Pics - how do I achieve this body?

CeeBeeSlim

Hi, All. I’m still learning and truthfully I really only get two things - one either wants to lose weight or one wants to gain weight. The toning, body recomp, bulk and cut cycle stuff confuses me. So I’m attaching some pics I found off the internet to help you help me - I hope!

The first pics (two photos of the same woman) closely describes where I was, and where I am now. (145-117lbs doing Strong Curves and 1200 calories (56, 63 inches, sedentary - besides SC). Wasn’t concentrating on macros at all. The second photo is where I’d love to be!

Do I continue to lose fat to REVEAL muscle, so continue with weight loss and 1200 calories and maybe those abs are under some of my still fleshy stomach? Do I want to GAIN muscle - so increase calories and maybe fat too? I’m not “muscley” so not sure if genetically that second photo is a fantasy. Do I have to left heavy to achieve this - don’t mind lifting but at 56 any sneeze tends to met with a bit of caution - did i just injure my back (sigh!) - so I’m just injury cautious.

Hope this is clear. Now that reached under my goal weight of 121-125, not sure what to do. I thought if I got to 117, would several pounds of muscle look like the second photo?

Chef_Barbell

Some sort of progressive resistance training program and a diet that is on point is how they most likely got there.

IronIsMyTherapy

My approach is to have a window of bf% that I want to stay within while improving my overall physique through cut/bulk cycles. For me it was about 12-18%. I would cut, slowly with a small deficit as to maintain muscle, down to an "eyeball" 12%, then creep up into a surplus while lifting heavy until I got to about 18%, then repeat. I usually start cutting about January 1 to get lean through summer, then would bulk from about August/September until the end of the year. That way I stay in a bf% range I'm comfortable with but make some lean gains.

That's not the only approach of course. Julian Smith credits a long bulk over years, then cutting down. I just get in my head when I get too fat so that wouldn't work for me psychologically.

sardelsa

It's really hard to say but based on your stats I think going lower might not get you there unless you know you have enough muscle base. Do you feel close to that goal? If you don't feel like you have the musculature yet I would probably look into recomp to get you there at this point, possibly a small bulk in the future. While your goal photo there isn't overly muscular, she is lean with a good base especially in the quads, abs and arms.

You don't have to lift "heavy" but progression in resistance over time will be key.

MidlifeCrisisFitness

^^^^
I would endorse the advice of
Sardelsa and also TinaZ2018

mom23mangos

It's really hard to tell from those pics, because the pic that depicts where you are now is turned to the side. It looks like the person in the pic could very well look like the second pic from the front. It would be more helpful to see a picture of yourself or have stats of current BF%. You can't go wrong with progressive resistance training. This can come from weights, bands, bodyweight or any combination of the above. I think you could do through a couple years of recomp.

AnnPT77

Even at our age - well, your age, because I'm older - I think some gains (not maximum gains) may be possible with a very small deficit, if there's still a tiny bit of fat we want to lose, more upside on gain potential at maintenance, then probably even more at a small surplus.

If you look like the first set of photos now (which is great!), there isn't a much fat, though, so one option would be to hang out at maintenance calories, work on getting excellent well-rounded nutrition (especially but not exclusively protein), keep on with a good progressive strength program (not necessarily volume through weight, since other variables are available), and see how things go after several months to a year. You can always decide to drop a little more fat later, if you decide that's necessary, or conversely to run a small bulk at that point.

Sardelsa is The Woman here on questions like this IMO.

You're a little shorter than I am (I'm 5'5"), but I accidentally went down to 116 (overshot then-goal in lower 120s). Along the way down, I was surprised to see some muscle definition start showing up - nothing dramatic, but I think in the realm of what people call "toned arms" for example. (I'd been very active for some years while obese, and apparently that had had some hidden benefits muscularly. It shows more in arms/shoulders/quads than abs, because of my specific activity. Even though I have decent core strength, there isn't obvious development.)

But there wasn't a dramatic extra reveal anywhere on my body in the region between mid/high-120s (BMI 21-ish, for comparison purposes), and that 116 (BMI 19.1). For my specific body, most of my last fat losses do come from the belly area, but I could see the sort of general state of my abs well before that (and know that I wasn't going to have any kind of 6- or even 4-pack at any sensible weight). Your body may differ, but I suspect you are seeing decent hints now of what a few more pounds would or wouldn't display.

Just a few thoughts from my experience, not any kind of expert opinion.

As an aside, have you looked at any of the photos & discussion in the recomp thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

It's really informative, and there are some photos from women over 40+ (even 60+) in there.