Losing body fat, why so hard?

[zabba]

About 3 months ago I started going to the gym seriously, before this I had a reasonably sedate lifestyle, but proabably walked 2 miles a day during the week as part of my commute.

I'm 30 years old, 5'8 and weighed 72kg when I started. Not overweight as such but had a belly, love handles etc. I have some Tanita scales that measure body fat and when I started these gave a reading of 21%. I appreciate that these are not completely accurate, but thought it would give me an indication of improvment as I progress.

Fast forward 3 months, the scales say I am 71kg and 20% body fat, hardly any difference in fat percentage!

In terms of gym work, I am doing 2 spin classes a week, 1 circuit training class a week and 2 weights sessions. I am working hard in these classes and seeing improvments in the weights I can lift.

I feel a lot fitter and stronger, which is fantastic, but it would be nice to see the fat reducing more, as it would be nice eventually to see some abs, I know it won't happen overnight but I expected quicker results than 1% in 3 months!

Diet wise, I've cut out most fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolates crisps etc, and upped my salad, fruit and protein intake.

My aim is not to lose weight, but to build a bit of muscle, reduce body fat and feel fitter. It's all working except for the fat. I've tried those online calculater things where you put in some measurements and they aslo think i'm around 20%, very frustrating!

[pilchardthecat]

Good luck in your journey through the ten-mile-wide and mile-deep tsunami of bullst and pseudo science that awaits you

You have reminded me of my old thread

[Halb]

The best weight to measure fat is underwater weighing.
But if you think you look good you look good, some percentage won't matter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#M...

[Xaero]

Those scales are not the most accurate and you're putting on muscle weight. 71kg at 5'8" is not actually overweight I believe anyway. To get rid of the fat you would need to be more aerobic exercise and alter the diet to reduce carb's. The fruit in particular is bad, it's mostly sugar and would be spiking your insulin levels helping you retain fat.

[zabba]

pilchardthecat said:

Good luck in your journey through the ten-mile-wide and mile-deep tsunami of bullst and pseudo science that awaits you

You have reminded me of my old thread

You're not wrong there, so many different opinions floating around, will take a look at that thread

[MacGee]

Indeed!.....use your waistband/belt as your gudie to fatness! Its the easiest to monitor. Scales vary with your hydration and sweat. Mine show huge variation during 24 hours.

[zabba]

Xaero said:

Those scales are not the most accurate and you're putting on muscle weight. 71kg at 5'8" is not actually overweight I believe anyway. To get rid of the fat you would need to be more aerobic exercise and alter the diet to reduce carb's. The fruit in particular is bad, it's mostly sugar and would be spiking your insulin levels helping you retain fat.

That's interesting, I do eat a large sized portion of mixed fruit salad everyday, was aware of the sugar but not the insulin retaining fat, maybe I should reduce that, but the fruit must come with other health benefits.

[Halb]

Xaero said:

Those scales are not the most accurate and you're putting on muscle weight. 71kg at 5'8" is not actually overweight I believe anyway. To get rid of the fat you would need to be more aerobic exercise and alter the diet to reduce carb's. The fruit in particular is bad, it's mostly sugar and would be spiking your insulin levels helping you retain fat.

Fresh fruit doesn't do that. Nature gives fruit fibre as well as sugar. The only sugars in nature without fibre is milk and honey.
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/blog/?p=173

[gollan82]

Might be worth trying lower intensity exercise rather than the spin class.

The exercise should get your heart rate to 60-70% of your maximum for burning fat, over this and you've gone into the cardio zone. Some gym machines will have heart rate monitors or they are available in most sport shops.

Good luck!

[CaptainSlow]

In the last 3 months I've dropped from 90kg to 81kg - PBF 25% to 21%

Cut out ALL crisps, chocolate and chips. Only Diet Coke fizzy drink and not much beer.

Exercise wise...buy a road bike - I'm doing 100km rides each Sunday morning and upto 2 lots of 10km road runs each week in lunch hours.

[Cheib]

Halb said:

Xaero said:

Those scales are not the most accurate and you're putting on muscle weight. 71kg at 5'8" is not actually overweight I believe anyway. To get rid of the fat you would need to be more aerobic exercise and alter the diet to reduce carb's. The fruit in particular is bad, it's mostly sugar and would be spiking your insulin levels helping you retain fat.

Fresh fruit doesn't do that. Nature gives fruit fibre as well as sugar. The only sugars in nature without fibre is milk and honey.
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/blog/?p=173

Yup. I'd avoid any "prepared" fruit though.....just stick with eating it as nature meant it. Even fruit salads may have some additives and things like apples the skin is good for you so eating a whoel apple rather than pieces of a peeled apple in afruit salad is better for you.

Dried fruit and fruit juice should both be avoided.

[grumbledoak]

I'm on the same path. I did the 'heavy lifting' bit over the last few years; lager -> wine -> nothing & now no sugar and increasing cardio. 5'8", currently under 65kg, and 32" waist, and this site says BMI 21.3 and body fat 16.4%. Still no six pack.

More of the same?

[amare32]

Sounds like you need to reduce the classes that you do and focus a bit more on the weights.

From experience, in August 2011 (aged 34 and at 5ft 8in), I decided to get really cut and went from 18% bodyfat to 6% (achieved this past May). I achieved this with a combination of weight training focussing on compound weights (deadlifts, cleans, squats, leg press, pull ups, bench press etc). Focussed on training the big muscle groups - I didn't really do much isolation TBH.

In terms of cardio, I play a lot of tennis competing at club level so on average spend about 6/8 hours per week on court whether it's matches, practice hits or drill/training. This also includes footwork drills, speed work and medicine ball drills for my core.

lastly, and probably the most important aspect to cutting the fat is that apart achieving a calorific deficit is to overhaul your eating habit - sure it's important to have the occasional treats but you have to eat clean, get the right hydration and get adequate sleep as everything goes hand in hand in helping you to achieve your goal.

All of this was done in the course of 9 months. I started at 75kg and I decided to cut first and then bulk up. So from Aug '11 - March '12, I cut down to 59kg which was underweight for my height and then proceeded to bulk up to 64kg where I am today. My waist went from 32" last year to 28".

I did all this without recording anything and just by intuition and experience (I have been training and played basketball, football and tennis all my life). The things I used to check on my progress on a daily basis is the mirror and how my clothes fitted. Thankfully, I'm also a good cook and up on my nutrition so the kitchen part is easy but THIS IS THE MOST CRUCIAL PART, all the training in the world means SFA unless you eat properly.

And no, you're not going to get cut in 2-3 months. If want to do this, it's going to take a bit of time, there's no strict timetable but it's not going to happen overnight.

Edited by amare32 on Wednesday 3rd October 11:56

[Halb]

Cheib said:

Yup. I'd avoid any "prepared" fruit though.....just stick with eating it as nature meant it. Even fruit salads may have some additives and things like apples the skin is good for you so eating a whoel apple rather than pieces of a peeled apple in afruit salad is better for you.
Dried fruit and fruit juice should both be avoided.

Indeed. I like a glug of fruit juice in the morning for the sharp taste. But wouldn't drink a load of it unless it was post heavy exercise. Dried fruits used to trip me up, but not anymore.
In the show mentioned above there was a fella who ate the skin of the apple and threw the rest away.

grumbledoak said:

I'm on the same path. I did the 'heavy lifting' bit over the last few years; lager -> wine -> nothing & now no sugar and increasing cardio. 5'8", currently under 65kg, and 32" waist, and this site says BMI 21.3 and body fat 16.4%. Still no six pack.

More of the same?

Some heavy crunches then?

[Xaero]

Cheib said:

Halb said:

Xaero said:

Those scales are not the most accurate and you're putting on muscle weight. 71kg at 5'8" is not actually overweight I believe anyway. To get rid of the fat you would need to be more aerobic exercise and alter the diet to reduce carb's. The fruit in particular is bad, it's mostly sugar and would be spiking your insulin levels helping you retain fat.

Fresh fruit doesn't do that. Nature gives fruit fibre as well as sugar. The only sugars in nature without fibre is milk and honey.
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/blog/?p=173

Yup. I'd avoid any "prepared" fruit though.....just stick with eating it as nature meant it. Even fruit salads may have some additives and things like apples the skin is good for you so eating a whoel apple rather than pieces of a peeled apple in afruit salad is better for you.

Dried fruit and fruit juice should both be avoided.

Indeed fruit has fibre, but it's still an insulin spike. Fruit juice is much worse in case the OP is drinking that, as most of the fibre has gone from what my knowledge is.

If you look at places which rely a bit on fruit based diets (certainly islanders - NZ comes to mind) then they tend to be quite fat compared to those who have a better selection of food type choices.

[Halb]

Xaero said:

Indeed fruit has fibre, but it's still an insulin spike. Fruit juice is much worse in case the OP is drinking that, as most of the fibre has gone from what my knowledge is.
If you look at places which rely a bit on fruit based diets (certainly islanders - NZ comes to mind) then they tend to be quite fat compared to those who have a better selection of food type choices.

It's not a 'spike' because the fibre slows the digestion process. Fruit (most) is low on the GI because it does not cause a 'sudden' release of insulin unlike 'white' carbs or processed sugar without the fibre (fruit juice etc).
http://nutritiondata.self.com/topics/glycemic-inde...

[zabba]

It's not fruit juice i'm having, it's a bowl of freshly prepared fruit salad at my work canteen (normally includes melon, pineapple, orange, grapes). I might cut this out or have it later in the afternoon to space out my meals better. My diet during a weekday normally consists of the following:-

7am - bowl of porridge
10am - glass of milk ( for protein and to stop hunger building up too much)
12pm - Gym session (class or weights)
1.30pm - Lunch - mixed salad with chicken breast, and bowl of fruit as mentioned above
7pm - Dinner - varies but try and incorporate a decent amount of veg, with protein and a few carbs (normally pasta/rice/potatoe)

Gym routine is

Monday - weights
Tues - Spinning
Wed - circuits
Thurs - spinning
Fri - weights

I am using the myfitnesspal app to track calories, it's tricky to be exact with it but normally shows a calorie deficit.

One worry I have is that I am not doing much at the weekend in terms of exercise, I will try and get out on my mountain bike and do a long session on a sunday morning.

[MocMocaMoc]

I would cut the fruit. It's just fructose that'll make you hungry again within 20 minutes or so (the insulin thing)

Eat more fat!

(Natural fat, obv)

[pilchardthecat]

MocMocaMoc said:

I would cut the fruit. It's just fructose that'll make you hungry again within 20 minutes or so (the insulin thing)

Eat more fat!

(Natural fat, obv)

Depends if you want to be fit and healthy, or just fit. Personally i eat lots of fruit. It has lots of good stuff in it as well as the fructose.

I avoid other refined carbs though, and nuts, seeds and vegetable oils (vegetable oil is a misnoma, it comes from seeds).

Eat lots of red meat fatty.lean doesn't matter, starchy carbs, fruit and vegetables.

[a311]

Unfortunately it's not possible to target specific areas for fat loss. As someone else mentioned loosing the weight via cardio and eating well then looking to build from there sounds like a logical step to me.

Keep a food diary or count your calories. My Fitness Pal is great IMO the daily cal goals are low in my experience but it's a great tool to monitor what you're eating and educational in that when you use it you quickly discover how bad some foods are but you can also eat well and maintain a low cal diet.