PICS! Suggestions on stubborn arm fat and lower abs please :]

[gabytheft]

hey ladies i decided to post some progress pics i've been on a cut for almost 2 months now. i'm eating 1600 cals per day i'm 4'10" 116 lbs with about 19% BF (according to calipers)

i want to make this cut count so i can look good in the spring and just eat at maintenance till summer and then see what happens..

My real problem that i've had forever is the damn arm fat!! I do so much work and my arms have gotten bigger but all it looks like is fat arms. i know i can't spot reduce or anything but is there anything else i can try? Also, the AB sticky thread looks like all the pictures are down because of imageshack (in training forum) and I can't see any of them I'd like a good ab routine because i feel like i am SO close but the lower abs are so tough!

Right now I'm on PHAT and I do cardio 3 times per week. (2 times HIIT and 1 time steady jog 3-4 miles)

OH another question, I was thinking of starting "Insanity" on my off days and maybe that will help with extra fat loss and abs, any opinions?


Any help is appreciated! Thanks!!

[Miranda]

going by your pics, that's not 'stubborn' fat. it's 'fat' fat and you need to lower your overall bodyfat in order to get rid of it.

if what you've been doing until now has been working (ie you've lost fat/weight without stalls) then keep truckin'. if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Pitufa]

keep up the good work

[gabytheft]

i say stubborn because i've had it my whole life (even when I used to weigh 100 lbs and had 16% BF when I was still in the Marines) so yeah i thought i may be doing something wrong since it won't go away. i'm still working at it but yeah just sucks i don't want it there forever lol


and thank you

[Miranda]

i say stubborn because i've had it my whole life

i've had fat legs my whole life. that doesn't mean it is stubborn

[gwnorth]

Great work. Just keep at it. BTW, your lower abs look flat to me.

[gabytheft]

i've had fat legs my whole life. that doesn't mean it is stubborn

touche! lol

and thanks again i guess i just have to keep doing what i'm doing and eventually get the results i want!

[ClassickQC]

OH another question, I was thinking of starting "Insanity" on my off days and maybe that will help with extra fat loss and abs, any opinions?

I have been using Insanity/Asylum for a long time, so maybe I can give you some good advice on that

When I started lifting, I did a full body 3 times a week, and did Insanity every day off except for Sunday, which is always a no workout day for me (or I try ). I don't know a whole lot about PHAT, but one thing about Insanity is that it is very hard (even today after 3 full rounds and 2 Asylum rounds, Insanity is always a challenge) and it could compromise your recovery in between workouts.

If you wanna do some insanity workouts with your program, I would suggest doing the first month's workouts (like Pure Cardio, for exemple) which have a lot of Plyo but are only 30 minutes. The second month's workouts are really harder and personally it was just too much (heavy lifting and that in between) But everybody is different, so maybe try and see what works for you

I guess that now since I am a lot more in shape and stronger than before I could probably pull a full 60 minutes Insanity in between my Lifting days but to be quite honest I am a bit too scared to even try it lol

Insanity is a very good HIIT workout, so I am pretty sure it can only do you good (as long as it doesn't compromise your recovery!!)

Also, I can't see the pics you posted because I am at work, but judging from your avi pic you look great!

[birdiefu]

Just want to say you look great! Yes, you do have some fat covering your muscles, but it is quite even and with your muscle base it "wears" well. I would love to have your fat distribution and have it so even! Just keep on at a deficit and have patience, that is what will get your leaner. Good luck, you will look even more awesome as you cut more.

[womanoid]

• How long have you been doing 2 HIIT & 1 SS/week?
• Is the HIIT 20 mins long?
• How long does it take you to do the SS?
• What kind of weight loss were you seeing?
• Did your weight loss completely stop, how long has it been that way?
• How many lift days is PHAT again?

I'm pale & have an hourglass fat distribution. It sucks having a great stomach (which you have!) & completely undefined arms Good luck finding what will work for you.

[kelseyfl]

i've had fat legs my whole life. that doesn't mean it is stubborn

Literally laughed out loud Miranda. It's the same way for me with the fat around and under my belly button, fondly referred to as my pot belly

[MoEcho]

Literally laughed out loud Miranda. It's the same way for me with the fat around and under my belly button, fondly referred to as my pot belly

^^ This! Me too! Except I call mine the 'kangaroo pouch'

[kelseyfl]

^^ This! Me too! Except I call mine the 'kangaroo pouch'

nice nickname

[gabytheft]

I have been using Insanity/Asylum for a long time, so maybe I can give you some good advice on that

When I started lifting, I did a full body 3 times a week, and did Insanity every day off except for Sunday, which is always a no workout day for me (or I try ). I don't know a whole lot about PHAT, but one thing about Insanity is that it is very hard (even today after 3 full rounds and 2 Asylum rounds, Insanity is always a challenge) and it could compromise your recovery in between workouts.

If you wanna do some insanity workouts with your program, I would suggest doing the first month's workouts (like Pure Cardio, for exemple) which have a lot of Plyo but are only 30 minutes. The second month's workouts are really harder and personally it was just too much (heavy lifting and that in between) But everybody is different, so maybe try and see what works for you

I guess that now since I am a lot more in shape and stronger than before I could probably pull a full 60 minutes Insanity in between my Lifting days but to be quite honest I am a bit too scared to even try it lol

Insanity is a very good HIIT workout, so I am pretty sure it can only do you good (as long as it doesn't compromise your recovery!!)

Also, I can't see the pics you posted because I am at work, but judging from your avi pic you look great!

thank you and yeah I see that it's very difficult because a couple days ago I did the fit test and I was SO tired! It was tough but I got through it. I will definitely keep the insanity only like 2-3 days per week because I think it will be too hard on my body if I lift and do insanity in the same day. PHAT is hard I spend on average 1.5 hours at the gym because it's such a long workout (but i love it!) but thank u so much for your reply i'm going to take it slow and see how it goes.. i also have one full day where i do nothing and that helps a lot with recovery

[gabytheft]

Just want to say you look great! Yes, you do have some fat covering your muscles, but it is quite even and with your muscle base it "wears" well. I would love to have your fat distribution and have it so even! Just keep on at a deficit and have patience, that is what will get your leaner. Good luck, you will look even more awesome as you cut more.

Wow thank you, you made me feel so much better about it lol. I never thought of it that way. I will keep it up and post results up in the future maybe 2 more months thank you again.

• How long have you been doing 2 HIIT & 1 SS/week? it's been about 6 weeks
  
• Is the HIIT 20 mins long? Yes on average. Some days I can't go past 16 mins and some days I can do like 23-25 mins, probably depends on how much I ate
  
• How long does it take you to do the SS? Some days are like super windy or humid but I take about 9 mins per mile. Sometimes 9 and a half mins... So basically around 30 mins. I take my iphone with me and use the "imapmyrun" app which shows my route and how long I took and my pace as well it's really great
  
• What kind of weight loss were you seeing? Well my highest weight in the past few months has been about 119. (I'm 116 now) but I'm trying not to concern myself with numbers because my stomach looks much better than before and I'm sure that I've been getting stronger so as long as I'm looking better it doesn't matter much about the number on the scale for me anyways lol.
  
• Did your weight loss completely stop, how long has it been that way? Lately my weight only changes by like .5 or something but it's okay as long as my lifts are increasing
  
• How many lift days is PHAT again? PHAT is 5 days per week but I do it on an 8 day cycle so I get an extra rest day. so it looks like this: upper power day, lower power day, rest, shoulders/back hypertrophy day, lower hypertrophy, chest/arms hypertrophy, rest, rest, repeat.

I'm pale & have an hourglass fat distribution. It sucks having a great stomach (which you have!) & completely undefined arms Good luck finding what will work for you.

Thank you! Like I said before in 2 months or so I'll post up some more results and hopefully this works! It's pretty hard to eat healthy all the time not gonna lie but hopefully it's all worth it good luck to you too!

[andrerox80]

I will definitely keep the insanity only like 2-3 days per week because I think it will be too hard on my body if I lift and do insanity in the same day.

i would say don't add insanity at all. you're already doing phat and hiit. doing insanity too, even "only like 2-3 days" is just way too much.

[oregonchick76]

FWIW, I'm 5'3" and expect I'd have to drop down to about what you weigh to have that ab definition that you have, although it's doubtful I'll ever go that low. We all carry our fat in different places... And stripping it off is that slow and painstaking process of cutting and bulking. Maybe you aren't really 19% bodyfat - not that it matters, except if you're like me, if the calipers/hydro etc says one thing, and the mirror doesn't reflect what I think that should look like, I get frustrated. When they did your caliper test, did they do a 7 site? If you are relatively lean where they pinched you, it's skew your results.

I'm no expert, but I think you just need to cut some more... then bulk, then cut again. Eventually, you'll strip the fat in even the "stubborn" places.

[oregonchick76]

i would say don't add insanity at all. you're already doing phat and hiit. doing insanity too, even "only like 2-3 days" is just way too much.

Yeah, it'd be like, insane :-)

[womanoid]

6 weeks isn't that long into a program, and 3 lbs is progress & you'll still losing! So what you're doing is working.
I think if you give it a little more time & add 10 more mins/1 more mile it will increase your weight loss. It will equal an extra 30 min session a week but without all the pain of having to face one more session a week

Do you do the cardio seperate from weights or right after?

[ClassickQC]

Yeah, it'd be like, insane :-)

^^ pretty much! It is doable, but you have to know your limits and not over train!

[gabytheft]

FWIW, I'm 5'3" and expect I'd have to drop down to about what you weigh to have that ab definition that you have, although it's doubtful I'll ever go that low. We all carry our fat in different places... And stripping it off is that slow and painstaking process of cutting and bulking. Maybe you aren't really 19% bodyfat - not that it matters, except if you're like me, if the calipers/hydro etc says one thing, and the mirror doesn't reflect what I think that should look like, I get frustrated. When they did your caliper test, did they do a 7 site? If you are relatively lean where they pinched you, it's skew your results.

I'm no expert, but I think you just need to cut some more... then bulk, then cut again. Eventually, you'll strip the fat in even the "stubborn" places.

I have these electronic calipers that i bought from the bb store.. it makes you do the folds on the tricep, right above the hip bone, and then on the thigh... most of my fat comes from the thigh area but i think that's common in girls. i'm gonna try and find a more accurate BF measuring device but idk where :s any recommendations? But yeah I'm definitely far from where i wanna be with the cut i have a long way to go but thank you and good luck to you

6 weeks isn't that long into a program, and 3 lbs is progress & you'll still losing! So what you're doing is working.
I think if you give it a little more time & add 10 more mins/1 more mile it will increase your weight loss. It will equal an extra 30 min session a week but without all the pain of having to face one more session a week

Do you do the cardio seperate from weights or right after?

adding 10 mins to HIIT is sooo much lol i'm going to try it though. i can definitely run another mile. i used to run a lot more in the military anyways lol
I try to do the cardio in the morning and then left in the afternoon... i'm way too tired after PHAT to have any motivation for cardio haha

[gabytheft]

i would say don't add insanity at all. you're already doing phat and hiit. doing insanity too, even "only like 2-3 days" is just way too much.

I meant like doing insanity instead of my hiit and cardio 2-3 times a week. so basically phat and insanity on the off days. is that still too much ?

[wakechica]

Add in more HIIT. Vary your HIIT i.e mile repeats, short sprints, hill sprints etc. Don't let you body get used to it. I think you'll get more out of making up your own HIIT than following Insanity. As long as you can fill 20-25mins you're done.

Examples of what I do:
5min warm up. then 20mins of say 1min on hard 30secs recovery at a jog. You can then either up your sprint and recovery speed or shorten the recovery.
Or do longer intervals say 3min sprint (sustainable, not hitting lactic) and then 1:30 recovery at a jog or shorter if walking.
Stick some hills in. Find a hill outside and do it til you want to puke Some of my HIIT sessions are leaving me like that at the moment but the fat is dropping off with the lifting as well. I was were you where about a month ago (except my fat sits on my thighs not my arms). The girls on here give good advice and I think you're looking great already.

[ClassickQC]

I meant like doing insanity instead of my hiit and cardio 2-3 times a week. so basically phat and insanity on the off days. is that still too much ?

It really depends. Everybody is different so what might be too much for one is gonna be perfect for another. I don't know PHAT, so I have no idea how hard on your body it is. Maybe try and see how you feel? Go slow, listen to your body and you will know if it fits you or not

[andrerox80]

I meant like doing insanity instead of my hiit and cardio 2-3 times a week. so basically phat and insanity on the off days. is that still too much ?

i think phat and a good cal intake will do the work. can add hiit like 2 days / week. wouldn't do insanity at all, "even" in place of hiit. phat is a great prgm, and that you're pooped after it makes sense. and fat loss is all abt diet, so make sure that is in check. recheck your maintenance cals and deficit (sticky on calculating cals and macro's). b/c you're small, so 1600 might not be much of a deficit. i could totally be wrong, but since diet is number one, it's worth looking at again. as for body fat, see the sticky on that - discusses ways to measure it and has pics of diff %ages.

[ClassickQC]

i think phat and a good cal intake will do the work. can add hiit like 2 days / week. wouldn't do insanity at all, "even" in place of hiit. phat is a great prgm, and that you're pooped after it makes sense. and fat loss is all abt diet, so make sure that is in check. recheck your maintenance cals and deficit (sticky on calculating cals and macro's). b/c you're small, so 1600 might not be much of a deficit. i could totally be wrong, but since diet is number one, it's worth looking at again. as for body fat, see the sticky on that - discusses ways to measure it and has pics of diff %ages.

I keep hearing so many good things about PHAT, I think I will have to look into it more myself

[wakechica]

I keep hearing so many good things about PHAT, I think I will have to look into it more myself

I just trawled the PHAT thread thats on here. Was full of great advice from those that has done it.

[womanoid]

I have these electronic calipers that i bought from the bb store.. it makes you do the folds on the tricep, right above the hip bone, and then on the thigh... most of my fat comes from the thigh area but i think that's common in girls. i'm gonna try and find a more accurate BF measuring device but idk where :s any recommendations? But yeah I'm definitely far from where i wanna be with the cut i have a long way to go but thank you and good luck to you





adding 10 mins to HIIT is sooo much lol i'm going to try it though. i can definitely run another mile. i used to run a lot more in the military anyways lol
I try to do the cardio in the morning and then left in the afternoon... i'm way too tired after PHAT to have any motivation for cardio haha

Duh, I forgot about HIIT. That can always be traded out with other IT that isn't HI. Longer intervals at lower intensity & longer rests at higher.

[kimm4]

I meant like doing insanity instead of my hiit and cardio 2-3 times a week. so basically phat and insanity on the off days. is that still too much ?

Phat is an advanced/intense lifting program in itself. Even if you were to swap out HIIT for Insanity, I think you'll find recovery a bitch and your lifts will probably suffer.

My daughter got the Insanity program and I was doing it with her to keep her motivated. It made my training in the gym alot more difficult. The Insanity program is nuts! I can't be the only one that wants to punch Shaun T in the face within the first 3min of every workout...

It's awful to say, but I was so happy when she stopped lol...

[ClassickQC]

^^ glad to see others feel that way too! I can't event count the times I actually screamed at him middle workout o.O
according to my boyfriend, I sometimes even look like a psycho when I do that, pfft!