Tips for trimming body fat?

It would seem geek and I agree on many things food. My method... 1) consume large quantities of cheeseburgers, pizza, and beer every day. 2) Swim more, weight still drops. 3) 4) Profit Weight hasn't gone away nearly as fast as waist sizes... so it apparently works even better on the fat loss than the weight loss :)

Step 1: Stop buying your groceries at a gas station. Both the QuikTrip and 7-11 c-stores are providing healthier choices. I get a tub of chopped up raw fruit (mango/strawberry/kiwi) or a banana there along with a morning coffee and a turkey sandwich for lunch+snack. They also have individual-size packs of finger vegs (ignore the ranch dip). Not cheap, but definitely convenient; and you can do worse health-wise.

Step 1: Stop buying your groceries at a gas station. Q, take a look at Geek in the family portrait. Do you know how hard he had to work to get that body? ps. He is on the left.

I thought I might add something about how I personally like to lose body fat. Basically: high protein. A high-protein diet causes a reduction in appetite, and also causes more muscle mass to be saved when you lose weight, meaning you lose more fat instead. Here's an easy guide. When shopping for food, look at the nutrition facts. The two numbers you'll be interested in are calories and grams of protein. A high-protein food will have a 10:1 ratio of calories to grams of protein. That means 40% of calories from protein. Generally, I don't eat a lot of anything with less than 20%, which is a 20:1 ratio on the label. Some examples from my kitchen right now: Greek yogurt with fruit (and sugar :)) Calories: 110 Protein: 13g Ratio: better than 10:1 This is a high-protein food. Eat lots of it. Bread Calories: 110 Protein: 5g Ratio: almost 20:1 This is not as bad as, say, Doritos, but don't eat it freely. Make a sandwich with lean meat (very high in protein) to get the overall ratio higher. Don't forget to count condiments and cooking oils. They usually are pretty calorie dense with no protein. I don't really count calories in fruits and veggies, even though they are low in protein, since it's hard to overeat those and they have their own benefits. This is just a system that's based on some well-accepted science and easy math. It works quite well for me, and it's easy to follow.

the key is to lengthen your strokes and your body as much as possible at all times. Try to feel your skin stretching over your hip and stomach muscles every time you pull with your arms. Or become a very straight torpedo as you push off from the wall. These are just examples. The general principle: maximize the length of your strokes, and the length of your body as you do the strokes. PPS! :applaud: ;) In support of what Woofus is recommending, this approach has really worked for me. Although at 5'71/2" and 120 pounds I am not looking to lose body fat, keeping, uh, DPS in mind as I swim has strengthened and transformed my body. I feel more powerful in the water and have reduced my stroke count. (Now, if I can just get my times down... :bolt:)

A couple of thoughts on GoFastFishy's original query, which was basically how to trim down through the middle of the body while getting into masters swimming. Points have been made about the need to burn more calories than the body takes in: no other way to lose weight. And that as one increases exercise, through masters swimming and other activities, the body'll need more protein. Even if the direct goal is not to build muscle mass. I rely on pure protein shakes I get pretty cheap at Costco. The real reason I logged on to this thread was to relate a mantra I once heard a balletmaster deliver to her young charges (imagine thick Russian accent): "The form of the exercise becomes the form of the body." That's why the ballerinas all look pretty different at age 10, similar enough by age 15, and almost indistinguishable when they're in a corps de ballet on stage at age 20. The same exact physical discipline, exercised over a period of years, produced very similar results. For the same reason, swimmers tend to develop similar morphologies over time. Even accounting for the pre-selection that occurs in highly competitive disciplines like ballet or swimming. In order to stretch the middle of your body out through swimming (like a salt water taffy stretching machine), the key is to lengthen your strokes and your body as much as possible at all times. Try to feel your skin stretching over your hip and stomach muscles every time you pull with your arms. Or become a very straight torpedo as you push off from the wall. These are just examples. The general principle: maximize the length of your strokes, and the length of your body as you do the strokes. It also helps if you can do these lengthening drills for longer workouts. The sustained effort not only burns more calories, it imprints that long, thin barracuda shape through repetition. As far as dryland exercise, using your own body weight for resistance has many advantages in body shaping. Chinups, pullups, pushups, dips, handstands, etc., assisted or otherwise, not only accentuate body lengthening, they help develop a kinesthetic sense that is so important in the pool. There are probably some other forumites –women in particular – who can attest to the advantages of exercises that use one's own body weight for resistance. Finally, stretching exercises that loosen up and lengthen the middle of the body can be very helpful in reshaping. Combined with pronounced diaphragmatic breathing, the middle of the body can become a much more active participant in the overall movement of the body. Hope that helps...