Body Fat

So I have always wondered about this...How does one go about losing body fat rather than weight? My weight is fine and in the healthy range, I run about 15 miles or more a week plus moderate weight training. But, there are certain parts of my body that still appear very flabby and out of shape (i.e. my thighs and butt) compared to other parts of my body.

I know people always say you can't "spot reduce" but that's not what I'm trying to do...their size is OK I guess, just flabby and squishy lol...Do I need to pump up the weight training or does anyone have any other suggestions? Those areas have always been the most troublesome for me and I really want to work out these issues as I am training for a half marathon and getting married next year, so the motivation is really there!

Thanks in advance for any help:)

Heavy (relative to your strength level) weights are going to be your best bet, I'd say - weighted squats, lunges, and deadlifts.

Get your body fat measured professionally.  You may be at a good body fat % or even a lower one than you should be, and that's just the shape of your body.  It's important not to get too low for health reasons.  And I agree, heavy weights is the way to do it.

I have a body fat scale and it says 18.4% which I think is in the healthy range, however it just seems like all of that body fat is in one area which is unappealing to me:)

As far as using heavy weights, I will try this. I always thought females were supposed to use lighter weights and do more reps, but I will try using heavier weights...would I do fewer reps or continue to do the same amount?

Thanks for your replies!!

Yeah, the light weight/high reps is a silly myth that magazines like Shape and Fitness continue to spew. But really, women don't have to worry about bulking up unless they are taking a bunch of illegal substances and put a lot of time and energy into it.

Heavy is typically defined as "as heavy as you can just barely get to 12 reps, for 3 sets." But if you try a weight, and can only get to 10, keep at that weight, until you can make it to 12 for all three sets. Then go up in weight. A lot of women on this site are using New Rules of Lifting for Women (most bookstores have it). That has different rep schemes which you progress through.

edit to add: if you decide to do 3 sets of 8, for instance, then "heavy" would be how much weight you can lift that many times, but not more. So it really is all relative.

I can so relate to this!!! I lost a little over 20 lbs. and my arms, legs, and face are sooo thin that people tell me not to lose any more weight, but my stomach is flabby and fat still. I dont know what to do except lose more weight!

Determine your BMR from your body fat and weight. I use http://www.phord.com/cc. The primary tricks to losing fat instead of weight are lifting heavy weights, eating enough protein, and only going slightly negative in calories. Also, eat smaller meals more frequently (4-6 meals generally).

Thanks so much everyone!

Someclevername-that was a very helpful site, thanks a bunch! I guess all these years I have been doing it wrong, I need to amp up the weights! I wonder why all we seem to ever hear is lift the lighter weights? Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you all for helping me realize this is not the way to do it!

I agree. I've been hitting the weights pretty heavy and I haven't lost any weight. I have dropped two dress sizes and I get complements from people all the time, who are amazed when I tell them I have lost not a pound  and  that its just my fat turning to muscle.

Good news and bad news.  You have received some pretty good inputs.  You probably cannot do anything about those nagging bits of fat here and there -- they are probably programmed into your genes.  For perspective, I weighed less that 160 pounds the first half of my life.  When my weight crept up to 160 -165, my wife started teasing me about my love handles and double chin.  I was running and doing mult-hour martial arts workouts.  I was in the best condition of my life.  I was getting fat(ter) anyway.  Eventually, I stopped working out and devoted my life to earning a living.  My weight crept up over 200 pounds.  Eight or nine years ago, I started turning it around.  I am back down to 170 -175.  I still have the love handles and double chin.  But I think that I am the only one who notices -- everyone else is amazed at how skinny I have become.

Try not to worry about that fat.  Keep working but remember to keep your eating under control.  You can be fit and fat too.  That comes from habitually eating more than you are expending.

 Weight management is only about calorie balance - no two ways about it. All the exercise in the world can't make up for a lousy diet, but a great diet will make all the exercise you do work orders of magnitude better.

 Mostly you hear about the light weights/tons of rep stuff because shipping and handling costs on the exercise DVD packages the magazines are out to sell you means that a package over 10lbs in weight is less profitable. Which means that though workouts using 1-3lbs dumbbells are less effctive than going grocery shopping and using a hand-held basket instead of a trolley, the magazines will keep pushing them because they make them more money. The trainers writing for the magazines mostly know better, but when your job is on the line you do what accounting tells you to most of the time, neh?

Ensure that you are getting enough protein at each meal and eat 6 times a day. Muscle costs the body alot more than fat to keep so when you are in a calorie deficit the body will prefer to get rid of muscle rather than fat. So eat enough protein that the body does not need to use muscle protein and use heavy weights to make sure the body holds onto the muscle it already has.