So you want to decrease body fat, read this first UPDATE: 9/13/07

[Vapor]

Guys, in an effort to improve the forum quality here, I am putting together a couple stickies so we can avoid utter noob questions. This is the general post for guys who want lost body fat. If you follow the instructions here, you will. Please confine your new threads to specific sticking points or questions about if you should lose body fat or not.

First off, the "should I." Being leaner makes you objectively more attractive, barring the person getting emaciated. If you don't have visible abs, your appearance and game could likely benefit from a healthier lifestyle.

The how is simple, but not easy. You have to eat fewer calories; body composition is primarily (80%+) a nutrition issue. Any reasonable diet will work, but the primary sticking point is compliance. Some people simply will not comply with a low-carb diet, others a low-fat one. All diets work, the key is finding one that works for you. One tip, however, the heavier you get, the more sensitive you can get to carbohydrates. You may need to back off on those. If you are reducing your consumption of processed foods, your intake of carbs, and all "bad carbs" will go down accordingly. If you stuck to lean meats, fruits and veggies, and good fats (olive oil, avocados, etc.), it would be pretty tough to get or stay overweight.

Ignore issues like workout timing, eating frequency, supplements, or food combinations. Unless you are already <12% body fat (hint: a distinct six-pack), this stuff is irrelevant for normal people. Bodybuilders need to worry about this when they are stripping fat waaaay down while retaining a ton of muscle. But bodybuilding is not a DHV.

You can not neglect calories. Check out something like fitday.com and log what you eat if you find it is difficult to figure out why you aren't losing fat. It will spit out your calories and what they're made up of, and that should provide you very specific feedback on where you are going wrong.

This thread will be updated/improved on an ongoing basis, but is a reasonable starting point.