Crossfit and weight loss

shelliepullen

I am having a hard time. I started Crossfit January 1st and have gained some weight. I love seeing progress and I am getting strong, but with that comes weight gain from muscle gain. I know I have some fat to loose too though. Not sure what weight I should be looking as my goal now. Any suggestions? What is an accurate way to track bodyfat%?

illyich

Calipers, DEXA Scans, and finally the old ribbon measure test. The scan is the most accurate but it's not available to everyone. If you are looking to see progress in the gym, you will be gaining weight as you put on muscle, and you'll need to eat more to fuel strength. You may want to ask this in the Fitness & Exercise board, along with your stats - age, weight, height, and how often you are active. That may help.

meritage4

Maybe track inches? If your profile photo is current I wouldn't worry about weight at all.

socioseguro

Hi:
Exercise is for fitness and health
Eating at a deficit is for losing weight. Calories burned has to be higher than Calories ingested. Buy yourself a digital scale, weigh all food you ingest and log it at MFP.
If you eat at a deficit , you will lose weight.
Good luck in your healthy journey

_benjammin

Pictures and tape measure are the easiest and cheapest.

_benjammin

Also, I wouldn't focus on a specific weight goal. You may want to considering eating maintenance calories and recomping.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

thaliamustafa

I have been doing Crossfit for 2.5 years and completely understand your view! It's like we feel our body get stronger, but with that the scale goes up as well. The best thing I found to do like everyone says is measure yourself. The scale cant tell you how many inches you lost around you legs, waist, or arms! If you feel your clothes fit different in a good way, if you feel like you are getting stronger, if you love your body everyday then the scale aint nothing but a number! Good luck!

mom23mangos

I just recently compared a bunch of different BF measurement tools and I agree with @_benjammin, you can get pretty close with just pictures and tape measure. If you want hard numbers, I recommend the DXA scan.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10442509/body-composition-method-comparison#latest

jacksmom517

Shelliepullen you look amazing! Enjoy your stronger self, and ditch the scale. When I want to lean out, I take weekly measurements to measure progress- hips, belly button, 2 inches above belly button, 2 inches below belly button, and around a thigh. Take several measurements, just picking one will be frustrating, or may only measure bloat/glycogen stores/water lost/"that time of the month". I like the calipers idea, I'm just not good at reproducing the data. I like to read this: http://breakingmuscle.com/womens-fitness/144lbs-why-female-athletes-should-toss-the-scale-and-get-a-new-perspective