How to get a Lean Body?

[adampaul]

Hello Everyone,

I need some suggestion on the lean body. Actually, I was doing gym for 2 years because of some personal reasons I haven't gone to the Gym for 6 to 8 months. Now my body fat increase and muscle level decrease also my face got round. So, Guys please help me to get the leaner body. 

Thanks

[Robbie son of Lucky]

My natural state when younger was tall and lean. (I dumped golf and played tennis, as that shape was highly advantageous.) 30 years of a pound (plus) a year added up, 5 knee surgeries from tennis knees, and I ended up 40 lbs heavier. After a horrid divorce, I gained 10 more, arthritis got crippling and couldn’t run or do much aerobic. I remarried a Chinese woman that almost became a doctor there, but now is a yuan shi dian practioner. Her techniques fixed my knees and diet, now running 2-3 miles/day, and no trace of any arthritis. I’ve been in this new body for 9 years now, lift some big weights every few days and just getting stronger. (I stretched out to 240 lbs, got down to a loose skin bag at 175, then filled up with muscle to today’s 188-190.) I’m 6’4, now 65 with a 34 waist (34x36 jeans). Planks will flatten a belly, but I don’t—I only do tai chi and the gym. (I think my motivation was the horrific fat-shaming when I lived in Beijing.)

Look into paleo diet—it’s close for me. You already know the drill; nothing fried or processed, and I limit eating to 6 hours a day (noon-6pm) so I never count calories. Intermittant fasting was a big key for me. I don’t do inflammatory foods like dairy. I limit breads and pastas, but that one is hard for me. If you have joint pain, eat a lot of ginger or ginseng and use heat pads (wenfu). Worked for me. 

Edited June 11, 2018 by Robbie son of Lucky
Added

[saevel25]

In no particular order

1. Eat cleaner food (i.e. little junk food, little fried foods)
2. Keep carbs as low as you can possibly go. Some people can go full ketogenic, but some people need a certain level of carbs.
3. When you eat carbs, keep away from white flour products like pasta, pizza, breads.
4. Eat lean protein, but don't be afraid to have some higher fat meats from time to time. Fatty Fish is really good.
5. Be more active
6. Keep this up for at least 6 months
7. Track your daily food intake. Keep your calories under 10 calories per lb of body weight per day.

[Groucho Valentine]

Do the above with moderate weight training mixed in. You'll shed size without adding too much bulk. Junk food is ok a few times a month, but dont make any calorie dense foods or sugary soft drinks a regular part of your diet. Give yourself 6-8 months to see results. 

[Blackjack Don]

Be born skinny and don't age.

I've had good results from yoga. I'm still a silverback, but more flexible, and actually feel quite a bit stronger. I must have a sizable layer of chocolate fat on the inside of my abdominal wall. lol

[colin007]

Change your diet. You will never work off a bad diet.

[adampaul]

@Robbie son of Lucky

Thanks for sharing your lifelong chapter with this thread, hope other members can get answers from it. 

[Zeph]

Depends what kind of lean you are looking for. One that's muscular or one that's just lean. The latter can look too thin on some individuals, but on some people it still looks fine. If you want a lean and muscular look, strength training is important. You don't have to get very strong or work out for too long to make a noticeable difference.

 

For a lean, muscular body, it's a matter of two things: muscle mass and fat percentage. With some muscle mass and not too high fat percentage, you will get a lean, muscular looking body.

 

If you are currently a bit high on fat percentage and low on muscle mass, I would suggest you start a caloric deficinecy while you start lifting weights. With around 500 kcal decifit a day, you will steadily lower your fat percentage. If you haven't lifted weights in a while, you will still get some progress in that area, even on a caloric deficit. How you do that is entirely up to you. Some do low carbs, some do low fat, some do intermittent fasting, some do this, some do that. There's no answer what works for you and it doesn't matter too much as long as the body gets less energy than it needs. You do however want to keep the protein intake up to avoid losing muscle mass in the process. Around 1.5-2g/kg body weight.

 

You can do cardio if you want to, but it's not necessary. If you lift weights 2-4 times a week and don't eat too much, the weight will go down.

[adampaul]

I want to get the lean body with muscle and wants to shred body fat and increase muscle. 

As per your suggestion, I have to do workout right! but from last 6 to 8 months I left the gym. Now I have started the running in the morning for 15 minutes and also do jumping jacks 60 times in 3 set. Also maintaining the diet, should I go to the gym or start with this?

Please suggest me on this.

[Zeph]

I would get some weight lifting in there. If that's combined with what you already do or in addition, is up to you. If you have to prioritize, I would drop the running and jumping jacks, and do weight lifting instead. When reducing muscle mass, it is recommended to lift weights to retain muscle mass, and even add some if possible. If you want to lose some fat at this point, keep the diet and make sure the weight crawls consistently down. If you haven't lifted weights in a while, you will see an increase in muscle size even on a diet and while losing weight, but you have to lift something.

[adampaul]

So according to you, I should go to the gym and lift the weight. Should I go with the kito diet? I read it on the internet that also help in weight loss process. 

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, adampaul said:

So according to you, I should go to the gym and lift the weight. Should I go with the kito diet? I read it on the internet that also help in weight loss process. 

https://www.dietdoctor.com/

Good information here.

[Zeph]

How you manage to achieve a caloric deficit doesn't matter too much. You just have to try something and do whatever works for you. I don't do keto or any kind of specific diet. I just reduce my caloric intake with around 500 kcal and make sure I get enough protein. I reduce mostly carbo and fat, but at the same time make sure I get enough micro-nutrients by eating lots of vegetables.

[TN94z]

Keep it simple at first.  Eat lean meats, good fats, and lots of veggies. Keep the junk to a bare minimum. Get into a habit of doing this before worrying about calorie counting and keeping up with macros and all that. Add some weights and exercise and there you go.

[Foot Wedge]

9 minutes ago, TN94z said:

Keep it simple at first.  Eat lean meats, good fats, and lots of veggies. Keep the junk to a bare minimum. Get into a habit of doing this before worrying about calorie counting and keeping up with macros and all that. Add some weights and exercise and there you go.

This.  Don't get too bogged down in diets and whatnot.  I lost 10 pounds after college since I stopped eating chik fil a 4 times a week and ham/egg/cheese bagel sandwiches every day for breakfast.  And I was in good shape at the time, lifting about 4 times a week.  I just had an extra layer due to all the crap I was eating.  Cut out the junk, eat decent home cooked meals, lift weights with some cardio, and you'll see results.

[GOATee]

Eat less sugar and carbs, and eat less later in the day.

Sugar and carbs produce insulin which stops fat burning.

Earlier in the day, the metabolism is higher and burns whatever you eat.

Later in the day, the metabolism falls and whatever you eat easily goes to fat.

The body will burn fat if your output is more than your input, but it is stopped from burning fat by insulin and late-day eating.

 

[HJJ003]

Choose skinny parents 😉 

All jokes aside there is already some good advice here...

[Shorty]

1. Eat less.

2. Move more.

It's not that hard a concept to understand.