Cutting fat

[1993Laborde]

Im weighing in at 161 right now with not much fat at all just in the stomach region.
what is the best way to turn it into muscle beside doin ab workouts!?

I usually run during my football practice, wind sprints.

Then do my weightlifting at the gym.

 

[EvilEvo]

Beside doing ab workouts, which will not turn fat into muscle by the way, diet.

 

[Biggly]

Is there anything in your diet you're eating (or drinking) a lot of? I ask as you are exercising and generally lean yet with belly bloat - that suggests water retention (too much salt) too much fructose (believed to cause fat deposits around the organs) or some similar dietary imbalance.

The other, more obvious option is simply to reduce your calories, especially from carbs.

There are plenty of other more adventurous methods and techniques but if you don't know how many calories you need or are taking in you then you need to cover such basics first.



B.

 

[jhawkin1]

I have really cut carbs, not all together, but only when it is essential to have (pre and post work out and maybe the meal after post workout shake), also I have cut calories, and have been eating more veggies. Biggly also mentioned sodium, and I agree with that as well.

Is there anything in your diet you're eating (or drinking) a lot of? I ask as you are exercising and generally lean yet with belly bloat - that suggests water retention (too much salt) too much fructose (believed to cause fat deposits around the organs) or some similar dietary imbalance.

The other, more obvious option is simply to reduce your calories, especially from carbs.

There are plenty of other more adventurous methods and techniques but if you don't know how many calories you need or are taking in you then you need to cover such basics first.



B.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Im weighing in at 161 right now with not much fat at all just in the stomach region.
what is the best way to turn it into muscle beside doin ab workouts!?

As the other posters say... diet is the ONLY way to cut your muscles. It is a myth to believe that you can do isolation workouts such as ab exercises and get a 6 pack abs.

 

[Built]

I actually disagree on the salt - for one, if you're drinking plenty of water, your body will reach homeostasis right quick and excrete any extra. For another, salt helps hold water in your muscles, which helps 'em work. While cutting, anything with zero calories that helps your muscles work is a Good Thing.™

I extra-salt my food all the time now - especially when cutting. I actually had to train myself to like salt.

 

[Biggly]

I've found with myself and Biggly users that when tracking calories carefully, you can find going from good food to junk can rapidly add weight and inches way beyond any possible calorie intake/fat gain.

Cut back on salt however (mainly by avoiding processed and packaged food) and things return to normal.

Ironically I only just recently had a discussion with someone (comments section of the telegraph) where I strongly disagreed with their stance that salt was the be all and end all of fat loss. They claimed that cutting out salt would cure obesity (I don't think so!) but water retention from excessive salt certainly does affect a lot of people.

Yes, to some extent you can flush it out with extra water but generally it's easier to just cut down on the salt in the first place.




B

 

[Biggly]

Had a quick sniff and found this - which backs up what I'm forever saying, what works for someone else is not necessarily what works for you:

"Some experts, including Tammy Baker, R.D., spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, believe many people can eat as much salt as they want and never risk serious diseases like high blood pressure because their bodies simply excrete the excess salt.

Others disagree. "Just because you have normal blood pressure doesn't mean you can use as much salt as you want to rand) never risk high blood pressure," cautions Weinberger. About 25 percent of the normal population (people with healthy blood pressure) are "saltsensitive," or more likely to develop high blood pressure on a high-sodium diet, Weinberger explains. "Even if you do not yet have high blood pressure; that is, your blood pressure is normal, and you are 'salt-sensitive,' you have the same risk of dying over a 10- to 25-year period as if you already had high blood pressure," he says.

Sodium and osteoporosis

And that's not all. Consuming too much sodium may also increase your risk of osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disease National Resource Center. That's because sodium competes with calcium for reabsorption, so there's a better chance calcium will leave the body in urine rather than be reabsorbed into the blood if you consume excess salt. And that means there's less calcium available for strengthening bones."

Should you hold the salt? How much is enough and why cutting back on sodium may benefit your health and waistline - Nutrition | Shape | Find Articles at BNET

 

[Built]

Those people aren't athletes.

We eat better - I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a bodybuilder who doesn't consume plenty of protein and calcium, both of which have been found to combat osteoporosis. We lift heavy things. And if you regularly consume salt and drink lots of water, you'll suppress the hormones that would have you retain both.

Salt's anabolic, and cheap. And if you hold onto water, well, it's WATER, not fat. You'll pee it out in short order.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Im weighing in at 161 right now with not much fat at all just in the stomach region.what is the best way to turn it into muscle beside doin ab workouts?

Two things... ab workouts won't do anything for you. Your problem is the layer of fat on top of your 6 pack abs. Following proper nutrition will take care of that for you.

And you can't turn fat into muscle... it's a myth. Two different type of tissues that are nothing alike.

 

[Biggly]

Built - but we don't know if the OP is salt sensitive, which around 25% of people are. It's the fact some people react so badly to salt that's given it such a bad name. Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting the blame on salt, just asking if there's anything he's eating a lot of or in general unusual in his diet.

That he made the classic "turn fat into muscle" and has exactly 2 posts suggests he's not a long-term bodybuilder looking for cutting edge info - just someone with a problem, which could be bloating, ab fat or gas for all we know. I was just trying to narrow down the options and ensure there wasn't an obvious defect in the diet, a food allergy or whatever. Paradoxically peeps often eat a lot of whatever they're allergic to, so again wanted to know if there's anything he's eating a lot of.

For you salt is great and no problem. For me lactose is just peachy. For some either of them can cause real problems.



B.

 

[Built]

Fair enough. It's just not the first place I'll go looking with a newb, kwim? The dude's got a layer of sub-q fat, and we BOTH know what that means: not enough of one particular exercise: the "away from the refrigerator push".

 

[1993Laborde]

ive been eating healthy making sure i eat plenty of fruit, drink lots of water, and stay away from junk food.

its all just in my stomach and sides right below my latts.

so what your saying is eat more salt bcause the discussion between you and the other person confused me ?

 

[goob]

Those people aren't athletes.

We eat better - I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a bodybuilder who doesn't consume plenty of protein and calcium, both of which have been found to combat osteoporosis. We lift heavy things. And if you regularly consume salt and drink lots of water, you'll suppress the hormones that would have you retain both.

Salt's anabolic, and cheap. And if you hold onto water, well, it's WATER, not fat. You'll pee it out in short order.

Wait a minute. Are you saying that increasing salt actually helps with cutting? It suppresses water retention?

 

[Built]

My small understanding of this is that when salt and water are high, your body "knows" it can excrete both - high water and salt consumption suppress aldosterone (when elevated, causes the kidneys to re-absorb sodium) and vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone, when elevated causes the kidneys to retain water). When you suddenly restrict salt, your body does not "know" you've done this - yet - and keeps excreting salt, expecting you to consume more salt to replace it. When you don't, your internal salt concentration goes down. In an effort to concentrate this salt you pass more water. Once you've concentrated what little salt you had (with a lower volume of water) you once again reach homeostasis. At this point, if you're dehydrated (baro-receptors will alert your brain of this), aldosterone and vasopressin rise and you start holding any water and salt you consume - and you consequently bloat.

If you just leave salt and water constant through your cut, you avoid all this nonsense.

 

[Biggly]

So the common pre-competition practise of cutting out salt to go lean and deliberately dehydrated works, but will have a rebound effect of making you bloat for awhile? Makes sense.

Homeostasis is your body finding its natural level again, so I'd presume the bloating would be somewhat temporary?


B.

 

[Witchblade]

Homeostasis is your body finding its natural level again, so I'd presume the bloating would be somewhat temporary?

Not necessarily your 'natural level', but a balanced level. The bloating will continue, if you keep consuming too much salt and not enough water. I'm prone to bloating myself.