Decreasing body fat percentage?
So I've done a teeny tiny bit of research and think I have come up with a pretty good estimate of my body fat percentage using online calculators. I used 7 different calculators and averaged them all together and have found out that my body fat percentage is around 25.42%. I am an athlete and due to the needs of my sport (jumping, being quick and agile, etc.) I've decided it would be to my benefit to decrease my body fat percentage to about 18.5%. So, I would have to lose approximately 6.92% of my body mass (body fat). This would be around 8lbs. I do not want to lose any lean muscle mass; I am aiming to lose pure body fat. What is the best way to go about this? My schedule is tight, but I do have a gym membership close by... i.e. Sunday-practice (1-3) Monday-school(7-2), work (2:30-7), practice (8-10) Tuesday-school (7-2),off/work (230-7) Wednesday-school (7-2), work (2:30-5), practice (6:30-9:30) Thursday-school (7-2), off/work (2:30-7) Friday-school (7-2), work (2:30-6) *sorry... 6.92% of 143 (my weight): .0692 x 143=9.895... So about 10 lbs. is what I need to lose. I am female, 5'7", and 143lbs.
Public Comments
- 500 calorie deficit. + weight training to retain muscle mass
- DIET. DIET. DIET. First off, if you're drinking any coffee, tea, or soda (even diet) cut that out. They are all diuretics that remove water from your system. You can't lose weight while removing water from your system. Next, make sure you are eating much more than 3 meals a day. I couldn't lost that last '10 lbs', so did this to my diet. It made a HUGE difference. The weight melted away within a couple weeks: 1. Drink at least 1 bottle of water before breakfast 2. Eat a nice, healthy breakfast (usually eggs & toast, oatmeal, or some healthy cereal) 3. Exactly 3 hours later eat a granola bar 4. 3 hours later eat a nice light lunch. Usually 1 sandwich, or a bowl of soup, etc. 5. 3 hours later eat another snack (I like applesauce or cups of fruit) 6. 3 hours later eat dinner. This is my LIGHTEST meal of the day. Almost always soup. No bread. Chicken and veggies, stir fry, etc. No bread, pasta, or rice for dinner. 7. 3 hours later have a cup of applesauce. Needless to say no matter how much water you're drinking, drink more. The reason for the 3-hour rule is that your body is a machine. If it gets fed the same amount at the same times every day it will become VERY VERY efficient at using the fuel. The further away you get from your schedule or the more you cheat on your meals the less efficient your 'machine' will be. Try it for 2 weeks and watch the pounds melt away! Good luck
- How can you get an accurate measurement from on-line calculators??? Even calculators like skin fold tests can be off by several percentage points. If you are an athlete already, you might have a lower % than you think. Go to that gym of yours and see if they offer skin fold testing for free (some do as part of your initial membership package to try to get you to hire a trainer). Anyway, weight train and lay off the sugar/processed foods.
- Online body fat calculators aren't too accurate and I would not trust their judgement. You know you can buy body fat callipers off ebay for under $10. Then you just plug your skinfold mm's into a site and this will give you a much more accurate estimation of your body fat than some random online body fat calculator that takes no account of how much muscle you have, nor things like the width of your hip bones. Those calculators always overestimate my body fat % because I have skinny wrist bones but a wide pelvis. It would be dangerous to try to drop 7% body fat if you were already around 18% wouldn't it. Be as certain as you can be of your body fat % before starting with your goal. Hope this helps.
