is myfitnesspal the piece I've been missing?

tmonroe5172

I’m a 58-year-old male who’s been struggling with weight for most of my life. My best success was about 8 years ago when I lost 50 pounds on the Ideal Protein (IP) diet and kept it off for almost 2 years—but I lost the weight way too quickly. At every weigh-in, my provider told me to up my protein. Back then, I was bicycling 15 miles to work about 2 days a week and doing triathlons. But each time I biked to work, it took a little longer to get to the office, so I was definitely losing muscle mass.

I’ve been on and off weightlifting most of my life (more off than on), but the last 3 years, I’ve been very consistent, and now I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. In late October, I weighed in at 247 (I’m 6 feet tall). I’ve been as high as 280 in my mid-40s, but 247 was definitely uncomfortable, and my A1C was 6.1 (pre-diabetic range). Since starting this latest journey, I’m down to 220, but more importantly, I’ve been lifting regularly and still making strength gains. This is what I’ve always missed before—when I lost weight on IP, I’m pretty sure I sacrificed a lot of muscle. For optimal results, you really don’t want to lose any muscle. This is where this app comes in. By carefully tracking my calorie deficit and protein intake, I can keep my weight loss to around 1 pound per week or less while continuing to exercise and increase strength.

Your weight isn’t what matters most—what’s important is your body fat percentage. I use a Withings scale that currently shows me at around 17% body fat, which isn’t terrible. Had I not found this app, I probably would’ve gotten frustrated with the slow weight loss rate and either tried to rush things or given up. With the app, I track everything I eat, including sodium and carbs. Extra sodium (and carbs) can push more water into my muscles, which for me can make a 4-pound difference. If I see my weight go up, I check my sodium or carb intake. If it’s high, I know the diet is still working—in those cases, I typically see my body fat percentage go down (as the extra water is stored in muscles).

I know it’s really working because of the comments from friends and family, and I’m now fitting into clothes I stubbornly held onto from when I was heavier. The app also lets me set macro goals, and I’ve targeted a keto-like range with a bit less fat and more protein than standard keto. I do regular finger pokes, and my blood glucose has been consistently between 70 and 80 recently. I’ll be getting labs this month, and I fully expect my A1C to be back in the healthy range. I’m also getting a DEXA scan in early April (around the midpoint of this diet journey), which I hope will be close to what my scale shows for body fat percentage. My target is 10-12% body fat—my dream now is to be a “jacked old man.” Once I reach that goal, I plan to keep using this app to monitor my food intake and maintain that level for a healthy lifetime.

I’m a little worried about the DEXA scan, though. My concern is that it might show something like 25% body fat, which would mean my scale is way off, and I’d need to target a much lower body weight with a lot more work ahead. But I feel better equipped to handle that than I have been in the past. It might still be an emotional punch in the gut, though.

Lietchi

I personally have trouble comparing myself to pictures online, but I'll mention it anyway: there are sets of photos online with examples of how people look with certain bodyfat percentages, as an extra way of checking where you're at. For example:

https://ultimateperformance.com/your-goal/fat-loss/male-fat-loss/male-body-fat-comparison/

Although another part of me is thinking: does the number really matter if you feel and look as you want or are getting closer to that?