Post: #476

(09-27-2014 02:58 PM)Kaizen Wrote:  ^6'3.

Lift weights about 4x/week. I experiment with different programs to see what works best. Right now Ive begun something called 'Visual Impact' which is a 6 month program.

The HIIT I do is Cardio, which is purported to burn more calories than steady state treadmill stuff for burning calories. Also has the benefit of not being boring. Resistance training is definitely for muscle building; also, having more muscle mass makes it easier to remain lean as your BMR is raised in doing so.

The fittest dude I know eat's pretty crap; so much muscle on him it's just burned off; mind you he's a bit of a genetic freak.

Yeah, I believe that here, we attempt to focus on aspects (practices) within our control; however, there is NO doubt a considerable role for genetics. I had a friend in high school who always was quite buff, and he was about my same height (5'9") his neck was like a bull's compared with mine with accompanied trapezoid muscles. He never really worked out very much in high school, and even when I met him around 20 years later, he told me that he did NOT work out very much, but still he retained quite the build of a weight-lifter.

I believe with HIIT, you can structure the exercises to be either heavily cardio or more muscle building in nature. Like, for example, sprinters are known to be able to retain pretty decent muscle mass in part based on their approach to HIIT training methods.

Maybe some of us will come to different conclusions about priorities, but I personally consider diet to be the most important, then sleep (rest) and then exercise, and I strive to maintain each of them.. even though they can become mixed up, depending on work, travel and other socializing/recreational activities. I only really fixed (and focused on fixing my diet and sleep in the last 3 years), and then while I was doing that I ended up tweaking my exercise, too.

I also attempt to maintain an exercise schedule that I will be able to keep over the long term - even though the intensity and the number of days of week and the kinds of exercise has varied over the course of years. In the past about 10 years, sometimes I have intensive weeks of salsa dancing - which can screw up my ability to carry out other kinds of exercising - even though I have been preferring the social aspects of salsa dancing - for fairly obvious reasons...

Regarding frequency, in the last 3-4 years, for the most part, 3 days a week of exercise would be on the low end for me, and 6 days a week would be on the high end.

Post: #477

Bumping this up because I've learned a lot on this thread.

I'm down to 180 lbs at 6 ft (81.5 kg at 183 cm). That breaks what I think is a 30 year low for me.

I'm doing this in tandem with lifting at the gym, cardio machines, walking a lot and high protein, low carb diet. With BCAAs and vitamins.

I still have a belly. I look great if I suck in a little, but that pad of fat on the abdomen is still there. Everywhere else it's going away - on my face, on my ass, ribs, arms and legs.

Even with that, I am just within the "normal" BMI ranges now.

It looks like I will have to get down to the "optimum weight" expressed on various health charts to get rid of the belly - so those charts are a good index, even if they seem very low at first glance.

Post: #478

I've noticed that I've put on a few kilos over the past few months, so I've reverted back to full paleo diet. I'll report my progress here over time.

Post: #479

(11-03-2014 04:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  Bumping this up because I've learned a lot on this thread.

I'm down to 180 lbs at 6 ft (81.5 kg at 183 cm). That breaks what I think is a 30 year low for me.

I'm doing this in tandem with lifting at the gym, cardio machines, walking a lot and high protein, low carb diet. With BCAAs and vitamins.

I still have a belly. I look great if I suck in a little, but that pad of fat on the abdomen is still there. Everywhere else it's going away - on my face, on my ass, ribs, arms and legs.

Even with that, I am just within the "normal" BMI ranges now.

It looks like I will have to get down to the "optimum weight" expressed on various health charts to get rid of the belly - so those charts are a good index, even if they seem very low at first glance.

I'm going through the same thing. Over the past 3 months I can't tell you how many people have told me "You look skinny!" Which I'm not crazy about but I'll just take it that my BF has dropped down. I'm seeing definition in places that I've never seen before; upper chest, ribs, shoulders, forearms, but that pad on my low abs is a stubborn mofo. I'm getting the feeling that it'll be the last to go and I have upwards of another year to achieve that. It's damn hard.

Post: #480

(11-05-2014 12:02 PM)Veloce Wrote:  I'm going through the same thing. Over the past 3 months I can't tell you how many people have told me "You look skinny!" Which I'm not crazy about but I'll just take it that my BF has dropped down. I'm seeing definition in places that I've never seen before; upper chest, ribs, shoulders, forearms, but that pad on my low abs is a stubborn mofo. I'm getting the feeling that it'll be the last to go and I have upwards of another year to achieve that. It's damn hard.

Same here. I went down from almost 200 lbs to 187 lbs in the past months (I'm 6'4'') and I get the "You look skinny" all the time. I think its because I (and maybe you too), lost some of my face-fat. I have sort of a 4-pack now, but those last pounds are indeed a bitch.

Post: #481

My face can't stand to lose any more fat without looking unattractive. Nontheless, belly flab is still there

I think I have to stay where I'm at.

I really would like to get as lean as humanly possible, just don't have the face that looks good at that level.

Post: #482

(11-05-2014 02:18 PM)BoiBoi Wrote:  

(11-05-2014 12:02 PM)Veloce Wrote:  I'm going through the same thing. Over the past 3 months I can't tell you how many people have told me "You look skinny!" Which I'm not crazy about but I'll just take it that my BF has dropped down. I'm seeing definition in places that I've never seen before; upper chest, ribs, shoulders, forearms, but that pad on my low abs is a stubborn mofo. I'm getting the feeling that it'll be the last to go and I have upwards of another year to achieve that. It's damn hard.

Same here. I went down from almost 200 lbs to 187 lbs in the past months (I'm 6'4'') and I get the "You look skinny" all the time. I think its because I (and maybe you too), lost some of my face-fat. I have sort of a 4-pack now, but those last pounds are indeed a bitch.

Same thing, lost so much on my face, skin is hanging down at my chin. I hope it tightens up but maybe not at my age.

I think I have the routine down to lose the weight but it will take a couple of months. If I lose 5 lbs more it will have to come from the belly.

Post: #483

delete: /thread-53632.html

Post: #484

(11-06-2014 04:13 PM)Canopus Wrote:  RE: loose skin.

Just thought I would update my own post from a few months ago, considering I was pretty down on it at the time. (I'm 29, dropped about 80 pounds from Jan. 2012 to Jul. 2013, and was left with a lot of loose skin on my stomach and ass at a "healthy" 150 pounds.)

In the last few months, I actually have observed the skin beginning to tighten. The bulge is still there, mind you, but there's been enough progress that I think my despair may have been a bit premature. I can't attribute to any one thing. because I've basically been doing all of the following as regularly as possible:

- Ketogenic diet (assumption: the loose skin may really be subcutaneous fat, as I'm definitely still over 10% body fat), observing a caloric deficit.
- Tons of spinach.
- Heavy lifting at least 3x a week, to preserve muscle/strength while cutting.
- A gallon of water a day to stay hydrated.
- Tesla compression shirts (assumption: it may encourage the skin to shrink during weight loss). I wear one as a work undershirt, I wear one for exercise, and I wear one for bed. Also picked up a pair of tights to help my rear. I don't really like wearing tight stuff, but they're great for running, keep the skin from sagging, and seem to help with my posture, too. At least, I'm more likely to stand/sit up straight with one of these on.

I might have some progress pics eventually, and it's still too early for me to declare results, but so far, I'm optimistic. Even if surgery is ultimately the only real option, maybe I'll end up with a little less to cut off.

What's your height, Canopus?


It seems that at 29, you should NOT be considering surgery (at least NOT yet), especially when it seems as if you have a pretty decent routine going, and you seem to have made pretty decent progress.

Surely, 80 lbs is a lot of weight to lose, and the most that I have ever lost (at 5' 9") is 35 lbs to go from 205 to 170 (currently, and largely in the last year, my weight has been floating between 175 and 180 lbs).

I mean if you are really able to consistently work out 3 times per week, and you are more or less following a ketogenic diet, then you just gotta make sure that you are getting decent workouts and rotating areas that you work out.. and your body should firm up in those various areas.

It seems that you should be able to firm up and to improve your strength at your age, unless you have some genetic issues that are complicating such efforts.

Post: #485

(11-07-2014 01:56 AM)JayJuanGee Wrote:  What's your height, Canopus?

It seems that at 29, you should NOT be considering surgery (at least NOT yet), especially when it seems as if you have a pretty decent routine going, and you seem to have made pretty decent progress.

Surely, 80 lbs is a lot of weight to lose, and the most that I have ever lost (at 5' 9") is 35 lbs to go from 205 to 170 (currently, and largely in the last year, my weight has been floating between 175 and 180 lbs).

I mean if you are really able to consistently work out 3 times per week, and you are more or less following a ketogenic diet, then you just gotta make sure that you are getting decent workouts and rotating areas that you work out.. and your body should firm up in those various areas.

It seems that you should be able to firm up and to improve your strength at your age, unless you have some genetic issues that are complicating such efforts.

I'm 5'10, so about your height, yeah. I carried the weight around for a while (about four years), but I'm not even 30 yet, so I'm a little stumped as to why the skin has been so stubborn...but I suspect part of it is that despite being at a healthy weight, not a lot of that weight is actually muscle. (I did gain a small amount of muscle as a result of the weight routine - but obviously I wasn't packing on carbs or slamming back protein shakes, so it wasn't a whole ton.)

A few of my friends have suggested bulking, and I agree on that as a long term goal, but since that means putting on fat along with muscle (well, unless...yeah) and I'm not sure what effect more fat would have on the skin, I've been holding off and trying to keto/diet my way to lower BF%.

Post: #486

(11-06-2014 04:13 PM)Canopus Wrote:  - Tesla compression shirts (assumption: it may encourage the skin to shrink during weight loss). I wear one as a work undershirt, I wear one for exercise, and I wear one for bed. Also picked up a pair of tights to help my rear. I don't really like wearing tight stuff, but they're great for running, keep the skin from sagging, and seem to help with my posture, too. At least, I'm more likely to stand/sit up straight with one of these on.

I might have some progress pics eventually, and it's still too early for me to declare results, but so far, I'm optimistic. Even if surgery is ultimately the only real option, maybe I'll end up with a little less to cut off.

I'm wondering if compression shirts and shorts might actually be hurting your cause - just a thought. If you have posture problems address those directly by doing rack pulls or trap bar deadlifts.

Post: #487

(11-08-2014 10:45 AM)Canopus Wrote:  

(11-07-2014 01:56 AM)JayJuanGee Wrote:  What's your height, Canopus?

It seems that at 29, you should NOT be considering surgery (at least NOT yet), especially when it seems as if you have a pretty decent routine going, and you seem to have made pretty decent progress.

Surely, 80 lbs is a lot of weight to lose, and the most that I have ever lost (at 5' 9") is 35 lbs to go from 205 to 170 (currently, and largely in the last year, my weight has been floating between 175 and 180 lbs).

I mean if you are really able to consistently work out 3 times per week, and you are more or less following a ketogenic diet, then you just gotta make sure that you are getting decent workouts and rotating areas that you work out.. and your body should firm up in those various areas.

It seems that you should be able to firm up and to improve your strength at your age, unless you have some genetic issues that are complicating such efforts.

I'm 5'10, so about your height, yeah. I carried the weight around for a while (about four years), but I'm not even 30 yet, so I'm a little stumped as to why the skin has been so stubborn...but I suspect part of it is that despite being at a healthy weight, not a lot of that weight is actually muscle. (I did gain a small amount of muscle as a result of the weight routine - but obviously I wasn't packing on carbs or slamming back protein shakes, so it wasn't a whole ton.)

A few of my friends have suggested bulking, and I agree on that as a long term goal, but since that means putting on fat along with muscle (well, unless...yeah) and I'm not sure what effect more fat would have on the skin, I've been holding off and trying to keto/diet my way to lower BF%.

I hear you, and it sounds as if you somewhat motivated to attempt to address your various physical appearance and/or posture issues.

I suppose that there could be quite a few strategies to approach matters that you expressed to be of concern to you.

In some sense, losing 80 lbs, you seem to have gone from one extreme to another, and likely a bit more weight may do you some good... maybe in the 170 to 180 range.

Resistance training is supposed to be amongst the best for attempting to build and maintain muscle, yet maybe you need to consider the possibility of some hobbies that are of interest to you that may also help you with your posture - dance and martial arts come to mind, and there could be some other hobbies that are suitable to your interests.... I find going to the gym alone can become a bit monotonous and hard to continue in the long-term if you do NOT have a variety of reasons to continue to carry it out.

If you are keeping on a ketogenic diet, then I would NOT fear putting on fat, but it may be possible that if your intent to bulk-up 20 to 30lbs may be accompanied by some additional fat (or at least NOT being as easily able to lower your body fat percentage). Surely, as we age, both men and women increase in their percentage of body fat, and it becomes more and more difficult to reduce the body fat percentage. It seems to be a good thing that you are focusing on addressing some of these issues currently because as you get older, it is likely going to be even more difficult to maintain muscle mass.

I personally am of the opinion that guys can still look pretty decent, even when they have body fat percentages in the 20%, as long as you have good posture, have some bulk in your upper body (like chest and shoulders), and try to keep the fat from accumulating at your belly by building muscles in other areas and continuing to stay active.

Post: #488

Hey Giovonny:

I find the first hand experience very useful, and thank you sir for sharing it with us. My apologies if you have already answered before but I have a few questions... Do you eat any fruits or any vegetables after 7.00 pm? Do you drink green tea or any other healthy drinks after 7.00 pm? Do you drink protein shake before sleeping?

Thanks in advance.

(09-05-2014 09:33 AM)Giovonny Wrote:  

(09-03-2014 06:10 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  Gio, the EE women I have known never really ate much throughout the day.

Here is what I ate yesterday:

8am -- Shake of 2 frozen bananas, a large scoop of peanut butter, 5 dates, coconut milk, protein powder.

10am -- large bowl of oatmeal with honey and a large handful of mixed nuts.

1pm -- 4 eggs mixed with with peppers and onion, brown rice, 4 corn tortillas

4pm -- Grilled chicken with tomatoes

7pm -- Grilled chicken with pineapple.

Very little carbs! Only quality carbs! Just lean meat and fruits & vegetables after lunch!

Post: #489

As I read the success stories of people who lose belly fat, one thing comes up regularly. They do not use sugar or bad carb but fruit is okay. I give a few links that show the complete diet and workout program for some success stories.

I especially like the one below... he uses (complex) carbs before sleeping.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-tra...lenge.html

This guy seems like he does not eat (complex) carbs with his last meal.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-tra...eboot.html

This guy does not eat carbs after 7.00 pm and his only carb at 7.00 pm is avocado which is also good fat source.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-tra...g-abs.html

Post: #490

(11-10-2014 09:41 PM)Denzel Wrote:  Hey Giovonny:

Do you eat any fruits or any vegetables after 7.00 pm?

Yes,

Last night, I had some squash/yam soup at 8pm and a few handfuls of grapes a 9pm.

If you have to eat at night, vegetables and fruit is generally a good option.

(11-10-2014 09:41 PM)Denzel Wrote:  Do you drink green tea or any other healthy drinks after 7.00 pm?

Yes, lots of green tea in the fall/winter and lots of lemon water in the summer/spring.

(11-10-2014 09:41 PM)Denzel Wrote:  Do you drink protein shake before sleeping?

Yes, sometimes, when I am hungry.

Post: #491

(11-03-2014 04:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  Bumping this up because I've learned a lot on this thread.

I'm down to 180 lbs at 6 ft (81.5 kg at 183 cm). That breaks what I think is a 30 year low for me.

I'm doing this in tandem with lifting at the gym, cardio machines, walking a lot and high protein, low carb diet. With BCAAs and vitamins.

Apart from the soup what else has your diet consisted of?

I'm back at the gym and have been "dieting" just by laying off crap foods and drinking low carb beer.
Its mostly youghurt and berries with cereal topping for breakfast. 2 x ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and chicken and rice or Fish and salad/veg for dinner.

With this i've dropped 11 pounds pretty easily but now ive plateaued.

I still in the Above Average BMI range with most of the fat residing around my stomach and it just wont budge.

Thinking carb cutting might be the go and up my red meat and protein.

Post: #492

(11-17-2014 10:09 PM)pialo Wrote:  

(11-03-2014 04:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  Bumping this up because I've learned a lot on this thread.

I'm down to 180 lbs at 6 ft (81.5 kg at 183 cm). That breaks what I think is a 30 year low for me.

I'm doing this in tandem with lifting at the gym, cardio machines, walking a lot and high protein, low carb diet. With BCAAs and vitamins.

Apart from the soup what else has your diet consisted of?

I'm back at the gym and have been "dieting" just by laying off crap foods and drinking low carb beer.
Its mostly youghurt and berries with cereal topping for breakfast. 2 x ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and chicken and rice or Fish and salad/veg for dinner.

With this i've dropped 11 pounds pretty easily but now ive plateaued.

I still in the Above Average BMI range with most of the fat residing around my stomach and it just wont budge.

Thinking carb cutting might be the go and up my red meat and protein.

Cut out the beer entirely. It's just no good if you're trying to lower your body fat. Drink red wine instead or vodka, if you must drink at all.

Post: #493

Almost not worth it if you have to get your body fat percentage so ridiculously low so that it dampens your aesthetics in other areas. If the fat pad on your belly is the very last place you need to lose fat, you guys should look into CoolSculpting.

It's not bullshit, it freezes the fat cells in that area and kills them, and afterwards they just dissipate and you will have a reduction of fat in the targeted area.

I think you can get it done for under $1000 too.

Post: #494

(11-17-2014 10:14 PM)Yeti Wrote:  

(11-17-2014 10:09 PM)pialo Wrote:  

(11-03-2014 04:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  Bumping this up because I've learned a lot on this thread.

I'm down to 180 lbs at 6 ft (81.5 kg at 183 cm). That breaks what I think is a 30 year low for me.

I'm doing this in tandem with lifting at the gym, cardio machines, walking a lot and high protein, low carb diet. With BCAAs and vitamins.

Apart from the soup what else has your diet consisted of?

I'm back at the gym and have been "dieting" just by laying off crap foods and drinking low carb beer.
Its mostly youghurt and berries with cereal topping for breakfast. 2 x ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and chicken and rice or Fish and salad/veg for dinner.

With this i've dropped 11 pounds pretty easily but now ive plateaued.

I still in the Above Average BMI range with most of the fat residing around my stomach and it just wont budge.

Thinking carb cutting might be the go and up my red meat and protein.

Cut out the beer entirely. It's just no good if you're trying to lower your body fat. Drink red wine instead or vodka, if you must drink at all.

Lately, a lot of canned and smoked fish (tuna, mackerel, sardines, smoked herring), plus lettuce, which I sometimes cook with olive oil, some potatoes, brown rice, tomatoes, onions. Tahini, oatmeal, dates and 2 boiled eggs in the morning.

Moderate amount of fruit. I stay hungry but not so much I lose energy and hit a fatigue wall.

I am either going to continue the course and let the belly go away over weeks on this course, or start intermittent fasting.

The problem I see is that intermittent fasting is incompatible with my monday - wed - fri workout schedule, which is a 3-4 hour HIT lifting and cardio on each day.

I need to eat to fuel, recover and gain from those workouts.

Post: #495

i went from 35% BF to 8% over the course of three years. and the last last last place for the fat to go was lowest abs, lowest back fat and chest.

even with a hard 4 pack, serratus definition, veins in my thighs, calves not to mention in my abs, and everywhere - the fat part around the bottom two abs still wouldnt come all the way off..or the last bits of the love handles.

and when i gained back a few pounds coming back into a normal diet, the lower abs and lower back were first places it came back.

its awful.

for me IF, low fat, low cal diet did the trick for me over time.

Post: #496

(11-21-2014 01:00 PM)Downtown Wrote:  i went from 35% BF to 8% over the course of three years. and the last last last place for the fat to go was lowest abs, lowest back fat and chest.

even with a hard 4 pack, serratus definition, veins in my thighs, calves not to mention in my abs, and everywhere - the fat part around the bottom two abs still wouldnt come all the way off..or the last bits of the love handles.

and when i gained back a few pounds coming back into a normal diet, the lower abs and lower back were first places it came back.

its awful.

for me IF, low fat, low cal diet did the trick for me over time.

That is a big body fat percentage change in three years.

What's your height and weight and approximate age bracket?

Has your sleeping changed?

What is your exercise like?

Needless to say, but I would imagine that you feel better in the current situation? Personally I am NOT of the belief that any guy needs to be less than 10% body fat, unless for a specific purpose of competition or possibly some other specific reason, because there could be some disadvantages to going too low on the body fat levels unless you are otherwise assuring that other aspects of your physique is in good order and that you have a decent amount of muscle mass and physical stamina and ability to sleep and eat well and a healthy sexual arousal etc...

Post: #497

6'4, late 30's. now around 225. bottomed at 209 or so. was 275 at 35% in 2012. right now 6'4, 225, 10-11% body fat.

sleeping is the same i think honestly, i have not noticed any improvement there.

but hell yeah in everyother way life is a 1000 times better.

i've gone through various periods of crossfit, strict power lifting, yoga only, and now i'm back to wendler 5/3/1 regularly with lots of body weight stuff like pistols, hand stand pushups and pull ups/dips of all kinds.

i dieted hard off an on over those years with the bulk of the weight coming down in 2014 through IF, low fat, and low cal.

2012-2013 was more of a recomp time with weight staying same but muscle built and fat lost. and then this year the fat shed off.

8% was unsustainable for me. i'm at 10-11% right now. this seems to be sustainable. i'll diet hard again next spring for summer..until then i will slow bulk over the winter.

Post: #498

(11-21-2014 01:28 PM)Downtown Wrote:  6'4, late 30's. now around 225. bottomed at 209 or so. was 275 at 35% in 2012. right now 6'4, 225, 10-11% body fat.

sleeping is the same i think honestly, i have not noticed any improvement there.

but hell yeah in everyother way life is a 1000 times better.

i've gone through various periods of crossfit, strict power lifting, yoga only, and now i'm back to wendler 5/3/1 regularly with lots of body weight stuff like pistols, hand stand pushups and pull ups/dips of all kinds.

i dieted hard off an on over those years with the bulk of the weight coming down in 2014 through IF, low fat, and low cal.

2012-2013 was more of a recomp time with weight staying same but muscle built and fat lost. and then this year the fat shed off.

8% was unsustainable for me. i'm at 10-11% right now. this seems to be sustainable. i'll diet hard again next spring for summer..until then i will slow bulk over the winter.

Thanks for the further information and clarification of your particulars. So, yes, you got a pretty big frame and a pretty big starting point. I am 5'9" and 175lbs, btw.

Personally, I am more into attempts at sustainability rather than attempting various kinds of crash diets or causing too much fluctuations in weight.. sure, sometimes easier said than done, but personally, I would NOT really want to fluctuate too much.. like you are describing bulking up and then slimming down.

Although I am NOT opposed to various intermittent fasting efforts, I don't like the idea of low fat and low calorie because I am of the belief that those are NOT sustainable because we need to incorporate fat into our diets and we should be able to eat adequate calories so we do NOT feel hungry, so it is possible that your philosophy differs from mine, even though it seems to be kind of working for you, at least in the sense that you were successful to shed the pounds and you took off some excess fat.

If you read through this thread, you will see that there is some variance in opinions within the thread regarding whether low calorie and low fat are good approaches, yet there are several guys here that are of the belief, like me, that high fat and cutting carbs is more long-term sustainable to taking off weight and then to maintain yourself at such lower weight while eating well and preserving energy levels.

Probably for your height maintaining 210 to 230 pounds is a decent range, though probably, it would be good to attempt to stay within about a 5 to 10 pound range rather than fluctuating too much.. maybe 220 to 230 would be a good range to attempt to maintain? Though I doubt that any one of us would recommend getting obsessed with the scale and weight and since this thread is about belly fat, we recognize that in men, there is some correlation to overall weight and belly fat because guys tend to accumulate weight in the belly first and to lose weight in the belly last, as you already asserted.

How many days a week do you exercise? Do you feel that you exercise is sustainable or burdensome? Personally, I go to the gym and engage in various resistance training a couple days a week and i dance a few days a week, and I find my exercise routine to be fairly sustainable - however from time to time, I do feel like i need to change the kind of activities but attempt to maintain the approximate same quantity level of activities.

Post: #499

JJG:

I am a fan of healthy fats, I eat plenty of them ordinarily. but for losing fat, while working out a lot, I need carbs. I can lose on carbs, not everyone can.

I work out for an hour three times a week right now. wendler 5/3/1 and body weight stuff.

its the diet to stay at 8% which is unsustainable for me. its not a crash diet per se, but its whats required to get down to those super low levels. when I say I have "Belly fat" left its like a pinch on the lower abs. i got there with the IF/low fat/low cal approach. i can sustain it with a more normal 40/30/30 p/c/f diet. but i can't get down to the full cut six pack without the basic protein sparing modified fast routine I talked about earlier.

Post: #500

(11-22-2014 08:53 AM)Downtown Wrote:  JJG:

I am a fan of healthy fats, I eat plenty of them ordinarily. but for losing fat, while working out a lot, I need carbs. I can lose on carbs, not everyone can.

Well, if you have experimented a bit, then maybe it is true that you need some carbs to work out. There may be some individual variation, yet there are examples of people who work out and engage in endurance athletics with low carb, too.

I personally am of the opinion that some people are more sensitive to carbs than other people and in this same line of thinking some people are more tolerant of carbs than others. Yet, I believe that there are a number of studies showing that as people age, they become more and more insulin resistant and accordingly with the insulin resistance these people will be more sensitive to carbs and less tolerant of carbs.

If you feel comfortable with your approach, and you believe that you have found a decent balance, then there may NOT be any need to change it - especially also if your health markers are decent too. Sometimes, we may NOT know all of our health markers because sometimes certain tests are NOT run because during a regular physical, for example, doctors may NOT see any need to run any special tests, and sometimes in order to get a deeper grasp of inflammation or gut biome or insulin resistance or various deficiencies, if any, we may need to specifically focus on that.

Accordingly, many of us will just go based on how we feel because we are NOT really interested in detail if overall our plan and approach seems to be working for us.

(11-22-2014 08:53 AM)Downtown Wrote:  I work out for an hour three times a week right now. wendler 5/3/1 and body weight stuff.

That sounds like a reasonable and potentially long-term sustainable amount of time per week.

(11-22-2014 08:53 AM)Downtown Wrote:  its the diet to stay at 8% which is unsustainable for me. its not a crash diet per se, but its whats required to get down to those super low levels. when I say I have "Belly fat" left its like a pinch on the lower abs. i got there with the IF/low fat/low cal approach. i can sustain it with a more normal 40/30/30 p/c/f diet. but i can't get down to the full cut six pack without the basic protein sparing modified fast routine I talked about earlier.

probably, it is NOT easy to be exact with p/c/f quantities but to estimate on a daily or weekly basis. I personally do attempt to consider my diet in longer periods, such as a week, rather than daily because there may be days that are quite variable, and really in my own situation, I am considering ballpark numbers anyhow.

Currently, probably my ballpark estimates of p/c/f would be in the range of 25 to 40% protein, 15 to 25% carbs and 35 to 60% fat.