Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat
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Your "whereas" statement makes me think you think recomp is easier.
Well, I wasn't thinking it was easier in terms of effort or the like, just easier to fit into my lifestyle.Bodyweight for a bunch of resistance training will no longer be effective after some point. It'll turn in to fatigue from use, not failing because of load.
Gotcha, something to keep under consideration.0 -
@belimawrHey guys,
Have been watching this and other recomp threads, and notice the warnings of the slow progress..
You need to put it in context of the individual not a very broad brush statement about speed.
Age, history, current status and genetics all play a part.
E.g. an 18 year old male new to lifting and miles below their genetic potential will be able to make spectacular progress, an old fart like me who started lifting in 1975 and currently not far off lifetime bests is going to make slow progress.
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Hi, been directed here by a very helpful poster on a thread I started yesterday. I was just wondering if someone who is a bit wiser than me can tell me how to go about setting maintenance on my goals please? I mean I know how to do it, but as someone who doesn't exactly lead a busy lifestyle but works out rather intensively in the gym about four times a week, plays an hour of 5-a-side football, does general things like walk the dog a few times a day, go to the shops, etc, what activity levels should I be picking? Because two of them have a difference of several hundred calories and I can't decide which one is best for me.0
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hiitsscott wrote: »Hi, been directed here by a very helpful poster on a thread I started yesterday. I was just wondering if someone who is a bit wiser than me can tell me how to go about setting maintenance on my goals please? I mean I know how to do it, but as someone who doesn't exactly lead a busy lifestyle but works out rather intensively in the gym about four times a week, plays an hour of 5-a-side football, does general things like walk the dog a few times a day, go to the shops, etc, what activity levels should I be picking? Because two of them have a difference of several hundred calories and I can't decide which one is best for me.
I am a fan of Alan Aragon's formula...
Goal Weight x (hours of exercise + 9.5)0 -
All of them more or less are educated guesses. Like you said, this one is pretty simple and comes as close as the rest...
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Is that weekly or daily hours of exercise? If I use weekly it is very close to my TDEE. If i use daily I would be very hungry.0
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The more I read this thread the more stupid I feel... is there a "Recomp For Dummies" edition? LOL!1
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DoreenaV1975 wrote: »The more I read this thread the more stupid I feel... is there a "Recomp For Dummies" edition? LOL!
Just ask usanything you don't understand @DoreenaV1975
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hiitsscott wrote: »Hi, been directed here by a very helpful poster on a thread I started yesterday. I was just wondering if someone who is a bit wiser than me can tell me how to go about setting maintenance on my goals please? I mean I know how to do it, but as someone who doesn't exactly lead a busy lifestyle but works out rather intensively in the gym about four times a week, plays an hour of 5-a-side football, does general things like walk the dog a few times a day, go to the shops, etc, what activity levels should I be picking? Because two of them have a difference of several hundred calories and I can't decide which one is best for me.
I am a fan of Alan Aragon's formula...
Goal Weight x (hours of exercise + 9.5)
I always wonder if I should shave off an hour or two from my weekly "exercise" because none of it includes cardio, and I assume calculators/calculations expect I am getting a decent calorie burn.
Anyone have thoughts on this?0 -
I think it's just because this thread is so long, have only made it thru half of it, and there seems to be conflicting info.
I am 106.2 (as of today) 5'1". I don't want to "gain" weight but do want to lean out the little bit of fat I have left lingering/tighten my stomach, butt, and thighs. I think the general consensus is I maintain and I lift... but then I see some people say that additional cutting might be better (not specifically about my situation just in general).
I realize there might be a bit of weight gain w/ the lifting, but that is not my goal... I want thin and lean... I like being tiny!
I am still at a minor deficit because I am afraid of going full maintenance... as I really don't know what my "maintenance" calories are. The calculators all confuse me!
Again, I need "recomp", and now apparently, "maintenance" For Dummies!0 -
DoreenaV1975 wrote: »I think it's just because this thread is so long, have only made it thru half of it, and there seems to be conflicting info.
I am 106.2 (as of today) 5'1". I don't want to "gain" weight but do want to lean out the little bit of fat I have left lingering/tighten my stomach, butt, and thighs. I think the general consensus is I maintain and I lift... but then I see some people say that additional cutting might be better (not specifically about my situation just in general).
I realize there might be a bit of weight gain w/ the lifting, but that is not my goal... I want thin and lean... I like being tiny!
I am still at a minor deficit because I am afraid of going full maintenance... as I really don't know what my "maintenance" calories are. The calculators all confuse me!
Again, I need "recomp", and now apparently, "maintenance" For Dummies!
Doreena, just find your maintenance calories. Are you still losing? If not, you're at maintenance. If you are, up your calories by 100 daily each week. Don't be afraid. It's not like you're adding 1000 calories per day. If you see a half pound gain or pound gain, you know what to do to get it off again if you choose.
I don't think you need to cut anymore, you're tiny-at a healthy weight. Just lift the things.1 -
arditarose wrote: »hiitsscott wrote: »Hi, been directed here by a very helpful poster on a thread I started yesterday. I was just wondering if someone who is a bit wiser than me can tell me how to go about setting maintenance on my goals please? I mean I know how to do it, but as someone who doesn't exactly lead a busy lifestyle but works out rather intensively in the gym about four times a week, plays an hour of 5-a-side football, does general things like walk the dog a few times a day, go to the shops, etc, what activity levels should I be picking? Because two of them have a difference of several hundred calories and I can't decide which one is best for me.
I am a fan of Alan Aragon's formula...
Goal Weight x (hours of exercise + 9.5)
I always wonder if I should shave off an hour or two from my weekly "exercise" because none of it includes cardio, and I assume calculators/calculations expect I am getting a decent calorie burn.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
I'd be interested in this too as that formula is telling me to eat 50% more calories than I do and my weight loss is slower than continental drift (4kg since March).1 -
DoreenaV1975 wrote: »I think it's just because this thread is so long, have only made it thru half of it, and there seems to be conflicting info.
I am 106.2 (as of today) 5'1". I don't want to "gain" weight but do want to lean out the little bit of fat I have left lingering/tighten my stomach, butt, and thighs. I think the general consensus is I maintain and I lift... but then I see some people say that additional cutting might be better (not specifically about my situation just in general).
I realize there might be a bit of weight gain w/ the lifting, but that is not my goal... I want thin and lean... I like being tiny!
I am still at a minor deficit because I am afraid of going full maintenance... as I really don't know what my "maintenance" calories are. The calculators all confuse me!
Again, I need "recomp", and now apparently, "maintenance" For Dummies!
1) your weight will most likely not increase in recomp, but even if it does, you probably won't mind if you have lower bodyfat because you can still look amazing. (See the links) In any case, you won't get big and bulky from lifting, and it really really won't happen while eating at maintenance rather than a surplus.
2) that small defecit while lifting,that is just personal preference. It can however cause you to lose weight. Also, you need a surplus to increase muscle mass. The idea behind recomp is tricking your body in creating a calorie surplus to build muscle by burning fat (rather than a surplus from food). That will be much harder at a defecit than at maintenance...
3) maintenance calories are a range, so you can eat anywhere within that range to maintain weight. Just let MFP calculate it for you, continue logging your exercise and eat that number. Give it a couple of weeks to see what the scale does. You really won't gain a lot of weight if you just keep logging. And even if you do gain a pound, you know how to lose it, plus it allows you to calculate your actual maintenance calories. (1 pound is 3500 calorie surplus, so if you gained one pound in a month, you were eating at a 125 calorie surplus a day.)
4) in my personal opinion, if you are at your goal weight, don't continue to cut. I am on MFP because I was underweight and don't want to go back there. For me being underweight was absolutely horrible, therefore I really dislike advice that makes people head in that direction while already at a healthy weight. Plus, you won't gain any muscle on a cut. If your muscle mass is already quite low, a cut will make you look 'I can count your ribs' skinny rather than fit and lean.
ETA: recommend material on getting bulky
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky/p1
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
This second link is what I mean on looking better while having a higher weight.
And on gaining muscle:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10232698/muscle-gaining-misconceptions1 -
Thanks @arditarose and @AsISmile ... I was told, by a couple of guys (should have been my first clue) on another thread that the only way to reduce body fat was to lose weight...
I told them I thought I had lost enough...but then one of them chimed in you could go down to 98 pounds and still be at a normal BMI. 98 pounds?! WOW! I want to lose the flab but I don't think 98 pounds is healthy especially when my ribs, hip bones, collar bones and spine are protruding already! But then again, what do I know?
I carry my weight on the bottom, so despite the bones sticking out in certain places I really do have a good amount of flab on my problem areas. I am what you call a pear shape.0 -
DoreenaV1975 wrote: »Thanks @arditarose and @AsISmile ... I was told, by a couple of guys (should have been my first clue) on another thread that the only way to reduce body fat was to lose weight...
I told them I thought I had lost enough...but then one of them chimed in you could go down to 98 pounds and still be at a normal BMI. 98 pounds?! WOW! I want to lose the flab but I don't think 98 pounds is healthy especially when my ribs, hip bones, collar bones and spine are protruding already! But then again, what do I know?
I carry my weight on the bottom, so despite the bones sticking out in certain places I really do have a good amount of flab on my problem areas. I am what you call a pear shape.
Don't go there. I'm pear shaped too and I'm treading lightly on going into the 120s even because I know, we get very tiny up top first but there's fat on the thighs and butt. It sounds like you know yourself and that you should not go lower. A recomp will help you reach your goals.0 -
I would let the scale, measurements and progress in the gym dictate that...arditarose wrote: »hiitsscott wrote: »Hi, been directed here by a very helpful poster on a thread I started yesterday. I was just wondering if someone who is a bit wiser than me can tell me how to go about setting maintenance on my goals please? I mean I know how to do it, but as someone who doesn't exactly lead a busy lifestyle but works out rather intensively in the gym about four times a week, plays an hour of 5-a-side football, does general things like walk the dog a few times a day, go to the shops, etc, what activity levels should I be picking? Because two of them have a difference of several hundred calories and I can't decide which one is best for me.
I am a fan of Alan Aragon's formula...
Goal Weight x (hours of exercise + 9.5)
I always wonder if I should shave off an hour or two from my weekly "exercise" because none of it includes cardio, and I assume calculators/calculations expect I am getting a decent calorie burn.
Anyone have thoughts on this?0 -
I would let the scale, measurements and progress in the gym dictate that...arditarose wrote: »hiitsscott wrote: »Hi, been directed here by a very helpful poster on a thread I started yesterday. I was just wondering if someone who is a bit wiser than me can tell me how to go about setting maintenance on my goals please? I mean I know how to do it, but as someone who doesn't exactly lead a busy lifestyle but works out rather intensively in the gym about four times a week, plays an hour of 5-a-side football, does general things like walk the dog a few times a day, go to the shops, etc, what activity levels should I be picking? Because two of them have a difference of several hundred calories and I can't decide which one is best for me.
I am a fan of Alan Aragon's formula...
Goal Weight x (hours of exercise + 9.5)
I always wonder if I should shave off an hour or two from my weekly "exercise" because none of it includes cardio, and I assume calculators/calculations expect I am getting a decent calorie burn.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
I know. As soon as I posted that I was wondering why I even asked because I just use my data anyway. I'm always wishing there was some magical way I could get a larger TDEE without extra cardio. Fantasies.0 -
arditarose wrote: »DoreenaV1975 wrote: »Thanks @arditarose and @AsISmile ... I was told, by a couple of guys (should have been my first clue) on another thread that the only way to reduce body fat was to lose weight...
I told them I thought I had lost enough...but then one of them chimed in you could go down to 98 pounds and still be at a normal BMI. 98 pounds?! WOW! I want to lose the flab but I don't think 98 pounds is healthy especially when my ribs, hip bones, collar bones and spine are protruding already! But then again, what do I know?
I carry my weight on the bottom, so despite the bones sticking out in certain places I really do have a good amount of flab on my problem areas. I am what you call a pear shape.
Don't go there. I'm pear shaped too and I'm treading lightly on going into the 120s even because I know, we get very tiny up top first but there's fat on the thighs and butt. It sounds like you know yourself and that you should not go lower. A recomp will help you reach your goals.
Pear shaped too.
Also, I second this.0
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