What is the norm for body fat loss in a month?
shorty35565
Posts: 1,425 Member
3 weeks ago I was 29.6% BF. The month before I was 30.8%, so I only lost 1.2% in a month. I feel like I should be losing more & I would like to lose more. Is this below average?
Before you say anything, I do lift heavy (heavy for me). So please don't tell me to do so.
Before you say anything, I do lift heavy (heavy for me). So please don't tell me to do so.
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Replies
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Sounds like you're using a scale to measure body fat.
There is more variation in one of those scales than you can possibly imagine.
Don't worry about your body fat % so much low. Just worry about lowering your body weight.
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=1460 -
Sounds like you're using a scale to measure body fat.
There is more variation in one of those scales than you can possibly imagine.
Don't worry about your body fat % so much low. Just worry about lowering your body weight.
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=146
No, I use calipers. I weigh 127-128lbs at 5'5. I plan to get to 115-120, but I NEED to lower my body fat. Cuz I look awfully fat for my weight0 -
I don't use the BMI calculator on here its lower than what I need to go by for Navy regs. I google Navy BMI calculator and use that it is a formula based on your hips, waist, neck ratio and your weight and height. This one says I am just under 30% navy one says I am a bit over 35%. Not cool but unfortunatly I need to use the latter:explode:0
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Am I missing something because I weigh 174lbs , im 5'5 and Have a 29.2% body fat. Professionally calculated. Maybe I just dont know how that works but how do you weigh so little and have the same body fat as me?0
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I don't use the BMI calculator on here its lower than what I need to go by for Navy regs. I google Navy BMI calculator and use that it is a formula based on your hips, waist, neck ratio and your weight and height. This one says I am just under 30% navy one says I am a bit over 35%. Not cool but unfortunatly I need to use the latter:explode:
My bmi is like 21.3. I have low weight/high body fat %. not fun at all
I use calipers to measure my BF% 0 -
Am I missing something because I weigh 174lbs , im 5'5 and Have a 29.2% body fat. Professionally calculated. Maybe I just dont know how that works but how do you weigh so little and have the same body fat as me?
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By the way It took me 7 weeks to lose 4% body fat so it sounds like your doing okay to me.0 -
It looks like you are pretty close to your goal, so you probably won't be losing as fast as others at a higher weight. Also, are you sure you are getting an accurate reading from the caliper? I am also 5'5" and I weigh 7-10 lbs more than you do, but my body fat is 20%. I used some fancy scale thing from a dr's office. It's suppose to be one of the most accurate readings I guess.
If your readings are accurate, I think your body fat loss is pretty good 1-2% per month is pretty common.
Keep up the heavy lifting
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Am I missing something because I weigh 174lbs , im 5'5 and Have a 29.2% body fat. Professionally calculated. Maybe I just dont know how that works but how do you weigh so little and have the same body fat as me?
The most accurate ways to measure BF is bodpod or underwater weighing. All other ways are like a shot in the dark & can give you a wide variety of measurement. I use calipers, so I'm not sure how accurate it is.
If we were to have the say BF% that would mean you have more muscle than me or possibly a bigger frame or both. I have a small frame and I'm pretty flabby for my weight. I look fat. Idk if 1 would every believe I weigh wat I do.
Here is a pic tho
open the pic in a new tab to see the back, there is supposed to b 3 pics, but it needs to b resized.0 -
It looks like you are pretty close to your goal, so you probably won't be losing as fast as others at a higher weight. Also, are you sure you are getting an accurate reading from the caliper? I am also 5'5" and I weigh 7-10 lbs more than you do, but my body fat is 20%. I used some fancy scale thing from a dr's office. It's suppose to be one of the most accurate readings I guess.
If your readings are accurate, I think your body fat loss is pretty good 1-2% per month is pretty common.
Keep up the heavy lifting
I feel like it's right. U have more muscle than me probably. I'm pretty flabby. I just posted pics, but click on it cuz one of them is cut out cuz of the size. I don't look 127-128lbs 0 -
actually this is the one we use http://ramui.com/Java_script_code_example/us-navy-body-fat-calculator-script.html0
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actually this is the one we use http://ramui.com/Java_script_code_example/us-navy-body-fat-calculator-script.html
It says I'm 23.7% which is obviously wrong lol U can see in my pictures. I have a small natural waist (28") and I guess decent sized hips (36.5") All my weight is my belly in between the 2.0 -
Maybe it is close, I have always thought I had a large frame. I don't know how to post pictures outside of my profile yet, but I do look pretty similar to you but with a little bigger butt and thighs lol.
If I were you I would probably just try to keep toning up and the rest will probably fall into place naturally, lower body fat%, your goal weight, ect. No worries 1-2% a month is great, think of it on a large scale and your talking 12'ish percent in a year. That sounds pretty awesome to me! 0 -
Dunktank is the gold standard but not always available
Caliper is the best bet. Obviously a 7 point is more accurate but 3 point calculation is fine.
Forget the scale... Following that, according to the AHA I'm obese year round.
The faster you drop, the more time it will take before the skin collagen tightens up excess material hanging around. You also sacrifice losing any muscle mass - further adding to the first point. In addition, there's a risk of having a yo-yo effect. Lose 10, gain 12, lose 10, gain 12... Slow and steady wins the race.0 -
Maybe it is close, I have always thought I had a large frame. I don't know how to post pictures outside of my profile yet, but I do look pretty similar to you but with a little bigger butt and thighs lol.
If I were you I would probably just try to keep toning up and the rest will probably fall into place naturally, lower body fat%, your goal weight, ect. No worries 1-2% a month is great, think of it on a large scale and your talking 12'ish percent in a year. That sounds pretty awesome to me!
I was cursed with like no butt.
12 a yr sound so sloooow. I've heard of ppl losing 5% a month! I'm so jealous of tht!0 -
Dunktank is the gold standard but not always available
Caliper is the best bet. Obviously a 7 point is more accurate but 3 point calculation is fine.
Forget the scale... Following that, according to the AHA I'm obese year round.
The faster you drop, the more time it will take before the skin collagen tightens up excess material hanging around. You also sacrifice losing any muscle mass - further adding to the first point. In addition, there's a risk of having a yo-yo effect. Lose 10, gain 12, lose 10, gain 12... Slow and steady wins the race.
I have no idea what kind of caliper I have. It came with a program.
Yeah, slow and steady does. *big sigh* I been doing this SO long I just wanna get to the point where I look at least half way decent. Even at 128lbs I feel so fat because of my BF%. I'm growing impatient & very discouraged these says cuz of how slow things are.0 -
I would love to lose 1% legitimately in a month.
I have one of those body fat scales, they suck. One day it said I was 30.5%, two days later 29.3%.... right.....0 -
A caliper is a caliper. The 3 vs 7 I mentioned is just two different methods, one using 3 basic points the other using 7. Most people just do 3: abdominal, thigh, and pectoral. For women sub pectoral for tricep or subscapularis as, for obvious reasons, pectoral causes false increases.I have no idea what kind of caliper I have. It came with a program.
Yeah, slow and steady does. *big sigh* I been doing this SO long I just wanna get to the point where I look at least half way decent. Even at 128lbs I feel so fat because of my BF%. I'm growing impatient & very discouraged these says cuz of how slow things are.
When's the last time you drastically changed your diet? Give the body a good shock? After a period of time the body becomes too used to our methods and we have to trick it the leaner we get. I don't know what you've been doing but a good switch up could accelerate your progress.0 -
A caliper is a caliper. The 3 vs 7 I mentioned is just two different methods, one using 3 basic points the other using 7. Most people just do 3: abdominal, thigh, and pectoral. For women sub pectoral for tricep or subscapularis as, for obvious reasons, pectoral causes false increases.I have no idea what kind of caliper I have. It came with a program.
Yeah, slow and steady does. *big sigh* I been doing this SO long I just wanna get to the point where I look at least half way decent. Even at 128lbs I feel so fat because of my BF%. I'm growing impatient & very discouraged these says cuz of how slow things are.
When's the last time you drastically changed your diet? Give the body a good shock? After a period of time the body becomes too used to our methods and we have to trick it the leaner we get. I don't know what you've been doing but a good switch up could accelerate your progress.
I normally just take 1 in above my hip bone. I guess I need to take from more places.
Ummm, well I cheated Sat, didn't count to celebrate 1 yr of weight loss, but idk how I had since I only ended up eating a luna bar and then my cheat meal. And I've recently upped my cals (if only by like 60 cals) cuz I'm REALLY nervous ab upping them much more. I don't wanna go backwards & start gaining. So I thought I would up them slowly & monitor how it works. I'm super cautious. Cheat meals make me really nervous, because I dont want to gain on the scale or inches. So I rarely ever cheat. I'm very dedicated. I NEVER miss a workout, no matter how bad I feel. I try to eat pretty well though not completely clean, since I'm uber picky & never would be able to get my cals up, but I think I eat mostly clean. I really wonder if I eat enough calories. Like I'm eatin 1565 these days, but I dont eat back my exercise cals.0 -
Do you think its normal for a 5"2 female of 23 years old to have a 36% body fat percentage at 120lbs?
I watch what I eat, but I don't do much exercise.
But I think 36% makes me severely obese!. I do have lots of jiggle and rolls, but I'm a US pant size 4.
I took this percentage at my doctor who used a machine that has a 98% percentage of accuracy.0 -
Do you think its normal for a 5"2 female of 23 years old to have a 36% body fat percentage at 120lbs?
I watch what I eat, but I don't do much exercise.
But I think 36% makes me severely obese!. I do have lots of jiggle and rolls, but I'm a US pant size 4.
I took this percentage at my doctor who used a machine that has a 98% percentage of accuracy.
36% isn't good for any1 Idk how normal it is, cuz ur pretty short. Idk if 120 would b low at ur height or not. You probably should exercise. I think that would help. 0 -
Most women will lose about 2 lb of true fat per month. If very obese, they can lose a bit more. However, the absolute max per day - which likely will not be attainable - is 31 calories x lbs of body fat.
I'm 10% body fat at 163 lbs. Thus, I have 16.3 lbs of body fat. For me, that's 503 calories of true fat loss per day as my cap.
So for me, at most, I can lose 1 lb of true fat per week if I set a weekly deficit of 3500 calories, or 500 per day. Any deficit greater than 500 is likely not beneficial.0 -
^ If that is true then I only can lose 0.5 pounds of fat a week, so why bother trying to lose any faster? I have 50 total pounds of fat....0
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Using the equation, your potential fat utilization per day in calories is 1550, or .43 of a pound. Considering you may realistically be capped at .5 a lb per week, that demonstrates how little true fat is being utilized towards that 1550 estimate (.43 x 7 = 3.0 lbs per week vs 0.5 lbs per week). Based on this data, then 1550/6=258 calories of actual fat loss per day, or 1806 calories per week: 0.5 lb per week.^ If that is true then I only can lose 0.5 pounds of fat a week, so why bother trying to lose any faster? I have 50 total pounds of fat....
That's precisely the point why for most people, maintaining large deficits necessarily isn't beneficial. If I know someone has been eating at a deficit for quite some time, I usually suggest that they: Calculate how much potential fat they can burn and get an accurate estimate of their Resting Metabolic Rate or Active Metabolic Rate from a metabolic testing center.0 -
That is about average as you go down in weight.3 weeks ago I was 29.6% BF. The month before I was 30.8%, so I only lost 1.2% in a month. I feel like I should be losing more & I would like to lose more. Is this below average?
Before you say anything, I do lift heavy (heavy for me). So please don't tell me to do so.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Using the equation, your potential fat utilization per day in calories is 1550, or .43 of a pound. Considering you may realistically be capped at .5 a lb per week, that demonstrates how little true fat is being utilized towards that 1550 estimate (.43 x 7 = 3.0 lbs per week vs 0.5 lbs per week). Based on this data, then 1550/6=258 calories of actual fat loss per day, or 1806 calories per week: 0.5 lb per week.^ If that is true then I only can lose 0.5 pounds of fat a week, so why bother trying to lose any faster? I have 50 total pounds of fat....
That's precisely the point why for most people, maintaining large deficits necessarily isn't beneficial. If I know someone has been eating at a deficit for quite some time, I usually suggest that they: Calculate how much potential fat they can burn and get an accurate estimate of their Resting Metabolic Rate or Active Metabolic Rate from a metabolic testing center.
Thanks for that really thorough explanation. That's actually just what I've been looking for. So I really should be looking at around a 2 pound a month loss. So I should cap my loss at around 25 pounds for the year. I'm at 162 and hope to eventually reach 135.0 -
Bump. This is one of the best threads on this topic I've read.
OP- I think your loss is pretty great! The people that lose like 5% in a month are 1)probably kidding themselves 2) using inaccurate measurement techniques or 3) have way more fat to lose than you do. Keep up the great work and you'll get there girl!
Also, I agree with the poster that suggested a shock technique. You've been doing this a while- it might well be time.0 -
This is a great thread. I have been wondering myself why I can't seem to lose weight but have been losing inches. I think it's back to the drawing board for me to recalculate my body fat %.0
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I posted a some pictures of myself that I took today on my profile. I'm not ready to post the swim suit type of pictures yet, but now you can see I do look similar to you with the same height and body fat % despite weighing almost 50 lbs more. It is just proof that body fat % really is the important thing. The number on the scale is secondary. My goal weight is 150 lbs...BUT more importantly I think I want a body fat % of 20-22. Where ever that may put me on the scale.0
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I agree with you in that peoples' focus ought to be on body composition rather than weight. Even if one is greatly obese, it's about lowering body fat as the journey of weight loss isn't linear and fat loss is a very small variable in that equation.I posted a some pictures of myself that I took today on my profile. I'm not ready to post the swim suit type of pictures yet, but now you can see I do look similar to you with the same height and body fat % despite weighing almost 50 lbs more. It is just proof that body fat % really is the important thing. The number on the scale is secondary. My goal weight is 150 lbs...BUT more importantly I think I want a body fat % of 20-22. Where ever that may put me on the scale.
The problem with setting body weight goals is that you really need to know your lean body mass. If you do not, then you are likely giving yourself an unrealistic goal to attain because the scale weight you choose may be too close to your lean body mass.0
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