Losing weight from my upper body fat reserves ?

[Ryoon1]

I have been living a sedentary lifestyle and so accumulated weight. Being an ectomorph I don?t gain easily, but by not moving, and a little older now, it has come on a bit.

Far more active these last few months, walking every day for a couple of hours, I have been able to get my weight down by six pounds, just by walking (and a little fasting), burning fat reserves.

The theory I employed was to fast for the day and just run down the fat reserves, and it worked wonderfully. I found that my weight fluctuated around three pounds when I did eat, from my morning base weight, but would always go back down to that base weight.

However, it appears that the easy gains have now since been had, and all I find now is that my base weight remains after rehydrating i.e. I?m sweating the weight off and not burning fat.

I do not do any aerobics, it just isn?t me as I wouldn?t be able to keep it up, so I just walk.

My view is that the fats that were burnt were likely from the lower section of my body. I would like to lose around another six pounds, which would be fine for my size, will I need to do exercise to do this, and if so will I need to keep doing them to keep it off ?

[xsquid99]

Body ****totypes like "ectomorph" have been debunked, they hold no scientific basis behind them and were invented by a psychologist in the 1940's trying to classify people based on their body shape.

If you want to lose fat you have to be in a calorie deficit, so if the weight isn't coming off its because you are eating at your calorie maintenance level. You can move more, eat less, or a combination of both. You do not get to chose where the fat comes off, thats going to come down entirely to genetics. You cannot spot reduce fat.

You would be best served to incorporate some resistance training so that your body learns to prioritize "fat loss" over just "weight loss", which would include lost muscle as well. Losing weight without strength training will usually just result in a smaller version of your current self, without actually improving your physique.

Go back 1 page, read the Dont Look Past the Basics sticky thread near the top of the forum.

[Ryoon1]

Thanks for replying.

I have not heard of a calorie maintenance level theory before, I checked how much I should be getting and it is recommended at 1961 Calories per day.

The thing is, that even though I stopped eating, and still walked about, I didn't lose any weight, like before.

So how can that theory be true ?

Resistance training sounds like something extra, more than walking, that I could do. An hour or so of evening walking will burn what I eat for the day, but I need to shift more fat.

I read the Dont Look Past the Basics sticky thread, am I on the right track ?

[xsquid99]

If it were possible to not lose weight by not eating then nobody would ever die of famine/starvation. The law of thermodynamics apply to all humans, in the absence of sufficient energy intake (calories) your body will get its energy from its fat stores, resulting in weight loss. If you don't lose weight, its because you are eating too many calories, that's not really debatable.

Weight loss is the product of a sustained calorie deficit over multiple weeks/months, so think in terms of a weekly calorie expenditure, not what you do on any particular day.

[Ryoon1]

Okay, so perhaps I was expecting too much.

So then I can just keep walking as I do, and watch my intake, and the weight should trend downwards ?

[air2fakie]

Try walking upside down if all the fat loss has come from your lower body thus far.

[Ryoon1]

Funny stuff.

I ask because I was losing weight at a decent rate, and now I it just won't come off.

What about skipping ?

[SuffolkPunch]

Funny stuff.

I ask because I was losing weight at a decent rate, and now I it just won't come off.

What about skipping ?

Usually this scenario is just from having your measurements confused by changes in water weight. It's common to lose weight faster at first and then it can hit an apparent plateau. Any rapid changes in weight are always due to water weight. Actual fat mass takes time to come and go. It can always be explained by a surplus or deficit of calories - 3500 calories for every lb - that amount doesn't slip by unnoticed.

Also, you can't choose where fat is drawn from, you can only diet and build up muscle and this will generally improve practically anyone's physique.

[Ryoon1]

I was aware of this, and had been monitoring my weight over this time, but I don't think that I had been carrying six pounds of water, it must have been fat.

I check my morning weight and throughout the day, so I can see it's fluctuation rate, the fat I definitely burnt has kept off with my normal diet.

Checking online I was shocked to see that 200 Calories of beef jerky would take an hour to burn off at a normal 3mph pace, and a sandwich which would be double would take two !

As I said, I think that the easy gains have gone, and now I have to monitor my calorie intake to calculate what I have to do to lose weight.

I know that I am never going to keep a routine up at the gym, so skipping seems the best option for me, in combination with walking, I think that between those two I can keep it up.

I didn't take to running for the same reasons, and that it might wear my knees out, so I am concerned about skipping, but have read up on mitigating those effects with a soft landing surface, and rest days. I don't need to overdo it.

Any other advice ?

[SuffolkPunch]

post a list of dates and weights (morning weight only) and I can do a trend analysis

I'm not saying it's all water weight but it can account for more than you think. This is because muscle glycogen drops during dieting which is accompanied by some water - so it's not just having had a big pee that day, it's larger and has more inertia than that.

Dieting doesn't become harder as you get deeper into it. If you create a deficit you will lose a corresponding amount of bodyfat. It's important to try to estimate your daily energy expenditure using the kind of trend analysis I mentioned - so you can make meaningful adjustments going forward.

[Ryoon1]

Thank you for your help.

I don't have a strict day-by-day set of recorded results, but I have the following:

• 18th March, 2022 : 11st 2Ib (mid day)
• 18th April, 2022 : 11st 2Ib (end of day)
• 20th April, 2022 : 11st 1Ib (end of day)
• 21st April, 2022 : 11st 0.4Ib (end of day)
• 24th April, 2022 : 10st 13Ib (end of day)
• 29th April, 2022 : 11st 1.6Ib (morning)
• 20th May, 2022 : 11st 0.4Ib (end of day)
• 31st May, 2022 : 11st 0.6Ib (end of day)
• 21st June, 2022 : 10st 10Ib (end of day) - this is where I start to fast to lose weight
• 27th May, 2022 : 10st 11Ib (morning)


So it's up and down, and I think I shed around 5-6Ib, which has now settled to 10 Stone, 11Ib. I would like to be 10½ Stone, or around a clean 10, something like that.

Does this help ?

[SuffolkPunch]

OK, so it's really only the last 3 that are relevant. It looks like you reduced your calories here - or increased expenditure, same difference.

Can't say too much although 21 June looks like a low reading, it's not that likely you lost 5lbs of actual fat in 3 weeks but 4 lbs in 4 weeks is more likely. So I'd say 27June is closer to a true value.

Ideally you would weigh in every morning and stick to a consistent daily calorie intake for at least 2 weeks to do a proper analysis.

BTW, if you want me to do that, post the number is lbs or kgs without punctuation or other text so I can easily paste them into Excel

[Ryoon1]

At 6ft and 151Ib my Calorie intake is supposed to be 1961 to maintain my weight, and 1569 for fat loss i.e. 400cal (or one sandwich).

So I basically need to do this for two weeks ?

[SuffolkPunch]

At 6ft and 151Ib my Calorie intake is supposed to be 1961 to maintain my weight, and 1569 for fat loss i.e. 400cal (or one sandwich).

So I basically need to do this for two weeks ?

That sounds low - is that your BMR (i.e. does not include daily activity). Calculators are only guesses, we have to find a true TDEE by experimentation.

I would expect your true TDEE to be closer to ~2400

I would stick to 2000 for now. Hopefully you are doing some weight training too - to avoid muscle loss. You aren't that heavy for 6ft so I am wondering if dieting it the best thing at all. It might be better to focus on muscle gain for now otherwise you could just end up looking very skinny without necessarily having a good shape.

[Ryoon1]

I never do any muscle training, I just never have, I am very weedy like.

I do have too much of a belly for what I am used to, it comes with age. My body does distribute the fat well to hide it all however.

I just want to be thin, like before, when my metabolism was better.

I shouldn't be fat.

I suppose that I can only find out what I should be by monitoring the numbers, is that what you mean ?

I usually like to eat a bowl of salad for the day. But it's too hard to monitor the numbers, so I can eat sandwiches, which have the calories listen on the label:

Chorizo
Spinach
Mixed nuts & seeds
Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Avocado


I can't measure these salads, so I'll have to stick with sandwiches.

[SuffolkPunch]

Perhaps you should consider some resistance training. You will not recover your metabolism from when you were younger just by losing weight. If anything, it will reduce it since metabolic rate is mostly determined by body mass - in particular lean body mass (i.e. muscle). We naturally lose muscle and replace it with fat as we get older.

Salad has virtually no calories in it - you just need to count things that do - like chorizo, nuts, seeds and avocado. The other things are virtually 'free'

[Ryoon1]

Resistance training is just like normal exercise, it has to be kept up.

I tried following a seven minute routine with Lucy Wyndham-Read on youtube, and I couldn't even last a week (admittedly the summer heat had been messing with my sleep patterns, and I just didn't have the morning energy). I am never going to be able to keep up a routine involving exercise on a regular basis for the rest of my life, I just am not one of those people.

However, walking, I can. And, perhaps skipping... I shall try.

Funnily enough I dropped to 10st 10Ib as we were talking about this, and have been drinking water, just sitting working at my desk, but had not eaten anything. So I think my base is 10st 10Ib, I never see 11 st now, which is great. I fluctuate around 3Ib a day, in foodstuffs, so I know if I can get the weight down, it stays down.

I think skipping could be good.

I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks with my results..

Thanks for your help !

[Tommy W.]

At 6ft and 151Ib my Calorie intake is supposed to be 1961 to maintain my weight, and 1569 for fat loss i.e. 400cal (or one sandwich).

So I basically need to do this for two weeks ?

The calorie amounts from calculators are not accurate. Between people having different calorie requirements due to NEAT (day to day movements not exercise related) differences and the fact that calorie counting\tracking over time is not going to be accurate, it's difficult to pin down a cal amount that you can rely on for fat loss. Bottom line is that after 2-3 weeks at a certain weekly amount and you aren't losing then you need to lower calories regardless of how many you THINK you're taking in. And always weigh yourself first thing in the morning after taking a leak.

[Ryoon1]

That's what I did for that six day stint when I was following the cardio on YouTube, first thing in the morning.

I bought a skipping rope today, so I'll try that and see how it goes. However, I usually have an evening walk, to avoid the heat of the day and the UV.

[Tommy W.]

That's what I did for that six day stint when I was following the cardio on YouTube, first thing in the morning.

I bought a skipping rope today, so I'll try that and see how it goes. However, I usually have an evening walk, to avoid the heat of the day and the UV.

thats all well and good however lowering calories will be necessary if you’re not losing fast enough for your goals.

You have to be careful adding more vigorous exercise as it can raise appetite and make you less active during the day and this daily non exercise activity (NEAT) is where you burn the most calories

[Ryoon1]

This morning's weight already an improvement on yesterday's, dropping .10 of a pound.

That skipping rope also dropped me .2 of a pound in just a few minutes, even if it's just perspiration, that's pretty impressive.

[air2fakie]

This morning's weight already an improvement on yesterday's, dropping .10 of a pound.

That skipping rope also dropped me .2 of a pound in just a few minutes, even if it's just perspiration, that's pretty impressive.

Nice, try going to the toilet & you'll be even more impressed at the pace of weight loss!

[Ryoon1]

Nice, try going to the toilet & you'll be even more impressed at the pace of weight loss!

I don't know why forums bring out the machiavellian in people, such a shame.

[air2fakie]

I don't know why forums bring out the machiavellian in people, such a shame.

Trolls posting about their 0.10 lb weight loss from their upper body fat reserves tends to do it.

[Tommy W.]

I don't know why forums bring out the machiavellian in people, such a shame.

Because of posts like #21 above

[Ryoon1]

I had deduced that.

You have to appreciate that for me it's the first time, perhaps not for you.

But fear not, my enthusiasm will likely wane.

I'll report back in two weeks.

[Ryoon1]

Hi guys, I kept to a diet for nineteen days and I managed to lose TEN pounds, to leave me at ten stone !

I shall post the results, but am having trouble uploading.

[Ryoon1]

Today I can report back, after some 19 days on the following diet I managed to drop 10 stone !

From the onset however I unfortunately developed a mild-case of food-poisoning, which didn’t leave me with no appetite, but did leave me constipated (of which I am still recovering from today), so some of the measurements will be off, compared to normal function.


CALORIE TARGET : 1569
-----

27th June, 2022
Start: 10st 10Ib
Food:

sandwich : 739 (414 + 325)
cherries : 124
TOTAL : 863

Walking: 120mins

End: 10st 10Ib

---

28th June, 2022
Start: 10st 90Ib
Food:

sandwich : 568 (243 + 325)
cake : 484 (242 + 242)
jerky : 114
TOTAL : 1,166

Walking: 105 mins

End: 10st 10Ib
---

29th June, 2022
Start: 10st 90Ib
Food:

sandwich : 817 (403 + 414)
nuts : 540
cherries : 57
jerky : 114
TOTAL : 1,528

Walking: 120 mins

End: 10st 9,4Ib

---

30th June, 2022
Start: 10st 8,6Ib
Food:

tortilla : 393
pies : 549
boiled eggs : 53
nuts : 135
TOTAL : 1,130

Walking: 120 mins
Skipping: 3 mins

End: 10st 9,4Ib

[Ryoon1]

1st July, 2022
Start: 10st 8,4Ib
Food:

sandwich : 449
pies : 549
nuts : 270
TOTAL : 1,268

Walking: 30 mins

End: 10st 9,6Ib

---

2nd July, 2022
Start: 10st 8,6Ib
Food:

cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
shallot : 16
spinach : 20
olive oil : 120
fruit & nuts : 270
crackers : 110
jerky : 114
TOTAL : 950

Walking: 120 mins

End: 10st 8,8Ib

---

3rd July, 2022
Start: 10st 7,2Ib ~ 10st 6,8Ib
Food:

cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
red onion (half) : 20
cucumber : 15
spinach : 30
carrot : 23
nuts : 270
cherries : 83
crackers : 220
jerky : 178
TOTAL : 1,139

Walking: 70 mins

End: 10st, 8Ib

---

4th July, 2022
Start: 10st 6,8Ib ~ 10st 7,0Ib
Food:

fruit & nuts : 270
cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
red onion (half) : 20
avocado : 193
cucumber : 15
carrot : 32
black olives : 50
olive oil : 120
crackers : 110
Frijj : fudge brownie : 148
TOTAL : 1,258


Walking: 90

End: 10st, 6,4Ib

---

5th July, 2022
Start: 10st 5,6Ib
Food:

cherry tomatoes : 200
kippers : 568
spinach : 40
cucumber : 15
olive oil : 120
Frijj : fudge brownie : 148
ice-cream : 244
TOTAL : 1,335


Walking: 100

End: 10st, 5,8Ib

---

6th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 4,8Ib
Food:

cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
carrot : 32
spinach : 40
black olives : 50
olive oil : 120
fruit smoothie : 108
fruit & nuts : 405
jerky : 114
cracker : 110
TOTAL : 1,279

Walking: 120 (morning)
deadline work (no walk)
increase calories : exhausted

End: 10st, 6,6Ib

---

7th July, 2022
Start: 10st 5,2Ib (x1 jerky : 114 @4am)
Food:

jerky : 228
cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
spinach : 40
black olives : 50
salad onions : 10
lemon : 12
olive oil : 120
fruit & nuts : 270
cracker : 110
TOTAL : 1,140

Walking: 120 mins

End: 10st, 5,0Ib

---

8th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 4,2Ib
Food:

cake : ??? (special)
prawns : 162
bulgar/quinoa : 163
cherry tomato : 300
salad onions : 18
yellow pepper : 48
garlic : 25
lemon : 12
olive oil : 120
jerky : 119
TOTAL : >967 (~1,000 ?)

Walking: 90 mins

End: 10st, 5,0Ib

---

9th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 4,2Ib
Food:

cake : ??? (special)
chicken : 393
avocado : 193
kale : 18
yellow pepper : 48
olive oil : 120
carrot : 32
cucumber : 15
red onion : 20
yorkie (x2 block) : 100
TOTAL : >993 (~1,200 ?)


Walking: 120 mins

End: 10st, 4.2Ib


---


10th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 3Ib - 10st, 3.2Ib
Food:

cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
spinach : 40
chicken : 262
lemon : 12
avocado : 193
olive oil : 120
cucumber : 15
red onion : 20
pear : 100
yorkie : 150
TOTAL : 1,212


Walking: 80 mins (plodding - heatwave)

End: 10st, 3.6Ib

[Ryoon1]

11th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 2,8Ib
Food:

cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
spinach : 40
apple : 100
cucumber : 15
carrot : 23
spring onion : 10
black olives : 28
olive oil : 120
pickled pink slaw : 14
crackers : 110
yorkie : 250
TOTAL : 1,010


Walking: 120 mins

End: 10st, 2,8Ib


---
12th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 2Ib
Food:

sandwich : 1,033 (404 + 629)
frijj : 296
juice : 54 (end of night)
TOTAL : 1,383


Walking: 120 mins

End: 10st, 2,4Ib


---
13th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 1,4Ib
Food:

cherry tomatoes : 200
tuna (can) : 100
kale : 36
avocado : 193
black olives : 28
olive oil : 120
pickled pink slaw : 14
cracker : 44
nuts : 194
juice : 162
TOTAL : 1,091

Walking: 90 mins

End: 10st, 1,8Ib


---
14th July, 2022
Start: 10st, 0,6Ib
Food:

sandwiches : 899 (427+ 472)
mustard : 20
juice : 108
nuts : 194
pear : 100
TOTAL : 1,311


Walking: walking : 100 mins (slow pace + still constipated)

End: 10st, 1.6Ib


---
15th July, 2022
Start: 10st 0,6Ib
Food:

pizza : 1,046
juice : 81
snickers (mini) : 95 (van fin)
TOTAL : 1,222

mango juice : 120 (burnt)
9st, 13Ib (returning home)


Walking: 210 mins

End: 10st, 0,1Ib


I found that I was able to lose around 1Ib each day, if I was disciplined. It got harder toward the finishing line (my goal to be 10 stone), but just required discipline.

I gave up skipping after two days, I didn’t need it to burn any of the foodstuffs off. Surprisingly, I would regularly wake up 1Ib lighter each morning, doing nothing !

Understanding now what Calories mean, I now understand how to lose weight, just by walking in the evenings (after my food). My ratio is 1 hours vigorous walk equates to 1Ib in weight loss, of the most recent food eaten that day.

I really am grateful to the help on these forums. I have lose weight from the areas I would like, and now have lost over one whole stone (I couldn’t believe that I was carrying around that much weight).

I have never needed to diet before, but understand my body better now. I will of course be monitoring it, but know now how to best manage it, should it begin to come back on again.

Thanks guys !


P.S. I find it difficult to understand why there is no tabular option in a food and fitness forum. I had to upload everything in the manner of which I did because I could not find it, if it does exist.