already slim girl trying to lower body fat and get lean

[foxygirl4444]

Hey guys... trying to get a second opinion here. I haven't been on the BB forums in a while so here's a quick summary of my background and stats:

height: 5'8"
weight: 130lbs
BMI: around 20 or 21
Body Fat %: Not really sure.

I used to be underweight in high school because a lot of things at the time stopped me from reaching a healthy weight. These things included depression (which made me less hungry), catching the flu multiple times, and a severe lack of sleep. I am of course now free of all these problems and over the course of a couple years I was able to get my weight up to 130lbs, with a little bit more muscle as well (unfortunately I also ate a lot of junk food like ice cream to try to gain weight as fast as I could).

Now that I'm starting to get into swimwear modeling, I realize that I want to lower my body fat % a little so that I can appear a bit more "cut" and less squishy. I took a photo of myself today to give you an idea of what I look like right now. Compared to where I want to be, I feel soft and even a little bit of the dreaded "skinny-fat"...

I also photoshoped the pic (ignore my terrible editing skillz please) to show how I'd like to look in my goal. I'm printing this pic and hanging it on my wall.

I also like to use some of John Stone's before and after pics (from the John Stone fitness website) as inspiration for me. In the April 2003 middle pic, he claims to have a bf % of 13. I want abs kind of like those he has in this pic. In other words, not a 6-pack like in the pic on the right. I am a model, not a body builder. How much body fat do you think I'd have to lose to reach my goal? How fast can I safely and effectively reach this goal provided I eat clean and eat often? (As of this past week I stopped eating junk food and started eating a more balanced diet full of organic fruits and veggies, steamed fish, organic eggs, organic pastas, raw food bars, multigrain bread, organic skim milk, lots of water (8 full glasses per day), low-fat protein shakes, and the like. I feel so full of energy. I'm trying to balance the amount of proteins, carbs, and healthy fats that I eat.

I read somewhere that a good guideline for fat loss is to take the % of body fat you'd like to lose and multiply it by 2 to get the number of weeks it will take to reach your goal. (so for example, if you wanted to lose 5% of body fat, it would take you ten weeks minimum.) any truth to this?

I'm hoping that my face will become a little more "cut" as well. I did a Google search of facial fat loss and it came up with this picture of rapper 50 cent, who I guess had to lose a lot of weight to play the role of a cancer patient in a movie. Not that I want to look unhealthy or anything, but I noticed that his eyelids and cheekbones look much more defined in the skinny photo. I'm wondering if my cheekbones and eyelids will "pop" out a bit more when I start to lose body fat as well. Back when I was younger I always had strong cheekbones that stuck out. I still have strong cheekbones but they got covered with some fat since I started nomming teh ice creams.

So, here are my questions:

1.What do you estimate my current body fat % to be based on my pic + stats???
2.What do you think I need my body fat % to be, in order to achieve my goal of looking more cut?
3. How long would it take to safely and effecively obtain this goal?
4.Will my face lose the fat it gained, by the time I reach my goal body fat % level?
5. Where would broke college students like me go to get the guidance of an experienced trainer? (my college has a gym I can go to for free, but there are no trainers there.)

Thank you, everyone!!!

[willewonka87]

note: im basing this off the fact that women carry a higher fat %

1. 10-11%
2. I think if you drop down to 9 and tone up some lean muscle mass you will generally look more "cut"
3. about a month or 2
4. the first area to gain the fat is usually the last place it comes off, in my case its my ass
5. I am a college student. I don't believe in trainers and most of the time they are full of ****. Go get some fitness book and research fitness just like you would research math or science.

good luck

[hockeytownfan]

I know that your wrote a lot there, and some of your ?s are best answered here, but I would also do some reading of stickies in the nutrition forum as fat loss has more to do about nutrition/calorie deficit than anything else.

[foxygirl4444]

note: im basing this off the fact that women carry a higher fat %

1. 10-11%
2. I think if you drop down to 9 and tone up some lean muscle mass you will generally look more "cut"
3. about a month or 2
4. the first area to gain the fat is usually the last place it comes off, in my case its my ass
5. I am a college student. I don't believe in trainers and most of the time they are full of ****. Go get some fitness book and research fitness just like you would research math or science.

good luck

Thanks...

Just my opinion... there is no way I am as low as 10-11%. After just watching Leigh Peele's body fat video I feel like I'm actually around 20-23% right now but no lower... I'm slim but I haven't been working out lately.
I don't want to go down to 9%. that would be insane. I want to still look like I'm female. Haha.

[willewonka87]

Thanks...

Just my opinion... there is no way I am as low as 10-11%. After just watching Leigh Peele's body fat video I feel like I'm actually around 20-23% right now but no lower... I'm slim but I haven't been working out lately.
I don't want to go down to 9%. that would be insane. I want to still look like I'm female. Haha.

Well there is no way your that high in fat % I can tell you that. The cut look you seek can be achieved from kalisthenics (push ups pulls ups sit ups) and hiit cardio.

[jrm629]

While it's impossible to give an accurate percentage, I would say you're in the 20s, which by no means is fat for a female. Elite distance runners (females) are usually below 10% bf, but for most women they begin to have issues (no period).

[jrm629]

this might help: