Re:
As reiterated by the above posters. Fat is fat, muscle is muscle. By dropping fat, you expose any muscle you might have.
You can't spot reduce. Fat is dropped from the extremities, such as the face, legs, buttocks, and then works inward to the belly, hips, waist, and chest.
Your best bet is to focus on a diet of low carbs/high protein/moderate fat and watch your calories. Atkins fails in its disregard for calorie totals. Find a good calculator online and then work out your totals. Low carbs are about 5-20% of total diet. Why low carbs? Because carbs and fats require different enzymes in the body, and the body can only do 1 thing at a time...store carbs as fat, or burn fat as energy. If you're eating carbs, the body FIRST shuts down fat burning to dispose of the carbs. If you're eating primarily fats, over a long-enough time period, you'll develop the enzymes and the regularity to switch to consuming fat. Also, you'll cease any future fat deposits as a result of eating carbs.
Focus on working out more and being active. Scientific studies confirm MORE lean body mass is preserved and gained by an active program of exercise and no calories restriction, versus just a program of calorie restriction. Why? Because exercising and lowering calories thrusts the body below its comfort level of intake calories, slowing down its burn rate.
Target burning 500 calories per day of exercise. The usual program of 3 days a week only of working out isn't sufficient. If you want, lift 3 days, and walk the other 4, but be active everyday. Take up hobbies and sports.
The reason society is obese is due to the fact we're less active, therefore we consume less calories relative to ancestors (though some consume way more), and most humans are way below the threshhold of calories, and their running slow. We're near inactive. Even 30 minutes isn't enough. The body was built for working out. The other option is to lower your intake of calories to near starvation so as to remain at a constant bodyweight. The alternative is to workout consistently and eat the same amount of calories. For me, it's about 1800 to maintain weight, not accounting for activity. Add activity and it's about 2200. I could workout everyday, eat 2200 calories of food, and maintain or lose weight.
12 week programs aren't what people sell you on them think they are. It took you years to build the body you have, it would take a good deal of time to do the reverse. You can certainly get lean in 12 weeks or 20 weeks, but building up substantial muscle isn't a reality. About 25% of weight gain is muscle, and 75% will be fat. You can shift that by eating low carb and doing resistance training to a bit more muscle, but any gain will cause a concurrent gain in fat, so you want to temper your gain.
A-Unit
