getting in shape part 10000000. Please help

[Stinkweed]

Ok, I posted a while back about a little problem: I used to weigh 195lbs and I thought I'd look better by the time I reached that weight, but it wasn't the case (I mean, I know most of the time we never look as good as we wish we did, but you know what I'm talking about in this case, right?). Anyway, I used to weight 250 lbs before I started working towards a healthy weight, then I weighed myself a while back and was at 195lbs and now I weighed myself for the first time in quite a while (or actually I was weighed by a nutritionist) and I'm at 185lbs as of now. It's a healthy weight for me (or so I've been told by the nutritionist) and I'm 6'1", btw. Thing is, I still look pretty bad, and I think I know why. Having lost 60+ lbs I realize that maybe all this excess fat is more like excess flab (I dunno if there's supposed to be a difference, but I'm just gonna call flab that less thick, lighter and sort of overly soft and annoying kind of fat). Anyway, this "flab" I dunno how to get rid of. Actually I started lifting more seriously and on my upper body things are starting to look better. The thing is I dunno what to do about my thighs and buttocks. My arms are especially improving, but my chest, thighs, buttocks and also my lovehandles and belly a little, are not improving a whole lot... And I dunno what to do. I don't wanna lose any more weight (if anything I might lose those 4 lbs to make it an even 180lbs, but while still lifting and trying to gain muscle but I don't plan on going lower than that), yet I've read that people usually get their body-fat percentage really low and if it's still there they get surgery. Thing is:

 

1- I don't wanna get my body fat percentage much lower, cause it might be unhealthy, given that I'm really in a healthy range, that is. I've already been told that I shouldn't lose any more weight and that if anything I might gain weight cause I'm lifting.

2- I don't wanna have any type of surgery

 

So maybe I've been reading the wrong fitness sites for advice. I guess I'll just learn to live with the flab if nothing can be done... But I would like to know if someting CAN be done, though. Thanks in advance and best wishes.

[Jayar]

You cannot "spot reduce". Flab is fat. Plain and simple. And an excess of fat (or as you are calling it, flab) means your BF% is high. Period. In a way that is GREAT news because this can be fixed. The only way to reduce BF% is to GAIN lean body mass (muscle) while cutting fat.

 

You have to do this in cycles because you cannot gain muscle while losing fat (mathematically mutually exclusive of one another) and the best resources for this are bodybuilding resources. Run a search. Basically you have to pick a period of time (i.e. a month) to really work on BUILDING muscle all over (upper and lower body) then chill on that for a month while you diet... Then alternate. It could take about a year or so for you to reach optimal BF% which, for a guy your height is about 15% but never less than about 5% to remain healthy. Anything over about 20% and you are considered overweight.

 

Hope this helps!

[rmpavlock]

What if you met with a personal trainer? They might be able to assess your situation and come up with something specific that you could be doing.

[Stinkweed]

You cannot "spot reduce".

 

I know this. And I've been trying to do all-round workouts. I combine cardio, lifting, and I try to control my diet, but was told by the nutritionist to increase my caloric intake, b/c I was eating pretty little.

 

 

You have to do this in cycles because you cannot gain muscle while losing fat (mathematically mutually exclusive of one another) and the best resources for this are bodybuilding resources. Run a search. Basically you have to pick a period of time (i.e. a month) to really work on BUILDING muscle all over (upper and lower body) then chill on that for a month while you diet... Then alternate. It could take about a year or so for you to reach optimal BF% which, for a guy your height is about 15% but never less than about 5% to remain healthy. Anything over about 20% and you are considered overweight.

 

Ok, so I guess I'll have to change my routine and try to do a whole month of lifting then a month of cardio and diet and so on? Does it have to be a month, or can it be maybe two weeks? Anyway, I just don't know how to eat as much as I was told to without eating unhealthy stuff or without running the risk of over-eating... I'm used to eating a little now. I spend less money, less time, which means more time to study... It just works better for me, unfortunately. I could make an effort, but I have no clue how to do it. I wasn't given a specific diet, just a piece of paper with like number of servings and stuff. You think I can measure what I'm eating when I eat out (which is most of the time, b/c time only allows so)? I've no idea, but I wouldn't wanna risk eating too much either which is why I eat little just to be on the safe side. Don't get me wrong, though. I drink protein shakes and try to up my protein intake. Anyway, what if building muscle is not my highest priority? Cause it pretty much isn't, tbh. I just wanted to be lean, and I thought cardio and dieting would be enough, but that flab won't go away. I don't think I'm losing muscle mass, though, cause I'm noticeably stronger (well, hopefully I'm not losing mucle mass).

 

Well, I guess I'll have to try the alternating between losing fat and gaining muscle... God it's so annoying, I wish I had never been fat.

[Stinkweed]

What if you met with a personal trainer? They might be able to assess your situation and come up with something specific that you could be doing.

 

that'd be awesome. I dunno where to find one. Plus I think they work for pretty high rates... Or does it depend? I just don't want to like pay for a subscription to a gym when I already have one on campus that I'm already paying for with tuition... Or is there a way to find like a personal fitness expert who I only have to see a couple of times and who will give me advice and stuff, BUT I don't have to sign up on a gym?

[itsthatguy]

What college do you go to? You can get a personal trainer that is a third or fourth year student to help you out, usually for free or very cheap compared to a professional.

 

There is no such thing as losing fat OR gaining muscle. Do them both at the same time. Lift hard to build muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories in day-to-day activites than fat does. The more muscle you have on your body, the quicker you'll burn off your fat reserves, and the quicker you will get thinner/more "ripped" looking. You do cut and bulk cycles where you cut down your diet hardcore to take as much fat off as possible to get cut and ripped for a competition or if you're goin gon a beach holiday or some crap like that, but muscle mass is very important to keeping yourself at a healthy BF level.

 

If you take a month off weights to do cardio you will hurt yourself tremendously for trying to lose weight. Diet is 90% of killing fat. If you're not taking in enough calories you will start to produce so much lactic acid that you will break down your muscle and start absorbing it to use for energy if you're doing too much cardio, which doesn't help your position of looking flabby at all.

 

Seriously, go see a personal trainer. Lots of girls have the same "I'm gonna do cardio to lose weight" mentality, but the reality is you need muscle to lose weight and look good. You're not going to be a 230 pound bodybuilder if you don't want to be, but at 190 pounds if you still look flabby chances are you could put on 10 pounds of muscle and not look overburdened at all.

[Stinkweed]

Hey man,

 

Ok, I understand I gotta lift cause if not that annoying flab won't go away and cardio alone doesn't seem like it's gonna work (heck if it were, I'd look better as of now cause I'm at a healthy weight supposedly). So I will continue to lift. The thing is: How much is too much cardio? I do 25-30 minutes at least 3 times a week (but most of the time it's every day), but I do lift every day but different muscle groups. Another thing is: How much do I eat? I make my own breakfast, but I dunno how to eat the other meals. I go for what's quick and convenient (eating outside). But it's kinda hard not to eat trash while still trying to increase your caloric intake... I'm trying to eat more like fruits, milk a bit of simple carbs (cause I used to eat so few of those...), but appart from eggs, the chicken or fish or meat for lunch, milk and protein shakes, I dunno where else to get proteins from... I try to eat more beans with lunch. But man, I just dunno, it's hard. I eat greens with my lunch every day, and I don't think I can add more of those without puking... I don't think this nutritionist helped me much, cause I wouldn't feel so lost if she had... Ok, I'm gonna try eating more and lifting more seriously and see what happens until I find a trainer, I guess. I mean, just from this last week, I started to eat more and I'm already gaining strength pretty quickly so maybe this time I've got it, who knows? I'll try for a bit longer this new approach and if it doesn't work I'm definitively going to see a fitness expert or something.

[vandgsmom]

Lol, Stinkweed... I would be glad to loan you some of my circa 1982 Denise Austen videos...

 

Since Easter of this year I have lost 66 lbs due to being ill and whatnot. I started out exercising at first and what did the most for me was just doing interval training tapes (the ones with 10 minutes cardio, 10 minutes weights, 10 minutes yoga) everyday.

 

I am fighting the extra skin right now too, but my doc hasn't cleared me to exercise yet, so let me know what you eventually find that works for you.

 

And if you want those tapes... Just let me know. lol