Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

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  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
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    Bioklutz, your lats look bigger and more defined in the second picture. Both look pretty freaking awesome though.
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
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    Thanks Retirehappy & Robininfl.

    I have been doing this for a year and 4 months now. I think I look drastically different from when I started. I have really been itching to run a bulk and cut though. At the end of July or early August I am breaking up with recomp! I am excited to try lifting in a surplus!
  • Kerryatoon
    Kerryatoon Posts: 374 Member
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    Still consider myself new to weight training here.. still struggling to sever my emotional attachment to the scale after a period of 1-2lb week weight loss.

    I have been attempting to get into recomp for the last 5 weeks. I realized this morning, even though I haven't seen the scale move more than 1/2 lb in 5 weeks, I've lost 2" on my hips, 1.5" on my waist and almost 1" on my thigh. I also increased my calories from 1200 and have been eating 1500-1600 during that time, as suggested by some of you in this thread. I have increased my squat weight +30lb, bench +30lb, OH press +15lb, and my deadlift +40lbs over these same 5 weeks.

    SO my question is at this point can I consider myself in RECOMP?

    If I'm increasing muscle strength and mass and still weigh the same I must be losing body fat right?

    Is this a long enough period to determine that my current cal goals are appropriate?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Kerryatoon wrote: »
    Still consider myself new to weight training here.. still struggling to sever my emotional attachment to the scale after a period of 1-2lb week weight loss.

    I have been attempting to get into recomp for the last 5 weeks. I realized this morning, even though I haven't seen the scale move more than 1/2 lb in 5 weeks, I've lost 2" on my hips, 1.5" on my waist and almost 1" on my thigh. I also increased my calories from 1200 and have been eating 1500-1600 during that time, as suggested by some of you in this thread. I have increased my squat weight +30lb, bench +30lb, OH press +15lb, and my deadlift +40lbs over these same 5 weeks.

    SO my question is at this point can I consider myself in RECOMP?

    If I'm increasing muscle strength and mass and still weigh the same I must be losing body fat right?

    Is this a long enough period to determine that my current cal goals are appropriate?

    Well done you! Great results.

    Answers to your questions:
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes but would suggest adding a bit more to your calorie goal and see what happens. Keep nudging it up and you may be surprised that your maintenance is higher than you think.
  • Kerryatoon
    Kerryatoon Posts: 374 Member
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    @sijomial Thank you for your input! Great! Ok.. I may try to increase in another couple of weeks. I would be happy with maintaining but would also not mind losing about 5-10 more lbs so I'm going to see how I do at the 15-1600 for a bit longer. I'm also starting to understand that I can enjoy my strength gains now and eat at maintenance and then cut a bit later when I want to drop the last few pounds. This is really exciting stuff! Wasn't sure I could do this but it feels great! Thanks to everyone for all the info here that has helped me reach this next level of fitness. :)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Hi all!
    I am currently cutting and I am about 3-4lbs away from my goal weight. To be honest though, I am not even sure it will make a difference in my body composition. While I would love to start recomping sooner than later, I just don't know if lifting 2-3x per week (30 min per session) is going to be enough to make a difference (or is it?). I have a new baby and toddler so there is not really much time to workout unfortunately. Also, the eating... I am nursing and very active so I am probably looking at 3000+ cals just to maintain. I'm great at cutting, not so great at eating so much (even with ice cream and donuts every night :p). I will have to reassess soon when I am closer to goal, in the meantime I will be following all the great info in this thread :)
  • _piaffe
    _piaffe Posts: 163 Member
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    Hi there. (First post jitters.)

    Just wondering if anyone has an update to share on their recomp efforts - insights, mistakes, what's working?

    I reached GW April 5, and tried to switch to maintenance and/or recomp at the same time. It's taken me two months to stabilize (weight, mindset), and I'm still not sure I'm there mentally. For me, it was too much change at once. My numbers ricocheted all over the place. If I had to do it again, I think I'd focus on transitioning to maintenance for 3 months before switching goals to recomp.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    _piaffe wrote: »
    Hi there. (First post jitters.)

    Just wondering if anyone has an update to share on their recomp efforts - insights, mistakes, what's working?

    I reached GW April 5, and tried to switch to maintenance and/or recomp at the same time. It's taken me two months to stabilize (weight, mindset), and I'm still not sure I'm there mentally. For me, it was too much change at once. My numbers ricocheted all over the place. If I had to do it again, I think I'd focus on transitioning to maintenance for 3 months before switching goals to recomp.

    How long were you running a deficit and how large?

    Your weight will fluctuate on a day to day basis with fluids, food volume, glycogen... It's not necessarily fat gain; so what is there to fret about?

    Look at the bigger picture.. The fact that you're hovering around your goal weight while being able to eat more and more train more efficiently (assuming that makes you happy).
  • _piaffe
    _piaffe Posts: 163 Member
    edited June 2016
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    LolBroScience wrote: »

    How long were you running a deficit and how large?

    Your weight will fluctuate on a day to day basis with fluids, food volume, glycogen... It's not necessarily fat gain; so what is there to fret about?

    Look at the bigger picture.. The fact that you're hovering around your goal weight while being able to eat more and more train more efficiently (assuming that makes you happy).

    3 month deficit over which I averaged ~1730 calories/day. However, that was spread over weekday "banking" for "cheat meals". I over-deprived (1550-1600) and really over-indulged (~3000). Coming into maintenance/recomp, I've realized that I can't handle the extremes. The "cheat meal" approach is too close to a binge/starve cycle for me - it isn't healthy for me, it doesn't work for me and is not a long term solution for me.

    So - yes, I'm within 2ish pounds of GW and have been since April, but for most of that, it was a version of the same behaviour. Extremes, at higher calorie amounts. And it stressed me out! Lots of guilts and regret and freaking out over those glycogen post-cheat highs. The scale doesn't really tell that part of the story.

    I'm working on TDEE + or - 200 calories as my comfort zone. The training part has been really good - I do think I'm making progress on that side. The maintenance eating... work in progress!
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Holy cow, look at that booty you grew! You look awesome my dear!
  • Natalie2950
    Natalie2950 Posts: 116 Member
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    Hi guys - does anyone have an idiots guide to recomp? The purpose, why we should think about doing it etc? The first I heard of it was through MFP and people who discuss it are already fully versed on everything. Sorry to sound stupid but I am really interested.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Natalie2950 wrote: »
    Hi guys - does anyone have an idiots guide to recomp? The purpose, why we should think about doing it etc? The first I heard of it was through MFP and people who discuss it are already fully versed on everything. Sorry to sound stupid but I am really interested.

    Read the OP...
  • Natalie2950
    Natalie2950 Posts: 116 Member
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    LolBroScience wrote: »
    Natalie2950 wrote: »
    Hi guys - does anyone have an idiots guide to recomp? The purpose, why we should think about doing it etc? The first I heard of it was through MFP and people who discuss it are already fully versed on everything. Sorry to sound stupid but I am really interested.

    Read the OP...

    OP???
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Natalie2950 wrote: »
    LolBroScience wrote: »
    Natalie2950 wrote: »
    Hi guys - does anyone have an idiots guide to recomp? The purpose, why we should think about doing it etc? The first I heard of it was through MFP and people who discuss it are already fully versed on everything. Sorry to sound stupid but I am really interested.

    Read the OP...

    OP???

    Original post
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
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    Page one of this thread.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Natalie2950 wrote: »
    LolBroScience wrote: »
    Natalie2950 wrote: »
    Hi guys - does anyone have an idiots guide to recomp? The purpose, why we should think about doing it etc? The first I heard of it was through MFP and people who discuss it are already fully versed on everything. Sorry to sound stupid but I am really interested.

    Read the OP...

    OP???

    The very first post in this thread.
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
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    Also, if you go to MFP's blog & type in "recomposition," you come up with two articles. One article gives the particulars of the program and the second gives info on how to do your calories/macros. It's worth the read. B)
  • MoBetta4Sure
    MoBetta4Sure Posts: 7 Member
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    After losing 40 lbs, took 5" off my waist going hard on my core this last 1-1/2" of fat has been tough but @usmcmp let me know that I have been doing it right.
  • MoBetta4Sure
    MoBetta4Sure Posts: 7 Member
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    Been over 4 weeks waiting for a tendon I irritated doing pullups, so I have stayed away from my weights, cause just straightening my arm at times invokes pain on the inside of my elbow. I have managed to reach my target weight of 185 lbs. +/- 3 lbs over the past 6 months.
    So I been going hard with my yoga and core workouts to the point where I get rid of the fat I would have something allowing me to take off my shirt and show my cuts. But I just learned that I need to have some cardio to get this last bit of fat around my waist. I can do that, I like sweating.
    My new problem is getting the protein calories in to produce muscle growth weight. For my mind after all this time getting to my desired weight that I somehow increase caloric intake for muscle growth is going against all I've learned.

    Thank you to @usmcmp for teaching me that what I want to do... recomposition.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
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    MoBetta4Sure wrote: »
    Been over 4 weeks waiting for a tendon I irritated doing pullups, so I have stayed away from my weights, cause just straightening my arm at times invokes pain on the inside of my elbow. I have managed to reach my target weight of 185 lbs. +/- 3 lbs over the past 6 months.
    So I been going hard with my yoga and core workouts to the point where I get rid of the fat I would have something allowing me to take off my shirt and show my cuts. But I just learned that I need to have some cardio to get this last bit of fat around my waist. I can do that, I like sweating.
    My new problem is getting the protein calories in to produce muscle growth weight. For my mind after all this time getting to my desired weight that I somehow increase caloric intake for muscle growth is going against all I've learned.

    Thank you to @usmcmp for teaching me that what I want to do... recomposition.

    Wow! Your current situation and mindset are exactly the same as mine...

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