Not overweight, but want to lose body fat.

B

bookmonkey

0
Hi everyone, new poster here. I have been very frustrated recently because I found out at my gym that I am 25% body fat. I am not trying to lose weight necessarily (I am 5'2" and weigh 101-103 lbs), but I would like to get down to at least 20% body fat! 25% is on the high end of the spectrum, I was told.

So here's the deal: lately I've been eating between 1100-1400 cals a day. Normally this number is 1400-1700. Remember I'm very petite! Also, I do 30 min cardo 4-5x a week and I just added strength training: 30 min. twice a week. So far it doesn't seem like anything is changing, but then again, I haven't gotten my body fat measured again since the initial time, which was about 2 weeks ago.

Does anyone have any diet or exercise tips to help me reduce my body fat? Someone at the gym told me that I should really focus on strength training if I want to see a reduction. Any other ideas? About how long does it take to drop excess body fat if you are a petite, not overweight person? (Sorry didn't mean that last sentence to sound snarky!)
 
Focusing on strength training will help. Also, make sure that the calories you consume are good quality - whole wheat/grain, lean protein, fruits/veggies, low/non fat dairy, and some good fats.

Two weeks is a bit soon, so I wouldn't start worrying yet. Give it a good 6 weeks or so, then have it checked again in the same manner. Remember that body fat analyzers are like scales in that each one will typically read a bit different than another one. So, make sure that your second reading is done the same way as the first, and try to eliminate as many variables as you can. None of them are 100% accurate, but if you do it right, you can get a good idea of your progress.
 
Thanks deschain. Also, the tools they use to measure my body fat are those scary callipers - how accurate are those? They only measured my arms and the area right above my pelvis. Not my legs or stomach! :confused:
 
Calipers are as good as the person reading them. Typically it's best to take at LEAST three measurements from the body (arms, stomach, legs are typical). Then average those three together. Assuming the person taking the measurement is capable- calipers have a 3-4% error margin.

I agree with deschain. Focus on eating lean meats, low GI (glycemic index) carbs, and plenty of water. You can drive your body fat down by building beautiful lean muscle.

To do that you need to eat a caloric surplus. I'd eat about 200 calories OVER your daily maintenace levels.

I'd also bump your strength training to a full body program 3 days per week. Once you get the basic movements down, focus on lifting heavier weights. A mixture of a small caloric surplus, plus 6 protein/carb meals throughout the day plus heavy weights will yield in a great lean body.

Since you are petite... things are a bit different for you. Don't lose body fat by losing muscle (if that makes sense). You should lose body fat by increasing your lean muscle :)
 
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