Can I lose body fat but not weight?

saltedcaramel86

Is it possible to lose body fat whilst maintaining current weight? Im 5'5 and about 124lbs which is the perfect weight for me. I have maybe 3lb MAX to play with, dropping below that and I start looking really unhealthy. Last check on BF% was several months ago at a gym which I have now left, I was around 24-25%. Not sure how much I want to drop, will just go by how I feel. My work outs involve daily dog walks and body weight training (novice on the latter but love it, following YAYOG programme)

Sarauk2sf

It's called recomping. You eat at maintenance, get enough protein and do a good progressive loading lifting routine. You can slowly gain muscle this way and slowly lose fat. Its slow and not that efficient, but many people who do not want to gain weight and go through cut/bulk cycles do it.

However, if you think you look unhealthy at a lower weight (which = a lower BF%) and am not sure that gaining some amount of muscle mass will change that (it may, but it may not) as you will still have less BF coverage.

Mother_Superior

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/
Specifically: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html

There are people on here who can give you some super-specific advice. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. Until they get here, dig around the above site and see if you can find anything helpful there. :drinker:

ETA: Sara is one of the first people that came to my mind. obviously I summoned her psychically while typing.

uconnwinsnc

Eat at maintenance or very slightly below it and do heavy lifting.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

It's called recomping. You eat at maintenance, get enough protein and do a good progressive loading lifting routine. You can slowly gain muscle this way and slowly lose fat. Its slow and not that efficient, but many people who do not want to gain weight and go through cut/bulk cycles do it.

However, if you think you look unhealthy at a lower weight (which = a lower BF%) and am not sure that gaining some amount of muscle mass will change that (it may, but it may not) as you will still have less BF coverage.

I've been taking this route for the past 6 months. I've lost almost no weight but I've lost 2 pants sizes. Like Sara says, it's really slow and inefficent, so I've decided to switch to bulking/cutting after the holidays.

the_dude00

It's called recomping. You eat at maintenance, get enough protein and do a good progressive loading lifting routine. You can slowly gain muscle this way and slowly lose fat. Its slow and not that efficient, but many people who do not want to gain weight and go through cut/bulk cycles do it.

However, if you think you look unhealthy at a lower weight (which = a lower BF%) and am not sure that gaining some amount of muscle mass will change that (it may, but it may not) as you will still have less BF coverage.

That sounds pretty impressive to me. I wouldn't think of that as slow

I've been taking this route for the past 6 months. I've lost almost no weight but I've lost 2 pants sizes. Like Sara says, it's really slow and inefficent, so I've decided to switch to bulking/cutting after the holidays.

mzhus11

No, it is not possible. When you lose fat, you will always lose a little bit of muscle and weight with it. All you can do is try to eat lots of protein, lift heavy and try to keep as much muscle as possible.

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

it can definitely be done. I've done it a few times and plan to do it again soon. Protein is your friend.


ETA: picture in my album shows transformation of maintaining weight and losing body fat.

edwardkim85

No, it is not possible. When you lose fat, you will always lose a little bit of muscle and weight with it. All you can do is try to eat lots of protein, lift heavy and try to keep as much muscle as possible.

I have to disagree...

If you are lean and below 15% body fat, yes, you don't have the fuel to burn(fat) so you have to kiss muscle bye bye while cutting; however, when you have excess body fat ( 20% plus for men), you can lose fat while putting on muscle mass and strength to a certain point.

Think of it this way.

If you eat 2kcal/day, you can eat over 200g of protein/day through chicken breast, meat, steaks and healthy carbs through brown rice, veggies, etc. You can also add a healthy amount of fat.

If you weigh 200 pounds and you are fairly active(lifting/some cardio), 2kcal/day is UNDER your maintenance, however, you can get all the 'nutritent's you need to meet your macro. If you are picky and you want, you can even get up to 250g protein/day at a 2kcal diet( 4 100kcal promasil shake --> 100 g protein, 4 x 7.5 ounce chicken breast( 4 x 250 = 1k) then wala : 250g protein)

Junken_Diraffe

These two pics are at the exact same weight. 155 lbs. I maintained my body weight and lost fat. It can be done.