Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

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Replies

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    bump--a good one
  • AmyC2288
    AmyC2288 Posts: 386 Member
    AdrianSee1975 wrote: »
    I’ve been recomping for about 12 months now. Bodyweight has stayed within a tight range the whole time.
    16 months ago I had an Inbody scan and was 8.5% body fat.
    I probably got up to about 10% 12 months ago though.
    Only started tracking calories 6 months ago and that’s when the magic happened.
    I’ve noticed myself gradually getting leaner and very slowly dropping weight.

    Just got scanned again tonight.
    Total bodyweight is down 4lbs, but muscle mass is up almost 1lbs.
    The most surprising figure is that my body fat is now down to just 5.4% from 8.5%.

    I’m 43 years old now and do regular weight training and sprinting.

    You must get cold very easily :tongue:
  • bling_7
    bling_7 Posts: 25 Member
    edited February 2019
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    May 1st 2018 193 pounds
    lwe2lsg1jxmp.jpg
    Sept 14 2018 180.6 pounds
    77ognw9r4v6a.png
    Jan 31st 2019 184.2 pounds
    w5wkfxadtz51.png

    Pretty happy with the changes. Averaging 3500 calories now. Average of 176 protein grams per day.


    @Dvdgzz
    Well done! I am curious how many days a week are you lifting? How many cardio days if any? What are your macros and calorie intake? I am just getting started on my recomp journey so appreciate the feedback. Very encouraging!
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    bling_7 wrote: »
    [
    @Dvdgzz
    Well done! I am curious how many days a week are you lifting? How many cardio days if any? What are your macros and calorie intake? I am just getting started on my recomp journey so appreciate the feedback. Very encouraging!

    Fat: 126.62g, Protein: 174.64g, Carbs: 477.21g 3644 calories. This has been my daily average for months. I get my fiber and vitamin targets on a flexible diet. Includes daily pizza, cheeseburger, ice cream etc.

    I lift every day. Sometimes I take a rest day, maybe 2 per month. 2-hour sessions and sometimes two a days. I sit on a recumbent bike at work and use that off and on when I remember to pedal. So a lot of LISS but super low intensity.

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Let's bump this up!
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,451 Member
    bump
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    godlessandglittery wrote: »
    Finally to the recomp part of my journey and stoked to be here.

    5’9”/163.6 lbs/19% BF as of this morning. My goal is 15-16% BF.

    I’ve added quite a few of you as friends and would love more as I’m figuring out how to adjust my macros and calories towards maintainence. You guys are so inspiring to me and the discourse here has been so informative so far. Thanks for everything you do!

    Well done you, looking good. As you are pretty lean already it's not going to take much of a reduction in BF% for your definition to really pop.
  • robertkimble
    robertkimble Posts: 17 Member
    Was 164 now down to 150 and looking to hold. I am now trying to tone up. New to this so will see how it goes.
  • RobertWorkingOut
    RobertWorkingOut Posts: 20 Member
    5, 10 and just got to 150lb. Right now 1900 calories a day but doing 30-60 minute workouts 5-6 times a week so the calories will most likely increase. Looking for friends for motivation as I have just gotten back into this and new to this app. 😃
  • digidoomed
    digidoomed Posts: 151 Member
    Great post. This might have already been answered, but how slowly do people notice actual changes in measurements? I've been trying recomp out for a couple months now but have just recently felt like I'm doing it right by actually reaching my maintenance calories (1800), getting lots of protein, and working on increasing my lifting weight. Also, I eat at 1600 on rest/cardio days and cut carbs by 50g. I was just wondering how people tend to notice actual changes in their body? I just would like to know if it's normal for things like measurements and body fat% to change very slowly. Currently I have noticed my endurance increasing as well as my strength so I know that ~something~ is happening, but I just want to know if fat loss is slow so I don't get discouraged when I check my measurments
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    @digidoomed

    It's not so much that fat loss is slow it's that muscle gain is slow, that's not unique to recomp. Muscle gain unless you are young, male and relatively new to training or a genetic freak simply is slow.

    Remember if you are perfectly maintaining weight your rate of fat loss matches your (slow) rate of muscle gain and other lean mass gain.

    That rate is personal but governed by the usual factors of gender, training years, age, effectiveness or your training (you get to control that one at least!) and genetic gifts for hypertrophy which is also very varied.

    Commonly it's stated that a male in first year of serious training may on average gain 2lb of muscle a month, halve that for females.

    Track any and every way you can or want to - bodyfat has serious limitations in accuracy, photos needs to be consistent, tape measurements have to be repeatable. You are right that as your strength is improving (consistently over time) something is happening.
  • digidoomed
    digidoomed Posts: 151 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    @digidoomed

    It's not so much that fat loss is slow it's that muscle gain is slow, that's not unique to recomp. Muscle gain unless you are young, male and relatively new to training or a genetic freak simply is slow.

    Remember if you are perfectly maintaining weight your rate of fat loss matches your (slow) rate of muscle gain and other lean mass gain.

    That rate is personal but governed by the usual factors of gender, training years, age, effectiveness or your training (you get to control that one at least!) and genetic gifts for hypertrophy which is also very varied.

    Commonly it's stated that a male in first year of serious training may on average gain 2lb of muscle a month, halve that for females.

    Track any and every way you can or want to - bodyfat has serious limitations in accuracy, photos needs to be consistent, tape measurements have to be repeatable. You are right that as your strength is improving (consistently over time) something is happening.

    Thank you for the information. I was also wondering about something else. Currently I'm at about 30% body fat. Can I still continue my recomp or is it meant to be done once at a lower body fat? I've really been enjoying it because I don't feel restricted or like I'm dieting but I always wonder if I should have waited until my body fat got lower to start it. Again, sorry if these kind of questions have been answered. This is a very long thread lol
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    digidoomed wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    @digidoomed

    It's not so much that fat loss is slow it's that muscle gain is slow, that's not unique to recomp. Muscle gain unless you are young, male and relatively new to training or a genetic freak simply is slow.

    Remember if you are perfectly maintaining weight your rate of fat loss matches your (slow) rate of muscle gain and other lean mass gain.

    That rate is personal but governed by the usual factors of gender, training years, age, effectiveness or your training (you get to control that one at least!) and genetic gifts for hypertrophy which is also very varied.

    Commonly it's stated that a male in first year of serious training may on average gain 2lb of muscle a month, halve that for females.

    Track any and every way you can or want to - bodyfat has serious limitations in accuracy, photos needs to be consistent, tape measurements have to be repeatable. You are right that as your strength is improving (consistently over time) something is happening.

    Thank you for the information. I was also wondering about something else. Currently I'm at about 30% body fat. Can I still continue my recomp or is it meant to be done once at a lower body fat? I've really been enjoying it because I don't feel restricted or like I'm dieting but I always wonder if I should have waited until my body fat got lower to start it. Again, sorry if these kind of questions have been answered. This is a very long thread lol

    Perversely it's easier to recomp at higher BF% levels - but much harder to see improvements when they are hidden under a layer of padding. The last few percentage points make a far bigger visual difference in terms of improved definition compared to the first few.
    The quickest way to lose body fat is with a calorie deficit of course, so if leanness is your priority continue to cut - that doesn't have to be quick weight loss.

    Whether your estimate of 30% is accurate is another question of course.

    The "should" part is entirely personal, you set the agenda according to your goals and preferences.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    a9o3shd0hht2.jpg
    04/11/18 193 pounds

    522un8d0seti.jpg
    04/01/19 192 pounds

    Practically, the same weight. I wanted to post for my 1 year anniversary of counting calories without fail. It's all about that consistency.

    Great job.
  • CapsLocker
    CapsLocker Posts: 11 Member
    Jumping in here because I got tipped in my topic.
    I'm 5'7, 128-ish lbs, and assume I'm around 25% bodyfat (assume because I have not measured this).
    I average 10k steps daily and want to do bodyweight resistance training 3x weekly, or give the gym another try.

    When calculating tdee, should I consider this activity in the calculation (so walking and workouts)? I can't quite grasp how I will be able to lose fat if I'm not eating at a deficit.
  • alexmose
    alexmose Posts: 792 Member
    I am 5’4’’ 114 lb female and at 19-20% bodyfat. I have a Dexa scale I use all the time. My qieeion is, how long did it take u all to drop body fat? I have been the same % for FOUR months. I track all my food with a food scale and lift heavy. Wondering if anyone else is stalled. I follow the Mucle Building Routine (it was it program). I have been lifting for over a year, about 15 months. Cardio 6-7 days/week for calorie burn.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    alexmose wrote: »
    I am 5’4’’ 114 lb female and at 19-20% bodyfat. I have a Dexa scale I use all the time. My qieeion is, how long did it take u all to drop body fat? I have been the same % for FOUR months. I track all my food with a food scale and lift heavy. Wondering if anyone else is stalled. I follow the Mucle Building Routine (it was it program). I have been lifting for over a year, about 15 months. Cardio 6-7 days/week for calorie burn.

    The thing is because you are already very lean being at the lower end of the BMI your progress might be slow to seemingly non-existent. I've been there, ultra lean trying to recomp, although I didn't stay with it as long as you did. At the end of the day if you have been recomping for over a year with little progress, and aren't happy with the direction you are going, I would start to think about changing things. It could be your workout program, I am not familiar with it but make sure it has adequate muscle stimulation and you are progressing over time. Also perhaps running a very small surplus for a while to gain weight then return to recomp or do a small cut.
  • mabelsdaddy
    mabelsdaddy Posts: 117 Member
    Hello all! i'm at 23% BF, down from 29% after losing 50 pounds, i'm 6'0" and 215....i don't want to lose the muscle i've gotten during the three months of strength training. Sure, i'd love to lose more body fat....but i could care less about the scale and my weight hasn't changed much in the last 40 days or so. if my goal is to get below 20%, should i just keep doing what i'm doing or do i have to go into a cut phase? Thank you!

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