Looking for success story about losing fat/recomp.

iimsd

I'm looking for success stories, advice and motivation from people who were already within a healthy weight range but who managed to lose that excess fat.

I've never been the type who have had to think/worry about what I eat, and never exercised much more than once a week ish (danced ballet), and when I gained a few kg's after a long stay in France, I quickly lost it again through some running (but didn't even need to log nutrition nor calories along with it). I'm still in the lower range of the ideal/healthy weight, but I've still gained kg's and lots of fat the last year or so (I'm at around 27%!), no idea how or where from since I haven't changed my habits majorly. Now, I both exercise 3-5 times a week, AND have logged my food every day, tried LCHF, cut down on added sugars, yet hardly see any change since June T_T Does anyone know if some metabolism thing changes or something, even though I'm only 26 yrs old?

So I'm quite desperate if you have a success story, advice, motivation, anything really!
Thank you!

jackw66

I started training in June I weighed 15.5. It’s now September and I weigh 12.5. I just eat clean and went to the gym 4 days a week. Only been using weights 10x10 sets. I’d never been to the gym or worried about my weight until I was getting married lol. But Iv had lost of success just sticking to eating healthy. No chocolate no biscuit no bread crisps. Just chicken broccoli red meat and fish lots of vegetables. I know it’s sounds horrible but I’m telling you it works.

jackw66

stdyh4nd

I was a late bloomer and a hard gainer in high school and went all the way through my 20's without ever worrying about weight. I had times where I had more muscle and times where I had less but was never "overweight" or noticeably chunky. The day I turned 30, almost as if by magic my body started storing fat. 8 months later I pretty much had a dad bod.

I decided to see what my actual composition was and got a DEXA scan. To my astonishment I was at 21% BF - Even thought I knew DEXA typically scanned higher than most scales, I never thought I would end up in the 20+ % range. After arriving at an acceptable composition to go on vacation in late 2017 I spent 5 months with 0 exercise leading up to august of this year realizing I was back to where I started. I decided to just focus on eating at a deficit and cut around 5 lbs before taking a dexa scan early September 2018 where I confirmed I was down 5lbs from the dad bod I had in 2017 with a BF% of 19.9%. The point with this whole story is; once you reach a certain age, effortless weight loss and maintenance is not as easy at it once was. The body seems to have less buffer against excess calories.

My goal this time is specifically reducing body fat % from 19% - 13% while maintaining or even gaining muscle mass - essentially a recomp. I have started with an average cut of 3 lbs/month calorie deficit (-2600 weekly calories) while circuit training 3 times a week with a trainer. My theory is there will be the normal noobie gains for approx 6 - 8 weeks with this type of training. I believe I can gain muscle while still in an average calorie deficit. If I start to notice no progress or even a loss of strength I will move my calorie intake back to maintenance. So far it's working as I thought it would. Even though I'm eating at a clear deficit for my TDEE I have gained 2 lbs on a trend over the last 4 weeks. In the side by side at the bottom, you can see that I seem to have lost visible excess body weight even though I actually gained weight on average.

Below is the body composition journey since 2016 all the way to my most recent 4 week progress side by side.

2016 - 153 lbs, 29 Years Old




Mar 2017 - 164 lbs, 21% BF, 30 Years Old




Sep 2018 151.6 lbs, 19.9% BF - Oct 2018 153.6 lbs 32 Years Old

Styggian

On the 25th November 2016, my NHS Doctor's surgery carried out a 'Health Check'

Using the politest and most professional language they gave me the results which when translated; “you're fat and if you don't stop shoving food in your mouth you're going to heaven a lot sooner than you think!”

Then handed me two books along with some specific advice on dieting , from the information I gave them, the advice was to adjust my portion sizes.

The books were 'skim read' and I proceeded to diet.

Mid December I checked to see how much I had lost and unbelievably the scales said I had gained 3kg, this was a total shock to me.

Actually reading the books, I decided too much information was there to digest. So I 'parked' the exercise portion and focused on the dieting.

The information I further split into parts, then put each part into practice till it became a routine.

Eventually walking, cycling and light weight training was added to diet regimen.

Been on 'maintenance' for nearly a year, still trying to find a routine to not only keep my target weight but make myself stronger. Still learning and experimenting.

Noreenmarie1234

Styggian wrote: »

On the 25th November 2016, my NHS Doctor's surgery carried out a 'Health Check'

Using the politest and most professional language they gave me the results which when translated; “you're fat and if you don't stop shoving food in your mouth you're going to heaven a lot sooner than you think!”

Then handed me two books along with some specific advice on dieting , from the information I gave them, the advice was to adjust my portion sizes.

The books were 'skim read' and I proceeded to diet.

Mid December I checked to see how much I had lost and unbelievably the scales said I had gained 3kg, this was a total shock to me.

Actually reading the books, I decided too much information was there to digest. So I 'parked' the exercise portion and focused on the dieting.

The information I further split into parts, then put each part into practice till it became a routine.

Eventually walking, cycling and light weight training was added to diet regimen.

Been on 'maintenance' for nearly a year, still trying to find a routine to not only keep my target weight but make myself stronger. Still learning and experimenting.

WOW!!! THIS IS AMAZING! You look fantastic now, great job.

mom23mangos

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10698672/maintenance-failure-gained-all-the-weight-back-w-pics#latest

Rabbit91476

I looked into recon. Then decided to go with clean bulk/ carb cycle. Finding my maintenance now. Then will add 300 ish calories a day. Being I only do calisthenics 2-3 times a week with 2-3 days cardio. I am only going to gain so much mass