Body Sizes.

SmoothRiko
SmoothRiko Posts: 193
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey MFP fam,

I just stepped on one of those specialty scales that pretty much tells you everything about yourself. If magically all the fat disappeared, I would weigh about 208lbs of muscle...that may sound great and all, but I am only 5'7"

I do want to have muscles, don't get me wrong, but I feel when I loose all that weight...I'm currently 290lbs, I'll still be "huge." I would like a slightly skinnier build.

Those charts at the docs office says that a person my height should be around 145-160lbs range. Should I shoot for this range, or just loose the 82 lbs and be happy with my wrestler size build.

What are your thoughts?

Replies

  • yungibear
    yungibear Posts: 138 Member
    In for the responses! I have the same question! I've read on the forums that when you lose weight, you'll most likely lose some muscle?
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    Well, first off, those magical scales can be WAY off so if it told you you were 28% body fat, you could be 38% for all it knows. They just provide an estimation.

    Second, if that number is correct, being 28% body fat does not mean that you are 72% muscle. It means that you have 72% fat free mass. This will include muscle, water, bones, waste, etc. As you lose weight, you will lose lean mass even if you manage to maintain your muscle mass. This is because your body will generally store less water as you weigh less. As you lose weight, even if you maintain most of your muscle mass, you will probably lose 25% or more of your fat free mass but it could be much higher, especially if you have a lot of quick losses in the beginning (these will be mostly water weight).

    That being said, I do believe some people are built to be more muscular and can carry more weight than other people of the same height yet have a lower body fat %. You see this talked about when you see people talking about "skinny fat" when a person loses weight but loses too much lean mass and they still look soft even though they are at a healthy weight. Your case would be the opposite - you could look very lean and fit at a higher than normal weight, but the only way to know for sure is to monitor your body fat % and work to get it to an acceptable level. Once you do this, you might find that a good weight for you is 200, but you might find that a good weight for you is 160. There's really no way to know for sure.
  • SmoothRiko
    SmoothRiko Posts: 193
    Makes perfect sense. I wish I could hook myself up to a machine and it tell me what I can eat, what I have to avoid, what excercises to do every day, and such...Wouldn't that be nice?
  • gotolam
    gotolam Posts: 262 Member
    Makes perfect sense. I wish I could hook myself up to a machine and it tell me what I can eat, what I have to avoid, what excercises to do every day, and such...Wouldn't that be nice?

    Nah man. That's called Weight Watchers.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Makes perfect sense. I wish I could hook myself up to a machine and it tell me what I can eat, what I have to avoid, what excercises to do every day, and such...Wouldn't that be nice?

    You can eat whatever you want, as it fits in your calories and macros. Avoid things that do not help you reach those calorie and macro goals. Exercise isn't necessary for weight loss but is beneficial for other reasons.

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