stuck at 24.9% body

[pinkpink]

hi everyone, im a 23 year old girl 5"8 123-126 lbs usually

been weight training 3x a week + cardio on one day since Jan

ive seen a loss in my lbs and a move from 28% body fat to 24.9..can't seem to get lower!

looking for some great lifestyle tips.. GOAL: 22% body fat

[josephz2va · Accepted solution]

You're missing cardio. Once a week ain't enough for fat shredding. Daily would be more preferable meeting your caloric burn goal on the Fitbit. It's best to buy a Polar Strap and set your heart rate difficulty on Intensity 1 and work yourself up to Intensity 2 and 3. At a young age, you should be able to do 130 BPM for 30-90 minutes for fat burn.

[pinkpink]

okay, if i do cardio 3x a week strength 2x do u think that would be enough?

dont wanna start overworking out if thats possible lol

[Nick17 · Accepted solution]

Cardio is definitely an effective way to lose fat, however, research has demonstrated that weight training is actually better for fat loss.  Here's why: Cardio will only burn calories while you are doing cardio.  In other words, if you spend 30 minutes doing cardio, you will only burn calories for those 30 minutes on the treadmill, elliptical, or bike (whichever you are using).  Plus, cardio has no effect on your Basal Metabolic Rate, which is your metabolism at rest,

Strength training on the other hand, allows you to burn calories not only while lifting, but also for every pound of lean muscle that you add, it raises your Basal Metabolic Rate, which means you burn more calories while at rest.

One of the biggest myths is that cardio is the best, and only way to burn bodyfat.  Resistance training on the other hand, is actually the most effective.  Too much cardio can actually begin to use protein as fuel, which means reductions in muscle, thus a reduction in Basal Metabolic Rate.  With resistance training, train at an intensity of at least 70% of your 1 rep max.

Lastly, 80% of your progress is dependent on what you do outside of the gym, namely diet and getting enough rest.  Increase the resistance training and keep cardio to no more than 30 minutes per session so as not to negate the gains made through strength training.

[pinkpink]

thank you great advice.

[flyboy]

Try switching up your training and diet.  Your body will adapt to your workouts and diet and plateau so the way to break through this is to change things and shock your body into continuing to drop body fat, add muscle, and get stronger.  I agree with the other posters who suggest upping your cardio to more times per week, I'd suggest 3 times a week and vary the cardio you're doing those 3 times a week, say jogging or running one day, maybe a spin class or vigorous bike ride once a week and a swim, rowing machine session, eliptical, stair master, or something else to keep your body guessing and adding fitness. 

You can also change your diet if that is the same or similar, try adjusting your meal times, calories per meal, what you're eating, and portion sizes to see what happens. 

Good luck and stay focused, you'll get past this.

[pinkpink]

taking the advice! do u have any ideas on how i can switch up my diet...im wondering what to do 

heres a sample day for me :

morning:

protein shake: 1 scoop, some frozen rasberries

cup of coffee

lunch:

salad with chicken breast/ grilled vegetables+meat

dinner:

soup/kale potato rap/lentils 

snacks: greek yogurt, red apples, granola bar, water

basically i do a carb in the morning, and evening so i can sleep..

[flyboy]

Try to do something before you have breakfast in the morning, a 10 minute brisk walk at least and a 30 minute jog or run if you can, that way your body is working on a fasted state.  This will jump start your metabolism in the morning and start your body off on a fasted state to force it to grab energy from your reserves (fat stores).  Mix up the times you're eating, if you normally eat right after you get up, try to wait 30 minutes or an hour before you eat, eat lunch at your desk and then spend your lunch hour taking a walk or climbing stairs in your building, change up your snacks and times you eat them, if you have an apple and or a granola bar for a 10 am snack most days try switching it with your afternoon greek yogurt or just an extra 8 ounces of water to tide you over until lunch.  Anything you can do to trick your body into not getting into a habit will be helpful for you.  Just keep shocking your system and your body won't be able to adapt and start slacking off.  I've even been known to have a donut once in while since it seems to be quite a jolt to my system and keeps my body guessing at what is coming next.

[Nick17]

It could be too that you hit that point in your training where you're at a "plateau".  Have you been gradually increasing the intensity of your weight training and/or cardio?  If not, switch over to different sets and reps for weights, different intensities on cardio, etc.  Add some High Intensity Interval Training with your cardio.  Those are just some suggestions.  The body does adapt to stress very well, so every once in a while, you have to change the workout routine. 

[pinkpink]

cool totally going to try this ! thanks

[pinkpink]

thank u for the tips ! going to try these solutions

[Rangefinder]

I am 70 years old.  I do 1 hour on the elliptical M,W,F and swim 1 1/2 miles T, Th and then do 1/2 hour elliptical. Twice a week I do strength training. (Don't know the correct name of the machines I use, but basically they have rubber band resistence).

Trying to loose weight. I don't eat carbs such as potatoes, pasta, and bread. I would like to loose 20 more pounds. I have lost 30, but seem to just stay at my current weight.  Been this way for several months.

Not sure what to do?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Ozzie65]

Hi @Rangefinder - Your exercise routines sound great! In reality, the best way to lose weight is to reduce your caloric intake. I know that you mentioned that you control carbs, but you may need to reduce your overall calories.

[I-train-hard]

Try to do something before you have breakfast in the morning, a 10 minute brisk walk at least and a 30 minute jog or run if you can, that way your body is working on a fasted state. 

---

I wouldn't do it. Your body fat will increase, you weight might decrease. I don’t think you want that.

[LordHeathen]

Hello all,

I have the same problem and the comments on here have been really helpful. Such a great community.

[ccmso12]

not true.  studies have shown that higher cardio is NOT the answer. ecspecially for women.  Id be interested in having the OP post exactly what her (3) weight routines are as well as her daily diet.  The OP is not over weight, but has a normal body fat on the higher end.  Sounds like her goal is to lean up 'harder'. -- The biggest thing to remember is Abs are made in the kitchen and NOT the gym . . . which suprises many.  A heavy lifting routine with a 3 day split and adding 20 mins plymetric after lifting will bring faster and better results then a cardio increase.  But again the diet is key (Female fitness figure competitor here, and nutritionalist for female competitors). 

[ccmso12]

ps . . . I now see your daily diet and your macros and calories are so out of a healthy range to build any muscle your not going to drop your 'body fat' very easy at all.  You might be able to drop your scale numbers doing what you are doing, but body fat is not going to change.

[SunsetRunner]

To Nick17

Obviously, you have not spoken with or actually looked at some of the greatest marathoners in history like Grete Waitz who won New York nine times and many others.  Why are these giants of the marathon very low body fat?  First, specific kinds of cardio have very high MET levels with running being near the top.  When you exercise at high MET levels your energy expedenditure is incredible and you increase EPOC which is excess post oxygen consumption while at rest.  Unless your like the guy pictured with me, who is 4 time Mr. Olympia your not going to lift enough weight to increase metabolic needs that much, especially the routine gym participant.  

[Lilymook]

where are you getting your numbers?  Unless you are getting your body fat % measured by a professional, preferrably water displacement or bod pod, you aren't getting an accurate number.

For illustration, I am 5'8 female but I carry a lot of muscle.  My home scale which claims measures body fat% has me at over 30% when my weight was 154.  I did a bod pod analysis and the true number was 22.8%. 

and eat some carbs! You need them and they are not evil.  Just make it whole food