Body fat issues

Megthatgirl

Im just trying to shed a little light on something thats been nagging me... I know that when you set a goal for weightloss- it should be based on your body fat.
Im gonna get down to the nitty gritty... Im 5'5, 241 lbs and have roughly 44% Body fat (thats an average of 3 different tests). I need to get down into the high 20's to join the military...

( a little bit of backstory- I cheered competitively and danced (ballet) for 8 years... So I was a weight lifter from the time I was 10 just because I had to hurl girls in the air lol)

I guess what Im hoping for is to see some before and after pictures of ladies who are still considered overweight but their body fat is down low! This is just to kind of gauge what certain weights will look like on me. I know Im going to weigh more, but that doesnt mean Im going to be looking all fluffy lol.

If anyone has any imput at all, let me know!
The whole bodyfat/muscle weighing more thing just has me confused on what I need to do... If I need to drop the weight and THEN try to cut some of the muscle or what...

HELP!
Thanks yall!!

sarah44254

I don't have pics for you, but I wanted to mention you don't need to drop weight and drop body fat in separate steps. If you eat at a calorie deficit as well as lift weights (instead of workouts of ONLY cardio) then you should see a loss in body fat and slight loss in muscle.

I hear that if you focus on ONLY cardio and calorie deficit, then the weight you lose will be a bit of muscle and fat, and we really want to keep muscle mass that we already have

rileysowner

You will need to lose weight. That is the long and short of it. At 5'5" and 241 you are quite overweight. For that matter at 44% body fat you need to lose a fair amount of weight.

Muscle does not weigh more than fat, it is more dense than fat. That means one pound of muscle takes up less space than one pound of fat. So if two people weight the same and are the same height, the one with a lower body fat percentage will look substantially thinner.

At this point I would suggest that you set your weight loss goal at 1 pound per week, lift heavy weights and do a little cardio while eating within the calorie budget this site give you.

MarieNevada

you can work out your lean body mass from your weight and body fat percentage. it is 135 lbs of lean body mass. so add on 20% to that for your 20% body fat and you get a weight of 162. so the weight you shoudl be aiming at is 162. as long as you dont lose lean body mass. so you have to focus on losing fat, not just weight. so you need to start building muscle now. i fyou just diet and do cardio you're going to lose lean body mass ( you'll burn your muscle not fat) which you don't want to do. Check out The Body Fat Connection by Tom Venutto for a really good primer on how to lose fat, not just weight.

Jean410

Keep up the good work. You CAN do it with hard work.

I feel the need to share my experience with the military: I'm 5'4" and I weighed 135 when I joined the military 20 yrs ago. I was in great physical shape, but because of my waist measurements I struggled my whole 7 yrs of active duty. I'm not sure if it's the same, but they used neck, waist, and hip measurements and threw that in a calculation for my body fat %. For me it was a whole 3-4% higher than other methods of body fat measurement. If you are an apple (like me) it will be harder, but not impossible to meet these requirements. If you are lucky to have a small waist, it's to your advantage.

Building muscle will increase your resting metabolic rate which will burn more calories at rest which will in turn burn more fat... I've seen people do some crazy stuff to try and meet military requirements. Please lose this weight for YOU and be fit for YOU. Everything else will fall in place. I wish you lots of luck!

Megthatgirl

Jim- I know it takes up more space- I don't know why I went back to that old, incorrect addage. My weight loss goal was 90lbs in the begining. Im down 25 of it, but my concern is if I really need to lose that much, since I am built with a lot of muscle.

Correct my math if its wrong, but 241 x .44= 106.04. So I would subtract the difference- Which would mean that without an ounce of fat on me I would weigh 135 (roughly) just being organ, muscle, tissue and bones.
So to be at say, 28% body fat I would do the same math as above- 241 x .28 = 67.48 so I would add that to 135 so 202.48 would be my goal weight (providing I only lose fat, not muscle mass.
I know its not a perfect world and that won't happen, but I do cardio and weights 6 days a week-

I guess I just want to make sure my math is checked. Point blank, Im an extremely strong girl- Theres a reason they accept body fat percentages over target rate range- Its not a bad thing to be muscular...

Jean410

You will need to lose weight. That is the long and short of it. At 5'5" and 241 you are quite overweight. For that matter at 44% body fat you need to lose a fair amount of weight.

Muscle does not weigh more than fat, it is more dense than fat. That means one pound of muscle takes up less space than one pound of fat. So if two people weight the same and are the same height, the one with a lower body fat percentage will look substantially thinner.

At this point I would suggest that you set your weight loss goal at 1 pound per week, lift heavy weights and do a little cardio while eating within the calorie budget this site give you.

I concur!

tross0924

Jim- I know it takes up more space- I don't know why I went back to that old, incorrect addage. My weight loss goal was 90lbs in the begining. Im down 25 of it, but my concern is if I really need to lose that much, since I am built with a lot of muscle.

Correct my math if its wrong, but 241 x .44= 106.04. So I would subtract the difference- Which would mean that without an ounce of fat on me I would weigh 135 (roughly) just being organ, muscle, tissue and bones.
So to be at say, 28% body fat I would do the same math as above- 241 x .28 = 67.48 so I would add that to 135 so 202.48 would be my goal weight (providing I only lose fat, not muscle mass.
I know its not a perfect world and that won't happen, but I do cardio and weights 6 days a week-

I guess I just want to make sure my math is checked. Point blank, Im an extremely strong girl- Theres a reason they accept body fat percentages over target rate range- Its not a bad thing to be muscular...

No.

x/135 = 100/72

13500/72 = 187

At 187 with 135 lbs of lean muscle you'd be at 28% BF

187 * .28 = 52
187-52=135

*oops typo 73 on the first line instead of the 72 it should have been.

jcdfish

I don't understand the muscle/fat thing about which weighs more. It weighs what it weighs. The fuss over it got started years ago with that old joke "What weighs more, a pound of fat or a pound of muscle?" LOL

But by volume muscle weighs more. A cubic inch of muscle weighs more than a cubic inch of fat. BUT, an ounce of fat will be bigger than an ounce of muscle. So, the idea that neither weighs more or less isn't quite accurate. That is moot. What matters in that case is volume.

So, you weren't incorrect. Your thought was correct, but incomplete. IMHO.

Megthatgirl

See, I figured someone would be smarter than me at the math part!

But for the record, I know I was reaching out to have a question answered, but I think we all need to remember that we are ALL on this site for a reason. Theres no reason to be harsh- I know that I need to CONTINUE to lose weight. Thats a no brainer. Im just wanting to make sure that Im not setting myself up for failure by trying to achieve something unhealthy.

At the end of the day, Im a chubby girl with feelings. Ive lived my life being told Im overweight and need to lose it- I don't need that on here too! Im pretty sure most of us are aware of that fact!
I appreciate the input, but sensitivity is also very much appreciated!
Im not asking to sugarcoat, but beating a dead horse is kind of pointless.

hamncheese67

That's right, if you want to be at 28% body fat with an estimated lean body mass of 135 lb, your goal weight is 187 lbs.

If you want a formula that you can use for what was done below go with

LBM divided by (1 - goal body fat%)

so 135/( 1 - 28%) = 135/0.72 = 187

(converting the percent to a decimal number)

No.

x/135 = 100/73

13500/72 = 187

At 187 with 135 lbs of lean muscle you'd be at 28% BF

187 * .28 = 52
187-52=135

Megthatgirl

Im so glad yall are way better at math than me!!! I appreciate the help!

jcdfish

Megthatgirl, Please, don't feel bad. I completely agree, you don't need to hear again that you need to lose weight. I haven't yet heard that here aimed at me, but haven't been here enough to hear it yet. I imagine I will if I ever let out what I weigh! But it sort of makes me chuckle when I see someone say that, because why do they think we're here on MFP???

You are a cute young woman, and don't believe otherwise! Very pretty. I've noticed some harsh people on MFP, and I've noticed some very understanding and caring people. Thank goodness for caring, compassion, and understanding.

Hang in there. You are doing great, and seem to be approaching this very well.