Okay, I came around these boards a while ago (this is a new account though) and a lot of people gave me some advice that helped me out. I recently lost a lot of weight (notice how I say weight and not just fat), and I'm ready to lose a little bit more. Why? Because when I first started dieting I starved myself and barely ate anything while at the same time doing about an hour of cardio a day (I didn't know how harmful it was at the time) and now I'm paying for it.

Of course now I know that in that process I lost a lot of muscle and I intend to get it back now, but first I want to lose the rest of this fat. After doing a little research I learned that the body goes through some process of storing fat and losing muscle. I'm sorry now, but before I thought that it would just naturally eat the fat and I could be skinny.

Basically what I'm saying is that I need a little help with my diet. You see every since my "fat" days I've been scared to eat much food that has even 0.5 grams of fat. For the most part my diet consists of lean Turkey breast and fat free hot dogs, veggies and fruits. But the rest of my diet has low calorie bread, popcorn, pretzels, granola bars, and low sugar cereal. As you can see, most of my diet is carbs. I can't burn fat if I have all these carbs.

From the looks of my stomach, I'd say I have a good 18-23 pounds of fat leftover from the old days (about a year 1/2 ago) and I think it's time for it to go. Can anyone here list some good low-carb foods that are safe for a quick fat loss diet? I'm not looking to gain much muscle, but I do need enough to burn a good amount of fat. Also, I'm kind of scared to eat fat, so please try good fats only. If you need to know more just ask.

I'm 5 feet 8 inches, around 147-150 pounds (I think that's underweight)
My exercise is a 20 minute jog before eating, crunches, and a little weight lifting. I don't have access to much weightlifting equipment.

Any chance you could post pictures?

At your height and weight, you're either grossly overestimating how much fat you have (or confusing loose skin with fat), or you have virtually no muscle on your body, in which case that would take priority over fat loss IMHO.

For carbohydrates stick to fibrous vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, etc.) along with greens and so forth as they all provide quality nutrition but have very few calories by weight. More complex carbohydrates can also be gotten from brown rice, oats, and other whole grains but these foods are much more calorically-dense and so they will have to be used sparingly if you are on a fairly low calorie diet.

As for fats, fish oil (either by itself or as part of fatty fish like salmon) is great as is flax oil, flax seeds, natural peanut butter, and really nuts in general (although they can be high in cholesterol).

You really need to get that whole "fat makes me fat" idea out of your head. The only negative thing about fat is that it's very very calorically dense, so it's simply easier to overeat (read: get too many calories) when you have a lot of fat in your diet. However, this would just be excess calories making you fat, not anything particularly magical about fat. It will happen just the same if you get those excess calories from carbohydrates or protein.

Mind over matter and all that.

Also, you said "quick weight loss." This is pretty much never a good idea. If you're trying to lose more than a pound, maybe 1.5 lbs. per week you are going too fast and will be losing more muscle. Moreover, from my understanding of exercise physiology the lower you're amount of lean body mass the easier it is for you to become catabolic (read: lose muscle), so you need to be particularly careful about rushing things or overdoing your training. Fast does not equal better results.

I'd also highly recommend finding some way to start lifting. Join a gym if possible, but if that or assembling your own home gym is out of the question, do some research on strength building exercises you can do using your own bodyweight. There's a lot of info on the net from martial artists and gymnasts in relation to this (things like Hindu sqats, lots of pushup variations, etc.). You need to use your muscles to promote not just growth, but muscle retention. Your body won't prioritize the retention of tissue it doesn't use.

Wanting to go down to 130lbs for a 5'8 male seems
way too low. Could you post some pictures to give a better
idea of "where you are" ?

Carbs are not evil, You carb choices seem to be evil though. :)
Start introducing whole grain products into your diet instead
of the processed carbs. (Whole grain bread, Brown rice, Beans, ect)
This change alone would most likely cause some fat loss due to
lower calorie density of food.

Get more access to weight lifting equiptment!
You could for a very small investment get some adjustable dumbells,
chinup bar and a cheap bench. This is more than enough for a good workout. You can also just sign up to a local gym (whatever floats your boat)

My brother weights as much as you (he is a little taller though)
And he is awfully weak and lacks energy, If you really have 20lbs of fat to lose at this bodyweight I don't think a real cutting diet is the way to go, maybe a recomp diet in which you will eat slightly less than maintaince would produce better long term results.

Good luck.

Shahar.

Well, I shouldn't have said that I have 18-23 pounds of fat to lose, but that I should lower my body fat percentage. I should probably try to get down to between 12-15 pounds of fat. That would be around 10% body fat.

The thing that gets me is that for a while I was 135 pounds or less, and for some reason my stomach still was pretty chubby to be underweight. At that point I realized that it wouldn't be safe to lose more, but I just wanted this stomach of mine to not be so jiggly. If I could go to the gym I would but I just have a small weight bench, I'm only 16.

I think that fish and salads with seeds might work out for me though. I just gotta find a way to still eat the snacks I love (popcorn and pretzels) and balance out my diet. I also think that I don't eat enough calories considering most of my meals are low calorie foods.

Hopefully cruches and my little weight bench can help me build some muscle.

Well, I shouldn't have said that I have 18-23 pounds of fat to lose, but that I should lower my body fat percentage. I should probably try to get down to between 12-15 pounds of fat. That would be around 10% body fat.

The thing that gets me is that for a while I was 135 pounds or less, and for some reason my stomach still was pretty chubby to be underweight. At that point I realized that it wouldn't be safe to lose more, but I just wanted this stomach of mine to not be so jiggly. If I could go to the gym I would but I just have a small weight bench, I'm only 16.

I think that fish and salads with seeds might work out for me though. I just gotta find a way to still eat the snacks I love (popcorn and pretzels) and balance out my diet. I also think that I don't eat enough calories considering most of my meals are low calorie foods.

Hopefully cruches and my little weight bench can help me build some muscle.

I'm sure plenty of other people will be by to comment on this, but I'll just make a brief post in reply.

Basically, if you're serious about putting some muscle back on and keeping a low weight, your plan right now is not gonna work. You need a diet with plenty of protein, good fats, and quality carbs. Your favorite snacks (popcorn/pretzels) are pretty much worthless carbs. You can have them in moderation, but they will do absolutely jack for you if you rely on them heavily.

Almost anybody on these forums will agree that diet is the most important key in whatever your fitness goals may be. I'd recommend that you go through some of the stickies in the Introduction/Beginners forum. Sometimes it's best to go back to the basics! :tu:

and a little weight lifting. I don't have access to much weightlifting equipment.
Then you need to get access. Diet and resistance training are very important to avoid the "skinny fat" condition you describe. Your weight is low enough, you just fell into the trap of not building muscle and just burning calories.:nono:

What are you doing to correct it?

Two thoughts. Without weights you can still build lots of muscle doing pushups..dips..etc. I think some extemely built running back for the Dallas Cowboys only did pushups, situps for training. Obviously the gym would be a better option. Hershal Walker or Emmit Smith...

Also - you should embrace and celebrate your weight loss. Sure you could have done it differently but today is today. Make a decision and a plan and work on bulking. I gaurentee you will carry the fat much better with muscle in the chest, shoulders, back, arms, legs..you get the point. And of course the side effect of having the new muscle is will help burn the existing fat in your belly. Your body will say - hey this guy is actually eating and I can start repairing the muscle and release the fat (fuel store) to help do so.

Get on it.

Thanks for all the help. I believe that my main problem is that I don't eat much protein. Vegetables give some off, but I think meat is a better source. I also need to find some good carbs which is what I'm looking up right now.

And thanks soltrain, if that is true then it will really inspire me to work on my home exercises a lot more.

I will put you all's help to good use.