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Trying to loose tummy fat is the worst
- Thread starter RustyNails
- Start date
Zoe
Member
The mirror is the most subjective measure and is useless if you're prone to dysmorphia.
isaacnukem
Member
I went from having awesome love handles to it's hard to even pinch them anymore. Just run and eat right. Eat on a caloric deficit. Hey, I finally used that sentence.
Calipers are good, yes, and I have a pair.
Well yes, dysmorphia is certainly going to make it harder to judge from a mirror; no argument there.
I'm speaking in general, over time. I'm an example...at one point, I was 200 lbs, but a BAD 200 lbs..just no real muscle mass, a good bit of flab, etc. But after about a year of disciplined eating, regular lifting, and HIIT cardio mixed in, I STILL weighed 200 lbs, but it was a much better 200. In that case, the scale didn't tell me anything, but the mirror did. That's what I was getting at (I guess the tape measure would have too, though).
Golden_Pigeon
Banned
Water and apples are your friends 
Seriously, i lost a ton of weight only eating those when i felt hungry. And salads and rice with vegetables at every meals.
This and a lot of walking/bicycling/gym.
It's neither hard or easy, it's just painfully slow. And the fat come back really quick if you stop paying attention
Seriously, i lost a ton of weight only eating those when i felt hungry. And salads and rice with vegetables at every meals.
This and a lot of walking/bicycling/gym.
It's neither hard or easy, it's just painfully slow. And the fat come back really quick if you stop paying attention
1200 calories and you also worked out? That's insane. Find your TDEE and subtract from that around 500 calories. 700-800 if you want to go crazy but it gets very difficult after a few days. Anything less than that and your body will start compensating too much, likely by rapidly breaking down muscle for fuel.
In terms of exercise and what I should have said before, for a man it works together with exercise down to about 15%BF. At that point, it will be almost entirely diet if you want to drop closer to 10BF%. In fact it seems to be easier to do with minimal exercise at that point to retain as much muscle mass as possible while dropping predominantly fat. "Abs are made in the kitchen" is spot on at lower bodyfat percentage.
For a woman I think it's somewhere up around 19-20% but don't quote me on that.
In terms of exercise and what I should have said before, for a man it works together with exercise down to about 15%BF. At that point, it will be almost entirely diet if you want to drop closer to 10BF%. In fact it seems to be easier to do with minimal exercise at that point to retain as much muscle mass as possible while dropping predominantly fat. "Abs are made in the kitchen" is spot on at lower bodyfat percentage.
For a woman I think it's somewhere up around 19-20% but don't quote me on that.
ElectricBanquet
Member
Yeah, I learned this myself. Until I was paying close attention to my weight I had no idea how much it could actually fluctuate day to day.
My solution was just not to weigh myself every day, but instead go at least a week in between. Either way, what you say is right. It's the long term that matters - just looking at today versus yesterday doesn't tell you much.
Even if you don't, it can be hard to notice a difference since it happens so gradually. When I was losing weight I started to notice my pants fitting looser before I noticed a change in how I looked.
hendersonhank
Member
Caloric deficit isn't an option for those of us who are already skinny/light.
curiouscharles
Member
i struggled with this for YEARS.
i've always been fit / skinny / lean, but the belly fat wouldn't go.
STOP doing cardio, start lifting weights, and eating lots of protein.
you need to get your muscle to fat ratio higher, then your metabolism will increase, and then you will start losing that fat.
cardio is a waste of time, this is what all the latest research is showing, and my own personal failure and recent success have only proven this.
now, HOW you lift weights is also important, focus on sets of 12 reps, and don't eat carbs past lunch.
the carbs you DO eat have to be proper grains, avoid bread [if possible, except for cheat days, which ARE allowed] - and make sure to measure your portions [it's frightening how small they are at first, but you get used to it]
and also beer, you can't drink that [because of the carbs, but because hops also give you love handles on a hormonal level]
edit: tried finding some articles to link you to, but there's just too fucking many.
google "is cardio a waste of time" or "is cardio a waste of time for fat loss", and enjoy the bevvy of results.
there's just so much to get into, heart-rate, heart-rate zones, cortisol production, immediate versus future caloric burn, etc etc etc
i've always been fit / skinny / lean, but the belly fat wouldn't go.
STOP doing cardio, start lifting weights, and eating lots of protein.
you need to get your muscle to fat ratio higher, then your metabolism will increase, and then you will start losing that fat.
cardio is a waste of time, this is what all the latest research is showing, and my own personal failure and recent success have only proven this.
now, HOW you lift weights is also important, focus on sets of 12 reps, and don't eat carbs past lunch.
the carbs you DO eat have to be proper grains, avoid bread [if possible, except for cheat days, which ARE allowed] - and make sure to measure your portions [it's frightening how small they are at first, but you get used to it]
and also beer, you can't drink that [because of the carbs, but because hops also give you love handles on a hormonal level]
edit: tried finding some articles to link you to, but there's just too fucking many.
google "is cardio a waste of time" or "is cardio a waste of time for fat loss", and enjoy the bevvy of results.
there's just so much to get into, heart-rate, heart-rate zones, cortisol production, immediate versus future caloric burn, etc etc etc
nephilimdj
Member
Do you have a pool near you?
Gym + Water aerobics
Not hard to set up a routine were you would be burning 200-400 calories a day with high heart rate to lower body fat ratio
elpitcal for 15mins - 150 calories
bike for 10mins- 60 calories
muscle building- more calories
next day - 200 calories splashing around to music with old ladies, another 50+ doing slow laps
Gym + Water aerobics
Not hard to set up a routine were you would be burning 200-400 calories a day with high heart rate to lower body fat ratio
elpitcal for 15mins - 150 calories
bike for 10mins- 60 calories
muscle building- more calories
next day - 200 calories splashing around to music with old ladies, another 50+ doing slow laps
Jo Shishido's Cheeks
Member
I did IF and cardio for two years and have just now gotten my abs to show through. 64 and 84kgs but Im too skinny now, started wearing a belt on a 31 waist.
Dropped cardio and started lifting and will begin HIIT sprinting. Might mix some swimming in too. Trying to lean bulk now, sorta feels like Im starting all over.
Dropped cardio and started lifting and will begin HIIT sprinting. Might mix some swimming in too. Trying to lean bulk now, sorta feels like Im starting all over.
I think this is one of the key problems in sports science, that there's just so much information (based around sometimes shaky science), that it's difficult to know what to believe or what to follow.
My neighbour, who is a national level thrower (discus, shot, javelin) reckons there's a golden hour after exercise where you can eat what you want. I don't deny that, but it might be true for him (given that he is a big man), but might not work if you want to lose weight.
I guess what I am saying is that you have to find what works for you.
enfieldvball
Member
I highly, highly disagree with this post...
Don't do cardio to speed up fat loss?
Don't eat carbs past lunch?
Focus on sets of 12?
How does cardio not speed up fat loss? You're burning more calories ala accelerating the rate of fat loss. To a point, yes I see the rebuttals, the more cardio you do the hungrier you get but to outright say cardio doesn't increase fat/weight loss is just wrong.
Don't eat carbs past lunch? Is this the old saying anything you eat after dinner will automatically be store as fat and breakfast is the most important meal of the day? You do know all of that's been debunked right?
Focus on sets of 12? Sure, that range of reps is ideal for hypertrophy but you'll need a combination of higher weight and different sets of reps to maximize gains and/or weight loss.
Canklestank
Neo Member
That's extremely depressing and yet makes sense. I don't even want to lose that much weight and this is just disheartening. Hopefully this just happens in extreme cases, like someone else pointed out.
EDIT:
Also,
This isn't quite right. Steaming veggies in the microwave increases nutritional value: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/food-science-victory-a-new-freakonomics-radio-episode/
And most benefit from being slightly cooked: