suggestions to reduce body fat

N

Neha

Cathlete
Hello evryone,

first of all my laptop at home died on me..its 5 yrs old, im lookin into buying a desktop now..thts y i havent posted anything for while, since no one is around at work today, i am trying to post.

ok so i am 27yrs old and weigh 128, which i think is fine for now, im concentrating on building muscle the next month, however according to my scale my body fat % is 24-25, which i no is average, i would like to reduce it to about 20. wht kind of workouts would u recommend?? give me whtevr suggestions u have, coz if i dont have the dvd's i will buy thm, i need some anyways, i want to do cathe's may rotation along with tht which concentrates on one body part/day/week, bcoz it looks like u can buid some muscle thr. any suggestions will be appreciated. thnk u so much,
neha.
 
What are you currently doing in regards to working out and what is your diet like? Give us a sample menu. Once we have that information, we can better guide you.
 
ok here goes some more details:

i try to workout 5-6 times a week approx 60-90mins, 3 days only cardio which includes a day of interval trainin, 2 days weight training only and 1 day circiut. My sample menu for a day would look like:

breakfast: 1/2c low fat milk+oatmeal with protein powder, plus a cup of black tea with a tsp sugar and 1tbs milk, i absolutely need this.
snack: fruit - orange, kiwi, apple or strawberries
lunch: sandwich either boiled chicken mixed with lettuce and some low fat mayo or i fill it up with vegiies and some ketchup, along with 2 slices whole grain bread and a cup of tea/or coffee
snack: fruit again or protein bar
dinner: for dinner i usually have typical indian food-1-2 servings of vegiie+some kind of indian curry made with either chicken or beef along with whole wheat indian bread, most days i have a banana and later to satisfy my sweet tooth a cup of dannon or yoplait flavored yogurt.

oh and i forgot to mention that I am 5'7'', im really wanting to reduce the body fat..pls help. thanks,
neha.
 
Hey I think you have to cut out oat meal and bread if it is not whole wheat. Oat meal is ok but not every day. More cadio. Lift weights at least 3 times a week. Good luck.You sound like you are doing ok but I would add peanut butter more protein.
 
I would do cardio 5-6 times per week. When doing weights, you could do shorter sessions so you are not working out ALL day long. So on a cardio day, you could go for 60 minutes and on cardio/strength days,you could do 45 minutes of each. Just an idea.

For diet...I see you are eating fruit as a snack...all by itself. Never eat a carb without a protein. Make sure you eat every 3 hours and write it all down. I'd ditch the simple carbs after breakfast all together.

Also, make sure you get enough protein. With the increase in cardio, you want to make sure you get enough so that your body doesn't start eating itself.
 
You need to get AT LEAST 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight. You should be eating 5-6 small meals per day trying to get at least 20-30 grams of protein at each meal. It's best to cut out starcy carbs after your second meal.
 
The scales that give body fat amounts are really inaccurate!! The only way to get a good reading is to be weighed underwater(the best) or to be measured by a caliber. My husband is in incredible shape and works out all of the time. In fact, he's a certified strength and conditioning expert and our scale says he's 25% body fat! When he was measured by a co-worker, using a caliber, it said he was 16% bodyfat. I would never trust my scale! In fact, I regret buying it!! My personal training manual (ACE) also stated that the error rate of electronic devices that measure body fat(scales, hand held devices, etc) were really high. I would never trust them. Go and get measured at the gym with a caliber(I'm not sure I'm spelling that correctly) and go from there. You're % probably isn't as high as you think.
Carolyn
 
It doesn't matter what your scale says or how accurate it is. It is well known that there is no "over the counter" way to get a 100% accurate reading. All that matters is that your method is consistant. If your scale says 25% one day and 13% the next day, then 33%...ditch the scale. HOWEVER, if it shows some consistancy, keep using the scale. All you need to look for is a "trend"...not an exact, 100% correct, on the nose reading.

If it reads 25% and then after a week of hard work, it is slightly lower, you know your making progress. Any method that is consistant is an excellent way to track how well you are doing or signal that you need to make changes to your diet or exercise program.
 
thanks for all ur replies...so one more question, wht kind of breakfast and snacks do u suggest to eat? Pls give some ideas. thank u so muh.
neha.
 
I don't really "snack"...just several small meals throughout the entire day, spaced every 3 hours...sometimes 2.5 hours.

Here is one of my FAVORITE recipes...quick, easy, clean and YUMMY!

Oatmeal pancakes:
1 cup egg beaters or 3-4 egg whites
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
3/4 cup oatmeal
sugar substitute to taste (if you want any at all)
cinnamin to taste

mix it all in a bowl and cook like pancakes. I coat skillet with cooking spray. I make mine the night before and eat after an intense cardio workout. You can also travel with these quite easily...throw them in a huge zip lock bag and pick at them ones the clock strikes "meal time".

Good with sugar free syrup, spray butter, both or nothing at all!:9
 
The problem with these scales is that they are not consistent. They are dependent on so many factors including whether or not you are dehydrated ,what time of day it is, how much water you've had compared to the last time, how much and what you've eaten, etc. And I don't think it is well know that these methods are not accurate. Many trainers even use these with clients leading them to believe a number that is just not true, or even close to accurate. The orginal writer of this thread was even concerned with the number her scale was giving her, leading her to believe she needed to decrease her body fat%, which may or may not be true. But these decisions should not be based on faulty information. Of course if something can be used as a basis of comparison, then use it as such. But if you're basing your fitness rountine or diet on something that is knowingly innaccurate, then I think that is a problem. There is no way to get an "on the nose" reading from any piece of exercise equipment, but some are way better than others.
 
If you take your readings at the same time of day under the same circumstances, taking into account your hydration levels, menstrual cycle, food consumption and exercise then your readings should show consistancy.

I guess I just assumed that the scale instructions not only mentions that you need to be consistant with the conditions under which you take the readings but also that the user read those instructions. My instructions outline this quite clearly and even suggest the ideal times to take readings.

I have been using a scale for years and it has been extremely consistant. The only time I get a funky reading is when I deviate from the usual conditions of which I take my readings. If I step on it at the same time of day, I get consistant readings. 100% accurate? I highly doubt it. A ballpark idea, at least.

If her scale says she is at 24%-25% body fat and she wants to drop some body fat based on that reading, I see no reason for concern. I doubt she is really at 12% body fat but getting a reading twice that of what she really is.

Bottom line, there is nothing wrong with using the scales to track your progress. As long as the user is consistant then the readings will be to. Personally, I wouldn't use the scale as my sole method of measurement but my goals are extremely different. But if she measured 25% on HER scale and she wants HER scale to read 20%, then she needs to use HER scale. If she wants a 100% accurate reading (didn't see her mention that anywhere) then she need to knock on a University door and get dunked in water.
 
yes actually i agree..the scale tht i have gives me pretty consistent readings..whn i bought it initially 3 months back, it consistently showed me 27-28, now it has gone down to 24-25, i would like to reduce it a littel more..thrs no other way tht i can track my fat%, i follow the instructions in the manual, which ask u to weigh under the same circumstances for comparision. even if it is not completely accurat, i still want to go down a little, it is a good way to keep in check, i kina trust it, bocz the weight reading r good, i have weighed with several diff scales, including the doctors office, and the weight rdg is the same. i am not lookin to lose any more weight,as i said b4 i am 5'7'' and 128p. i just want to build muscle and reduce my fat%.

ur suggstion of including more cardio is good, not difficult to incorporate cardio on weight days..i am defi goin to give tht a try. thank u so much, and thanks for the recipe, seems quite doable and tasty. thanks,
neha.
 
>If you take your readings at the same time of day under the
>same circumstances, taking into account your hydration levels,
>menstrual cycle, food consumption and exercise then your
>readings should show consistancy.
>
I think this is a lot to ask of a scale. Yes, it may show some consistancy, but wouldn't you rather have more accurate information regarding body fat% if that's what you're interested in? If I or a client wanted to get some sort of reasonable idea or ballpark figure, I would never suggest they get a reading from electronic devices. It would be like figuring the BMI of a very fit person. The number given would be extremly misleading and probably discouraging to anyone. I've read some posts from people who were upset by what the BMI charts told them and had they not been told by the really knowledgable people on this forum to throw those numbers out the window, they may have felt defeated or worse. Wrong information is just that..wrong information. I support anyone who wants to make some healthy changes in their life, but these decisions should be make from good information. You sound knowledgeable about this and I'm sure you know how to use your scale to suit your life, but I personally would never look at a number I know is potentially way off just to compare from one day to the next. To me, it would be like weighing myself on a scale I know is not calibrated everyday. I could just never do that.
>I'm not suggusting that she go and get weighed hydrostatically either. A simple caliber test would do just as well with a much lower incidence of error. Hey, I'm just as numbers oriented as the next person, I just prefer knowing numbers that are as accurate as possible.
Carolyn
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Sarah, I saw a recipe similar to this in the Oxygen Nutrition issue. Do you put the whole oats in a blender to make a finer powder or as is?

Marla
 
It sounds like you have established some very healthy and attainable goals! However, building muscle WHILE burning fat is a huge challenge, some can do it. In most cases, you must work on one at a time since burning fat requires a calorie deficit and gaining muscle does not. I have known people to do both at once, I have pulled it off myself, it just depends on the persons body type...really.

Anyway, if you are looking to gain muscle and burn fat, I suggest making quite certain you are getting enough protein. Again, write everything down. I have been told that it may work best to aim toward burning the fat first (calorie deficit). You may see that you are one of the lucky ones who can do both at once! Keep the protein up so the extra cardio doesn't burn off your hard earned muscle. Keep up the strength work a few times a week to ensure muscle maintenance and hope for growth during your fat burning phase.

I have a really nice excel spreadsheet that I use to track my progress and make sure I am not burning off muscle. I can send it to you if you want! Just PM me!:)
 
hi again,

yes i would really luv if u could send me the spreadsheet...my email is [email protected], thanks so much...
actually im not sure wht PM means..thts y im writing on this forum, if it means to email u personally i can do tht. but u can email me at the above addres.. thanks again.
neha.
 
thanks roxy, i think for me this is really hard earned, i am down from 155p in one yr, but it feels good now to have acheived my goals. thanks,
neha.
 
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