123 pounds and 38% body fat - could anyone give advice?

Tetonia

I am 47, 5'2" and 123 pounds. A month ago I used a handheld BIA device at my gym to get an idea of my body fat and it came up 38%. Two weeks later I used the same device to check again, (thinking it was a false high), and it came up 33%.

I have been going to Ozone Fit for the last 50 days or so and they have a fat loss percent challenge going on, which I am taking part it. the trainer used an Omron again last week.... Guess what, my body fat again came up as 38.2%.

Let's assume that it is a false high. Still, being above 30% is high.

A little background about me: I was anorexic for most of my 20s and 30s, around 89 pounds. Sad. I got help and started slowly gaining weight at 35, got up to 105-110 for a few years. Then I turned 40 and my life fell apart, and I gained 35 pounds in 6 months. From there I had difficulties, getting as high as 140 about four years ago.

In 2010 I ate low calories, around 1000 a day, did a lot of cardio, and dropped down to 113 but didn't maintain it. I know it wasn't a healthy way to drop pounds. I don't know what my body fat percent was at that point. I started gaining it back after 9 months. This time I want to take it off right.

I have my BMR calculated at 1253 and I calculate my TDEE as 1480 because my job is completely sedentary. I try not to eat below 1300 a day. My exercise is Ozone Fit bootcamp workouts 5 days a week mornings and also about 45 minutes of cardio as high intensity intervals 3-4 times a week at night. My job is 10-12 hours in front of a computer and it feels really good to move my body, so I work out because I enjoy it. My intake is spread out into 4-6 meals a day. I take a lot of vitamin supplements because I believe years of anorexia have me in chronic malnutrition.

My focus this last 45 days has been to increase protein grams (goal of 100/day) and reduce wheat and grains as I don't feel fantastic eating them, which I have noticed more this last month when I do eat them. I don't record my water intake very well, it is usually 75-100 ounces a day.

I wonder if my sugars/carbs are too high and that may interfere with fat burn. Cleaning up my diet further is needed, that I know. My diary is set to public so it can be looked over.

I have lost inches in the last 45 days, more than an inch off my waist, an inch off my hips, and about 1/2 inch from my legs and ribs, so I know things are changing. I don't know if this is more to do with fluid levels changing since I have a lot of problems with water retention in my legs from sitting. I have lost 3 pounds in this time frame.

I ask because I want to have fitness gains and get my body fat percent to a healthy level, and I am not sure I am on the right track with the recent fat percent measurement again.

psuLemon

Can you alter your diary to track carbs and fats.. they are more important that some of the things you have. The next issue you will fight is all the muscle you lost between the ED and high cardio you did previously. Next, I would calculate TDEE (to include exercise) and then cut 20%. Eat that every day and not eat back exercise calories (probably 1600 calories based on your info). Next, cut cardio to 1 days per week and really focus on heavy weight training. This will help you cut fat. Now you might struggle to get some good definition as your LBM is probably low due to your past. If you want to change that, you can always work to gain new LBM by eating a surplus to go through a "Bulk phase" and then follow it with a cut phase (see below).

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

Tetonia

I have set my diary to track carbs, fats, and protein. Thank you for the suggestions.

psuLemon

I have set my diary to track carbs, fats, and protein. Thank you for the suggestions.

Your carbs aren't too bad, your protein is definitely low. I would up that. Most days your calories are too low. Do yourself a favor and bump up your intake to 1400 calories for two weeks. Eat this same amount every day, even on non workout days. After two weeks, bump it to 1600 calories (about 20% less than TDEE) and stay there for a month. Also, really push the weight training. WT is much more effective at cutting fat. You don't want to do much more than 6-10 reps. WT about 3 days a week and 2-3 days of HIIT if you can. At least these are my suggestions.

Also, don't expect quick results. About 1-2% body fat per month, at first, is acceptable if your diet is clean and you are pushing your exercise. Again, since you have some prior issues, the first few months could be working to stabilize that.

Tetonia

Thank you for looking at my data again. I like your suggestion of stepping up the calories and protein grams over a few weeks and I will make sure I am eating enough. Also your suggestion to ramp up my weight lifting to help preserve my LBM better. I am now in a position to do that without injury from the last couple of months of working out.

I don't expect quick results and would rather have lasting fitness. You also answered my question about carb intake. I am ready to get really serious about helping my body composition change. Thank you!

runfreddyrun

go to the bod pod at the university of Utah and then you'll know for sure. the bod pod is one of the most accurate ways to measure body fat - accurate within 1% of BF.

it's only $35 and totally worth it.

http://healthcare.utah.edu/nutritionclinic/pricing/index.html

Tetonia

Wow! Thank you

lisamarie2181

I would have to guess that the 38% BF is not right, I am 228, 5'5 and my BF% is 37%. Sounds like the lower number would be closer to accurate. Just my opinion.

nxd10

First, it's not high for your age.

Second, those meters are inaccurate.

Third, keep working out and building muscle. That's how you build lean body mass.

rainbowbow

Typical Skinny fat, sadly. You're at an acceptable weight for your height, but have a high percentage of body fat. I agree this is probably to do with your ED, and lots of cardio causing you to lose lean body mass.

The best advice I can give you, and I really hope you consider it... Strength training and more protein. Building additional muscle will allow you to lose some of the body fat, have a higher BMR, and will also help you look tighter/leaner all around. If you've never done strength training there are many programs that should head you in the right direction (new rules of lifting for women, stronglifts, Starting Strength, etc.)

Try and get around 1 gram protein per pound of LBM. (in your case this is only 76.26 pounds!!!! assuming 38% body fat is correct)

To put this in perspective.... when I started I was 5'3 136 pounds and 34% body fat. Now i'm 5'3 113 pounds and roughly 18% body fat. (92 pounds lean body mass)



Best of luck!

geekyjock76

I'm going to echo rainbowbow's recommendation of implementing strength training since you no doubt lost a ton of lean body mass through years of disordered eating and cardio. You may want to get a DEXA scan done as well to assess what kind of bone mass density loss you likely have experienced as well. Most insurance plans cover it.

nxd10

I find it hard to believe that cardio is bad for your health or your muscle density, as several posters seem to imply. Sorry, that does NOT make sense.

Does strength training do something different? Absolutely. But cardio does not cause you lose to lose muscle mass. It simply does not cause you to build it. Now, if you do cardio and don't EAT enough - that's a problem.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/367521-is-cardio-bad-for-building-muscle/

Tetonia

Thanks for all the great feedback and helpful suggestions!

I stepped back into weight training 60 days ago, it is going well and I am pushing myself to go heavier as fast as I can safely go.

Plan:
Continue to push my limits with WT.
Be careful not to overdo cardio.
Push protein grams and watch carbs.
Get enough calories (1400-1600 range)

I agree the BIA devices are inaccurate and just give a ballpark percentage.

My body fat is high, I can see it. 38% really could be accurate. That figure doesn't freak me out, I just want to improve. Changes will be visible. I want to be effiecient and healthy in how I do this. I 'm not looking for a quick fix.

Thanks again everyone! I will post again in 6 weeks and let you know how it is going!

psuLemon

I find it hard to believe that cardio is bad for your health or your muscle density, as several posters seem to imply. Sorry, that does NOT make sense.

Does strength training do something different? Absolutely. But cardio does not cause you lose to lose muscle mass. It simply does not cause you to build it. Now, if you do cardio and don't EAT enough - that's a problem.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/367521-is-cardio-bad-for-building-muscle/

No one said it was bad for your health.. it has been proven that its just not as effective at cutting fat.



http://www.metaboliceffect.com/topic/38-nutrition-lifestyle.aspx


Also did you read the section cardio with resistance training... to quote "In fact, cardio combined with a low-calorie diet causes muscle-tissue breakdown and loss of existing muscle mass. "

This is why we suggest minimizing cardio and increase weight training. Once i get off my phone i can also provide the NIH studies to back this suggestion.