Do I look too thin now?

ehimass

I think my muscle definition looks slightly better flexed, but my pecs, shoulders, and arms are sitll pretty sad looking. I only bench about 110 lbs/50kg for 10 reps. I'm still conflicted. I've decided to run a half marathon in February and I think the training for that will help me get down to 155.

Here is a picture flexed. Have sort of a 4 pack but the lower abs still have that flab. Meh.

jennz81

No, you don't. You look just fine.

shirieshipp

You don't look too thin but you need to work on toning your muscles and the part that you say is fat is just extra skin Keep up the hard work !!!

starrylioness

I think you look amazing! Congrats on the weight loss! You did so well!

sofaking6

You look great, no ugly anywhere.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

You look great flexed! To get the body you want, losing more weight at this time is NOT the answer. You need to start eating more. Gradually work your way up to maintenance, while lifting. Stay there for a while. See how you feel then.

cafeaulait7

You look great! I think you run the risk of being 'too skinny' by losing more weight before bulking, but it's not like sickly skinny or anything And it's just an opinion about aesthetics, which is by nature kind of shallow

People might consider you a little skinny at 155. That's all, imho. I'd do whichever order suits your schedule and weight loss habits, etc. So if you want to cut to quite thin before going back up because it suits those, go for it! Do be careful about calorie intake, though. Too low is just not a habit you should be in anymore, and you won't be able to bulk later if you can't eat a fairly large number of calories (mentally and such).

MinimalistShoeAddict

I think my muscle definition looks slightly better flexed, but my pecs, shoulders, and arms are sitll pretty sad looking. I only bench about 110 lbs/50kg for 10 reps. I'm still conflicted. I've decided to run a half marathon in February and I think the training for that will help me get down to 155.

Here is a picture flexed. Have sort of a 4 pack but the lower abs still have that flab. Meh.

Congrats on your great success so far! Do what is consistent with your goals not what others want you to do based on aesthetics. Yes, you are at a healthy weight now, but you would still be healthy if you cut further based on BMI tables and your body fat percentage.

Feel free to add me if you wish. I am shorter than you (176cm) but decided to keep cutting last fall when I was near your current body fat percentage. While I started lifting in January, my focus so far this year has been on running.

Elasticity will gradually return to your skin. I would not worry about that now

I only started bulking for the first time this month after my first marathon and under 10% body fat (average of caliper and Omron Portable Body Fat Analyzer). If your focus is on running, there is nothing wrong with cutting further. Just look at the stats of some top long distance runners:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen_Rupp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah

Here is an article on how weight may impact speed (up to a point):
http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/whats-your-ideal-weight

MinimalistShoeAddict

I think my muscle definition looks slightly better flexed, but my pecs, shoulders, and arms are sitll pretty sad looking. I only bench about 110 lbs/50kg for 10 reps. I'm still conflicted. I've decided to run a half marathon in February and I think the training for that will help me get down to 155.

Here is a picture flexed. Have sort of a 4 pack but the lower abs still have that flab. Meh.

I had never lifted free weights before January. Following Stronglifts 5x5 I made gains for several months but eventually stalled as my running distance increased. Others may comment on this but I think it will be difficult to add a lot of strength while properly training for a half marathon and cutting weight at this same time.

This did not make me happy, as I really wanted to become stronger in the weight room and as a runner at the same time. I do not regret doing both at once as I believe weight lifting has other benefits (such as injury prevention) for runners. However it really is hard to substantially progress in both areas at once (at least for me during marathon training).

mfu3919

you look awesome! I don't think you're too thin at all. Just keep working out

candiceh3

The glare in the first photo made it hard for me to tell if you had a wedding ring on. So I kept looking, and in the second photo, there was none!

I don't think you need to lose weight, just gain confidence .

rgugs13

Thanks for all the responses and encouragement or criticism. Loose skin is exactly what my family calls it, although I'm pretty self conscious about it so I haven't shown them. I do think there is a significant amount of fat still in my abdobmen though. If I squeeze it feels more like warm play-doh than loose paper (most of the articles I've read say if you squeeze the skin and it's more than a few mm thick, there's fat there. I can still squeeze a solid 2-3 in roll of abdominal skin while standing, which isn't the case for chest, arms, or legs).

I have in fact considered the male tummy tuck surgery, but definitely wouldn't do that for another 12-18 months assuming I maintained something close to my ideal weight/bf% (which I envision as probably 180 lbs at 10%) and saw no improvements. Even then, the scars from the tummy tuck surgeries often look pretty bad, maybe even worse than the original problem in some cases. I don't scar well, another minus in the genetics department.

I'm glad to hear you're faring a little batter DopeItUp. I expect when I do begin to add muscle that I'll be lucky to get a 3:1 muscle:fat ratio in my weight gain, which is a big part of why I'm careful about how soon I end my calorie deficit and start doing that. The weight lifting routine I've been doing has just been preserving muscle (hopefully), I am only lifting about 10% more weight now than when I was at 220.

I didn't read through all the posts, so I'm sorry if this is a repeat, but you do actually need fat on your body to survive. There is fat surrounding your internal organs that is vital to life. Fat cells also secrete hormones, and there are fat soluble vitamins, also required for life. By trying to lose more weight with such a low body fat, you are causing a lot of harm to your body. If you REALLY want to get to a lower body fat percentage, you actually should GAIN WEIGHT. If you start a heavy lifting program and build a lot of muscle, you will gain weight, but have a lower body fat percentage, because you will have more muscle. Muscle also burns more calories at rest than fat, increasing your metabolism.

Also, stretched out skin will feel different than not stretched skin. That is why you can squeeze more of it on your abdomen that other places..

MinimalistShoeAddict

For more than a few weeks? Probably back in August. I had pulled my hamstring plus I had a bout of some sort of flu, so I stopped exercising and ate 2000-3000 calories per day for about 2-3 weeks. For most of this year though, I have been cutting save for a few binge/cheat days. Usually I aim for 10,500 on weekly caloric intake and 6000 for weekly cardio exercise burn, and I'm able to attain that on a weekly basis, even if certain days get out of hand.

I just noticed this part. I stand by what I wrote above, but I would like to modify my position. If you decide to keep cutting at this point, I highly suggest you reduce your caloric deficit substantially.

If I have one regret from my cut last fall it is that I lost weight too quickly and started lifting weights too late, resulting in losing more muscle mass than needed.

If I understand you correctly 10,500 - 6000 = 4,500 net intake for the week. This will surely result in significant muscle loss. Keeping a large caloric deficit is much easier when you have a lot of weight to lose. When you are closer to your goal (as you are now) that deficit should be decreased substantially in order to preserve muscle mass.

If you aim for a deficit of 250 calories a day you will lose about 1/2 pound a week and reach your 10 pound goal in about 20 weeks. There is no reason to lose weight faster than that at your current body fat percentage.

goodnamegone

You look perfect to me, I don't think you need to lose more weight. You might want to work with a trainer to FEEL more confident and not because you need to change anything. You look lean and healthy.

I don't even see anything wrong with your middle section, I think you look really good. AND I want to say how amazing you are to have lost all that weight, so so well done!

I would focus on fitness now just to feel good and keep what I have, you look wonderful, you really do.