You all will hate me for this, but I need to lose a measely 6-10lbs.

(CygnusX-1) wrote:

You seem to be at a good size to me. have you tried to isolate
the areas of your body where the %20 body fat reside? Running is
great for overall workout but your excercises probably should
focus on the areas of your body that has the extra weight.

Are you suggesting spot reduction? Outside of surgery, losing weight from
specific areas of the body is not possible. Creating a caloric deficit
through less caloric intake and/or greater caloric expenditure will cause
fat reduction in a general way. However, some people appear to lose weight
in specific areas of the body.

Phil M.

--
"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make
them all yourself." *Martin Vanbee

On 3 Sep 2004 00:34:14 -0700, (Linda C. T.)
wrote:

I have had my body fat measured and I am 20% body fat. About 30lbs of
me is fat. Also, I hate hate hate meat, especially red meat. I am not
vegetarian, but meat really is not my favorite thing in the world.
What would you all recommend to replace eating meat? Tofu? Beans?

Thanks!


Your body fat is already at the low end of the healthy range for a
woman, particularly one of child-bearing age. You might do better
achieving happiness with your body by doing exercise that helps build
muscle and makes you more shapely. And as you add a little muscle
weight, you can safely lose a few pounds of fat without getting into
an unhealthy BF% range.

Chris
262/140/ (145-150)

On 3 Sep 2004 00:34:14 -0700, (Linda C. T.)
wrote:

I have had my body fat measured and I am 20% body fat. About 30lbs of
me is fat. Also, I hate hate hate meat, especially red meat. I am not
vegetarian, but meat really is not my favorite thing in the world.
What would you all recommend to replace eating meat? Tofu? Beans?

Thanks!


Your body fat is already at the low end of the healthy range for a
woman, particularly one of child-bearing age. You might do better
achieving happiness with your body by doing exercise that helps build
muscle and makes you more shapely. And as you add a little muscle
weight, you can safely lose a few pounds of fat without getting into
an unhealthy BF% range.

Chris
262/140/ (145-150)

On 3 Sep 2004 00:34:14 -0700, (Linda C. T.)
wrote:

I have had my body fat measured and I am 20% body fat. About 30lbs of
me is fat. Also, I hate hate hate meat, especially red meat. I am not
vegetarian, but meat really is not my favorite thing in the world.
What would you all recommend to replace eating meat? Tofu? Beans?

Thanks!


Your body fat is already at the low end of the healthy range for a
woman, particularly one of child-bearing age. You might do better
achieving happiness with your body by doing exercise that helps build
muscle and makes you more shapely. And as you add a little muscle
weight, you can safely lose a few pounds of fat without getting into
an unhealthy BF% range.

Chris
262/140/ (145-150)

Really? My nutritionist told me my 20% composition is extremely
healthy. I don't think I am looking to lose whatever fat I have, but I
am just looking to slim down because I often "feel fat." Sure, this
might be a state of mind or what have you, but I don't really like to
see my stomach protrude over the waist of my pants --and I don't even
wear tight pants!

I am 23 years old, so that might explain why I don't have much fat. I
will start eating more protein because I think that is what I am
lacking. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

L

Dally wrote in message ...
Linda C. T. wrote:

I have had my body fat measured and I am 20% body fat. About 30lbs of
me is fat. Also, I hate hate hate meat, especially red meat. I am not
vegetarian, but meat really is not my favorite thing in the world.
What would you all recommend to replace eating meat? Tofu? Beans?

The optimum body fat percentage for women for health is roughly between
22% and 26%. How old are you? Teenagers, fitness models and
professional athletes go lower - but they won the genetic lotto or they
wouldn't be fitness models or professional athletes.

I don't hate you for wanting to be skinny, I just wonder if you hate
yourself.

Dally

Really? My nutritionist told me my 20% composition is extremely
healthy. I don't think I am looking to lose whatever fat I have, but I
am just looking to slim down because I often "feel fat." Sure, this
might be a state of mind or what have you, but I don't really like to
see my stomach protrude over the waist of my pants --and I don't even
wear tight pants!

I am 23 years old, so that might explain why I don't have much fat. I
will start eating more protein because I think that is what I am
lacking. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

L

Dally wrote in message ...
Linda C. T. wrote:

I have had my body fat measured and I am 20% body fat. About 30lbs of
me is fat. Also, I hate hate hate meat, especially red meat. I am not
vegetarian, but meat really is not my favorite thing in the world.
What would you all recommend to replace eating meat? Tofu? Beans?

The optimum body fat percentage for women for health is roughly between
22% and 26%. How old are you? Teenagers, fitness models and
professional athletes go lower - but they won the genetic lotto or they
wouldn't be fitness models or professional athletes.

I don't hate you for wanting to be skinny, I just wonder if you hate
yourself.

Dally

On 3 Sep 2004 13:21:53 -0700, (Linda C. T.)
wrote:

Really? My nutritionist told me my 20% composition is extremely
healthy. I don't think I am looking to lose whatever fat I have, but I
am just looking to slim down because I often "feel fat." Sure, this
might be a state of mind or what have you, but I don't really like to
see my stomach protrude over the waist of my pants --and I don't even
wear tight pants!

I am 23 years old, so that might explain why I don't have much fat. I
will start eating more protein because I think that is what I am
lacking. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

L

You will see different data on what ranges are healthy, but most would
put your current percentage close to the low end of the healthy range,
or a bit below. Here's one site with some information on this:

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk...percentage.htm

There is some point -- generally around 18-22% -- below which women no
longer have regular menstrual periods. This condition is also
associated with early onset of some problems associated with aging,
such as heart disease and bone loss.

I should note that most methods of measuring body fat are not
extremely accurate, so it may be that your number is not even correct
if you still feel your are overfat. It sounds, though, like your
concern may be more about fat distribution -- e.g., fat in the
waistline area. Fat distribution is mostly metabolic/genetic, but
cardio exercise might lean you out a little better than dieting would.
I forget if you said what sort of exercise you're getting now.

Eating more protein is probably a good idea, anyway. I think someone
else (Jenn?) suggested some good non-meat sources. These include fish
(if you like it), soy-based products, low-fat dairy like yogurt and
cottage cheese (full-fat has just as much protein, but the fat may add
more calories than you want), eggs, nuts, legumes.

Chris
262/140/ (145-150)

On 3 Sep 2004 13:21:53 -0700, (Linda C. T.)
wrote:

Really? My nutritionist told me my 20% composition is extremely
healthy. I don't think I am looking to lose whatever fat I have, but I
am just looking to slim down because I often "feel fat." Sure, this
might be a state of mind or what have you, but I don't really like to
see my stomach protrude over the waist of my pants --and I don't even
wear tight pants!

I am 23 years old, so that might explain why I don't have much fat. I
will start eating more protein because I think that is what I am
lacking. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

L

You will see different data on what ranges are healthy, but most would
put your current percentage close to the low end of the healthy range,
or a bit below. Here's one site with some information on this:

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk...percentage.htm

There is some point -- generally around 18-22% -- below which women no
longer have regular menstrual periods. This condition is also
associated with early onset of some problems associated with aging,
such as heart disease and bone loss.

I should note that most methods of measuring body fat are not
extremely accurate, so it may be that your number is not even correct
if you still feel your are overfat. It sounds, though, like your
concern may be more about fat distribution -- e.g., fat in the
waistline area. Fat distribution is mostly metabolic/genetic, but
cardio exercise might lean you out a little better than dieting would.
I forget if you said what sort of exercise you're getting now.

Eating more protein is probably a good idea, anyway. I think someone
else (Jenn?) suggested some good non-meat sources. These include fish
(if you like it), soy-based products, low-fat dairy like yogurt and
cottage cheese (full-fat has just as much protein, but the fat may add
more calories than you want), eggs, nuts, legumes.

Chris
262/140/ (145-150)

"Linda C. T." wrote in message
om...
Really? My nutritionist told me my 20% composition is extremely
healthy.

Some people tend to consider that the lower, the better... Men are able to
get very low, but women really have biological reasons for wanting to remain
at reasonnable values.
20% is not exactly unhealthy, it's just the lower end of normal. However, if
you start pushing that value further downward, that will become unhealthy.

I don't think I am looking to lose whatever fat I have, but I
am just looking to slim down because I often "feel fat." Sure, this
might be a state of mind or what have you, but I don't really like to
see my stomach protrude over the waist of my pants --and I don't even
wear tight pants!

The problem is that when reducing body fat%, fat will disappear from
wherever it is designed to disappear first. It might not even leave the
belly, but leave the breasts or butt instead, and that's probably not the
expected result.
Have you lost a lot of weight previously? What does make your stomach
protrude? Is it really excess fat? Or is it excess skin? Or hypotonic
abdominal muscles? When you lose weight, you may have some pockets of fat
left, and getting rid of these is extremelly hard. Likewise, abdominal
muscles can remain deformed. That's where you need to assess exactly what
you don't like about your belly. Pockets of fat will be very resistant to a
diet, but they are good candidates for a liposuction. Weak abs can be
strengthtened through exercise. A diet is not the universal answer to all
lose stomach problems.

"Linda C. T." wrote in message
om...
Really? My nutritionist told me my 20% composition is extremely
healthy.

Some people tend to consider that the lower, the better... Men are able to
get very low, but women really have biological reasons for wanting to remain
at reasonnable values.
20% is not exactly unhealthy, it's just the lower end of normal. However, if
you start pushing that value further downward, that will become unhealthy.

I don't think I am looking to lose whatever fat I have, but I
am just looking to slim down because I often "feel fat." Sure, this
might be a state of mind or what have you, but I don't really like to
see my stomach protrude over the waist of my pants --and I don't even
wear tight pants!

The problem is that when reducing body fat%, fat will disappear from
wherever it is designed to disappear first. It might not even leave the
belly, but leave the breasts or butt instead, and that's probably not the
expected result.
Have you lost a lot of weight previously? What does make your stomach
protrude? Is it really excess fat? Or is it excess skin? Or hypotonic
abdominal muscles? When you lose weight, you may have some pockets of fat
left, and getting rid of these is extremelly hard. Likewise, abdominal
muscles can remain deformed. That's where you need to assess exactly what
you don't like about your belly. Pockets of fat will be very resistant to a
diet, but they are good candidates for a liposuction. Weak abs can be
strengthtened through exercise. A diet is not the universal answer to all
lose stomach problems.