We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

body fat vs. pounds

princesspea234
princesspea234 Posts: 182 Member
edited January 28 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all! While I'd still like to lose 5-13 pounds since I have a small bone structure. (I like the way I look when I'm smaller.) I'm considering changing my goals from losing weight to losing body fat. This is so confusing though. Losing weight makes sense...less calories in plus calories burned=weight loss. But body fat? I don't know where to begin.

Also, my scale's "body fat" component will fluctuate anywhere from 26%-30.5% day to day. What's accurate? Is there a better part of the day to measure.

Replies

  • princesspea234
    princesspea234 Posts: 182 Member
    Also, I've upped my "working out" and I feel like I'm starving all the time. No weight loss and eating most if not all of my calories back and some days going over... :(
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
    First off, congrats on your progress so far. You look great in your profile pics. I think what you are looking to accomplish is a body recomposition: lose fat and add muscle. Give this site a read: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com Your scale is almost worthless for measuring BF when you get as lean as you are. The best tool is the mirror and pictures. Take pictures once a week and save them. You will wish you had them 2 months from now when you get frustrated because the scale has not moved, the BF% has not changed and nothing is happening. Then pull up those pics and have a look.

    I am in the middle of a body recomp now. I hit 185 lbs and 16% BF and decided to stop losing weight. I want to get to 10% BF. I can do that by continuing to lose fat, but I am skinny enough. I would rather do that by adding muscle and losing fat. That way I just look better, not skinnier.

    The way I approached the recomp was simple. First, I figured out how to maintain my weight. I added 100 calories a week until my weight stabilized. That took about 6 weeks to figure out and I had to add a lot more than I thought I would. Once I figured out how to maintain my weight, I started strength training. I started losing weight again, so I ate more to maintain 185 lbs. The results so far are encouraging. I have added 2 lbs of lean body mass and dropped 2 lbs of fat in the last month. The end results is I look better and my BF% has dropped to somewhere around 14%. Small decrease, but it shows I can make progress.

    I hope this helps

    Tom
This discussion has been closed.

Categories