Losing body fat and toning up... my long story - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

Spydc · 06-20-2005, 09:55 AM

Hi everyone. I'm a 25 male and i'm about 5' 8. All through my life i've always done sporadic weight training... (push ups, pull ups, crunches, dumb bells, curl bars, light benching). But I never really had a consistent routine, it was enough to gain mass in my shoulders and midsection and arms but the definition was lacking...at least it looked like that to me when I looked in the mirror.. but people would always say that I looked strong or that I lifted a lot of weights.

Anyway, for the past 2 years I got really lazy and stopped doing any traning. I love to eat so obviously i've gained some fat on top of the muscle mass so I looked really bulky. I was not pleased with how I looked so I started consistently going to the gym about 4 weeks ago in an attempt to lose as much body fat as possible and gain some muscle tone/definition. My muscle mass is there but the definition isn't...

Anyway, when I first started in the gym, a personal trainer weighed me and was shocked that I weighed in at 197lbs. I didn't even realize I was that heavy at all. The personal trainer was like.. "wow you don't look that heavy at all." She also took a body fat measurement with some electronic gizmo that you enter your height/weight and hold up it for a few seconds. It measured my body fat at 20.4%.

Now I went to work on losing fat and toning up. I go to the gym about 5 to 6 days a week and I do about 40 to 50 minutes of cardio each time. I also mix in some moderate weight training each day. My problem is my midsection. I have a really bulky midsection that maybe partly due to large abs. I'm trying my best to get my midsection fat/mass down to a nice shape. I've tweaked my diet, and i eliminated soda/coffee/juice. I also eat more foods with protein, and I take a whey protein shake everyday as well. Last time I weighed myself, I was at 187lbs and I think my face got a little skinnier and my midsection got a little skinner as well. I mean I really don't see any big difference but my jeans fit a little looser now. I think i may have lost an inch in my midsection, because I can now tighten my belt 2 more notches. But I still have a long way to go. Any advice for me?.. this thing is so hard.. i'm trying to lose body fat and trying to get muscle definition at the same time. but i don't want to have that bulky midsection look.

Naxis · 06-20-2005, 10:42 AM

It's all going to be diet. You're gonna have to clean it up more than just eating more protein and avoiding soda. You need to critically evaluate your whole diet amd meal timing. As precisely as you can post an example of your daily diet (food, how much, what time of day) and we'll see where changes can be made to help you reach your goals.

Jennita · 06-21-2005, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spydc

Hi everyone. I'm a 25 male and i'm about 5' 8. All through my life i've always done sporadic weight training... (push ups, pull ups, crunches, dumb bells, curl bars, light benching). But I never really had a consistent routine, it was enough to gain mass in my shoulders and midsection and arms but the definition was lacking...at least it looked like that to me when I looked in the mirror.. but people would always say that I looked strong or that I lifted a lot of weights.

Anyway, for the past 2 years I got really lazy and stopped doing any traning. I love to eat so obviously i've gained some fat on top of the muscle mass so I looked really bulky. I was not pleased with how I looked so I started consistently going to the gym about 4 weeks ago in an attempt to lose as much body fat as possible and gain some muscle tone/definition. My muscle mass is there but the definition isn't...

Anyway, when I first started in the gym, a personal trainer weighed me and was shocked that I weighed in at 197lbs. I didn't even realize I was that heavy at all. The personal trainer was like.. "wow you don't look that heavy at all." She also took a body fat measurement with some electronic gizmo that you enter your height/weight and hold up it for a few seconds. It measured my body fat at 20.4%.

Now I went to work on losing fat and toning up. I go to the gym about 5 to 6 days a week and I do about 40 to 50 minutes of cardio each time. I also mix in some moderate weight training each day. My problem is my midsection. I have a really bulky midsection that maybe partly due to large abs. I'm trying my best to get my midsection fat/mass down to a nice shape. I've tweaked my diet, and i eliminated soda/coffee/juice. I also eat more foods with protein, and I take a whey protein shake everyday as well. Last time I weighed myself, I was at 187lbs and I think my face got a little skinnier and my midsection got a little skinner as well. I mean I really don't see any big difference but my jeans fit a little looser now. I think i may have lost an inch in my midsection, because I can now tighten my belt 2 more notches. But I still have a long way to go. Any advice for me?.. this thing is so hard.. i'm trying to lose body fat and trying to get muscle definition at the same time. but i don't want to have that bulky midsection look.

Sounds like you are on the right track...from what I've read, true permanent weight loss can be slow but worthwhile; it's the fast results dieting type of methods that fail. My brother-in-law lost a bunch of weight on Atkins quite quickly, now lately he looks like he gained it all back.

The "lifestyle" changes you've made are what works, keep at it. Also, only eat intil you are no longer hungry, not full. I used to have a habit of feeling like I had to clean my plate intil I was full but not anymore now I eat slow and enjoy the food more and save the rest for another time.