I've had this little gut hanging around me like an albatross for a long time now. It wasn't getting any bigger and it wasn't getting any smaller. I thought I ate a pretty decent diet but far from perfect. I'm 5'10, male, 33 years old, 170 pounds. Last month I was 175 pounds. In a month I lost 5 pounds and went from 25% body fat to 22% body fat (according to my body fat % scale) and that fat % continues to decline and my belt continues to tighten. I rarely ever do aerobic/cardio exercises and found it really hard to start. What I did was change my diet after reading a lot about it and listening to other posters on this board. I'll give a few examples. I used to drink 2+ gallons of skim milk a week and having recently discovered that lactose is a simple carb I realized this wasn't helping so I replaced the milk with water and now drink at a maximum one glass of skim milk per day. I cut out the junk foods like maybe being hungry after work and cooking a frozen burrito smothered in cheese. Now instead of eating stuff like that I have pre made salad with pre made chicken breasts and eat that adding in a boiled egg and some chick peas. I've found convenience to be a big issue with me. When I'm hungry I want something I can prepare quickly and tastes decent so if I have a healthy food on hand that I can have ready to eat quickly I'll choose that over junk foods. This was a huge key for me in eating a healthier diet. Also simply not buying junk foods so I don't have them around. I also snack on peanuts and soy nuts. Besides that I still eat lots of meats but limit my breads and try to stick with whole grain breads that are low in carbs. There are a few other minor changes I've made but I hit on the major ones.
It's just wonderful to see how some pretty basic and easy to make changes in my diet have helped me in losing weight. I still lift the same weights at the gym and seem to have lost very little muscle size or strength. I don't know how accurate my body fat % scale is but it usually is pretty close to what I get from using calipers and whether those numbers are accurate or not the changes in the numbers (from 25% to 22%) are what are significant to me. Just thought I'd share as I'm pretty happy about it.
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Keep Pumping...see what happens
I believe the predominent factor in fat loss is diet, not cardio or exercise, even though this does help. When you are already working out, have reasonable muscle tone and fitness, it may be that you are burning so many calories that small changes to diet can make a big difference. Well done, 3% change in bf% is excellent and as long as the bf scales are staying down on average, I would be happy to trust them.
