Female bodyfat, going from 17% to 15%?

Glowing

Hi all,

I need your advice, hope you can help!

Am joining a new gym and was there last week for an assessment. I'm female in my late 20s, my body fat measures 17%, I weigh 53 kilos and am just under 5.5" tall. I'm interested in a fairly aggressive weights program for the summer and hope to get strong and fit. The trainer recommended that I aim to lose 2% body fat and work towards achieving 15%.

What I want to know is how realistic is this for a female? What type of changes do I need to make to my diet, or will the weights do all the work for me? I intend on asking the trainer all this information but I always like second opinions!

I've already cut out tea and bread. I am trying to increase my protein intake with cottage cheese, loads of eggs, chicken, tuna, hummus, nuts, fresh fruit and veg and have cut out processed meats. Also eating quinoa and plenty of brown rice.

So am I setting myself up for disappointment with a goal of 15% bodyfat? I have read online that this is pretty low for a female.

Thanks a lot!!

chuck101

Hey Glowing,

My 2 cents..

I'm interested in a fairly aggressive weights program for the summer and hope to get strong and fit. The trainer recommended that I aim to lose 2% body fat and work towards achieving 15%.

First off which of these sentences is more important?

Secondly.. agreed it would be considered pretty low but diet seems pretty reasonable so i can't see it being too difficult to get to that level of body fat % with the right dose of training/diet/sleep!

But the key is this.. strong & fit or concerned with bodyfat reduction ?

Glowing

Thanks chuck.

Initially I was hoping that I would reduce my bodyfat as a side effect of my training - but my ultimate goal was not to drop bodyfat if you know what I mean! It was something that the trainer suggested I work towards.

Are those two goals not complimentary?

boomtown84

Hey,
just work on getting strong and fit.don't start cutting calories if you're beginning an 'aggressive weights program'
Also, at 5'5, 53kg and 17% bodyfat you are quite lean already.keep your protein high so you build up some muscle mass.your bf% will be reduced as a result.
try to get one or two conditioning workouts a week...ie sprints/metcons etc

oh and post pics when you're done!:D:D

chuck101

Ah ok.. thats fair enough.. your right they can definitely be complimentary

I would reduce my bodyfat as a side effect of my training

This is a good attitude.. don't lose it! And it's fairly reasonable of the trainer to give you that type of short to medium term goal.

Now the good stuff... what is the goal?! ie. how strong and fit you looking to get? for a particular sport? to look awesome nekkid ? what's your current/ previous level of training like?

Glowing

Haha! well I guess looking awesome nekkid would be pretty acceptable but I'm just trying to push myself more than I've ever done before, out of curiosity more than anything! I'm quite active normally anyway, but have never really pushed myself to this extent before.

I'm going to set myself a goal of 3 months training to keep myself motivated. At the moment I'm doing 2*kettlebell classes, 1*spinning, and will be doing 2 gym sessions on top of that, one purely weights and the other metcon/sprints stuff. Every second week ill do a personal training session on top off the above.

How does that sound? I guess what my real question is - will I get to 15% as a product of the above or do I need some much more aggressive training plan/diet?

gymfreak

Glowing wrote: »

Haha! well I guess looking awesome nekkid would be pretty acceptable but I'm just trying to push myself more than I've ever done before, out of curiosity more than anything! I'm quite active normally anyway, but have never really pushed myself to this extent before.

I'm going to set myself a goal of 3 months training to keep myself motivated. At the moment I'm doing 2*kettlebell classes, 1*spinning, and will be doing 2 gym sessions on top of that, one purely weights and the other metcon/sprints stuff. Every second week ill do a personal training session on top off the above.

How does that sound? I guess what my real question is - will I get to 15% as a product of the above or do I need some much more aggressive training plan/diet?

Oooh please keep us informed with your progress..you could even start a fitness log;)

My stats..weight and height are quite similar to yours, so I'm really interested in how you get on. Diet would be my downfall though..I eat far too much chocolate..:(

Glowing

gymfreak wrote: »

too much chocolate..:(

No such thing!

BlueIsland

Others will prob disagree but if I were you I'd drop the spinning class and replace it with an hour walking maybe! Kettlebell classes- you will be flat out! Your Metcon and weights day be the same I.e flat out! So that's four days at Prob 90% heart rate range! That's more than enough coupled with good diet! Throw in an hour of low rate cardio or more and in my view you will drop bodyfat as quick! More not better kinda thing!

Glowing

Interesting. What about running? I'm only at the 4-5km stage though...

BlueIsland

Running is grand as long as ya not flat out! So be at 60% max effort! You putting in huge effort with the 4 hard sessions ya can nearly use it recuperation! coupled with good diet! Hour or more steady rate walking, cycling, jogging etc!

marathonic

I'm in a similar situation - except the male version (women are supposed to have a higher bf%).

I measured my bf% and got a couple of varying readings with the max being 13%. I kind of believe the max figure because my abs ain't showing yet.

I've dropped over 1.5 stone since last August but have been finding that last few pounds a lot tougher to drop - probably phycological.

Therefore, I decided feck it, I'll up the calories, go harder on the weights and pack on some lean muscle. I've read in a post on boards (which was quoted from a book) that every pound of lean muscle adds about 35 calories to your BMR. In other words, when I've more muscle, it'll be easier to lose weight even if I eat the same amount.

My plan is to go hard on the weights for 10 weeks (for no other reason than that's when my two drums of current post workout supplements run out), then I'm going to cut for 3-4 weeks before going on my winter bulk..... that's the plan now but my plans seem to change almost on a daily basis

The ultimate goal for me is to be 5kg heavier at the same bf% at the end of the year - before the Christmas bulky bulking bulk :eek:

marathonic

BlueIsland wrote: »

Running is grand as long as ya not flat out! So be at 60% max effort! You putting in huge effort with the 4 hard sessions ya can nearly use it recuperation! coupled with good diet! Hour or more steady rate walking, cycling, jogging etc!

Personally, I like the cycling. It's less sore on the joints, there's loads of clubs if ya want the social aspect and you can go out for hours because it's less tiring.

One of the big things for me though is that I can cycle to work - I couldn't run it :-D

Glowing

Yeah I cycled a lot last year (did a 100km challenge) and plan to start cycling to work when the schools finish (11km each way). Still planning to get out on some longer spins but its too cold

Unfortunately after an accident I had a couple of years ago, I'm scared to cycle in a club or competitively

chuck101

Glowing - That template looks solid to me but i will agree with BlueIsland to an extent and say it'd be good if you could add in some low level aerobic stuff ie. swimming/cycling/yoga/running etc..

Regarding whether you can hit 15% on that amount of training .. yeah i'd say its doable just keep an eye on the diet and recovery and what foods might be tripping you up or helping you during the few months..

also i'd have a look at keeping some track of some benchmarks regarding certain strength/cardio measures so that you can track your progress ie. max deadlift/max push ups in a minute/ max body rows in a minute/ chin ups. 1000km row time ... loads more you could use .. just an idea.

Finally to echo Gymfreak's shout for you to maybe start a log on here it'd be a great idea to keep you on track cos you'll get lots of support here.

Anyways.. hope it goes well!

Glowing

Thanks a lot all for the very useful advice.

Aside, what does it mean when ye refer to 'cutting' and 'bulking'? probably a really stupid question!

Dotcomdolly

Glowing wrote: »

Thanks a lot all for the very useful advice.

Aside, what does it mean when ye refer to 'cutting' and 'bulking'? probably a really stupid question!

I think cutting is when you eat a calories deficit to lose fat & bulking is when you eat more to gain muscle....all while training of course!

p.s dead jealous of your 17, let along 15 % bodyfat! Looking fwd to reading your fitness log!

Glowing

Ok you have convinced me - here is my new (and sparce at the moment) training log:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72491593#post72491593

Would appreciate your feedback and support, purlease.

Hanley

Dotcomdolly wrote: »

I think cutting is when you eat a calories deficit to lose fat & bulking is when you eat more to gain muscle....all while training of course!

p.s dead jealous of your 17, let along 15 % bodyfat! Looking fwd to reading your fitness log!

Just on a pedantic note, ‘cutting’ is technically seeking the achievement of a very low level of body fat like bodybuilders coming into a competition do. ‘Dieting’ is typically just what people are talking about when they talk about reduced kcals!

pink-mist

15% bf is a perfectly achievable goal!

I dropped 8% in 40days while training 4-5 times a week (spinning,circuit classes, tabata workouts, weight training) and following a clean diet of loads of fruit and veg, lean protein like chicken, and cottage cheese etc. Tried to limit carbs to porridge or shreaded wheat and only once a day.

So its definitely do-able! I'd say just focous on the training, the more muscle you build the more fat will melt off you

Ki ki

Glowing wrote: »

I've already cut out tea and bread.

Why cut out tea? Am I missing something? I drink pots of the stuff :eek:

Mellor

pink-mist wrote: »

I dropped 8% in 40days while training 4-5 times a week (spinning,circuit classes, tabata workouts, weight training) and following a clean diet of loads of fruit and veg, lean protein like chicken, and cottage cheese etc.

What was your starting/ending weight and bf%
As getting from 30% - 22% is nothing like gettign from 16% to 8%

Glowing

Ki ki wrote: »

Why cut out tea? Am I missing something? I drink pots of the stuff :eek:

It's not so much the tea - it's the sugar and milk I put into it!! I was drinking a coffee plus 3 or 4 cups of tea a day - that's about 6 or 7 sugars.

So I've kept the coffee (that's non-negotiable), and replaced the regular tea with green tea - also kinda kills cravings for sweet things i find and apparently increases your metabolism - so win-win!

pink-mist

Mellor wrote: »

What was your starting/ending weight and bf%
As getting from 30% - 22% is nothing like gettign from 16% to 8%

24% to 14% (I'm female btw!). My weight stayed the same at 52kg

Glowing

pink-mist wrote: »

24% to 14% (I'm female btw!). My weight stayed the same at 52kg

Woah that's good going. How maintainable is 14% or does it depend on the person?

pink-mist

Glowing wrote: »

Woah that's good going. How maintainable is 14% or does it depend on the person?

Maintenence is alright once you KEEP up the workouts and the clean eating. You can have the odd splurge here or there, but overall just keep eating clean and you'll be grand!

Glowing

I'm 3 weeks into my training plan and I have to say I'm feeling a little emaciated. The no bread thing is working wonders for my stomach - but i'm starting to look very skinny around my waist and I kinda feel a little weak or slight even though my training is going really well. Am I confusing things now .... I didn't think this would happen, I thought I'd get bigger before losing bf. I suppose it will take time to build up muscle? I think I'm eating enough, have plenty of snacks during the day and 3 good meals ...

GaylaBells02

just keep up the good attitude

pink-mist

Just keep it up. If you feel good and your training is going well then you're sorted. Just eat enough protein/protein shakes pre-post workout to build up the muscles. May take a while but patience is key!

Mr Marri

Glowing wrote: »

I'm 3 weeks into my training plan and I have to say I'm feeling a little emaciated. The no bread thing is working wonders for my stomach - but i'm starting to look very skinny around my waist and I kinda feel a little weak or slight even though my training is going really well. Am I confusing things now .... I didn't think this would happen, I thought I'd get bigger before losing bf. I suppose it will take time to build up muscle? I think I'm eating enough, have plenty of snacks during the day and 3 good meals ...

I've noticed this too, my waist shrinks but I've still got plenty of fat under my skin. I like to think I'm losing my veriseral (spelling) fat from around my organs, which is great if it's true*. (* no proof what so ever)

gymfreak

Glowing wrote: »

I'm 3 weeks into my training plan and I have to say I'm feeling a little emaciated. The no bread thing is working wonders for my stomach - but i'm starting to look very skinny around my waist and I kinda feel a little weak or slight even though my training is going really well. Am I confusing things now .... I didn't think this would happen, I thought I'd get bigger before losing bf. I suppose it will take time to build up muscle? I think I'm eating enough, have plenty of snacks during the day and 3 good meals ...

Glowing, I'm just wondering whether your counting calories or not? I was reading your log the other day where you'd mentioned your food intake and how it looked alot written down and I was thinking that I eat a hell of a lot more than that and I'm (attempting:)) to make a deficit at the moment too. Any chance your overestimating the amount your eating?

Although, if your not feeling sluggish and tired and I wouldn't really worry about it:)

Glowing

hi gymfreak,

no, am not counting calories - may explain why I spent most of today starving I've tried to before but it so difficult measuring portions etc that I just gave up!

Should I eat carbs at lunch time? what's good?

tks

gymfreak

Glowing wrote: »

hi gymfreak,

no, am not counting calories - may explain why I spent most of today starving I've tried to before but it so difficult measuring portions etc that I just gave up!

Should I eat carbs at lunch time? what's good?

tks

Well my stats are near enough to yours in that I'm ~54kg and 5 foot 4..and a half. That half is oh so important:D

I've calcuated my maintenance calories using quite a few different ways and it generally shows up that maintenance for me is ~2000kcal a day and if I was to make a deficit my eating I'd aim in and around the 1600kcal mark.

If you want to check these numbers, search through the stickies at the top of the forum and they'll explain whats and whys.

At the moment I'm 'dieting' which means I'm aiming for 1500-1700kcal a day..but if I'm hungrier I eat more. At the weekends I have a refeed where I eat and eat and eat..this strategy works for me..maybe not for others.

As for tracking calories, go to fitday.com and enter in the food that you eat and it'll tell you the kcal and nutritional breakdown. Most people eat near enough the same foods each day so you only need track it for a few days to get the jist.

I could be wrong, but from what you logged that you ate it just seems that you are undershooting the amount of calories that you should be eating.

End note: I refuse to spend any time starving..just doesnt suit me..I get grumpy, tired and then my training would go downhill and I'd be even more annoyed. But different strokes for different folks and all that..what works for me, might not for others:)

pink-mist

Glowing, I'll agree with the previous poster there about fitday.com, I recently joined it and its great. You just type in the foods you've eaten that day and it calculates the calories and shows you a nice little pie chart of how many carbs/protein/fat/alcohol you've had that day. Handy if you're new to calorie counting.

Also, as for carbs, i'd say limit yourself to 1-2 portions a day. Its worked wonders for me - more energy, more effective training, less cravings etc. So maybe a bowl of porridge in the morning and a bit of brown rice with lunch or dinner

Glowing

Well .. you learn something new every day!

I just joined up with fitday and entered in a typical days diet - it appears that on one typical day, I ate less than 2000 calories, yet my maintenance calories should be about 2200! Very interesting! (though there is a good chance I didn't calculate any of that correctly).

What I was REALLY surprised at was the amount of carbs still in my diet!! The pie chart said that 66% of it was carbs and only 20% of it protein!! This was based on oats for breakfast, apple, banana, chicken & cottage cheese with green salad for lunch, a few almonds, couple of ryvita with hummus, some milk, some applejuice, and rice and fish with veg for dinner. WTF!!!

Where are all these carbs coming from?

Anyway, thanks all for your patience in helping me along here. I've a bit of 'repair' work to do after a weekend on the tear (including 2.5 hours of surfing, so I hope that cancels out the pizza and wine!)

gymfreak

Glowing wrote: »

Well .. you learn something new every day!

I just joined up with fitday and entered in a typical days diet - it appears that on one typical day, I ate less than 2000 calories, yet my maintenance calories should be about 2200! Very interesting! (though there is a good chance I didn't calculate any of that correctly).

Yup. That sounds about right. TBH for the majority of people there are pretty simple explanations for losing weight or not losing weight. It all comes down to calories in and calories out. If your not eating sufficient calories and exercising on top of that of course your going to lose weight. Same as the person who eats humongus amounts (over maintenance) and exercises and doesn't lose weight...I'm often guilty of this one:D

What I was REALLY surprised at was the amount of carbs still in my diet!! The pie chart said that 66% of it was carbs and only 20% of it protein!! This was based on oats for breakfast, apple, banana, chicken & cottage cheese with green salad for lunch, a few almonds, couple of ryvita with hummus, some milk, some applejuice, and rice and fish with veg for dinner. WTF!!!

Where are all these carbs coming from?

If you read through the nutrtition stickies at the top of the forum you'll see that they outline the different types of carbohydrates that there are. Oats, apples, bananas, almonds, ryvita, rice, veg...they all contain carbohydrates:) Doesn't mean that you leave them out of your diet though. If your eating below maintenance still and need to add extra kcal just bump up your protein intake and that'll change the percentages. I do definitely think you could do with upping your protein intake..what about scrambled eggs/omlette as part of your breakfast?

Mellor

Glowing wrote: »

What I was REALLY surprised at was the amount of carbs still in my diet!! The pie chart said that 66% of it was carbs and only 20% of it protein!! This was based on oats for breakfast, apple, banana, chicken & cottage cheese with green salad for lunch, a few almonds, couple of ryvita with hummus, some milk, some applejuice, and rice and fish with veg for dinner. WTF!!!

Where are all these carbs coming from?

Pretty much everything bar chicken, cheese and fish are carbs or partially barbs. Not at all surprised its 66% carbs and only 20% protein

Glowing

@gymfreak - I always eat 2 eggs for breakfast at weekends (poached or scrambled) but it's not really that practical for me mid week - I'm not one of those ppl who can eat straight after I get up so usually have my oats at my desk Any solution for me?

@Mellor - I'm confused at what I should be eating now as I thought my new diet was pretty good (incorrectly apparently!) I think I'm going to have to do some googling for more protein high foods!

Mellor

Glowing wrote: »

@Mellor - I'm confused at what I should be eating now as I thought my new diet was pretty good (incorrectly apparently!) I think I'm going to have to do some googling for more protein high foods!

It's not that bad really. Just because its carbs doesn't make it bad, unless you were trying to go low carb.
What did you think oats, fruit, hummus, milk, applejuice and rice were made up of.
I'd rate oats and milk as being better than fruit and rice. Apple juice is loaded with sugar.

G86

I had the same kinda shock when I first logged on to fitday. It's easy enough to cut down the carbs once you know what's in what. I'm a veggie and still managed to get them down to about 35/40%.