To cut or to maintain?
hippiesaur
Posts: 137 Member
Hi guys!
I've just started to track my calorie intake like 3 months ago so I'm pretty new here. I lost about 14 kgs in a year just by working out and not paying much attention to calories and all, but I stayed at the same weight for a year without any progress so I got a FitBit, started to track my calories and it brought success, I lost another 2 kgs since January. Now I'm at a healthy weight (I'm 167,5 cm (5ft 6in) and 60 kg (~132 lbs), I'm 24 years old), but I was measured for my body composition and it shocked me. I have about 18 kgs of fat on my body, that's around 30% body fat which I think is pretty high for my weight. I do strength training for a year now, so bad nutrition is for sure the reason behind this.
Now I don't really know what to do. Should I try to loose more weight and try cutting until I'm around 25% body fat then try to build some more muscles, or should I try to recomp and eat at maintenance? Thanks for the help!
I've just started to track my calorie intake like 3 months ago so I'm pretty new here. I lost about 14 kgs in a year just by working out and not paying much attention to calories and all, but I stayed at the same weight for a year without any progress so I got a FitBit, started to track my calories and it brought success, I lost another 2 kgs since January. Now I'm at a healthy weight (I'm 167,5 cm (5ft 6in) and 60 kg (~132 lbs), I'm 24 years old), but I was measured for my body composition and it shocked me. I have about 18 kgs of fat on my body, that's around 30% body fat which I think is pretty high for my weight. I do strength training for a year now, so bad nutrition is for sure the reason behind this.
Now I don't really know what to do. Should I try to loose more weight and try cutting until I'm around 25% body fat then try to build some more muscles, or should I try to recomp and eat at maintenance? Thanks for the help!
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Replies
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How was your body fat % measured?2
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How was your body fat % measured?
Yes, it's important to know this. If it was by impedance or calipers, those are notoriously inaccurate. DEXA, hydrostatic, or Bod Pod will give you better numbers. Even these can be off. For instance, if you don't exhale sufficiently, hydrostatic will also give you too high a number.1 -
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So that's in a bit of a grey area as it's a BIA device but a more sophisticated one than most.
My gym has something similar and it gives reasonable estimates and the trends are believable.
But all BIA devices suffer from inconsistencies due to hydration levels, recent exercise or meals..... That means a single reading can be a false reading.
Personally I wouldn't base any decisions on a single measurement (bearing in mind it's measuring electrical resistance and not body fat directly). If you had multiple tests over an extended period of time under suitable condition AND compared yourself to sample pictures of 30% BF females then it would be reasonable to assume it's giving ballpark numbers.
Do you have access to DEXA or hydrostatic testing facilities at all?1 -
So that's in a bit of a grey area as it's a BIA device but a more sophisticated one than most.
My gym has something similar and it gives reasonable estimates and the trends are believable.
But all BIA devices suffer from inconsistencies due to hydration levels, recent exercise or meals..... That means a single reading can be a false reading.
Personally I wouldn't base any decisions on a single measurement (bearing in mind it's measuring electrical resistance and not body fat directly). If you had multiple tests over an extended period of time under suitable condition AND compared yourself to sample pictures of 30% BF females then it would be reasonable to assume it's giving ballpark numbers.
Do you have access to DEXA or hydrostatic testing facilities at all?
Yeah well it was a single measurement, so this might be an issue. Well I could go for DEXA if I wanted to, so maybe I will give it a try. Anyway here is a pic of me from February, my look didn't really change since then. I don't think I look like someone with 30% bf. Though I know my lower body has much more fat than my upper body, so it's hard to compare with someone who is not pear shaped...
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I don't think you look 30% either.
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You look fine, more fit than I'd expect for 30% even though that's within a healthy range for women. If you feel you need to cut to achieve the look you want, that's up to you. I wouldn't say there's any very compelling reason to do so even if that number is accurate. And it's certainly worth a re-check even though InBody is more accurate than other BIA methods.2
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Thanks for both of you! I will definitely go for a DEXA next time and we shall see...
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You look fab! so if I was you I would pay little attention to that bf % - it's clearly wrong.1
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your fine maintain away you look great3
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Omg there is no way you have that much fat.... you look INCREDIBLE!! 3
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Definitely not 30%. I have never had my body fat tested and don't need to in order to accomplish goals. If I were competing I would.
You continue to recomp with a very small deficit if you want or just keep going with maintenance. You look great, results you want will come, time and patience as recomp is a slow process.
There really isn't bad nutrition, all you need is to assure you are meeting a min protein intake each day to support your training and muscle growth.1 -
Thank you everyone, you really gave me some confidence boost!Definitely not 30%. I have never had my body fat tested and don't need to in order to accomplish goals. If I were competing I would.
You continue to recomp with a very small deficit if you want or just keep going with maintenance. You look great, results you want will come, time and patience as recomp is a slow process.
There really isn't bad nutrition, all you need is to assure you are meeting a min protein intake each day to support your training and muscle growth.
Thanks for the great advice, I felt like recomp is what I really needed but wasn't sure because of this test...2 -
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The pics from 20-35% look basically the same to me.3
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The pics from 20-35% look basically the same to me.
Really?
The 20 - 22% model to me is vastly different compared to the other two.
But the 25% and 30% pictures could easily be transposed either way. Shows the difference build, fat distribution, clothing, different poses, lighting (and even boobs) can make between individuals.
I find the text descriptions on Builtlean a bit more helpful than some of the pictures chosen.3 -
And why do they skip right over 18-19%, which many say is “ideal” fitness for a woman in an “ideal” weight range?1
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quiksylver296 wrote: »
And less ab and torso definition.1 -
Maintenance or recomp based on your picture.... and a "well done" for BIA in gym testing
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