Going lean (body recomp)

nineteentwenty

Hi all, I've reached my goalweight and am kinda skinnyfat. I have more muscle than I was expecting, but I'm still a bit flabby for my tastes. I only had to lose like 12lbs so I don't have loose skin, and I go to the gym 4-5x per week.

I do modeling in the summers, and am looking to up my game. I'm a student, and I need money, so I need to have a lean, sleek physique. Do you guys have any dietary advice for someone looking to maintain their current weight while doing a body recomp to drop bodyfat percentage? I know that protein,water, and weightlifting are my friends, but if you have any other pointers (calories, food choices, favourite recipies), I'm all ears.

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 130lbs
Estimated bodyfat: ~22-25%

nineteentwenty

Oh hey I forgot to mention, my diary is open so feel free to take a look. However, last week is -NOT- a good indicator of how I normally eat, I had the flu and could barely keep anything down. I'm only just now feeling human again.

sijomial

Calories = your maintenance calories.
Protein = an adequate amount (a bit more than RDA for a non-weight trainer, a less than needed when losing weight). Doesn't have to be precise or excessive.
Food = any food you like that meets your nutrition and calorie goals.
Water = enough to stay hydrated (it doesn't have to be water). There is no fixed amount or benefit from drinking an excessive quantity.

Train hard, eat at or around maintenance calories. That's it really.

nineteentwenty

sijomial wrote: »

Calories = your maintenance calories.
Protein = an adequate amount (a bit more than RDA for a non-weight trainer, a less than needed when losing weight). Doesn't have to be precise or excessive.
Food = any food you like that meets your nutrition and calorie goals.
Water = enough to stay hydrated (it doesn't have to be water). There is no fixed amount or benefit from drinking an excessive quantity.

Train hard, eat at or around maintenance calories. That's it really.

Thank you for that, I'm glad to see that I'm not missing something critical. however, I'm curious as to how you found your maintenance calorie count. My body seems to have a very low maintenance number, Anything over 1400 and I gain (and I even gain slowly then), and that's barely my BMR.

5stringjeff

It takes a little trial and error. The figure MFP gives you will probably be within 100 calories. I punched your stats in here: http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/ and got a maintenance level of 1730. There are several such tools online, and they're a good starting point, but you'll have to figure out how your body reacts to eating at whatever levels you choose.

Otherwise, it seems like you're on the right track.

griffinca2

Another note; watch your sugar intake--it shows up in foods you wouldn't think it should be in. Also, are you lifting weight; and if you are, are you changing your workout periodically (amt lifted, # of reps/sets, etc.)?

sijomial

If you gain at 1400 you are either an extreme outlier or your food logging is inaccurate.
As you use cups, spoons and scoops would guess it's far more likely the problem is your logging and you are eating more than 1400.
If you want accuracy use a digital scale - as an example my scoop of protein powder is wrong by about 40% as compared to measuring by weight.

By the way you don't have to be terribly accurate with logging to be successful, consistency works as well. I'm a bit of a "lazy logger" and tend to only worry about the accuracy of high calorie items.

The best way to find your maintenance calories is trail and error plus time. At least a month.
But the last month of your weight loss is a rough guide - if you were losing at approximately 1lb a week your calorie balance was around 500 cals / day in deficit.

nineteentwenty

griffinca2 wrote: »

Another note; watch your sugar intake--it shows up in foods you wouldn't think it should be in. Also, are you lifting weight; and if you are, are you changing your workout periodically (amt lifted, # of reps/sets, etc.)?

I do the same weight and work to double my starting reps, and then when I can do that, I add more weight and repeat.

jessiefrancine

Are you doing a tried-and-true progressive heavy lifting program? If not, I highly recommend you try something like Stronglifts 5x5, Starting Strength, New Rules of Lifting or Ice Cream Fitness (there are others, too). These programs work great for recomp and are good for beginning to moderate level lifters. I'm not sure what your program looks like now, but based on what I've read here you should be lifting heavy for best recomp results.

rileysowner

Kkallisti wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Calories = your maintenance calories.
Protein = an adequate amount (a bit more than RDA for a non-weight trainer, a less than needed when losing weight). Doesn't have to be precise or excessive.
Food = any food you like that meets your nutrition and calorie goals.
Water = enough to stay hydrated (it doesn't have to be water). There is no fixed amount or benefit from drinking an excessive quantity.

Train hard, eat at or around maintenance calories. That's it really.

Thank you for that, I'm glad to see that I'm not missing something critical. however, I'm curious as to how you found your maintenance calorie count. My body seems to have a very low maintenance number, Anything over 1400 and I gain (and I even gain slowly then), and that's barely my BMR.

That 1400 may or may not be accurate. How carefully are you measuring your intake? If you are not using a digital kitchen scale for solid you could be far over that. This video shows how even meals looking much the same can have almost 2x the calories https://youtu.be/vjKPIcI51lU

nineteentwenty

I use a foodscale for most meals, only rarely do I not. I have one in my kitchen.