Man I swear this last little bit of fat is sooooooooooo hard to get rid of. I changed up my cardio routines and that is working but dang! It's amazing how easy it is at first to start losing fat all over the place but I suppose that we all have those trouble spots. Maybe I have my tampons all twisted up this morning but just felt like complaining a little.

Anyone else notice the last little bit is really hard and just goes really slow? I'm doing my best to not get frustrated but I suppose after being so overweight for so long, I just gotta take it one day at time.

Anyone else notice the last little bit is really hard and just goes really slow? I'm doing my best to not get frustrated but I suppose after being so overweight for so long, I just gotta take it one day at time.

When you really get down there, it's hardest. My wife had an extremely specific diet her last two weeks before competition last September (she did an NPC figure competition) and had to cut out many things. One that I remember specifically was dairy - she wasn't allowed any dairy products because her trainer said that dairy tends to cause retention of the final layers of subdermal fat that can prevent that "paper-thin" skin look that bodybuilders have at competition time.

You might consult with a professional to assess what you're eating while trying to shave the last of your body fat. If you find the right person, it's worth the $$$ for the gains you'll make.

For all my worldly wisdom (Yer right !), this is one thing ive never understood.

If your at a deficit, then you will burn fat. Why should that stop just because u have less fat to burn ?

I agree that its true that it seems to get harder. But it just doesnt make sense.

Thanks Bluestreak, I've worked with my trainer and my diet is very strict right now for the last 6 weeks, it changes up in two more weeks, then the last week before I head off to this preplanned trip that I have. I'm basically training like I would train for a show.. Just that last little bit is rough to let go! :)

For all my worldly wisdom (Yer right !), this is one thing ive never understood.

If your at a deficit, then you will burn fat. Why should that stop just because u have less fat to burn ?

I agree that its true that it seems to get harder. But it just doesnt make sense.

You're assuming the relationship between body fat and caloric deficit is linear; in truth, it is not. Body fat loss becomes asymptotic when taken lower than the body is used to. The bodybuilders among us would probably have a much more educated opinion on this subject, as my eyes have only seen what my wife had to do to rid herself of the last of her body fat pre-competition.

What I learned from working with her trainer is that at lower body fat, caloric intake isn't the only variable in the equation; the macronutrient ratio is the more important factor. When lowering body fat, the human body prefers glycogen stored in muscle and muscle protein itself for fuel. Your body does not want to tap into its fat stores because it thinks it's starving. To short-circuit this trend, we eat frequently and make small calorie adjustments. In truth, the most important thing to do is adjust macronutrients.

A bodybuilder has to discover how to change the body's fuel/energy preference from carbs/protein to fat. There are numerous ways to do this, but what I know of involves manipulation of carbs. Carb depletion. Limiting carbs. If carbs are limited, the energy sources are limited to fat and muscle. Lean body mass is preserved by lowering glycogen, sparing muscle since at that point, fat will contain more energy potential than burning muscle will. Your body is looking for the most "bang for the buck", and if fat is it, it'll burn fat. To do this, everything carbohydratic must be limited in the diet. Fat intake (good fats) has to be increased in order to teach the body that this its preferred fuel and that's that. Force your body to burn it, and it'll adapt. This might seem contradictory - but it isn't. You're eating more fat to teach your body to burn it as energy. But... it's still true that a caloric deficit has to be there. Then, since it's learned to burn fat as the energy source, it'll go there for energy.

Carbs do play a role in preventing your body from adapting too well, as the human body has a tendency to do. Infrequent carb intake helps replenish glycogen in the muscles and your liver... this gets into lean body mass loss due to ketosis... and that's another discussion.

I haven't found the solution for myself just yet... but knowing what I do, it's coming, it's just a matter of being consistent and varying my diet for periods until I discover what works for me. I'm patient; some people aren't. For those who want the fat loss now, consult a pro... they'll have you where you want to be in no time at all. Trust me, I've seen it in action.

For all my worldly wisdom (Yer right !), this is one thing ive never understood.

If your at a deficit, then you will burn fat. Why should that stop just because u have less fat to burn ?

I agree that its true that it seems to get harder. But it just doesnt make sense.

This isn't true, if you are in a deficit you will lose WEIGHT, but you don't ensure that it is fat you are losing. The less fat you have the more willing your body is to use muscle instead.

-Allen

Cheers for the feedback.

Bluestreak - Ive heard / read that carb depleation is bad for Muscle loss. Care to shed some light on this ? Ive also heard some people actually carb load before a competition. Whats ur take on this ?

I do know that the last week i will be carb loading pretty heavy (the last few days before I go). From my understanding it gives a much harder look.

I can't shed much light on carbohydrate loading/depletion. I know that in her last week before competition, my wife did a carb deplete cycle. You wanna talk about a cranky woman? You ain't seen nothin' until you've lived with a female doing carb deplete.

I've read a few good articles on carb depletion, but I haven't practiced it myself as I become really, really useless if I don't have some carbohydrates in my daily nutrition. And after seeing what a zombie it made my wife, I wasn't hot to try it either. This is a rather uneducated statement, but off the top of my head, I think unless you're dieting for contest, carb depletion may not be a useful dietary manipulation.

well, one great piece of advice i received from someone was that there are no rules to building muscle or losing fat,, one way may work for some1 else and not for some1 else...but there are some ways that seem to work perfectly for most people...A typical carb depletion refeed works well with many...The best one i could recomend is to go three days straight with limited carb intake (80grams) coming almost exclusively from green vegetables,, then on the third evening you have a carb up meal to refill your glycogen stores which have been depleted from your training, so before you go to bed on the third evening, you have a low glycemic carb meal of roughly 200-400grams of carbs depending on your metabolism..This is NOT my idea , this is very old, the best place to get info on it (i think at least) is at bodybuildingworld.com......