Losing fat when you're not overweight (and a weight loss newbie)

[TapeMeasureBlues]

I'm nearly 40, bmi is 22, I weigh 62kg ish at 5'6, so I don't "have" to lose weight (I know BMI isn't the be-all-and-end-all).
I posted another thread about having a disproportionately huge middle so this is sort of in relation to that.

I'm getting my core muscles checked to see if that's part of the reason, but I can easily 'pinch an inch' as they used to say, around my hips (muffin top, love handle area - hate those terms). So clearly have some fat to lose.

I'm really really opposed to calorie counting or strict diets and I've never really attempted weight loss before (only got some scales a few months ago)

I've started working out regularly which has helped me feel fitter.

I eat a healthyish rounded diet (home-cooked from scratch usually) but probably balanced more on the carb-heavy side and definitely feel I deserve 'treats' quite often so have cake, crisps a few times a week.

My plan is to:
-reduce portion size drastically - particularly carbs - my habits are terrible in that I eat quickly and feel too full but don't stop before I feel full because I enjoy the experience of eating my meal. Last week I've been having a sandwich of one piece of bread rather than two and haven't felt too bad afterwards as my cup of tea/fruit tea then fills me up. (Just feels weird as I give my pre-schooler a bigger lunch than me!)

• be more mindful of 'treats' and cut down the obvious bad stuff (cake, crisps - not a huge biscuit eater)

• reach for a drink or fruit rather than a snack at 4pm ish which is when I get peckish making the kids' tea

I don't really drink anything other than water, fruit tea or tea.
Trying to exercise several times a week as well as school run.

Is this likely to help? I'm quite determined so believe I can carry it through - particularly if my appetite reduces to something a bit more appropriate.

I'm fairly small-framed and everything else is in proportion - it's just my middle.

It sounds like you need to stay about the same weight but increase muscle and decrease fat (which will reduce your size and tighten you up).

This will take some weight training and you need to fuel adequately for that.

The good news is that you will be able to eat decent amounts of calories if you are working hard enough.

The bad news is that it is a slow process, and in all honesty it does need calorie counting. Ideally you would have a calorie deficit of between 300 and 500 per day (averaged out over the week), taking into account the calories you burn doing exercise.

When you say you are having your core muscles checked, what do you mean? Working your core will be very good, regardless of the condition of the muscles, but on its own core work is unlikely to give you anything like enough stimulus to keep/grow muscle.

I'm not sure why you're so anti calorie counting Surely it's a good thing to know what you're putting in your body. Reducing portion sizes is reducing calories but with one hand tied behind your back. What is your objection to calorie counting?

Simple reason:
Weighing and looking up the calorie content of everything I eat takes time which I rarely have and makes this whole thing a chore and quite possibly a negative compulsion.
I also have no way of knowing how many calories I burn in exercise.

My weight's pretty much maintained at what I eat and the exercise I do so I'd assume reducing portion size would help (i.e. I know a slice of bread is about 120 cals)

When you say you are having your core muscles checked, what do you mean?

Sorry, forgot to say, I have 2 kids although my last pregnancy was 3 years ago. So I need to check for ab separation - apparently doing core exercises if you have this makes things worse. It sounds like I need to work the transverse (corset) ab muscles more, but this is where I need advice because the more I look into it the more muddled I get.

Thanks for the advice re weight training- I was previously doing HIIT with a focus on core but am incorporating more weighted cardio/strength stuff. I find myself sweating but without getting that out of breath.

(My saying "simple reason" above wasn't meant to sound arsey - I mean at a basic level it's a job I'd rather not sacrifice other things to do)

Cutting carbs had the biggest implant on my abdominal fat.
I had tried quite a few things but that was the only thing that worked for me.

*impact

@Stilltalkstotrees

I'm not sure why you're so anti calorie counting Surely it's a good thing to know what you're putting in your body. Reducing portion sizes is reducing calories but with one hand tied behind your back. What is your objection to calorie counting?

This is a very ignorant comment. You can't think of ANY reason why some people do not want to count calories? Maybe it leads to an unhealthy relationship with food for some, maybe its inconvenient, may they have a history with disordered eating or maybe... they just don't want to?

It's 5 months on and just thought I'd update in case anyone is interested!

I've spent the last 18 months upping my exercise but the only thing that has made a difference to my weight/figure has been adjusting my diet in the last few months, as per my OP.

I'm now around 57 kg (seems mad that I've lost 5-6 kilos, I have weights of that size and it seems a LOT, yet there's only a slight noticeable difference - enough for me to no longer feel too conscious of my tummy though! BMI is now 20.1.

What's helped:

• getting a Fitbit. It has been great to see both how little you need to do to be burning cals, (e.g. walking) and how much impact an hour or two of sitting on my arse has in terms of NOT burning calories! I'm not a slave to it but it's useful to get the little reminders to get some steps in, and have targets to aim towards.

• I started the MuTu programme which has been quite a lot to do, but has strengthened my core and given some exercise routines (that I'm now a little sick of, but I mix them up with other things as I don't have a bad Diastasis Recti or anything to actually 'heal').

• Most importantly, I've cut down portion sizes, particularly carbs. Sticking with a fairly small lunch as per my OP. I realise now how often I was over-full after a meal - I did the classic thing of not waiting 15 mins to feel full and just continuing eating. I'm not often hungry, I still eat all my favourite foods but just a bit less - so crisps maybe once a week or so instead of every other day, etc. A square of chocolate instead of a pudding, or just small portions of pudding. I'm more aware of what I can cut out and what's 'not worth it' in terms of being delicious enough to warrant the calories!

I'm not obsessive about it, just try and be mindful of keeping a sort of average that doesn't get too calorific.

• Still working out 3-5 times a week but not amazingly active the rest of the time.

I do feel a bit frustrated that I can't basically just eat what I want but I'm happy with the way things are going. Slow but sustainable I think.