Health & Family Losing weight

Well I'm trying to pursue a 6 pack (again).

30 days into a 1500 cal diet which is 500 calories short of maintenance (2,000 cals). Been mostly good - have a day here and day there where I consume up to 1800/1900 cals. Reasonably strong willpower it's easy to fail when you're hungry and I also WFH so that doesn't help.

Current weight is 75kg....looking to get down to 68kg / 10% bodyfat. 178cm tall. Guess is that I'm currently about 18% bodyfat (in the morning haha). Haven't done a pinch test. Weights only, no cardio but average 10-15,000 incidental steps a day.

Long story short is I've lost about 1.5kg in 30 days (hopefully fat not water). It's a slow grind as I'm not technically overweight, but getting shredded is HARD!

For those in the know eg @Ace in the Hole, if I keep up the deficit for say another 4-6 months, will my body adapt and nullify gains by slowing my metabolism?

 

Firstly, why do you want a 6 pack and what will it do for you?
I’m pretty sure that most people who have long term 6 packs don’t work on their 6 packs, it’s a result not a destination.
A 500 calorie deficit is a good amount to stick with, stay with it and see how it goes.
An up and down day one in a while will make no difference in the long run, check your average daily calories at the end of the week to stay on track.
Cardio is good for heart health, it’s good to do just a little bit every now and then, even light intensity.
1.5kg loss in 30 days is a good rate, you’re or starting with high levels of body fat so don’t want super fast loss. Slow and steady is the best way for long term changes.
Eventually you will reach a a point where your body stops changing but you can’t simply keep reducing calories to keep losing.
You may have to increase intensities or volumes of activity or clean up the diet a bit more.
However, it you are holding a better body composition at the time with a higher muscle/lower fat percentage then it will be much easier to maintain what you then have than it took to get there.
You would have also hopefully built good habits by that time to make the changes permanent.
You may even be able to start eating a little more at that stage and keep the same leanness which very very slowly bringing up your muscle mass and continuing to very slowly lose more fat.

Most people get it wrong by wanting to change to fast and they end up just yo-yo ing and making changes before their bodies have had time to adapt to diet and training stimulus.
Everything lags and change takes time and consistency.
Everybody is different too and once you know how your body works and responds you will be in full control from there on, but this takes years if you have not been paying close attention.

 

Re: the 6 pack - just a bit vain I guess. I know that I'd like what I see in the mirror just a little bit more with vs without a 6 pack.

Yes, I did cut too quickly a few years ago and lost the weight fairly rapidly but reached a sticking point, from which I eventually gained the weight back. And I was on < 1000 calories a day for a sustained period - too low for enough nutrients and to frankly, a bit reckless.

OK sounds that when I stop dropping, I may need to introduce a bit of deliberate cardio into the mix and see how that goes.

 

The six pack will come naturally, you don’t have to do anything specific for it.
Low body fat levels is all it is.
You can develop your abdominal and core muscles to a degree, but the shape and size is highly determined by genetics
You might have a 5 pack or 7 pack under there, could be level or offset.
A good set of serratus anterior are just as impressive.
It’s the genetic lottery which will determine this.

 

Yeah. Just gotta keep myself out of the kitchen at all times.

 

Well, I’ve lost half to one kg a month fairly consistently - a total of 13kgs. Moved from obese to overweight BMI.

about 7kg to go to be “normal”.

I did it by eating less food BTW.

 

A bit of muscle supposedly helps metabolism. Ie weights over cardio.

 

Good luck with it and keep well. Hope you achieve your goals.

 

Weights + zero refined sugar, or sweetener + lowish carbs + 10-15k steps, or equiv low impact cardio + IF or prolonged fasting (only if your health allows - speak to doc etc)

#Dr Jason Fung #insulin_resistance

 

"+ zero refined sugar, or sweetener"..........ah now you go too far.

 

Cutting out carbs works wonders for me. Spag bol with edamame fettuccine is actually pretty good.

 

I want to lose ab fat, but I think my upper body is looking really solid now cause I’ve been doing pole classes.

 

Food…. I am an addict, what I do to stay healthy

Nothing is off limit, dont deprive yourself. Balance

Key to keeping a healthy BMI is all about cooking healthy meals. OK how simple is this? Most dont wont do this. Wont dedicate the time required to cook and plan

So what I do is plan a weekly menu. I have something like 12,000 recipes and they vary Asian, Indian Italian cuisine, but
Healthy recipes. You will be amazed at how good these are and how healthy by just tweaking these recipes

Each week I add a new recipe to my food plan, otherwise its too easy to stray to the dark side.

Eat out once per week, where I let my hair down

 

For most people, extra weight isn't a deal breaker in their minds. Keeping a healthy weight is a 'like', not a ' absolute must' for them.

To really lose the weight and keep it off, it needs to move into the ' absolute must' category.

Think about something that you have been very consistent with most of your life and haven't waivered. Now ask yourself, which category is it in?

 

Hey bro consider keto, its worked really well me for me. My energy levels have been through the roof and have had some good weight loss results too. Combine this with intermittent fasting, skip breaky or keep your eating window within 4 - 12hrs and you will feel good and achieve your goals. Give it a crack.

No need to count calories on a ketogenic diet either, fats keep you very satiated -> eliminates hunger from your life.

 

So, first world problems. Been consistently losing about 1kg a month and pretty pleased with myself. Anyhoo the scales were starting to behave a bit erratically so we bought a new scale. 3kg heavier on the new scales!

And sobering to realise just how fat I was originally

 

I am 40 and I am just able to keep my shape. I am not sure about you. But 10% BF is very hard to maintain in the long run.
I can hover at 12-15% and it is very achievable with my gym work and moderate eating healthy.
The first 2 upper pack is definitely showing without flexing, but the bottom half of the 4 packs towards the pelvic bone is the hardest part.

Getting the V taper at the pelvic bone.. I can't remember the last time I had that.. would be in my 20s.

Anyway best of luck with getting off your butt and having a go. It isn't easy and I fully encourage you to give it a good crack.

I have found my awesome workout for cardio for 15 mins, pushing and pulling sled in the gym. My heart rate is hitting 175 bpm and maintaining at 160 bpm throughout.

This is my get go bullet proof morning drink to get my energy up in the morning.
A tablespoon of coconut oil - spoon that in the mouth and swallow.
Blend a 1 whole lemon - everything! + apple cider vinegar + a dash of honey to kill the bitter taste.

Amazing you don't need carbohydrates in the morning to keep going. Fat does it better.

 

Use another scale to check? Who knows if the new ones are accurate.