Reduce Body Fat

harry999

Hi I eat a balanced diet - no carbs after 4pm and a protein shake at 11am.

I eat 5 to 6 pieces of fruit during the day - I do a lot of swimming/running but my body fat does not seem to reduce. If I cut out the fruit and just eat berries instead of the fruit - will this reduce the sugar in my body and this lead to reduction in body fat ? Thanks

Blacktie.

Sugar doesn't cause fat gain calories do. No carbs after 4pm will make no difference unless just used as a way of minimising calorie intake. Reducing fruit will lower your calorie intake once you don't just eat more of something else.

arayess

Blacktie. wrote: »

Sugar doesn't cause fat gain calories do. No carbs after 4pm will make no difference unless just used as a way of minimising calorie intake. Reducing fruit will lower your calorie intake once you don't just eat more of something else.

you left out the fact that he needs to know that berries are fruits too.
That's an important life lesson.

strelok

calories in - calories out

create a myfitnesspal account and log everything you eat. if you're not losing weight after 2-3 weeks subtract 200 calories and try again for another 2-3 weeks, and so on and so forth.

there's plenty of detail after that but calories in - calories out is the foundation of any successfull weight loss attempt

Blacktie.

arayess wrote: »

you left out the fact that he needs to know that berries are fruits too.
That's an important life lesson.

I assumed he meant to go for berries because of the low GI.

Mr_Muffin

You can eat carbs at anytime and still lose weight. I find i feel and sleep better after a feed of carbs in the night.

harry999

Hi Thanks for replies.

My primary aim is not to loose weight - it is more to reduce my body fat.. (I know these are related, but are they are still different)

I'm 6 foot & around 83kg so not that over weight.

I think if I could loose some body fat, I could perform much better at road races/bike races etc...

azzeretti

harry999 wrote: »

Hi Thanks for replies.

My primary aim is not to loose weight - it is more to reduce my body fat.. (I know these are related, but are they are still different)

I'm 6 foot & around 83kg so not that over weight.

I think if I could loose some body fat, I could perform much better at road races/bike races etc...

I doesn't make much of a difference. If you maintain a calorie deficit you will lose weight (muscle and fat). If you wish to lose fat and retain most of your lean muscle you'll need to have a net calorie deficit while combining some sort of resistance training. Even then you can only do one or the other - lose fat OR gain muscle.

My primary aim is not to loose weight - it is more to reduce my body fat.

You know if you lose fat your body weight will decrease?

Oryx

I think you should post a daily example of your diet. What you consider balanced might not be the best thing for fat loss. If you remove one type of fruit and replace it with another equally calorific fruit, it will make no difference at all. How much protein and fat do you consume at the moment? When you swim and run, do you work pretty hard? What kind of time are you putting into it?

Caliden

Pick up a kitchen scale in argos for a tenner and weigh your food. Only real way of knowing for sure is to actually measure.

harry999

For example yesterdays diet was:

@ 8 porridge + 3 spoons of honey
2 raw eggs

@ 11 - protein shake - one scope of protein powder

between 11 & 2 => 6 small plums

@2 salad + tunna & rice (one of those quick meals from Lidl)

@4 an apple + almonds

@8 brown rice + chicken

There are 12 different carbs - where would I get a list of these?

Thanks

Alf Veedersane

You're better off cooking the eggs rather than eating raw - more bioavailable protein.

Try inputting the above into MyFitnessPal but you will need to know a bit more such as how much brown rice.

Slydice

So, for me, losing fat is about calories.
- More calories than I need = more fat (body storing fuel)
- Less calories than I need = less fat (body using fuel)

So I the possibilities as either:
- eat the same (0 change), and exercise more (use more calories)
- eat less (get less calories), and exercise the same (0 change)
- eat less (get less calories), and exercise more (use more calories)

From what I understand, adults need around 2000 (ish) calories a day without factoring in exercise.

On food, look for the KCAL number on the labels. Those are the calories. If you have a phone, get an exercise app, if it's decent, it'll tell you how much calories you used on your runs.

harry999 wrote: »

For example yesterdays diet was:

@ 8 porridge + 3 spoons of honey
2 raw eggs

@ 11 - protein shake - one scope of protein powder

between 11 & 2 => 6 small plums

@2 salad + tunna & rice (one of those quick meals from Lidl)

@4 an apple + almonds

@8 brown rice + chicken

There are 12 different carbs - where would I get a list of these?

Thanks

If I was on that diet and wanted to lose fat, I'd start by chaning to:
@8 1 bowl porridge (nothing else, plenty of calories in porridge from what I remember)

between 8+1 = water/black coffee (almost 0 calories)

@1 Salad+Tunna+Apple (you might see about switching to baby kale or spinach instead of salad cos they have more nutrients I think) (also while almonds are delicious and lovely, they are high in calories)

@6 Chicken + Carrot/Turnip/other root veg (though avoid potatoes, I think they might be higher in calories)

Try a 5k run every 2 to 3 days.

Fat loss feels like it takes ages so give it 1 to 2 months before checking your progress

harry999

Thanks very much for replies

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Blacktie. wrote: »

Sugar doesn't cause fat gain calories do. No carbs after 4pm will make no difference unless just used as a way of minimising calorie intake. Reducing fruit will lower your calorie intake once you don't just eat more of something else.

That is not entirely correct...carbs especially refined sugars will cause a jump in insulin release, insulin predisposes to fat storage. A person that take 2000 calories in sugar will be fatter (percentage wise) than somebody that takes 2000 cal in protein and fats.

Blacktie.

Duncan Spicy Regime wrote: »

That is not entirely correct...carbs especially refined sugars will cause a jump in insulin release, insulin predisposes to fat storage. A person that take 2000 calories in sugar will be fatter (percentage wise) than somebody that takes 2000 cal in protein and fats.

Yeah the insulin spikes and the fat storage mode kicks in but they'll still need to get the energy from somewhere so once the levels drop again they'll be burning more fat than if they consumed a similar level of fat and proteins.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Blacktie. wrote: »

Yeah the insulin spikes and the fat storage mode kicks in but they'll still need to get the energy from somewhere so once the levels drop again they'll be burning more muscle & fat than if they consumed a similar level of fat and proteins.

FYP....when the insulin spike is gone, the body will have less muscle and hence a lower resting metabolic rate which is very counter productive, people have to think in body composition not body mass. A calorie is not a calorie regardless of its source, your body have multiple energy stores, its manipulating it to use fat stores thats the op's issue. Any the answer for him is likely to eat more protein and fats and cycle his carbs.

Alf Veedersane

I don't always cycle carbs, but when I do...

Dial Hard

Leaving aside the fact that it's Buzzfeed, this is actually an eminently sensible article.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/sallytamarkin/the-deal-with-body-fat

Blacktie.

Duncan Spicy Regime wrote: »

FYP....when the insulin spike is gone, the body will have less muscle and hence a lower resting metabolic rate which is very counter productive, people have to think in body composition not body mass. A calorie is not a calorie regardless of its source, your body have multiple energy stores, its manipulating it to use fat stores thats the op's issue. Any the answer for him is likely to eat more protein and fats and cycle his carbs.

I don't even remember the origin of this but assuming OP does resistance training muscle loss will be minimal. A simple deficit is all that's required. Sure carb cycling has its place but not for someone starting out.