8% body fat and skinny, but still have a gut

[jayhfd]

Hi,
I just measured myself with accumeasure calipers, which reads a "7", which for a 30yr old is 8% bodyfat. I'm quite tall (6'3) and weigh 91kg. I don't get how I can be so lean yet still have this round belly and slight fat overhang on my pants. Isn't 8% usually where you're seeing ripped abs? I need to clarify a bit, I'm not saying I'm fat because I'm not, most people would scoff if they thought I was talking like this. But I do have a very undefined, round protruding belly that hangs over my jeans when I sit down, and my whole mid section looks really average compared to the rest of my body.

I've always been skinny my whole life, but have never really been able to see my abs unless I do a big crunch movement and suck my gut in. So I actually can see my abs/6 pack when I do this, which makes me wonder if it is stomach fat or if its something else?

I've been on stronglifts and been going to the gym for over a year now and definitely look a bit better, but I still have this overhanging fat and belly, which makes it look like I don't really take care of myself. And that sucks, because I literally LIVE health and fitness/gym, I don't drink booze, softdrink or juice, I eat junk once a week (like, chocolate or takeaway). My one vice is coffee, which I have once a day, sometimes with milk, sometimes without. I eat a low carb diet, but not anabolic diet. I tried that for 6 months and I did lose some fat, but still not enough. I don't ever eat rice, pasta or potatoes, no bread either. I am however having waxy maize starch pre and post workout, which I'm considering cutting out after reading Medhi's post about starchy carbs. I just hate the thought of having to use pure sugar (dextrose) for insulin spiking. I think sugar is poison.

My main meals are:
Omelets/eggs, steak/liver/veg, yoghurt, cottage cheese, bananas, nuts, protein shakes, chicken, beans, wraps (ham, spinach, mayo, tomato), that sort of stuff.
I have more carbs than usual on Saturdays as my day off, and I still don't really have much. I know the above isn't quite low carb but according to my fitday entries I have around 150g a day on workout days (mainly from 2 40g servings of WMS) and half that on non w/o days.

I've started doing stomach vacuums every time I can remember to do them, but I'm not sure if that's what the problem is? Any advice you could give would be great.

Thanks!
Jay

[Bman1]

Well, first, don't worry too much about the caliper measurement, it is probably inaccurate if you have noticeable overhanging belly fat. Sound like you're diet is pretty much in order in terms of the types of things you eat so you may have to look at how much you eat. Use the Cunningham equation or other on-line calculators to estimate your maintenance calories then make sure you have a bit of a defecit (250-500 calories per day). Adjust your intake up or down depending on your results.

Also, go ahead and drop the maize if you want but I am not sure that is enough to make a big difference. If you are not doing some type of cardio, start adding that 4-5 times per week. I always seem to have the most noticeable fat loss after a couple of weeks where I have had several intense "cardio" type activities in addition to doing SL 5x5.

[hardestgainer]

This can be caused by having tight hip flexors due to sitting down a lot leading to lordosis, but I'm just speculating. I would try stretching hip flexors with leg swings for example.

[jayhfd]

Thanks dude, I read that article, that could very well be it. Especially since I seem to have a niggling injury in my left hip, which can be fairly painful when squatting I think I'm quite flexible though, can push the hip flexor stretches easily as far as the guy in the video if not further, and the stretch isn't that intense. Also can very easily touch my toes (have done yoga maybe 5-6 years now). But when I look in the mirror I do have an overarched lower back.

Think I'll focus on bridges and even more on abs, since I definitely seem to have the hip/hamstring flexibility. I dunno if I have glute problems, I have a "good ass" Its not flat or anything, and I get complimented on it often lol! Will also try kneeling as much as I can at my desk, where I can do hip flexor stretches all day long

Cheers!
Jay