Burning belly fat?

[neverhappy]

Hi im 26 years old im currently 72kg bout 3 years ago i developed night sweats and lost a **** load of weight went down to nearly 50kg but since then iv struggled to put back on the weight which over the last few weeks have finally got back to my normal weight of 70kg, but my main problem is i cant get a six pack to brake threw i have a layer of fat that doesn't seen to ever leave no matter how much weight even lost in the past, i don't know how to explain it i still have a flat belly but its round if you get what i mean ha so im just basically looking for tips on how i could burn belly fat without losing muscle mass.

 

[lifted67]

You can't burn fat from one spot, proper diet and exercise, hydration and sleep, caloric deficit, see a doctor for suspected thyroid issues, all weight loss includes some muscle loss. copy and paste, copy and paste.

 

[neverhappy]

Ya i was in the doctors for the past 3 years having tests done over my night sweats had my thyroid checked and biopsy you name it and iv had it done, basically id be just looking for diet tips really for gaining muscle and losing fat, id like to just point out as well that im not fat in any way i have thin arms and legs a flat belly just cant get the abs to pop threw, i know myself its just somthing im doing wrong i think it could be diet but don't want to go on a diet that will make me lose tge weight iv tried so hard to get back.

 

[lifted67]

How many years have you been weight training?

 

[neverhappy]

Iv been training my whole life in Thai boxing and a small bit of weights here and there but stopped for nearly year in 2012 when i lost all the weight but i started back training again in around feb of 2013 but only doing weights and cardio full time i dropped thai boxing completely to concentrate on my weight

 

[lifted67]

losing fat while building muscle is pretty difficult for any advanced athlete. Have you tried low carb?

 

[neverhappy]

Ya iv tried a little bit but im not very good at knowing what foods to buy for low carb i pretty much know all my bulking foods and protein foods but when it comes to carbs I'm useless been honest ha just don't know whats low carb and when i google it just brings up full meals that dont really good nice and is mostly for people just looking to lose weight in general

 

[lifted67]

steak and egg omelettes, whole milk and isolate protein powder after workouts, 4% cottage cheese, chicken with spinach or romaine lettuce and some vinegar and olive oil. Just try to stay below 100-150 carbs a day, keep protein high but not crazy, fat mod to high also.

 

[Woody]

Do fasted cardio in AM IMO. With YC.

 

[lifted67]

Do fasted cardio in AM IMO. With YC.

I think his issue is dietary. Sounds like he stays pretty active.

 

[Woody]

I think his issue is dietary. Sounds like he stays pretty active.

Ah. Can't out cardio a bad diet.

 

[lifted67]

Ah. Can't out cardio a bad diet.

I wish you could lmao cos, well, donuts.

 

[neverhappy]

Ya i think it is just diet myself I'm doing wrong cause iv been just looking for ways to bulk up the past few years now im trying to learn how to cut without ****ing my weight gains to much, instead of chicken would turkey be okey cause i got sick of so much chicken i went to turkey and turkey mince, and thanks a million for the advice guys its really appreciated.

 

[lifted67]

Yeah lean turkey is fine 93-99% fat free so is beef, try to keep sodium low.

 

[neverhappy]

Ya i stick with breast mostly and sirloin steak midweek and **** you just broke my heart i love salt haha ya i will cut that out as well completely in my cooking so

 

[lifted67]

You may be retaining water in your gut. Any clue what your actual body fat% is?

 

[neverhappy]

No i have no clue what it is been honest and i id think that myself but have no idea iv been doctor and he is as useless as a used condom to me really ha

 

[neverhappy]

Sorry about grammar its a new phone * i did think that myself

 

[lifted67]

Which one is closest?

 

[neverhappy]

Im in around the 14-15%

 

[neverhappy]

But im still not as toned as that lad in the pic

 

[lifted67]

It's just a matter of hitting the iron hard to maintain muscle and strength while burning off fat through steady dieting.

 

[JXiiXViii]

Have you had your test and estradiol levels checked?

I had a similar issue for the longest time where I was lean as **** everywhere except for around my abs. I kept telling myself it was just because I wasn't lean enough and needed to keep dropping fat, but no matter how far I got, I rarely saw progress in my stomach.

Went to a male clinic and my test levels were way too low for someone my age (only 27 at the time). Started doing TRT and all of a sudden everything started falling into place like it should have from the beginning.

From my experience, most primary doctors aren't even going to look at test/e2 in someone around our age. They will only check thyroid and run all the more standard tests.

Find a male clinic, or if your doctor is cool and open-minded, have him/her check your sex hormones. It could just be a diet and training thing with you, but it's worth it to know for sure whether there are hormones at play here.

 

[neverhappy]

Cool il look into it and see what i can get done

 

[Tagger]

Hi im 26 years old im currently 72kg bout 3 years ago i developed night sweats and lost a **** load of weight went down to nearly 50kg but since then iv struggled to put back on the weight which over the last few weeks have finally got back to my normal weight of 70kg, but my main problem is i cant get a six pack to brake threw i have a layer of fat that doesn't seen to ever leave no matter how much weight even lost in the past, i don't know how to explain it i still have a flat belly but its round if you get what i mean ha so im just basically looking for tips on how i could burn belly fat without losing muscle mass.

Abs are made in the kitchen.

Try a Keto diet. That **** makes my abs come out like crazy!

 

[Reds@Anabolic]

Ah. Can't out cardio a bad diet.

This. So many people fail thinking they can.

My recommendation, based on working with a personal trainer/nutritionist, and personally seeing the results that you are looking for:

1. Get a body fat scale. Start measuring yourself after your morning shower every day and noting the results. (Even if the scale is wrong, it should somewhat accurately show you decreases and increases over time.)

2. Start cooking ALL of your food. You will no longer eat out, because you can no longer eat dirty food.

3. Adjust your diet to be as follows (that is, 100% clean):

A. Remove all salt, fat, sugar, and alcohol. I can explain each of these in more detail if needed. None of this is negotiable. We are going to be causing a long chain reaction in your body, and compromising ANY of the above will negate it.

B. Proteins allowed: chicken breast, tuna or white fish, and egg whites. No beef, pork, or salmon because the are too fatty.

C. Carbs allowed: only complex like oatmeal, plain rice, or potatoes.

D. Vegetables NOT allowed: tomatoes because they are too sugary, and celery because it is too salty.

E. You will eat 5x per day, three hours apart, with each meal containing a carefully measured mixture of protein, carbs, and vegetables. You must buy a food scale.

I estimate a .1% to .2% decrease in body fat each week, and with proper weight training you will see an increase in lean muscle mass, effectively recomping you over a period of months.

Example diet:

Breakfast, eaten as soon as possible after you wake up to avoid catabolism: 16oz egg whites and 1 cup of oatmeal. Add cinnamon, stevia, and either peanut powder (clean) or maple flavoring to taste. Cook until desired thickness. You will learn to love this.

2nd meal: 4oz chicken breast, 1.5 cups cooked rice, and 3/4 cup broccoli. Season chicken as you like (cleanly). I like thyme, bay, rosemary, garlic, and onion. I batch cook a week's worth of this in two slow cookers each weekend, splitting it up into tupperware/gladware plastic containers and fill up most of my fridge.

3rd meal: 9oz cleaned tuna (rinsed in water to remove sodium) on two slices of low sodium ezekiel bread with lettuce. Add whatever seasoning you like. Onion powder, garlic powder, black and red pepper. Absolutely NO mayonnaise.

4th meal: repeat chicken/rice/broccoli, or make something else up.

5th meal: last meal before bed, cannot contain carbs. 4oz chicken breast and 3/4 cup broccoli.

Let me know if you need further info, and good luck.

 

[JXiiXViii]

This. So many people fail thinking they can.

My recommendation, based on working with a personal trainer/nutritionist, and personally seeing the results that you are looking for:

1. Get a body fat scale. Start measuring yourself after your morning shower every day and noting the results. (Even if the scale is wrong, it should somewhat accurately show you decreases and increases over time.)

2. Start cooking ALL of your food. You will no longer eat out, because you can no longer eat dirty food.

3. Adjust your diet to be as follows (that is, 100% clean):

A. Remove all salt, fat, sugar, and alcohol. I can explain each of these in more detail if needed. None of this is negotiable. We are going to be causing a long chain reaction in your body, and compromising ANY of the above will negate it.

B. Proteins allowed: chicken breast, tuna or white fish, and egg whites. No beef, pork, or salmon because the are too fatty.

C. Carbs allowed: only complex like oatmeal, plain rice, or potatoes.

D. Vegetables NOT allowed: tomatoes because they are too sugary, and celery because it is too salty.

E. You will eat 5x per day, three hours apart, with each meal containing a carefully measured mixture of protein, carbs, and vegetables. You must buy a food scale.

I estimate a .1% to .2% decrease in body fat each week, and with proper weight training you will see an increase in lean muscle mass, effectively recomping you over a period of months.

Example diet:

Breakfast, eaten as soon as possible after you wake up to avoid catabolism: 16oz egg whites and 1 cup of oatmeal. Add cinnamon, stevia, and either peanut powder (clean) or maple flavoring to taste. Cook until desired thickness. You will learn to love this.

2nd meal: 4oz chicken breast, 1.5 cups cooked rice, and 3/4 cup broccoli. Season chicken as you like (cleanly). I like thyme, bay, rosemary, garlic, and onion. I batch cook a week's worth of this in two slow cookers each weekend, splitting it up into tupperware/gladware plastic containers and fill up most of my fridge.

3rd meal: 9oz cleaned tuna (rinsed in water to remove sodium) on two slices of low sodium ezekiel bread with lettuce. Add whatever seasoning you like. Onion powder, garlic powder, black and red pepper. Absolutely NO mayonnaise.

4th meal: repeat chicken/rice/broccoli, or make something else up.

5th meal: last meal before bed, cannot contain carbs. 4oz chicken breast and 3/4 cup broccoli.

Let me know if you need further info, and good luck.

While I admire your zeal here, I draw umbrage with a lot of the things you said.

1. Remove all salt, fat, and sugar, and this is non-negotiable? So you want him to tank his electrolyte, hormone, and blood sugar levels all in one fell swoop?

2. No beef, pork, or salmon because they are too fatty? They make lean cuts of pork and beef, and salmon is a good option to include for the omegas. As long as he's accounting for overall macros, he's fine.

3. Tomatoes aren't that sugary and celery isn't too salty to pose a problem - not even close.

4. He doesn't have to stick to 5 meals a day, 3 hours apart. This is outdated advice and the only time it really matters as far as nutrient timing goes is around the workout window. Other than that, just hit your numbers and you're fine.

I'm with you on having a structured diet and tracking everything, but some of what you said just takes things too far.

 

[NoAddedHmones]

This. So many people fail thinking they can.

My recommendation, based on working with a personal trainer/nutritionist, and personally seeing the results that you are looking for:

1. Get a body fat scale. Start measuring yourself after your morning shower every day and noting the results. (Even if the scale is wrong, it should somewhat accurately show you decreases and increases over time.)

2. Start cooking ALL of your food. You will no longer eat out, because you can no longer eat dirty food.

3. Adjust your diet to be as follows (that is, 100% clean):

A. Remove all salt, fat, sugar, and alcohol. I can explain each of these in more detail if needed. None of this is negotiable. We are going to be causing a long chain reaction in your body, and compromising ANY of the above will negate it.

B. Proteins allowed: chicken breast, tuna or white fish, and egg whites. No beef, pork, or salmon because the are too fatty.

C. Carbs allowed: only complex like oatmeal, plain rice, or potatoes.

D. Vegetables NOT allowed: tomatoes because they are too sugary, and celery because it is too salty.

E. You will eat 5x per day, three hours apart, with each meal containing a carefully measured mixture of protein, carbs, and vegetables. You must buy a food scale.

I estimate a .1% to .2% decrease in body fat each week, and with proper weight training you will see an increase in lean muscle mass, effectively recomping you over a period of months.

Example diet:

Breakfast, eaten as soon as possible after you wake up to avoid catabolism: 16oz egg whites and 1 cup of oatmeal. Add cinnamon, stevia, and either peanut powder (clean) or maple flavoring to taste. Cook until desired thickness. You will learn to love this.

2nd meal: 4oz chicken breast, 1.5 cups cooked rice, and 3/4 cup broccoli. Season chicken as you like (cleanly). I like thyme, bay, rosemary, garlic, and onion. I batch cook a week's worth of this in two slow cookers each weekend, splitting it up into tupperware/gladware plastic containers and fill up most of my fridge.

3rd meal: 9oz cleaned tuna (rinsed in water to remove sodium) on two slices of low sodium ezekiel bread with lettuce. Add whatever seasoning you like. Onion powder, garlic powder, black and red pepper. Absolutely NO mayonnaise.

4th meal: repeat chicken/rice/broccoli, or make something else up.

5th meal: last meal before bed, cannot contain carbs. 4oz chicken breast and 3/4 cup broccoli.

Let me know if you need further info, and good luck.

Wow, holy wall of crapola

 

[lifted67]

Unless you're prepping for a bodybuilding show your diet doesn't need to be this insane. Even this was more intense then my diet to 5%.

I would keep beef in your diet, 85-15 burgers and top round steak. Are fine IMO.

I'm assuming Reds meant your body fat will go down 1% to 2% a week. Not .1-.2% because that slow, **** I'd just kill myself.

Food scale sure. Body fat Measurements sure but those scales are ****. Grab calipers and learn to measure your self or just measure your waist with a fabric tape measure.

 

[Spurfy]

This. So many people fail thinking they can.

My recommendation, based on working with a personal trainer/nutritionist, and personally seeing the results that you are looking for:

1. Get a body fat scale. Start measuring yourself after your morning shower every day and noting the results. (Even if the scale is wrong, it should somewhat accurately show you decreases and increases over time.)

2. Start cooking ALL of your food. You will no longer eat out, because you can no longer eat dirty food.

3. Adjust your diet to be as follows (that is, 100% clean):

A. Remove all salt, fat, sugar, and alcohol. I can explain each of these in more detail if needed. None of this is negotiable. We are going to be causing a long chain reaction in your body, and compromising ANY of the above will negate it.

B. Proteins allowed: chicken breast, tuna or white fish, and egg whites. No beef, pork, or salmon because the are too fatty.

C. Carbs allowed: only complex like oatmeal, plain rice, or potatoes.

D. Vegetables NOT allowed: tomatoes because they are too sugary, and celery because it is too salty.

E. You will eat 5x per day, three hours apart, with each meal containing a carefully measured mixture of protein, carbs, and vegetables. You must buy a food scale.

I estimate a .1% to .2% decrease in body fat each week, and with proper weight training you will see an increase in lean muscle mass, effectively recomping you over a period of months.

Example diet:

Breakfast, eaten as soon as possible after you wake up to avoid catabolism: 16oz egg whites and 1 cup of oatmeal. Add cinnamon, stevia, and either peanut powder (clean) or maple flavoring to taste. Cook until desired thickness. You will learn to love this.

2nd meal: 4oz chicken breast, 1.5 cups cooked rice, and 3/4 cup broccoli. Season chicken as you like (cleanly). I like thyme, bay, rosemary, garlic, and onion. I batch cook a week's worth of this in two slow cookers each weekend, splitting it up into tupperware/gladware plastic containers and fill up most of my fridge.

3rd meal: 9oz cleaned tuna (rinsed in water to remove sodium) on two slices of low sodium ezekiel bread with lettuce. Add whatever seasoning you like. Onion powder, garlic powder, black and red pepper. Absolutely NO mayonnaise.

4th meal: repeat chicken/rice/broccoli, or make something else up.

5th meal: last meal before bed, cannot contain carbs. 4oz chicken breast and 3/4 cup broccoli.

Let me know if you need further info, and good luck.

This is so much dangerous nonsense that I don't even know where to start, so I'll start here: A no-fat diet? Do you have any idea what that does to hormone, especially testosterone levels? I'll give you a hint: they go way, way, way down. Like to pre-pubescent girl levels. No, I'm not joking.

A no-salt diet? Umm, hyponatremia will kill you in about 2-4 weeks if you're doing any amount of sweating on a regular basis.

Everything else is still way off, but I felt the need to address the especially dangerous suggestions.

 

[bosskardo]

Yep, don't go 0-salt. This leads to cramps, dizziness and blood pressure problems.

 

[Woody]

No fat, no salt, no beef, no sugar, no salmon, no cereal, no donuts.

I'd rather be fat.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Just as another heads up, OP, one thing that may be of interest/help to you, too, would be looking into an introductory to nutrition science course (or at least the literature for one).

I took that course a few years back when I was looking at an additional master's degree in a different field; going in a different direction to pursue an MS in Nutrition. Anyway, that one course wasn't difficult, but was very eye-opening. I knew a lot of it, but the science part of it I didn't at the time. In hindsight it all feels like common sense, but only because I've since learned it.

Anyway, it was one of the most helpful things I've done in the ~15 years I've been training.

 

[4evafit]

Your macros have to be on point. High protein moderate carbs and fats. You can't target one area. You need to focus on burning bodyfat not just losing weight