I have been struggling to lose this extra little bit of stomach fat that I have to let my abs show. I've been lifting weights for a year, with short run sprints in-between every 2 sets or so. But, I'll start with the beginning...
I made some big mistakes. During swim season (on my high school team) I continued with my lifting regiment, but I was only taking in around 700 calories a day. Way too little since I burn almost all that off in practice. I was also eating 0-5 grams of fat a day. I got sick really fast, and didn't figure out what was wrong until after swim season 5 months later. Long story short, I now eat 2200 calories on days that I exercise, and 1800-1900 calories on off days.
I eat plenty of protein, carbs, fruit, veggies, fish, and white meat. I know how much of these I need to continue gaining muscle mass, and burning fat off. Now I know it will take time with my diet plan, but I have no idea how much fat I should have to lose fat mass, because you can't burn fat unless you intake some amount of fat.
I am 165 lbs., 17 years old (almost 18), 6'2", and if you need to know anything else PLEASE let me know. What I want to know from all you nutritionists is, how many grams of fat do I need in a day to lose fat?
Comments (16)
I don't focus on fat, i just watch what i eat or watch the cals. good luck :)
i don"t think you should be as concerned with how much fat you take in as protein since protein is what builds your body while you"re still growing
just limit or watch the proportion of fat you take compared to protein and carbs and you should be fine
i heard only 10 % but i'm not sure if that's accurate
r u the one in ur profile pic?hihih just wondering:p
Your diet seems to strongly resemble Zone. I would check that out to give you an idea of how much fat you need.
Normal
0
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
h4
{margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
mso-outline-level:4;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
h5
{margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
mso-outline-level:5;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:justify;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
span.length
{mso-style-name:length;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:
What a factual article. But aside from that
issue, let me share something. Despite the appearance of Michael Vick on 60
Minutes, fans of the Philadelphia Eagles are not happy with his being
signed.Though not all fans are against
the team optioning the maligned quarterback, who was recently released from
prison after serving time for dog fighting, and going bankrupt paying for the
recovered animals' rehabilitation, Michael Vick on 60 minutes was a humbler
man, who knew the gravity of his offences.Vick might still need short term loans if NFL Commissioner Goodell
decides not to reinstate him.Some may
not believe the sincerity of Vick on 60 Minutes, but he seems contrite, and if
reinstated, won't need payday
loans again – his contract is for up to $8 million.
@raiyaya@xanga -
Yup, I'm on the right. not the one with drawn-on abs. lmao
You don't need fat to build muscle, but you do need fat to absorb fat soluble vitamins and for endurance exercise. You haven't told us how much you exercise and how many cals this exercise burns (you can find that out on calorie burn calculators on the web), and from there you might wanna decrease your cal intake on the exercise days to maybe around 1900 as well, because you don't want to overcompensate on the eating if your trying to lose weight. Like it wouldn't make sense for a fat person to have an extra donut if the whole point of their trip to the gym was to burn extra calories..
But from what I can see from your physique you don't have much fat to burn through. I think you needa focus on some more weight training. If you are not waking up sore at least a couple days a week then you are not straining your ab and chest muscles enough to make them grow. Plain crunches wont be enough. Do situps / crunches on a bench with an incline so that your fighting against gravity as well,.. use a medicine ball to add weight, do leg lifts, leg lift and sit up combo (trying to touch the tips of your fingers to your feet while raising legs..ur laying down of course).
To lose fat you need to create a calorie deficit. Simply eat less than you burn through living (BMR) and exercise. To lose 1lb in a week you would need to create a deficit of 500 calories every day. Measure your body fat % every 2 weeks or so to ensure you're not losing muscle/water weight. As long as you don't see an increase it means you're losing fat if you lose wieght and either maintain or lose body fat %. Calories are what make the difference here, not fat. I personally like to stick to a 30/30/40 protein/carbs/fat ratio because I find it to be the most filling and perfect for my weight loss without too little carbs for running long distance. However, you may have different needs and can tailor them to your liking. Good luck, I've been trying to get my BF% down for AGES so I can show off my abs...but to no avail so far...
Calories Burned Calcultor: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc (A heart rate monitor would be more adequate if you're willing to spend).
BMR Calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ (Multiply by 1.2 if you're sedentary, then add the calories burned to find out how much you burn on a particular day).
Body Fat % Calcultor: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/bfb
Also, to track calories either write it down on paper or go to a site such a livestrong.com or caloriecount.about.com. Good luck!
Well, I don't really know. I just eat whatever I want and it doesn't seem to make me bigger. I guess it's cuz I run everyday/play tennis.
A friend of mine once made a presentation about fat. "Your weight in kg ---> suggested amount of fat per day in g" 55-kg-people should get 55 g of fat (or less) a day etc. No idea if that's true, though.
Eat anything whole wheat. Vegan diet is good...go for the whole grain, veggies, fruits, nuts, beans, etc. and you should be set. I've changed my diet recently and noticed a HUGE change. I cut mostly dairy out of my life and simple carbs (but I still eat fish occasionally)...and I notice that what goes in, usually goes out! My body fat does NOT build as much as before, it's pretty amazing..
Well if you think that then check this Australian guy out Paul James.
He's a personal trainer and underwear model "uhm was" and did a little experiment.
well see for yourself, I think he can do it if he can YOU CAN.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=8288934&page=1
You should consume less than 65 grams of fat per day, with only 21 of those being from saturated fat. For weight loss or muscle building, you would need around 50. Too little fat in your diet can result in a lot of problems.
The general recommendation is 30% of your calories from fat (for low fat diets, a little less is probably ok, but calories are more important to restrict for weight loss).
To calculate:
Caloric intake x .3 = calories from fat
calories from fat / 9 grams fat per calorie = grams fat
Make sure that most of those fat calories are from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated sources (nuts, canola or olive oil, plant sources etc), not saturated fats (butter, ice cream or fatty dairy products, meat).
A couple of toys to play with to help figure out what you should be eating:
http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx
http://www.dietitian.com/calcbody.php
Given your posted weight and height, you are in the healthy range for weight, so weight loss doesn't necessarily need to be your goal- you might be a little low on your caloric intake too- being on a swim team (i.e. your probably swimming vigorously a couple of hours a day) takes a LOT of calories. Keep up your hard work- it sounds like you're on a good track now. You're still young- sometimes it just takes a while for testosterone production and your work outs to create the body you're looking for. Good luck!
@dayscue4 - Hi there. sistahmanda's comment above is pretty accurate. You need *some* fat in your diet because your body needs it for insulation against shock, transport of vitamins, etc... For example, vitamins A,D,E, and K are all fat-soluble vitamins, therefore you NEED fat in your diet and body to be healthy. A range of 10-30% of your caloric intake from fat is good. Try to make those fats the good fats (from sources like walnuts, salmon, etc.) to lower your LDL cholesterol.
I'm a nutrition major too, so come join us when u get into college! ;)