Shifting stbborn body fat...

September 1, 2009 11:47 AM

Lost about 70lb recently but my body fat figure remains stubbornly high. Read on for more info...

I'm presently at 178lb (male) but my body fat figure is about 24% (according to my digital scales; yeah I know these aren't accurate but I can definitely pinch more than an inch and have much puppy fat).

Questions:

1) I hate gyms but is there a regime that will help me burn off this fat? Intense cardio? 10 mins on each machine?

2) Assuming I burn off the fat and keep to my diet, can I assume the fat will stay away? So I can maybe put in a few months at the gym and stay away? (Did I mention that I hate gyms?)

posted by deeper red to health & fitness (16 comments total)

How did you lose 70lbs? A nice starvation diet will melt off the muscle and some fat.
posted by munchingzombie at 11:50 AM on September 1

It's hard to give advice without knowing what you're already doing.

If you hate the gym, buy a dumbbell set at your local athletic store. It'll cost $50-$100 (much cheaper than a gym membership). Those plus a small weight bench are enough to start weightlifting.

Cardio is easy to do without a gym. Jogging, swimming, biking, sprinting. The most important thing is to find something you'll stick to. (Sounds like "gym" isn't it).

The general advice I've heard is to do six month intervals of burning fat and building muscle. Burning fat requires calorie restriction. Building muscle requires protein consumption.
posted by muddgirl at 11:57 AM on September 1

How tall are you? 178 lbs. is not that heavy unless you're very short. Your focus should probably be on gaining muscle mass, which will increase your metabolism and help you shed fat. If you have no muscle mass it takes a lot more effort to lose fat, and when you've lost it you're weak and unhealthy. You can buy a barbell, plates, and a power rack to work out at home or work on getting over your gym-hatred.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:57 AM on September 1

Burning fat requires calorie restriction. Building muscle requires protein consumption.

Building muscle requires protein consumption, but it also requires training stimulus and caloric surplus.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:58 AM on September 1

Of course, ludwig_van. I assumed that those were a given :)
posted by muddgirl at 12:02 PM on September 1

Try running or biking or something. You will get flabby again if you are an on/off exerciser. Also if you just lost the weight, it's going to take some time for the extra skin to go away (and some people don't have much luck with that). That definitely pinches just like fat.
posted by shownomercy at 12:04 PM on September 1

Sounds like you're on the right track, you're just not there yet. Even if you build muscle mass you're still going to have to burn the fat as well. The traditional body builder method for this is to actually pack on muscle and fat then diet off the fat layer until they're cut.

You likely don't want to do this. Its much more precarious to just try to maintain an even weight and burn fat while building muscle. Best bet at this point is to add some sort of weight routine into your workout. Alternating days of weights and cardio may do the trick. But you're going to need to continue to diet. As stated earlier up your protein intake (try some shakes).

Its highly unlikely you're going to be able to hit the gym for a few months and then stop. This kind of body change is going to take continual work.
posted by bitdamaged at 12:15 PM on September 1

All I can say is that I'm male, 185lbs, and trying to gain weight. It's pretty tough to tell from your question where you're at.

1. How tall are you?
2. Why do you need to lose this weight?
3. Diet? What diet?
4. How would you describe your current body type?
5. What, specifically, do you hate about gyms?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:20 PM on September 1

6. How old are you? Most "suggested" body fat charts are broken down by age and gender.

But, generally, no...you can't just exercise for a few months and hope to keep fat away. Not without fairly extreme calorie deficits. But you certainly don't have to step foot in a gym to burn fat....you just have to get sweaty regularly. Jog or jump rope.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 12:28 PM on September 1

Definitely add weights to your routine. I do cardio all the time and my body fat percentage remains stubbornly high. I've just signed up at the gym and the trainer told me that the way to burn off the fat and get the percentage lower is weights.
posted by pised at 12:36 PM on September 1

Being active in any way will help, even if it just means a 30 minute walk every day.

Just remember that whatever exercise or diet program you choose, unless you are prepared to maintain it forever, you'll have a very hard time maintaining you weight/fitness. That being said, make a plan that you can live with day-to-day and you'll keep the weight off and feel better about yourself.

If you want to burn fat with cardio, look into High-Intensity-Interval Training (HIIT).

And remember the simple weight loss formula:

Weight Loss in Pounds = (Calories In - Calories Burned) / 3500
posted by blue_beetle at 12:48 PM on September 1

Without any information about how tall you are, knowing that you are 178 lbs is completely ineffectual. And it's still not enough information.

I am in an almost identical situation as you: I've lost 75 lbs or so over the last 9 months, and I'm now at 180 lbs. I'm 6'1", but I've still got a little bit of flab. The problem for me is that I've got little to no muscle mass. As you probably know, muscle weighs more than fat and generally looks better, so if I were muscle-bound and 180 I would be a sexy beast. Right now I'm just a little doughy.

So, the appropriate thing for you to do is to continue to diet. You clearly know how. But nothing will get rid of flab except calorie restriction. At the same time, you could start hitting the gym to start building some muscle. Your weight will probably not drop much, but you'll probably start looking better.

Good luck.
posted by TypographicalError at 1:25 PM on September 1

Can you get your body fat tested elsewhere? Those scales are pretty inaccurate.

I've lost 85 lbs since January (currently at 180lbs) and I'm pretty muscular. My doctor's body fat measuring scale says I'm 38% body fat, and my nutritionist's calipers say I'm at 26% body fat. So I've been splitting the difference. I'd like to go have my body fat measured properly in a water displacement sort of situation, but it can be expensive.

1. I'm seconding High-Intensity-Interval-Training. It's effective AND it's short enough that you don't get too bored.

2. Weights weights weights weights weights. Proper weights, not machines. Might be worth it to pay for a few sessions with a trainer to teach you proper form. Otherwise, check out www.stumptuous.com.

3. Exercise and weight training needs to be a permanent part of your life. Doesn't have to be in the gym though. Get weights at home. Do some shovelglove. Work in the yard. Split wood. Go for a hike. Make it interesting!
posted by elsietheeel at 1:34 PM on September 1

up until the age of 30 I was a washboard-abbed muscular guy who could eat whatever he wanted. Metabolism slowed down and I actually gained about 20-25 pounds. I became very focused on the weight number and not how my body actually looked. So I did tons of cardio with minimal weight training. I lost about 7-8 pounds this way and then I got stuck...

Then I decided to put on muscle weight and the fat just melted away.

Better to be a 195 lb ripped beast than a doughy 180 lb-er
posted by teg4rvn at 2:10 PM on September 1

Might be worth it to pay for a few sessions with a trainer to teach you proper form.

In my experience it's probably not. Most trainers in commercial gyms don't know the first thing about lifting weights. Read Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength if you want to learn about form.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:22 PM on September 1

The more muscle you have, the lower percentage the fat on your frame will constitute (assuming of course that you don't add fat, which may not be a good assumption). Getting more muscle is probably your best course. The above posters have pointed this already, and they're right.

It is entirely possible to reach your health goal without ever setting foot in a gym. Getting fit is something that happens where ever you train. It is less a place, and more a mind-set. You need to have some space for a small home gym. Might I suggest, as I almost always do, that you find a training partner. Having a good training partner has been one of the most important factors in continuing with weightlifting. Train outside of the gym with your training partner. Train at the park, in your home gym, in their home gym. Whatever. An olympic bar plus 300 pounds of weight can be had cheaply on Craigslist or garage sales. All you need to get started.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 9:42 PM on September 1