10% loss of bodyfat

mom2my4boys
mom2my4boys Posts: 148 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,
So this morning i had my body fat % done at the gym. It was only on the scale, next week i have another appointment for calipers. According to the scale, I've lost almost 100lbs and have gone from 44% body fat to 34%. (in 14 months) I do not want to get to goal (another 30-50lbs) and be the dreaded skinny fat. Loose skin doesn't bother me, skinny fat will bother me more!

I've done alot of reading on this site and I've read that some people manage to lose 1% a week. Is this realistic? If so, what am i doing wrong? i can't afford the help of a person trainer right now. My workouts consist of about 45mins/5 days a week of various cardio machines and 15-20mins of weight machines 2-3 times a week. I know weight machines aren't ideal, but it's what I've got for now and i figured it would at least help me maintain a little of my muscle. (I must have some, you can't walk around as a 5'4 female at 300lbs and not have some muscle!) :laugh:

As far as my diet is concerned, I've mostly only paid attention to staying slightly under my calorie goal and meeting the protein goal. (fair warning- if you look at my diary, you will see alot of quick adds/incomplete days lately) This explains why my losses have slowed lately. Another question, when i switched my rate of loss from 2lbs to 1lbs, does this mean that mfp changes my deficit from 500 daily to 250 daily? (as in are my somewhat nightly pb samiches wiping out the 250 cal deficit? :blushing: )

Thanks for your help and time.

Replies

  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
    thats 1% of their weight not 1% of their bf%

    you dropped 10% bf% but you probably lost 30% of your original bodyweight

    at 400 lbs, losing 4lbs a week is a 1% loss/week, but that 1% loss of total body weight would come out to a difference of maybe .1% in your total bf percentage
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Just a couple of notes: when people say they're losing 1% a week, that's not all fat. That's their % of total body weight. When you lose weight, it's never 100% fat. It's fat, blood volume, some muscle, etc.

    Also, BF scales are really inaccurate, so they can be good for mapping general trend lines but that's about it.

    I'm not sure about your actual SW and CW, but if they're in this ballpark...

    300 lbs @ 44% BF = 132 lbs of fat
    200 lbs @ 34% BF = 68 lbs of fat

    You cut your total pounds of fat in HALF in those 14 months. That seems pretty dang impressive :smile:
  • mom2my4boys
    mom2my4boys Posts: 148 Member
    Thanks for your help.:flowerforyou: It makes more sense now! I guess i was just looking for assurances that i'm progressing normally. Other peoples % of fat loss would interest me as well.

    SW 275lbs /f/5'4
    CW 180lbs

    I have another appointment next Monday morning to have calipers % body fat done. The trainer told me that there is about a 30% accuracy difference between the scales and calipers.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    I have another appointment next Monday morning to have calipers % body fat done. The trainer told me that there is about a 30% accuracy difference between the scales and calipers.

    Neither is particularly accurate really - though calipers are slightly more so (assuming of course the person using them is adequately trained on how to use them).

    Of course, the actual % number itself isn't particularly meaningful - as long as you're making progress on bringing it down (assuming of course that's your goal). Keep the trend moving in the right direction!
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    I would totally wait to have the caliper readings done, but...

    257 @ 44% = 113 pounds of fat
    180 @ 34% = 61 pounds of fat

    Given that these readings aren't 100% accurate, they tell you that you lost 77 pounds, 52 of which were fat. That's fabulous!
  • mom2my4boys
    mom2my4boys Posts: 148 Member
    Alicedark your too fast! I edited my post as i typo'd my starting weight. It should have read 275lbs SW. What's you secret? How are you calculating that for me? Thank you and i think i will cancel the appointment on Monday and wait a few more months to have it done again.Thanks for the encouragement :wink: I tried to do a progress/success story on 15/09 as that was my 1 year of being on mfp but ended up frustrated that i couldn't get the pics working. (my tech support -husband- is away working this week)
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Alicedark your too fast! I edited my post as i typo'd my starting weight. It should have read 275lbs SW. What's you secret? How are you calculating that for me? Thank you and i think i will cancel the appointment on Monday and wait a few more months to have it done again.Thanks for the encouragement :wink: I tried to do a progress/success story on 15/09 as that was my 1 year of being on mfp but ended up frustrated that i couldn't get the pics working. (my tech support -husband- is away working this week)
    Haha, my secret is that I'm waiting for someone at work to send me something and so I'm bored :smile:

    275 x .44 = 121 (starting pounds of fat)
    180 x .34 = 61 (current pounds of fat)

    275 - 180 = 95 total pounds lost
    121 - 61 = 60 pounds of fat lost
  • mom2my4boys
    mom2my4boys Posts: 148 Member
    Hey, i just thought i'd come back and update. It was included in my membership so i thought why not? My body fat according to the trainer that (apparently) went to school for his job, is 22.2%. Quite a difference from 44% (last year) or 34% (scale) last week. I'm pretty pumped, that i've lost 1/2 my bodyfat in 14 months! (even if it isn't terribly accurate) Now to shred away that last 30 lbs and then i'll be seeing ya in the strong women threads! :wink:

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