Met Goal Weight, Still Have Flab

Equus5374

I am looking for advice on where to go from here. I have essentially met the goal weight I set when I started MFP. I am 41 years old and have lost 20 pounds since January. I'm 5-foot-10 and now weight 135 pounds. However, I still have flab on my belly and my thighs that I'd like to see reduced. I am not hung up on numbers; heck I only step on a scale every 2 weeks or so (don't even own one at home). I've lost 3 pants sizes (dropping weight can be expensive!). For exercise, I'm a distance runner so I do 2-3 "short" runs a week plus one long run; I lift weights (am a beginner at this) along with swimming and biking. I've been eating at a calorie deficit (TDEE is 2100, I eat about 1400-1500 daily). Would ya'll recommend I keep-on-keepin-on to lose the flab and disregard the numbers, or make some changes?

Thank you!

rugbyphreak

First off, congrats! I'm 5'9 and haven't been below 160 ever. I'm not even sure I can be that light.

I would keep up with the weights. If you can build muscle, the flab will fill out in a good way. If it's just skin flab, keep up your water intake, keep the skin hydrated with a good lotion, and give it time. Skin takes awhile to bounce back.

minties82

I would eat at maintenance and build muscle.

ASKyle

Lift more (and heavier) weights.

I heard someone describe this recently as, if you're a fat marshmallow, and you lose weight but don't lift to maintain your LBM, you'll be... a skinny marshmallow.

lemurcat12

minties82 wrote: »

I would eat at maintenance and build muscle.

This. If you aren't happy at your current weight I don't think the issue is too much fat, it's just improving fitness and muscle mass, and that deficit sounds like it might have been causing you to lose more muscle than necessary.

This gets linked here a lot, but I found it useful in thinking about these things:

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Equus5374

ASKyle wrote: »

Lift more (and heavier) weights.

I heard someone describe this recently as, if you're a fat marshmallow, and you lose weight but don't lift to maintain your LBM, you'll be... a skinny marshmallow.

Haha! Love it...that's what I am, a skinny marshmallow! I'm pretty lanky and don't have a lot of "meat" on my extremities, so I will go for the heavy lifting. I'm so new to it that it's still like operating in a foreign land. Can you recommend any programs on YouTube or elsewhere that will help me do the right combination of reps/sets, or is it just a matter of "pick things up and put them down." Thanks!

ASKyle

Google New Rules of Lifting for Women, Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5.