Fat loss for someone extremely active

[JahMuscle]

Hey guys,
I was hoping someone with substantial dietary knowledge could help me with some specific nutritional and body fat goals. Im 21, 6'3 at 195 pounds. I am at about 12-13 percent body fat. My goal, however, is to be around 5-8. I want to prove to myself I can do it and hopefully maintain it. I play collegiate basketball and am thus very active. I own a calorie burning counter, the bodybugg, and wear it daily. i typically burn 4-5000 calories a day altogether, and try to end up at a thousand calorie deficit 4 or 5 days a week. My question specifically is will carbohydrate intake hinder me from reaching my body fat goal? I need the carbs to fuel activity but I am trying to figure out if I should be less active and consume less carbs. Today, for instance, my macro nutrient ratios are as follows : 35 % protein, 45 % carbs, and 20% fat. I ate 3300 calories and burned 4300, according to my bodybugg. Any input is much appreciated!

[JahMuscle]

bump

[steveint]

How accurate is that bodybugg? I'm in a similar position with a very active lifestyle and find it hard to gauge how many calories I'm actually burning.

[JahMuscle]

It's supposed to be up to ninety percent accurate. It was used in blind expirements compared to a $40,000 machine that is said to be the most accurate and state of the art mechanism for determining someones calorie expenditure. The expirement showed that body bugg measurements were 90 prcent accurate.

[NeedANick]

5~8% is not a healthy body fat to maintain.

If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose fat. As simple as that.

[BigD208]

Thought about carb cycling? You could easily get to 10% without it IMO, But maybe do high carb days on your most active days and taper off on less active days.

[gymwillfixit]

Fat loss is a subject that i study in detail,and over the years have came to conclusions,which a lot of my clients do not like to hear! Firsty doing excessive amounts of CV training,whilst failing to maintain a good resistance programme can make you fatter,as the body can burn muscle as fuel as well as stored glucose (glycogen) and fat.Muscle tissue is metobolically active,it is the main "engine" to your metabolism.Also muscle requires oxygen to perform its duties,and the bigger the muscles,the more oxygen they require to function.Smaller muscles need less oxygen to function which is why the best endurance athletes (marathon runners etc) do not have big muscles! This brings me on to why excessive,long CV sessions are not the best way to burn fat.The body decides that it does not need excessive amounts of muscle,and uses it as one of the primary fuel sources to fuel your CV workout.This in turn slows down your metabolism for the other 22-23 hours a day you are not working out,so the net effect means your calorific defacit is not as great as you think.It also means that when you have a rest period,or get fed up with this long "boring" cardio workout you end up getting FATTER than when you first started! If you want to be fit,lean and look good,is 1) Follow a good resistance training programme 3 times a week,focusing mainly on compound movements. 2) Maximise your CV fitness by doing an effective HIIT routine.This could consist of Rowing 500 metres at your maximum intensity,resting for 90 seconds,and repeating for a total of 6 times.To maximise your CV fitness you MUST work at an intensity at or greater than 80% of your MHR,which this does,and your lower intensity long cardio session does not.Also HIIT training keeps your metabolism elevated for up to 6-8 hours after it.However,to end on YOU MUST lift weights and lift smart,if you want to get really lean,and to stay lean! 3) Nutrition,i could go on all day about this,but to simplify,eat 4-5 times a day,smaller nutritionally balanced meals,and drink plenty of ICE COLD water.4) Lastly try to sleep at least 7-8 hours each night,and try and keep your stress levels to a minimum.