Dieting: Where you are determines what you need to do

I’ve been interviewing some fitness and figure competitors as well as some bodybuilders and people who coach these types of competitors for their shows. After speaking with many of these people I’ve started to realize that there is a fundamental disconnect between the idea of ‘fat loss’, ‘muscle building’, and obtaining a particular look.

For people with 20% or more bodyfat, the main issue is simply fat loss. until you’re sub 10% none of the advanced bodybuilding nutrition techniques are going to make any difference.

At this condition the type of foods and when he ate them will make a difference on how Arnolds Abs looked.

Once you start reaching the single digit bodyfat levels things start to change. This is when the types of food you eat, when you eat and how you train can change the look of your body on a moment to moment basis.

Let me repeat, unless you’re in single digit bodyfat %  none of this will matter.

And this is the problem most people have when they’re ‘researching’ how to get in shape. Most people hear about what bodybuilders and fitness competitors are doing but don’t realize most of the advanced techniques are only put in use and of benefit for people who are already leaner than most of the population would ever hope to be.

For the vast majority of people, getting down to 10-12% bodyfat (for men) and below 20% for women is going to be attainable with a rather simple plan of eating less total calories (no matter what they are and when you choose to eat them).

This will get you in better shape than 95% of the population. Taking it to the next level and stepping on stage is where the more advanced techniques start to matter.

The take home message is to first be honest with where you currently are. This will determine where to best place your effort and focus.

John

Posted by johnbarban in diet, Exercise, Fat Loss
Tags: dieting for fat loss |13 Comments

13 Responses to “Dieting: Where you are determines what you need to do”

  1. usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
    July 23rd, 2011 at 1:06 am

    John, why would getting down to below 10% not be attainable by simply eating less total calories than you burn?

    By the way, I was horrified the other day when my sister-in-law dietician advised my brother to eat more because he was too skinny. Does she not know that eating more only make you fatter? You want your husband to get fatter or more muscular?

  2. johnbarban Says:
    July 24th, 2011 at 12:41 am

    Tim,

    There may be a rate limiting step to the amount of fat we can liberate from stores. Also it may be that once in the single digit bodyfat range water storage patterns alone could account for what is perceived to be changes in bodyfat.

    In other words, what someone thinks is a change from 9% to 6% bodyfat is really a change in water storage patterns. I don’t think there is actually much changing going on from a pure fat percentage when things get this low. I think it has more to do with water manipulation.

    Water manipulation can also change how bodyfat shows up on measurement devices as well. So a couple percentage change in bodyfat may actually just be a measurement artifact due to a change in water.

  3. Dale Says:
    July 24th, 2011 at 9:46 am

    John –

    Are you differentiating between the need for water-manipulation, to engineer extremely bodyfat percentages and the need to simply burn the last little bit of fat obscuring the lower abs by simply sustaining a calorie deficit ? I ask because you earlier asserted that there is no such thing as ‘stubborn bodyfat.’

    In other words, is something other than calorie deficit + time required to burn the last bit of fat over the abs ?

  4. usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 1:44 am

    Thanks, John.

    I remember learning from you that generally speaking, the leaner you get, the slower your fat loss. Remembering this, I guess it’s theoretically possible that when you get lean enough, caloric restriction may not be enough and/or become too difficult alone to get leaner. I assume you don’t reach this point from just getting visible six-pack abs – I base this from the many Adonis contest winners who never mentioned some kind of “intervention” besides caloric restriction. I can see how getting shredded requires additional intervention though.

  5. trixie28 Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 8:54 am

    Thanks for this reminder John:)

  6. johnbarban Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 10:37 am

    Dale, could be a bit of both. The rate we can liberate fat may slow at these final stages, and what many people think is a change in bodyfat (say from 6% to 5%) might actually be nothing more than a change in water (we know that based on water the measured bodyfat percentage can change a point or two, at this low level thats a big difference). So in the end it’s not so clear what is actually happening that changes the look.

  7. Dale Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 11:08 am

    Tell you the truth, I don’t know if I’m looking at water or loose skin. Simply eating my BMR, as opposed to BMR + activity factor, I’ve lost 12 pounds in 24 days, going from 6-0 150 to 6-0 138. My abs are rock-hard, but are still partially obscured around the navel. There is obviously some loose skin over the upper abs as it is transparent but can be moved up and down. But I can pinch what I think may be the last vestiges of fat around the navel region.

    Is it plausible that I would be 6-0 138 and still have belly fat to lose ? Yes, I am strength training.

  8. johnbarban Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    Dale, it’s plausible, but it could really just be a bit of skin, even top level bodybuilders have a bit of skin in that area. It could be a water deplete that will finally tighten that area up. Only way to know for sure is to try a deplete and see what it looks like.

  9. Dale Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    Thanks, John! And Go Gators!

  10. usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    What’s funny is that now that I when I look at a lot of six-pack photos, most people actually have a 4 pack instead of a 6 pack. Personally, I’m gonna stop as soon as my abs are visible, whether only 4 or 6 packs are visible. From what I’ve read here, it’s the point of diminishing returns if you want to minimize shoulder measurement size decrease.

  11. blwegrzyn Says:
    July 25th, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    Great post. This is what I needed.

  12. Body Shape: The Difference between Good and Exceptional Says:
    October 25th, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    [...] is a key, once you get off track go back to your list of motivators, it will help you get strongerDepending on where you are will differ your approach, you will have to eat differently if you want to lose 50 pounds than if you want to just maintain [...]

  13. jake Says:
    April 15th, 2012 at 8:07 am

    John, i’m in a bit of a bind. I’ve dropped from around 16 percent body fat down to just under 10 percent body fat, my four back is visible but i still have a little fat around the lower abdomen region which i still want to lose. In terms of measurements and how i feel i believe i have plateaud for the past couple of weeks despite the fact i have never been this “dialed in”. Could this be just me needing to water manipulate?

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