Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat
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JessicaMcB wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »Women building muscle anecdote: I did hydrostatic testing 6 months ago and weighed 151 with 18.8% bf. Last week weighed in at 153 with 17.8%. According to the test my lean mass went up from 122 to 125 lb, and my fat dropped by 1 lb. I don't know what the margin or error is, but I reportedly look leaner (people ask if I have lost weight). I eat low-carb, high fat because I am type I diabetic.
This is not a aimed at you but your results perfectly highlight why I don't think recomp is the best course of action for most people. The margin of error for hydrostatic weighing is quoted to be around 3% which your measurements are well within.
Assuming one moves from a deficit to maintenance or a surplus, then some of the LBM gain will be water/glycogen. I have seen people gain between 1-9lbs of water/glycogen very early on.
The higher end of glycogen only would occur if you are coming off a low carb or low calorie diet. If a person is on a moderator diet with moderate carbs, the increase in calories will be minimal in terms of glycogen storage. Also, taking into consideration, that when the average person increases calories, its generally not pure carbs. Many increase fats since it's easier to add calories. Most people I see in the gaining weight section, gain 2-4 lbs at most. And that is also not pure glycogen anyways because it is also an increase on waste from additional food.
Would this also be true for someone who stays low carb and runs a recomp?
If you increase food consumption, you would increase waste. If you stayed low carb and didn't increase grams of carbs, then glycogen won't really change much. But you still have to consider sodium levels and natural body weight fluctuations associated with cycle.2 -
Considering 500 calories worth of stored glucose in the muscle along with attached water would weigh about 1 lb only - the water weight gain from coming out of deep diet still isn't that much - and that's only if the person had been doing intense cardio and the body was just itching to store more carbs when it finally got them.
I doubt a diet that deep would allow that intense of a cardio workout.
I'm sure any workout would feel intense though, just not what it could be.0 -
Jessica, have you considered a cyclic ketogenic diet to decrease the negative aspects of glycogen depletion? (3 days keto then one day high carb)
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/glen12.htm0 -
trigden1991 wrote: »Women building muscle anecdote: I did hydrostatic testing 6 months ago and weighed 151 with 18.8% bf. Last week weighed in at 153 with 17.8%. According to the test my lean mass went up from 122 to 125 lb, and my fat dropped by 1 lb. I don't know what the margin or error is, but I reportedly look leaner (people ask if I have lost weight). I eat low-carb, high fat because I am type I diabetic.
This is not a aimed at you but your results perfectly highlight why I don't think recomp is the best course of action for most people. The margin of error for hydrostatic weighing is quoted to be around 3% which your measurements are well within.
Assuming one moves from a deficit to maintenance or a surplus, then some of the LBM gain will be water/glycogen. I have seen people gain between 1-9lbs of water/glycogen very early on.
IMO recomp is great for certain individuals who don't want to bulk but do have time to achieve some definition in the legs and arms and develop a smaller waistline. Women are perfect candidates IMO because some of us do not want to bulk while gaining muscle. I don't want to go up in weight. Ever.
I'm interested in looking good/okay in a bathing suit not in being bodybuilder competition material. I love recomp because I can eat at maintenance level and still improve and change my body shape. Win-win.
http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/body-recomp/3 -
Can someone tell me what my daily macronutrient intake should be?
I want to maintain my weight while cutting my lower stomach fat..0 -
aadilmkhan871 wrote: »Can someone tell me what my daily macronutrient intake should be?
I want to maintain my weight while cutting my lower stomach fat..
I assume that is not you in your profile picture............
Set MFP up, select your weight loss goal and eat that number of calories. Also you can't spot reduce fat.1 -
aadilmkhan871 wrote: »Can someone tell me what my daily macronutrient intake should be?
I want to maintain my weight while cutting my lower stomach fat..
Well macro's wont' cut at your lower stomach, but general guidelines for macros are:
p - .8-1g /lb of lean body mass
f - .35-.6g
c - rest
There is personal variation. So you can go higher fat and lower carb and if you would like, you can go up to 1g of pro per lb of weight or a little higher. Whatever is really going to make you sustain your calories over a period of time and train hard.2 -
trigden1991 wrote: »Women building muscle anecdote: I did hydrostatic testing 6 months ago and weighed 151 with 18.8% bf. Last week weighed in at 153 with 17.8%. According to the test my lean mass went up from 122 to 125 lb, and my fat dropped by 1 lb. I don't know what the margin or error is, but I reportedly look leaner (people ask if I have lost weight). I eat low-carb, high fat because I am type I diabetic.
This is not a aimed at you but your results perfectly highlight why I don't think recomp is the best course of action for most people. The margin of error for hydrostatic weighing is quoted to be around 3% which your measurements are well within.
Assuming one moves from a deficit to maintenance or a surplus, then some of the LBM gain will be water/glycogen. I have seen people gain between 1-9lbs of water/glycogen very early on.
IMO recomp is great for certain individuals who don't want to bulk but do have time to achieve some definition in the legs and arms and develop a smaller waistline. Women are perfect candidates IMO because some of us do not want to bulk while gaining muscle. I don't want to go up in weight. Ever.
I'm interested in looking good/okay in a bathing suit not in being bodybuilder competition material. I love recomp because I can eat at maintenance level and still improve and change my body shape. Win-win.
http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/body-recomp/
@DebSozo
That is a pretty dreadful article full of nonsense and silly rules which actually are personal optional choices and absolutely not requirements for successful recomp. That's just someone trying to make a buck by making something totally normal sound complicated and requiring forcing.
Just two examples: neither calorie cycling or macro precision are required.7 -
"sijomial wrote:DebSozo wrote:
@DebSozo
That is a pretty dreadful article full of nonsense and silly rules which actually are personal optional choices and absolutely not requirements for successful recomp. That's just someone trying to make a buck by making something totally normal sound complicated and requiring forcing.
Just two examples: neither calorie cycling or macro precision are required.
Glad to hear it - I just read that article & thought 'screw that then' if it's that involved- I thought i could recomp by eating at more or less maintenance & doing strength training a few times a week & keeping an eye on protein3 -
trigden1991 wrote: »Women building muscle anecdote: I did hydrostatic testing 6 months ago and weighed 151 with 18.8% bf. Last week weighed in at 153 with 17.8%. According to the test my lean mass went up from 122 to 125 lb, and my fat dropped by 1 lb. I don't know what the margin or error is, but I reportedly look leaner (people ask if I have lost weight). I eat low-carb, high fat because I am type I diabetic.
This is not a aimed at you but your results perfectly highlight why I don't think recomp is the best course of action for most people. The margin of error for hydrostatic weighing is quoted to be around 3% which your measurements are well within.
Assuming one moves from a deficit to maintenance or a surplus, then some of the LBM gain will be water/glycogen. I have seen people gain between 1-9lbs of water/glycogen very early on.
IMO recomp is great for certain individuals who don't want to bulk but do have time to achieve some definition in the legs and arms and develop a smaller waistline. Women are perfect candidates IMO because some of us do not want to bulk while gaining muscle. I don't want to go up in weight. Ever.
I'm interested in looking good/okay in a bathing suit not in being bodybuilder competition material. I love recomp because I can eat at maintenance level and still improve and change my body shape. Win-win.
http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/body-recomp/
@DebSozo
That is a pretty dreadful article full of nonsense and silly rules which actually are personal optional choices and absolutely not requirements for successful recomp. That's just someone trying to make a buck by making something totally normal sound complicated and requiring forcing.
Just two examples: neither calorie cycling or macro precision are required.
Thanks-- I love recomp and plan to continue. I won't post on this thread anymore.
I'm going to calorie cycle as the entire one week averages work better for me than keeping a steady daily amount.
Take care everyone. And thanks again.0 -
@DebSozotrigden1991 wrote: »Women building muscle anecdote: I did hydrostatic testing 6 months ago and weighed 151 with 18.8% bf. Last week weighed in at 153 with 17.8%. According to the test my lean mass went up from 122 to 125 lb, and my fat dropped by 1 lb. I don't know what the margin or error is, but I reportedly look leaner (people ask if I have lost weight). I eat low-carb, high fat because I am type I diabetic.
This is not a aimed at you but your results perfectly highlight why I don't think recomp is the best course of action for most people. The margin of error for hydrostatic weighing is quoted to be around 3% which your measurements are well within.
Assuming one moves from a deficit to maintenance or a surplus, then some of the LBM gain will be water/glycogen. I have seen people gain between 1-9lbs of water/glycogen very early on.
IMO recomp is great for certain individuals who don't want to bulk but do have time to achieve some definition in the legs and arms and develop a smaller waistline. Women are perfect candidates IMO because some of us do not want to bulk while gaining muscle. I don't want to go up in weight. Ever.
I'm interested in looking good/okay in a bathing suit not in being bodybuilder competition material. I love recomp because I can eat at maintenance level and still improve and change my body shape. Win-win.
http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/body-recomp/
@DebSozo
That is a pretty dreadful article full of nonsense and silly rules which actually are personal optional choices and absolutely not requirements for successful recomp. That's just someone trying to make a buck by making something totally normal sound complicated and requiring forcing.
Just two examples: neither calorie cycling or macro precision are required.
Thanks-- I love recomp and plan to continue. I won't post on this thread anymore.
I'm going to calorie cycle as the entire one week averages work better for me than keeping a steady daily amount.
Take care everyone. And thanks again.
Not attacking you in the slightest Deb - just attacking the berk who wrote that broscience drivel.
Yes I love recomp too and it's been very successful for me.
Apart from strength training 3 times a week I do none of the rest of the "rules" that clown thinks are necessary, I even push my legs to failure - shock horror!
Guess my 100 mile cycle rides don't count as a workout either.....
I've not even logged my food intake for months, there's far too much emphasis on calories and nowhere near enough on training effectively - and that's the stimulus for muscle development.
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Alright, just had a weigh in with my trainer and figured I'd add in some information about my recomposition. I bulked from October 2013 to October 2015, then I maintained while lifting. I don't have stats from start to end of bulk or from start of recomp to now. I did mine different because most people recomp after losing weight and I did it after gaining weight. My recomp was also not done on purpose, but more along the lines of not wanting to cut yet while still lifting.
Over the last three months of recomp I have gained two pounds of lean mass (lean includes some water) and lost half a pound of fat. I've been doing PHUL with an extra shoulder day. I didn't really log food during my bulk or maintenance because I get burnt out with precision during the cutting phase.
Despite the fact that I am around 24% body fat there's a visible difference in leanness over several areas. I wish I took pictures more often to show.5 -
trigden1991 wrote: »Women building muscle anecdote: I did hydrostatic testing 6 months ago and weighed 151 with 18.8% bf. Last week weighed in at 153 with 17.8%. According to the test my lean mass went up from 122 to 125 lb, and my fat dropped by 1 lb. I don't know what the margin or error is, but I reportedly look leaner (people ask if I have lost weight). I eat low-carb, high fat because I am type I diabetic.
This is not a aimed at you but your results perfectly highlight why I don't think recomp is the best course of action for most people. The margin of error for hydrostatic weighing is quoted to be around 3% which your measurements are well within.
Assuming one moves from a deficit to maintenance or a surplus, then some of the LBM gain will be water/glycogen. I have seen people gain between 1-9lbs of water/glycogen very early on.
IMO recomp is great for certain individuals who don't want to bulk but do have time to achieve some definition in the legs and arms and develop a smaller waistline. Women are perfect candidates IMO because some of us do not want to bulk while gaining muscle. I don't want to go up in weight. Ever.
I'm interested in looking good/okay in a bathing suit not in being bodybuilder competition material. I love recomp because I can eat at maintenance level and still improve and change my body shape. Win-win.
http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/body-recomp/
Yes, this was just a 6-month report so it could be margin of error here. I gave no context. Since 2013, I have gone from a size 10 at 153-5 lb, to a size 6 at 151-153 lb. I am not sure what my bodyfat was when I started, but in 2014 it was around 25% and has consistently gone down. I love recomp because I eat a lot and have tons of energy and strength to keep getting better at weightlifting. My waist has gotten smaller while my butt keeps getting bigger and better, and I have definition in my arms and back for the first time in my life. My body looks really different. It's a long-term project.10 -
From what it sounds like you have done a bit of recomposition in that time frame. If your clothes fit looser and you have lost inches without losing weight that's an indication that you are losing fat while building muscle. You don't have to try to rush to get to the end and it sounds like you are going at a pace that suits your needs.
This is great to know because this is where I've been the past few months!
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Bump. Because I miss seeing new posts on this thread.0
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I've had recomp on my mind for a couple of months now. I hit my goal of 176 a while back and have been fluctuating between that and 180 ever since, pretty steadily, while working hard at body weight exercises and dumbbell routines.
I'm hoping that I'm progressing here, because I'm just not seeing any development, size that is. On the plus side I'm definitely seeing endurance and strength gains but for a wall I hit a week or two ago.
I'll get it figured out eventually. I just don't know enough about all the particulars of training right now, or exactly what to expect and when to expect it.
That said, I do feel worlds better than a year ago, so there's that. 7 -
Bumping for the new year 2
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Ditto!
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I've read this entire thread and I'm eager to start this. I just have a very stubborn 5-10 to go and the holidays slowed me down a bit. I'll probably re-read this thing again before I start. I'll make sure to measure at the beginning as well. Should be fun to watch the changes.4
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I've had recomp on my mind for a couple of months now. I hit my goal of 176 a while back and have been fluctuating between that and 180 ever since, pretty steadily, while working hard at body weight exercises and dumbbell routines.
I'm hoping that I'm progressing here, because I'm just not seeing any development, size that is. On the plus side I'm definitely seeing endurance and strength gains but for a wall I hit a week or two ago.
I'll get it figured out eventually. I just don't know enough about all the particulars of training right now, or exactly what to expect and when to expect it.
That said, I do feel worlds better than a year ago, so there's that.
Have you been taking pictures? I find some of the places I measure don't change, but I sure look different! Stuff moves around.4
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