Hi,
BMI is accurate for most people however it doesn't take into consideration the muscle mass one might put on. Hence, a healthy muscular individual might seem overweight if seen from the BMI point of view.
Body fat levels are the best measure of one's health. A man who wants to be lean needs to bring down his fat levels between 10% to 14%. Similarly, a woman needs to bring down hers to 16% to 20%.
For a ripped physique, men need to bring down their fat levels to 8% to 9% and women to 14% to 15%, however bodybuilders and fitness models go below these levels which is not healthy in the long term. I've read they only go so low for competitions or photo shoots. Especially women start getting problems with their estrogen production and menstruation cycles at low levels of body fat.
Essential body fat for men is 2-3% for men and 7-8% for women.
My target is 8% body fat which I want to achieve before 2010 ends.
Beatlesboy, I personally don't have any experience on losing those last 10 pounds, since I yet have to reach that stage. But based on all the reading I've done, if you are already at 14% body fat or below, then a diet like would probably help to reach single digit body fat levels.
Alternately, if you have been consuming a high carb and moderate protein diet, you could try increasing your protein intake by 10%-15%, keep your fat intake at 20% of your total calorie intake, and adjust the carb intake accordingly. High protein foods have a thermic effect, which means they need more calories to get digested, approximately 30% of calories of the protein is burnt from the body to digest the protein. This causes some weight loss. The high protein also reduces water retention which will help you lose some extra pounds and look more defined.
You'll have to carb cycle on every fourth day to keep your metabolism high and energy levels optimum. On these days you should reduce protein intake to original, and increase your carb intake to original plus consume an extra 50 grams of carbs. You can research online about carb cycling or zig zag dieting. It's well known in the bodybuilding circles. This is how bodybuilders, apart from their intense workouts, get to those low body fat levels.
Regardless of whether you follow the above you can add 2 tablespoon of flaxseed oil (omega 3 fatty acids) to your diet and adjust other fats accordingly. It'll help you burn fat more efficiently and recover faster from workouts.
You can also try green tea extracts for a few months as they increase one's metabolic rate.
Also, a patented product called Metabolic Tyrolean is proven to fix the metabolism slowdown caused by dieting/weight loss. It's supposed to be relatively safe and aids in further weight loss. You might want to research this supplement as well.
Hope this helps.
