don't know how accurate it is either...

I've looked up the amount of calories in common foods I eat, and I think I consume about 1500-1600 calories a day, but I could count it to be more accurate. Thanks for the info. So, you don't think lifting weights would help?

[Asker]

I want to lose some weight, but I'm less focused on the number and more so on taking off inches.

[MyNameIsJonas]

Usually people lift weights in order to gain muscle... A kettle bell class would be better or any type of calisthenic exercises if your just trying to tone certain areas or improve movement. Generally cardio is going to be your best bet.

I wouldn't focus so much on numbers either. As long as your healthy and you feel good. Counting calories can get it down to a science. Plenty of apps for your phone if you have a smart phone!

[McQuacker]

Do it my cheating wayyyyy

6 smalls meals a day, spaced out even to keep metabolism high.

No processed foods, no junk food, no sugar, no sodium. Rabbit mode

ABSOLUTELY NO BREAD and NO SODA.

Eat carbs only when I wake up, and before I work out.

Diet Breakdown:

Protein: 50%

Carbs: 30%

Fat: 20%

Excercise: 3 days heavy lifting 3 days cardio

If you really want to lose weight, just do Insanity. It's perfect for you. You'll get down to 110+(+/-5) when you're done with it which is perfect weight for your height

[loveless123]

-ONLY 50 grams of carbs per day

-Snack on fruits every 2 hours to keep ypur metabolism up

-Have 2 cups of green tea a day with lemon juice

-Drink roughly 60 ounces of water a day

-Consume more protein than any other food group on your plate each meal

-DONT restrict your cravings but at the same time keep it reasonable (feel like ice cream have a serving size not a whole pint)

-Plan out your meals ahead of time so you don't have to rely on fast food to get by

-Never skip out on meals, most people think starving themselves will help them lose weight when actually it makes your body sink into starvation mode ad hold onto the weight you have

stuck to this while working out (mostly cardio) roughly 3 times a week and lost about 2 lbs per week.

Hope this helps!

[loveless123]

oh as far as foods :almonds, avocados, carrots, bannas, apples. Try not too eat too much fruit because fruit is EXTREMELY high in carbs. Fish and chicken is high in protein w/o the fat like red meat. Spinach is rich in vitamin e and a and uber low in calories. Raspberries and are low in sugar but very high in vitamin C unlike oranges which are high in sugar. Don't forget lots of protein such as eggs, almonds, peanut butter etc., believe it or not the cheese with the most protein is parmesan!

[MyNameIsJonas]

At only 50 grams of carbs per day you would faint.

[loveless123]

if your a male, absolutely, but if your a female, no you wouldn't. My aunts a nutritionist ;)

[Asker]

50 grams might be hard to maintain, but you had a lot of good suggestions, thanks.

[loveless123]

no problem :) here's a link more about the carbs thing if you're interested link

[Izzy2102]

Are you sure you're bodyfat is right? 25% is def overweight. Not necessarily with health risk but overweight. You're measurments are OK though. They everthing above a weight a waist measurment above 31 inch increases health risks. And 29 doesn't really sound like a lot to me.

Anyways you can do lots of workouts at home. You can buy packeges like p90x or insanity. Or if not there is tons of online rescourse online. Try blogilates.com toneitup.com and the corresponding YouTube channels. Another great channel is befit. And take a look at this workout It's a good interval workout for beginners link

Don't eat any processed food, in particular no bread

[Asker]

No, I'm not sure about the body fat. I don't think the method I used was that accurate...I'm definitely not overweight though, not according to my doctor. Thanks for the tips.

[Izzy2102]

a note on insanity, because others have mentioned it too and one guys said you'd go down to 105-115 lbs. You probably won't. People who quite a bit overweight tend to lose a lot with those programms, but you're not. It will increase your fitness level and you'll shed a few pounds but the chances that you lose 15-25 lbs in 2 months are rather low. You'll probably lose a few lbs in beginnig but then it will slow down because your body doesn't have that much fat to lose

[MaskofInsanity]

For me, interval training and weights did the trick.

With interval training - walk one min, jog one min, run one min - I'd personally keep going until I wanted to die.

With weights I admittedly used a lot of gym equipment. There are a lot of things you could do if you bought some decently weighted dumbbells though. Squate, lunges, curls, planks, chair dips, etc.

Sounds like your diet is pretty controlled though. Just eat as much leafy greens as possible.

[Asker]

I'll try that, thanks. How do you determine what amount of weight is appropriate?

[MaskofInsanity]

It's really about what you're comfortable with - you don't want it too easy or too hard

[martyfellow]

1. Go on a diet, a scientific one such as the program of Weight Watchers, so you won't hae to count calories; that's always iffy at best.

2. Do aerobics or other aerobic exercise that's done at high intensity, and is fun!

Keep doing the weight work, and the jogging. But try varying the pace and distance of running, so that you aren't bored. Do some sprints, and as you get in better shape, some longer distance running. Enter a local 5-K run, those are fun things to be in.

[WeaponZero]

Cook your own food from scratch, with a strong emphasis on vegetables and a lean protein with every meal. Drink lots of water. Exercise-wise you should be doing compound lifts, not isolation lifts. Compound lifts necessitate significantly heavier workloads, in many cases enough to necessitate use of the squat rack at the gym. Do full body training, not working in splits.

[RedThread]

To quote a line from Fight Club: "I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more" Also eat 3 normal meals with normal portions like a human being.

[Asker]

I do eat three meals a day, all normal portions lol.

[Anonymous]

You have a good dietary program and you have good workout.

Over time, the results will show.