Weight lost but not losing body fat

Emagineer

I'm a 19 years old female, 1.59m tall (5'25")

2007- 2011 (47KG- same height)
- DIET
Breakfast: Spinach + Chicken + Mash potato + Fruit
Lunch: Pasta + A large bag of potato crisp + Fruit
Dinner: Broccoli + Tuna/ Salmon + Fruit
- LIFESTYLE
Very inactive, spent most of the time sitting in the class and at home

Late 2011- mid 2012 (47KG with 21% BODY FAT)
- DIET
(same diet as in 2007- 2011)
- LIFESTYLE
Still inactive + minimum of 100 push ups a day

Mid 2012- May 2013 (47KG)
Had a tough time and messed up my diet.
- DIET
Breakfast: None (slept at 2-3am and woke up during the day time)
Lunch: McDonalds meal + Toffee Sundae + Potato crisp
Dinner: large portion of pasta/ pizza + a big tube of ice cream or a large bag of potato crisp
- LIFESTYLE
Moderately active. I walk 4 hours to 7 hours at least 3 days in a week.


May 2013- 3rd week of December 2013 (54KG with 25.2% BODY FAT)
- DIET
(same diet as in mid 2012- May 2013)
- LIFESTYLE
Very inactive, spent most of the time sitting in the class and at home

3rd week of December- now
I decided to change and have a healthier lifestyle. I need to lose my body fat.
- DIET
Breakfast: Oatmeal + An apple
Lunch : Chicken breast [before gym] + Coleslaw [before gym] + Protein shake [after gym]
Dinner: A bowl of grapes or A pack of blueberries
- LIFESTYLE
Inactive. Goes to the gym 5 days a week (an hour per day). The gym equipments I'm currently using are treadmill (30 minutes) and rowing machine (30 minutes) only. I plan to do more cardio and sit ups as much as I used to and I have also purchased Shaun T's Insanity Fitness Program- will get my package tomorrow.

After two weeks, I have shred a few weight (3KG) but have gained a little bit of body fat.
I'm now 51.5KG with 25.5 % BODY FAT. I can see that my stomach is more toned, but why do I gain body fat when I have been through a healthier lifestyle?

Hornsby

how are you measuring your bodyfat?

refinedredbird

Body fat percentage depends on what your diet consists of and strength training. Cardio does help you burn calories, but lifting weights helps you build muscle and muscle helps you burn fat much more quickly. Your diet is important too. You should focus on eating food rich with protein which helps you build and repair muscle in your body.

mccindy72

Are you using MFP the way it is intended, to track your calories and exercise burn? What are your target calories? Looking at your food, it doesn't look like you are eating enough calories, especially with exercise. How do you know your body fat % has increased, are you measuring with calipers?

teeduran

You know the gain of muscle could be putting you off. As long as you see a improvement you are doing wonderful. Don't live by the numbers live by feeling good. and close fitting wonderfully. Thank you I now remember to do the same hugs and good luck. Keep up the good work.

Greenrun99

2 weeks, patience, weights, work... plus your not living a healthy lifestyle your eating grapes for dinner..

Holly_Roman_Empire

After two weeks, I have shred a few weight (3KG) but have gained a little bit of body fat.
I'm now 51.5KG with 25.5 % BODY FAT. I can see that my stomach is more toned, but why do I gain body fat when I have been through a healthier lifestyle?

I agree with all others that say it's only been 2 weeks, and bodyfat measurements having varying degrees of accuracy depending on how you did it.

I just want to point out that when your body fat percentage goes up, it doesn't always mean you gained body fat. It could also mean you lost muscle. That's how percentages work.

ETA: If you are indeed losing muscle, you can combat that with more strength training and more protein in your diet. If you are indeed eating what you say you are, and nothing else, you are definitely not eating enough protein.

Emagineer

I measured my body fat % with a weighing scale at a pharmacy.

Emagineer

After two weeks, I have shred a few weight (3KG) but have gained a little bit of body fat.
I'm now 51.5KG with 25.5 % BODY FAT. I can see that my stomach is more toned, but why do I gain body fat when I have been through a healthier lifestyle?

I agree with all others that say it's only been 2 weeks, and bodyfat measurements having varying degrees of accuracy depending on how you did it.

I just want to point out that when your body fat percentage goes up, it doesn't always mean you gained body fat. It could also mean you lost muscle. That's how percentages work.

ETA: If you are indeed losing muscle, you can combat that with more strength training and more protein in your diet. If you are indeed eating what you say you are, and nothing else, you are definitely not eating enough protein.

I'm sorry, I'm new to such terms- what do you mean by 'losing muscle' and how could one lose their muscle?

Emagineer

Are you using MFP the way it is intended, to track your calories and exercise burn? What are your target calories? Looking at your food, it doesn't look like you are eating enough calories, especially with exercise. How do you know your body fat % has increased, are you measuring with calipers?

I'm not really familiar with calorie calculations, but I’d like to know why you consider that I’m not having enough calories intake? I hardly feel starved even after exercising though.

Holly_Roman_Empire

After two weeks, I have shred a few weight (3KG) but have gained a little bit of body fat.
I'm now 51.5KG with 25.5 % BODY FAT. I can see that my stomach is more toned, but why do I gain body fat when I have been through a healthier lifestyle?

I agree with all others that say it's only been 2 weeks, and bodyfat measurements having varying degrees of accuracy depending on how you did it.

I just want to point out that when your body fat percentage goes up, it doesn't always mean you gained body fat. It could also mean you lost muscle. That's how percentages work.

ETA: If you are indeed losing muscle, you can combat that with more strength training and more protein in your diet. If you are indeed eating what you say you are, and nothing else, you are definitely not eating enough protein.

I'm sorry, I'm new to such terms- what do you mean by 'losing muscle' and how could one lose their muscle?

When you lose weight, it isn't all fat. Likely it is a combination of fat, muscle, and water. Eating an appropriate amount of protein in conjunction with strength training helps retain your muscle mass.

And eating an appropriate amount of calories doesn't have much to do with hunger signals. Some people can eat lots of calories and not feel full, others can eat very little calories and feel stuffed. It depends on what foods your eating, but the fact remains that the diet you are on is not going to do you much for the body composition you are after.

Holly_Roman_Empire

I measured my body fat % with a weighing scale at a pharmacy.

Then I simply wouldn't put much stock in it.

ETA: But as it seems you aren't eating enough calories, you are mainly doing cardio for exercise and no strength training, and you certainly don't have enough protein sources, it is plausible that your body fat % would increase due to a loss of muscle mass.

Emagineer

I measured my body fat % with a weighing scale at a pharmacy.

Then I simply wouldn't put much stock in it.

ETA: But as it seems you aren't eating enough calories, you are mainly doing cardio for exercise and no strength training, and you certainly don't have enough protein sources, it is plausible that your body fat % would increase due to a loss of muscle mass.

Does it mean that I have to increase my protein intake in order to gain more muscle mass?

diannethegeek

I measured my body fat % with a weighing scale at a pharmacy.

Then I simply wouldn't put much stock in it.

ETA: But as it seems you aren't eating enough calories, you are mainly doing cardio for exercise and no strength training, and you certainly don't have enough protein sources, it is plausible that your body fat % would increase due to a loss of muscle mass.

Does it mean that I have to increase my protein intake in order to gain more muscle mass?

If you want to gain muscle mass, then you need to eat more calories than your TDEE, strength train, and increase your protein. If you simply want to maintain your current muscle mass while losing body fat, then you eat moderately less than your TDEE (about 10-20% less), strength train, and increase your protein.

There are a lot of online calculators to help give you an estimate of your TDEE (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/), but be aware that it's just an estimate. You will probably have to experiment a bit to find your sweet spot.

Scales that measure body fat percentage tend to be inaccurate.

mccindy72

I measured my body fat % with a weighing scale at a pharmacy.

Then I simply wouldn't put much stock in it.

ETA: But as it seems you aren't eating enough calories, you are mainly doing cardio for exercise and no strength training, and you certainly don't have enough protein sources, it is plausible that your body fat % would increase due to a loss of muscle mass.

Does it mean that I have to increase my protein intake in order to gain more muscle mass?

If you want to gain muscle mass, then you need to eat more calories than your TDEE, strength train, and increase your protein. If you simply want to maintain your current muscle mass while losing body fat, then you eat moderately less than your TDEE (about 10-20% less), strength train, and increase your protein.

There are a lot of online calculators to help give you an estimate of your TDEE (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/), but be aware that it's just an estimate. You will probably have to experiment a bit to find your sweet spot.

Scales that measure body fat percentage tend to be inaccurate.

I've always wondered about that - how can standing on a scale enable it to measure your body fat?

sijomial

Those scales work by running a very low voltage current through your body and measuring the electrical resistance.
Broadly speaking the more fat you have the higher the resistance.

However, they can be horribly inaccurate depending on how they are used.

If you use the same model, at same time of day, and preferably one with more than two contact points you will be able to track changes over time even if the actual number isn't precise.

They are badly affected by changes in hydration, exercise, eating and other factors. Probably the worst way to use them would be to grab the hand-held unit at the gym (or pharmacy!) at different times of day just after exercise or just after having a drink......