Best way to decrease body fat % and level needed to stop menstruation?

Hey folks. I'm female, 5'5", 112 lbs and currently not very active (other than lifting for my upper body 1-2 x a week). My body fat is 24%.

With running I've gotten my body fat to 16% (and still got my periods regularly, like rain).

I want to reduce my body fat to a level where I no longer get my periods (please, no lectures on this topic, I know about the risks, it's what I want to do, if I have the discipline).

If I'm running (usually long distance) I am pretty good at getting smaller/losing weight overall, but I am very hypomuscular naturally, and I feel like I mostly burn up the little muscle I have, instead of burning all fat.

Basically I know how to get as thin as I want to be aesthetically but not how to achieve a body fat % that's really low (I'm guessing 12%). My upper body is probably the most muscular it has ever been so that should help, right?

I also want to know what body fat % is necessary for menstruation. I've read 20% and 17% but those are obviously not right. Anyone know a real figure?

I'm only going to offer the advice I know

you're going to have to be working out like crazy to get your bodyfat as low as you'll need it.

This happens to girls in a bootcamp setting, but they are working out doing intense cardio for a good 2 hours a day.

If you're that serious about it, you'll have to workout like crazy.

Don't they have some drug you can take that stops your period from happening? (I'm a guy so naturally I know nothing about this stuff other than what I've heard from girls)

well, i'm a male and have no idea about the menstration thing, but as far as getting your body fat down you should start weight training. this works alot better to burn fat than cardio but i would keep doing the cardio mayby once a week. alot of women think if they start weight training they will get big and muscular like a female bodybuilder but that will never happen unless you are taking steroids.

you could also try a fat buning supplement like Xenadrine or hydroxycut. those 2 work good.

diet is also very important. the most important thing is going to be hard work and dedication.

Are you concerned about amenorrhea? There are risks involving bone health that may not go away even upon eventually resuming menstruation.

Yeah, I know it will require some incredible devotion.

dbighead2 and vivid, you seem to offer some contradictory advice...one of you says lots of cardio the other once a week?

If I do an hour to an hour and a half of cardio 6 days a week, is that too much (am I going to be burning too much muscle?).

I've been doing weight training for a about 5 months now. I usually do 1-2 times a week like I said (depending on how lazy I am, also my gym has crappy hours, I will be switching gyms at the end of the month though to remedy this). I could probably manage 3x a week -- would that be ideal? Thing is I can only do upper body because I injure myself every time I do lower body -- my lower body is STRONG but my ligaments can't take it and I always end up in trouble if I push myself at all.

For diet, I'm trying to keep my protein up -- how many grams/servings would you recommend? I try to stay low on carbs (mostly just whole grain stuff in the morning/early afternoon).

I worry about taking stimulants. IME ephedrine and meth both just eat up alot of muscle, and a little bit of fat along with it. I would consider steroids etc but I dont know anything about them, or if they would even give me the results I am looking for.

dbighead, there ARE hormones I can take to stop my periods but I personally can't take them (I can't tolerate them/at risk for strokes).

Yep, I know about the bone density issues.

Lots of cardio I dont know WTF vivid is talking about...

For protien usual recomendation is 1g per lb of body weight every day. Make sure your eating protien at least once every 4 hours. One portion should be before bedtime, without any carbs (this will take advantage of the bodys natural release of GH during sleep).

Steriods arent really used for losing fat- more for gaining muscle. There are things that you can use (like clenbuterol, T3, HGH) to lose fat, but these are often used alongside steriods to try and preserve muscle. These are REALLY advanced things though and I would recomend doing a hellava lot of research before even considering.

Maybe stimualnts are stripping muscle because you arent eating enough. Make sure your never working out on an empty stomache- thats the quickest way to burn muscle.

me personally....to drop body fat I would do the cardio, and do weight lifting also.

Cardio 6 days a week, weight lifting probably 3 days a week, since you can't do legs

chest and triceps
shoulders and biceps
back

you can do abs everyday

you can do the other 3 MWF or anyother order you want to do them in. it really doesn't matter.

For cardio you can run,jog, jumprope, aerobic (kick)boxing, biking, you know, any cardio workout.

Do any of them you want, I listed so many of them so you could switch it up so you won't get bored.

Your main problem will probably be how much you're eating, if you're not eating enough, you will burn a lot of muscle doing all of the cardio, along with fat. Weight lifting won't help that much, it comes down to how much you eat. Weight lifting is useless if you're not eating enough.

Keep the protein up a lot of people say 1 gram per pound of weight on your body. You WILL need carbs to do a high energy workout. Protein is good for building and maintaining muscle, it is not good for giving you energy. That is what carbs are for. Stick with complex carbohydrates (whole grain foods) and stay away from simple carbs. (junk food )

Don't take stimulants, you really don't need them if you're doing enough cardio. I'd also stay away from steroids since you don't know much about them. They can be dangerous for your liver if you don't inject them.
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If you want an unweighted exercise you can do to strengthen your legs, you can do unweighted squats. I don't know if you can do them or not. But you can try. Start lightly and work your way up.

listen to P-mo, he knows what he's talking about.

Thanks guys.

p-mo, so there ARE things that would reduce body fat, without making me huge? I would inject them, btw (I have no desire to harm my liver). Any places to start research would be greatly appreciated.

How do you find that correct balance between eating enough so that you don't lose muscle but not eating so much that you don't lose fat?

I had no idea about working out on an empty stomach -- that's usually what I do, eek.

And Dbig ... I would also add light rowing to the list of cardio activities- helps to work your shoulders and back as well.

Have you read the diet thread in SD? http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=154380&r=36 Its aimed at male bodybuilders but has fantastic information on insulin response and how to structure diet, etc.

I'm not going to address your mentruation Q, but i will tell you that the BEST way to lose BF is your diet. Of course eating healthy is important, but it has ALL to do with the Law of thermodynamics. you need to eat LESS calories than you EXPEND to lose weight. If you want to lose mostly fat and not muscle, you need to keep your protein high on a hypocaloric diet to lose fat. some light lifting and cardio is your next step after you got your diet down.

thanks P-mo, if you can find a rowing machine thats a really good workout for your shoulders and back. and if you do it fast enough you'll get a really good workout.

I don't know about where you live, but here we have a place mainly for girls to workout that is basically centered around cardio workouts. If you live in a town with any size to it, I'm sure you'll have a place like that.

Fairnymph-
I think not everyone consistantly will loose their periods from having low body fat. I have battled a pretty severe eating disorder for almost 14 years, even been put in a treatment center for months. I did skip my period for a few months SOMETIMES, but there were also way more times I'd feel (and look like death) but there it came! Maybe late, maybe only for 1 1/2 days, but still came. So maybe you will be more like I was. I know girls that were way "bigger" (still small by most standards) and lost theirs for months, probably just due to poor health.

I know nothing scientific on this, but I do know I have had very low body fat, low weight, and poor health and often still get my period. (Use to piss me off too!)

But good luck at trying some of those suggestions.

When I was 15 I went through a phase where I only consumed a maximum of 1000 calories per day, and I also went to the gym for 3 hours everyday, and burned 1000 calories at the gym. Now, you're supposed to eat ~2000 calories a day (yes, it varies by several factors, but for the sake of simplicity, let's call that the standard), and I was essentially consuming 0 (since I burned off everything). I didn't get a period for the entire time I kept this cycle up. I'm assuming it was just because of the "not eating" thing though. Because I started out heavy, so its not as if my weight was too low or something.

Why would you want to do this to stop getting your period? You can just take the birth control pills and skip the placebo if you dont wanna get a period. This doesnt seem healthy.

MynameisnotDeja said:

This doesnt seem healthy.

Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking.

Sprite -- I'm terrified that that may be the case for me as well, but it's worth a try to me.

Getting one's period is not healthy, but to put it bluntly, I don't care. I have really severe menstrual cramps, and dr's rarely will give me stuff that works for the pain. What's worse, is that even my painkillers (when I have them) don't seem to be helping as much, and they make me very nauseated.

deja, if you had read one of my responses, you would see that I can't take hormones of any type (although, I tried this when I was younger, and instead of not getting my period, I just bled for 16 days straight). As it is my hormone levels are too high (prog/estr).

Some cardio is good for weight loss, but long distance running is not the best way to get a low BF%. What I've read is that after an hour you start burning more muscle than fat. For cardio, the best thing to do is interval training. The extreme version of interval training is called HIIT (high intensity interval training). What this means is to sprint with every ounce of energy in your body for 30 seconds, then walk briskly until your heart rate goes back to what it would be at that speed, then run flat out again. Repeat a couple times. Don't do too many intervals at first or you might hurt yourself. This will burn some calories, but the most important result is that your resting metabolism increases.

Strength Training 101 teaches you that the foundation of any weight lifting program is your lower body. You will reach a plateau in your upper body muscle if you don't also focus on your legs. Squats and calf raises are two exercises you can do with just free weights. You probably know this, but weight lifting is crucial because it increases your metabolism. You may not see as much weight loss from weight training, but your goal is BF%.

fairnymph-
i am just curious why you want to skip your period. is it for birth control? or do you just not like it? i have lost my period due to low body fat (i think) for three or four months stretches a few times, but it was always because i would get depressed and lose my appetite, and i'm pretty sure the depression isn't worth it

tons of exercise does stop your period, though. my sister is a top-ranked squash player and she barely, if ever, gets her period. it's not because of low body fat because she has way more body fat than i do.