Maintain weight - lose body fat

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  • gen39
    gen39 Posts: 36 Member
    edited April 2017
    sijomial wrote: »
    gen39 wrote: »
    If you train and eat at maintenance calories, you can lose body fat and gain muscle (called a recomposition). But this is a very slow process and really only possible for beginners. After some time you will need to look to bulking / cutting phases to improve body composition.

    @gen39
    Sorry but this is very inaccurate, I've been training since the early 1970's and recomp still works.
    It's slow for me now as I'm near my training peak and I'm old and a bit broken (!) but it's definitely not slow for everyone.
    Very few people actually need to do bulk/cut cycles. It's goal dependant and also personal preference.

    I'm not saying recomp doesn't work. It does, and I did it for half a year when starting out. But whether it's actually time efficient compared to a lean gaining / cutting cycle is debatable. You said you've been training for 40 years. You're probably at or very close to your genetic potential for muscle growth... in which case, bulking and cutting vs a recomposition probably makes very little difference. Might as well eat at maintenance at that point.

    Elite natural bodybuilders' stage weight barely changes ~1-2 lb over the course of several years for the same reason.

    edit: When I say 'bulk', I'm not advocating a "eat everything you see" diet, which is a terrible idea. Just a small surplus above maintenance, 200-300 kcal. Now assuming a 50:50 ratio of muscle growth to fat gain, which seems to be the expected ratio for beginners, that means someone only needs to diet for 1/4 the time of the gaining phase to get rid of the fat gain while keeping most of the muscle - not bad at all imo.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    abs1970 wrote: »
    Just worked out my TDEE which is around 2,000. If I'm eating way less than this, I'm guessing I won't build muscle let alone lose body fat! Does anyone know if this sounds correct?

    you will lose body fat because you would be in a deficit if you eat under your TDEE,but as for muscle,doubtful unless you are new to lifting or getting back to it after awhile off, and any gains will be minimal.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Now that you have a new picture wow I personally think you are a lot leaner than 20%. Where do you carry fat that you want to lose? Keep in mind the leaner you are the more stubborn it can be to lose the last of the fat. Also I found that recomping while I was very lean didn't really get me anywhere.

    That's what I said! OP, if you want to lean out just a little more keep on doing what you are doing and slowly lose a couple more lbs while keeping your protein intake high. Don't worry about losing or gaining muscle. It sounds like you are really after more definition.
  • abs1970
    abs1970 Posts: 235 Member
    mom23mangos wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Now that you have a new picture wow I personally think you are a lot leaner than 20%. Where do you carry fat that you want to lose? Keep in mind the leaner you are the more stubborn it can be to lose the last of the fat. Also I found that recomping while I was very lean didn't really get me anywhere.

    That's what I said! OP, if you want to lean out just a little more keep on doing what you are doing and slowly lose a couple more lbs while keeping your protein intake high. Don't worry about losing or gaining muscle. It sounds like you are really after more definition.

    Exactly what I'm after ... more definition. I just have a battle with the voice in my head that sees wobbly bits! :/

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