How can I lose fat but NOT muscle?
Question:
The moment I start exersising I stop losing. Any work outs/and or diets that you highly recomend.
My current thing:
I walk a lot (It is not uncommon for me to walk 7 miles on a casual spur of the moment walk) but I don't run or anything
I eat very healthy (whole foods) or at least I try to.
I get a good amount of sleep
I do not drink as much water as I should
I weigh just over 200lbs (actually flip above and below that quite often) I'm 5'8" and I'm 17
Please no sarcastic answers- I am creative enough to think of saying "go running" myself (or fad diets but I'm sure I won't avoid those)
Answers:
quayman's answer is pretty good. I'd just add the following:
Your BMI (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_livi... is 30.3 which puts you marginally into the obese category (the thinking is to be between 18.5 & 25).
Three years ago my BMI was the same as yours, and I started at a gym. The weight actually went up at first as I tended to eat more as my exercise level increased. Eventually I started watching what I ate.
I won't give 'fad' diets the time of day, fancy a snack? eat an apple. You seem to know about healthy eating, so all I'd add is that you should watch the overall calorie content, and opt for slow-release carbohydrate to feed your exercise regime (eg. oaty breakfast/pasta/wholegrain bread). Try to avoid foods with high saturated fat level. Aim to lose only a couple of pounds a week, and weigh yourself once a week at most.
I wouldn't concern myself with the muscle/fat issue as the only type of exercise that will help you lose weight is cardiovascular. Weights will build up muscle, improve tone, but I don't think you should worry about that until your weight is lower.
My first gym routine had me on the treadmill for 10 minutes, alternating walking and running (2 mins 6kmh, 2 mins 9kmh etc). I used to hate it as it was so hard and I thought I was going to die. Because it was hard, I kept at it, and ended up actually enjoying it. One year later my BMI was 23 and I ran a half marathon in 2h 20m. I do a lot more weights these days and my BMI is currently 26 (muscle weighs more than fat apparently), but my last half marathon time was 1h 48m so I'm not concerned.
You might find that cycling suits you, and that would be just as good. Best thing is to get into a gym and talk to an instructor and try out all these sorts of things.
One last piece of advice - invest in a Heart Rate Monitor - the best fitness accessory there is (after an iPod).
Sorry for the waffle, hope it helps though. Good luck.
Just keep in mind to eat no more than 1200 calorie and trust me you will lose the weight by walking 3 miles a day. Cardio like walking is what makes your fat melting. You won't lose muscle because you are not eating the 500 Calorie diet. Good luck.
If you don't want to lose muscle, here's what you need:
1: Lift weights.
2: Make sure your diet is high enough in protein
3: Lose sloooooowly.
A normal diet and exercise combination will help you lose fat, but the trick to not losing muscle is to do it slowly to make sure all weight lost is from fat.
So... be creative enough to go running, but make sure your diet has enough calories and protein to make the losses slow.
I bet you are not overweight. Many girls think they are overweight but they are normal. Just do not worry and forget about it.
You should keep doing what you are doing, drink more water, and do some toning excercises to keep the muscle you have while losing weight.
I find it difficult to believe that your body fat is only 1-2% about healthy if you weigh 200 pounds at 5'8", but anyway... do a lot of cardio, and weight training with moderate weight, light reps.
muscle weighs more than fat! so when you do exercise you lose the fat ...buttt. you gain muscle! which is good! whole food are good, but some are very fatty for example just because the bread it whole meal it doesn't mean you can eat loads and loads of it. yet you don't want to cut you food down other wise you metabolism which controls the rate at which you break down certain foods will slow and you will gain weight. water is a must. around 2 liters yet you don't have to drink that much as most of it is taken in through food. oh and fruit is must. fiber fiber fiber.. for good digestive transit eat those 5 a day its not as hard as you think just when you feel peckish grab an apple! oh and when you exercise ...at lease 1/2 an hour 3 times a week is the min recommended in most general 'maintain you health' guides! i hope this helps!
If you stop losing when you start exercising, then you are also eating more. There is exactly ONE way to lose weight and that is to take in fewer Calories than you are using.
There are many ways of doing that, though, mostly involving controlling your diet. If anyone suggests a rubber suit and sweating it off, run the other way. You will either have a water loss that will be regained within a few hours or go through heat stroke and maybe die.
Keeping up the exercise and maintaining the same diet will work. I'm not sure of correct body fat % for females, so I'll look it up. Your maximum safe weight loss is about 28 pounds without a loss of muscle. Doing that properly will take months but it can be done.
mmmmm, do you have a thyroid problem? Is their another gentical or biological illness that makes you to be so large? How long have you been this size? You don't have a dysmorphic complex do you?
It is unusual that a person is so much beyond their body mass index and yet has so low of a body fat percentage. Body fat has less weight but greater size, muscle weights more but is smaller size. You can be 200 hundred pounds in weight and be muscular and have a 1 percent body fat index. and still be with in your body mass index.
Increasing the amount of exersize is the best and most healthy way. It's not the amount of land you cover when you walk. It's how fast you get your heart rate going and how much you increase your metabolisum. I am at six feet and 250 pounds, I use to weight 360 pounds. Mostly it shows at my stomach and in the face and throat. I walk more than 10 miles a day, and work at a physical labour job. I am also 45 years of age, and my body metabolisum is slowing down. So I have to deliberately do exersizes that increase my metabolisum rate. Sit ups and jumping jacks, push ups, jogging... I also do Yoga and streching and tai chi. Beyond this I do not recommend anything like fad diets or pills or weight loss creams or what-not's. There is a cabbage soup diet I got from UCLA medical center's cardio unit that they do for obese heart transplant patients I can share with you if you really want. it's pretty simple, one cups. Use one cup measurements of: Shredded Cabbage, Tomatoes, Carrots, string beans, peas/sugar peas/snow peas/spring peas still in pods, califlower, brocoali, bell peppers, water crestnuts, corn. one can chicken broth and eight cups water, add in a teaspoon of garlic salt or powder or minced garlic. Bring everything to boil together and cook for 15 - 20 minutes. until vegis are done/soft. flavour with black pepper and tapatio sauce. as desired. It will take a little getting use to. I actually liked it from the start, but friends of mine had to get use to it. The soup will fill you up and provide all your nutrients and help increase the bodys thermal/metabolisum rate to burn off body fat without affecting muscle.
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