The typical progression for an overweight male is to lose your visceral fat first. That is the "gut" fat. It is under your ab muscles, around your organs. That fat is easy to lose and makes a huge difference in your waist line. It is an exciting time because you normally need to get new pants, you look a lot better, feel better, and get lots of compliments.

Next you start losing subcutaneous fat. This is the fat right below your skin. It is sort of like a fat wet suit. This fat is harder to lose and takes a long, long time. You have way more of this fat than you think you do. You are probably here. In the 13-20% body fat range.

When you lose 5lbs of this fat, it comes off from all over your body. So visually, there really isn't a big difference. You just get a little bit smaller. Your arms, chest, legs, back... everything just keeps getting smaller. Your ab fat and love handles get smaller too, but they seem to lose much more slowly than the other areas.

You actually look worse because you don't fill out your clothes like you used to. Your arms are just as strong, but they have less fat and look smaller. You don't get very many compliments losing this fat. In fact you will probably get people telling you that you are losing too much weight and you look worse.

Eventually, you start getting a little definition. Commonly your shoulders will start cutting up first. This is when the fat wet suit gets thin enough that you can start seeing muscle definition though it. It is an exciting time, but you still will not get many compliments because you will be a lot smaller than when you started. At this point you will probably think you look better with your shirt off than on. That is because you will look better/bigger with your shirt off.

The last fat you lose is the stubborn fat. It is normally around your lower abs and love handles. This fat is the hardest to lose. By this time most of your face fat will be gone and everybody will start thinking you are over doing it. They remember the fat guy and you are going to look really different. Your friends will be planing an intervention and swear you have an eating disorder. If you take your shirt off, they will go, "ohhh... wow... I wasn't expecting that. What diet are you on?"

Finally you have 6-pack abs and look fantastic as long as you have your shirt off. With your shirt on, you look tiny. This is when you figure out that:
1. Low body fat is freaking cold.
2. Most people have a nice fat layer to keep them warm and like going to cold places.
3. People are poor judges of lean body composition. They think you are way less muscular than you are when you are dressed. They think you are way more muscular than you are when you are not. You are probably the same way.
4. Unless you have fit friends, you will probably never go to places where people take their shirts off.
5. It is difficult to put on muscle when you are sub 10% body fat.

This post has been edited by darklight79: Dec 20 2011, 03:54 PM

U r soo..rite, I cudn't understand wat's been happening to my bod, until now. So how do we overcum situation #5 - put the pedal to the metal?

It's difficult but not impossible.

I've seen this statement appear in a few sites and articles before: "The supposed best range for muscle gains is in the 10-17% bodyfat range." If you can stay relatively lean, I think you'll get some decent gains. Too little or too much bodyfat, and your gains will slow down, IMO.

I'd be lucky to get under 15% before 2013. This dieting is hell. And the progress is slow. Very, very slow

Yes it is VERY cold to have sub-10 bodyfat percentage...ahhaha...
i cant stand in cinema or shopping complex very long. always have to pee


Chow

Bro,mind sharing your diet plan ?

i was gonna reply u, but I'm in the middle of my exams now. sorry about that. I have a whole weeks worth of my diet in my journal. I haven been training for over a week now, but what I have been doing is keeping my caloric intake fairly low. I need to study and I'm taking this as a deload week of sort.

Oh no prob mate. All the best with your exams.

I'm cold almost all the time. It sucks.

sigh...
i sweat all the time....
so sad....

Folks, feeling hot or cold, mainly has to do with nerve cell receptors sending the message over to your brain and its reaction and adaptation. One's physiological control plays its part as well, more than the amount of fat a person has.

This can be easily tested, by taking a person with same weight and height to a cold place, where one person would feel cold and the other would be fine.

we noe,
we jz trolling around nia....

Have you ever hit sub 10 bodyfat bro? Trust me it's cold.

nope, but then couldnt it be just you?

My friend is sub 10, and while I was in US, some of my gym friends and my trainer as well, who was sub 10, some feel cold and some dont.

Yes I do agree you do loose some insulation factor, but biologically I dont think that plays a major role.

Sorry, if I sounded serious , just sharing what I know, thats all.

this question very cruel

i always feel sick when I am cutting. I also look sick. It is like my body is not agreeing with me to get any leaner.

About the cold, i dont pay much attention to this. Maybe the next cut i will see if i feel colder at the end of the cut.

I am fat and easily get cold! XD

Imo both of you might be right. No doubt having a layer of fat insulates you from cold, but humans can get acclimatized to low temperatures as well, regardless of body fat %.

I've reached the peak of kinabalu before sunrise before and I could barely hold anything from the shivering and was numb everywhere. Was wearing winter gloves and double insulated jacket too. Right beside me are a few ang mohs not even wearing gloves, minimal winter clothing and they are happily snaping pics.

I'm sub 10. At work, I wear 3 layers of clothes. Damn cold