Body Fat Percentage Question

Tilran

Maybe the MFP experts here can help me out with my situation.

110 days ago I started at 201 pounds and 23.4% BF.

I am currently 181 pounds and 18.7% BF.


My goal is 10-12% BF (Really the goal is to have defined abs, and I think 10-12 is about where it will be).

I feel like the 5% drop in BF over 20 pounds is not enough, and another 20 pound drop will put me at 161 and only 14% BF.

161 is low weight for me, my goal was 170...but I'm ok with going to 160 if need be...however if these numbers stay true, 14% is too high and I would need to drop another 20 pounds or so to 140 before I will reach my 10%ish goal. 140 pounds is NOT something I am comfortable with as I have not been under 150 since middle school.

In High School (14 years ago) I weighed 160-165 and was under 10% BF with a rocking body...obviously I'm aware that I cant reach the same young body I had then, but I would like to be close...and with the results I've seen on here from people my age...I think it can be done....but why would I need to get to 140lbs to see those results? Or is BF% loss not linear? Is there ways to trim BF without losing alot of weight? Am I losing weight faster then I am losing BF for some reason?

I am at TDEE -20% with about a pound a week in loss. I currently do 2 days of pure cardio and 4 days of pure weight lifting. I do over my macros often, but only rarely is it over ALOT...this weekend was bad . That being said, I've still lost 1lb a week on average.

Any help would be appreciated.

drmerc

201lbs @ 23.4% is 154lbs of lean mass

I think you did your math wrong somewhere alone the line

That would put 10%bf @ 169lbs

edited to add: 181lbs @ 18.7% would give you 147lbs lean mass. Either you are not measuring accurately or are losing a lot of lean mass

sam308lbs

At 181 pounds you have 33.85 lbs of fat and 147.15 lbs of lbm

To get to 10 % BF ...90% of your G.W should be 147.15 lbs(ie the LBM)

So your GW should be 163.5 lbs at 10% BF with 16.3 lbs of fat

rainbowbow

Agreed with the math being possibly wrong. Although you CAN expect to lose some lean mass while in a deficit- i believe it's pretty inevitable.

To help combat muscle cannabolism and lose mostly fat you need to lift heavy, consume adequate protein, and give your body adequate time to rest/rebuild.

Losing those extra 20+ pounds of fat MAY be necessary to get to your desired body fat %. You may want to do a long bulk cycle after your initial losses (about 200 calories over your TDEE) to gain new muscle and minimize fat gains.

Best of luck!

Edit to say: What are you calories like? What are you macros like? How much protien are you getting? What is your training like? I'm wondering if you are losing too much LBM vs fat because of one of the above.

californiagirl2012

Maybe the MFP experts here can help me out with my situation.

110 days ago I started at 201 pounds and 23.4% BF.

I am currently 181 pounds and 18.7% BF.


My goal is 10-12% BF (Really the goal is to have defined abs, and I think 10-12 is about where it will be).

I feel like the 5% drop in BF over 20 pounds is not enough, and another 20 pound drop will put me at 161 and only 14% BF.

161 is low weight for me, my goal was 170...but I'm ok with going to 160 if need be...however if these numbers stay true, 14% is too high and I would need to drop another 20 pounds or so to 140 before I will reach my 10%ish goal. 140 pounds is NOT something I am comfortable with as I have not been under 150 since middle school.

In High School (14 years ago) I weighed 160-165 and was under 10% BF with a rocking body...obviously I'm aware that I cant reach the same young body I had then, but I would like to be close...and with the results I've seen on here from people my age...I think it can be done....but why would I need to get to 140lbs to see those results? Or is BF% loss not linear? Is there ways to trim BF without losing alot of weight? Am I losing weight faster then I am losing BF for some reason?

I am at TDEE -20% with about a pound a week in loss. I currently do 2 days of pure cardio and 4 days of pure weight lifting. I do over my macros often, but only rarely is it over ALOT...this weekend was bad . That being said, I've still lost 1lb a week on average.

Any help would be appreciated.

You won't know what % your body fat will be until you get down closer to your goal. Usually your weight goal should be a "range" and everyone is different. Even with body fat, different people look different at the same body fat level.

Here are examples:




Two females at 15%, totally different. I'm float around 11% and I look nothing like either of them.

Both the guys are at 10%

Exercise (especially lifting weights) is to make your lean body mass pretty when the fat is gone.

A calorie deficit is the only thing that makes fat go away.

You can't out exercise too many calories.

Body fat / Lean Body Mass / Bone density If it's not DXA it didn't happen. I don't trust any other measurements for body fat and muscle. Too many stories of bulking are just not true. DXA.

DXA proved that I did not lose lean body mass while on a calorie deficit for 2 years, and that lifting weights for over 30 years made my 51.5 year old bone density that of a super athletic 30 year old (according to the technician).

neverstray

You don't have to drop weight to lose fat. You could, in fact, gain. Losing body fat is a combo of weight training and cardio, and good clean eating.

I'm in the same boat. I've been focused on losing weight but have been ignoring body fat. But, now that I'm at my goal weight, I still don't feel great about how my body looks. I need to lose the fat. I'm at 19.8% now. My goal is 12%. I am being told that it's the 3 things I mentioned above.

Plus, your body changes as you age. You can't compare yourself now to when you were in high school. Just be who you are now. Theres no way I could be 145 lbs now.

DopeItUp

Where are you getting these body fat numbers from? There are many very inaccurate methods out there.

The reason I ask is because you mention:

201 @ 23.4% BF == 154.4lb lean body mass
then after losing 20lbs
181 @ 18.7% BF == 147.5lb lean body mass

Which means, 7 out of the 20 pounds you lost was muscle. That's why if you continue losing fat and muscle at this rate, it will take a lower goal weight to hit your BF goals.

You don't have your diary open so no one can see what you're eating, but a higher protein intake with a good weight lifting program SHOULD help maintain lean body mass. But you will still expect to lose some, especially going for a very lean goal.

Other than that, nothing you can really do at this point, there's no magic to it. If your diet is great and your weight lifting program is good, you're already doing what you can. Your BF % and goal weight goals just don't happen to coincide. Maybe cut down to 10% at whatever weight, and then bulk up and put some mass back on to get your weight back up a bit if you like.

Tilran

I currently aim for 35% carbs, 35% fat, 30% protein. I tried 35% protein but I could not hit it...even at 30% I supplement with a shake here and there on most days.

I do 1600 calories per day and eat back my exercise calories which can vary from 200ish on weight lifting days to 500-600 on cardio days.

As I said, I'm not perfect and I do go over 2-3 times a week...but usually no more then 200-300 calories. Very infrequently do I go over 800-900, this Saturday happened to be one of those infrequent days due to a birthday party and a lot of drinking involved.

I would say my macros are usually pretty good for the most part.

I am a bit concerned about 7 out of the 20 being muscle loss however I do also understand the BF% numbers I gave you guys could be slightly off as I use the electrical impedence thing at the gym (The one you hold on to). I will do a bod pod session this weekend most likely to get a better number.

DopeItUp

I currently aim for 35% carbs, 35% fat, 30% protein. I tried 35% protein but I could not hit it...even at 30% I supplement with a shake here and there on most days.

I do 1600 calories per day and eat back my exercise calories which can vary from 200ish on weight lifting days to 500-600 on cardio days.

As I said, I'm not perfect and I do go over 2-3 times a week...but usually no more then 200-300 calories. Very infrequently do I go over 800-900, this Saturday happened to be one of those infrequent days due to a birthday party and a lot of drinking involved.

I would say my macros are usually pretty good for the most part.

I am a bit concerned about 7 out of the 20 being muscle loss however I do also understand the BF% numbers I gave you guys could be slightly off as I use the electrical impedence thing at the gym (The one you hold on to). I will do a bod pod session this weekend most likely to get a better number.

Definitely do the bod pod. The BIA devices are only good for a ballpark number, at best. I have one at home and I will take measurements over 2-3 days and average them out to try to get some sort of reasonable number. I've seen 4% variations inside of a week. So don't sweat it too much.

Tilran

Alright, well thanks everyone. I will stay the course for now, get the bodpod done and see what that says.

DominiqueSmall

Maybe the MFP experts here can help me out with my situation.

110 days ago I started at 201 pounds and 23.4% BF.

I am currently 181 pounds and 18.7% BF.


My goal is 10-12% BF (Really the goal is to have defined abs, and I think 10-12 is about where it will be).

I feel like the 5% drop in BF over 20 pounds is not enough, and another 20 pound drop will put me at 161 and only 14% BF.

161 is low weight for me, my goal was 170...but I'm ok with going to 160 if need be...however if these numbers stay true, 14% is too high and I would need to drop another 20 pounds or so to 140 before I will reach my 10%ish goal. 140 pounds is NOT something I am comfortable with as I have not been under 150 since middle school.

In High School (14 years ago) I weighed 160-165 and was under 10% BF with a rocking body...obviously I'm aware that I cant reach the same young body I had then, but I would like to be close...and with the results I've seen on here from people my age...I think it can be done....but why would I need to get to 140lbs to see those results? Or is BF% loss not linear? Is there ways to trim BF without losing alot of weight? Am I losing weight faster then I am losing BF for some reason?

I am at TDEE -20% with about a pound a week in loss. I currently do 2 days of pure cardio and 4 days of pure weight lifting. I do over my macros often, but only rarely is it over ALOT...this weekend was bad . That being said, I've still lost 1lb a week on average.

Any help would be appreciated.

You won't know what % your body fat will be until you get down closer to your goal. Usually your weight goal should be a "range" and everyone is different. Even with body fat, different people look different at the same body fat level.

Here are examples:




Two females at 15%, totally different. I'm float around 11% and I look nothing like either of them.

Both the guys are at 10%

Exercise (especially lifting weights) is to make your lean body mass pretty when the fat is gone.

A calorie deficit is the only thing that makes fat go away.

You can't out exercise too many calories.

Body fat / Lean Body Mass / Bone density If it's not DXA it didn't happen. I don't trust any other measurements for body fat and muscle. Too many stories of bulking are just not true. DXA.

DXA proved that I did not lose lean body mass while on a calorie deficit for 2 years, and that lifting weights for over 30 years made my 51.5 year old bone density that of a super athletic 30 year old (according to the technician).

Bump

cedarghost

You don't have to drop weight to lose fat. You could, in fact, gain. Losing body fat is a combo of weight training and cardio, and good clean eating.

Right there. Or weight training AS cardio, as I approach it. Metabolic Resistance Training, eat at a slight deficit. If you can eat clean all the time, even better. I don't eat totally clean. I do a cheat day once a week and have a snack every now and then. I am not willing to never have another snack as long as I live. I'd be setting myself up for failure.
But doing MRT, three times a week for 15 to 25 minutes and doing HIIT one day per week for 20 minutes, I have went from 236 to 219 in two months and have dropped 7% body fat in the process.
236 * 30% = 70.8 pounds of fat, 165.2 lbm
219 * 23% = 50.37 pounds of fat, 168.63 lbm
That's @20 pounds of fat lost and over 3 pounds of muscle gained. You have to take into account your body's % of water, but that pretty much stays the same for me as I stay well hydrated.
When I hit 224, I was stuck there for over a month. BUT I was still losing fat and gaining lbm, so I didn't pay much attention to the scale.

TavistockToad

I currently aim for 35% carbs, 35% fat, 30% protein. I tried 35% protein but I could not hit it...even at 30% I supplement with a shake here and there on most days.

I do 1600 calories per day and eat back my exercise calories which can vary from 200ish on weight lifting days to 500-600 on cardio days.

i am 5ft5, 126lb woman, and i net 1600 to get a 200 cal deficit to reduce my bodyfat... i would hazard a guess that you could eat a bit more. you dont need a massive deficity if its mainly fat you want to lose.

Chief_Rocka

Maybe the MFP experts here can help me out with my situation.

110 days ago I started at 201 pounds and 23.4% BF.

I am currently 181 pounds and 18.7% BF.


My goal is 10-12% BF (Really the goal is to have defined abs, and I think 10-12 is about where it will be).

I feel like the 5% drop in BF over 20 pounds is not enough, and another 20 pound drop will put me at 161 and only 14% BF.

161 is low weight for me, my goal was 170...but I'm ok with going to 160 if need be...however if these numbers stay true, 14% is too high and I would need to drop another 20 pounds or so to 140 before I will reach my 10%ish goal. 140 pounds is NOT something I am comfortable with as I have not been under 150 since middle school.

In High School (14 years ago) I weighed 160-165 and was under 10% BF with a rocking body...obviously I'm aware that I cant reach the same young body I had then, but I would like to be close...and with the results I've seen on here from people my age...I think it can be done....but why would I need to get to 140lbs to see those results? Or is BF% loss not linear? Is there ways to trim BF without losing alot of weight? Am I losing weight faster then I am losing BF for some reason?

I am at TDEE -20% with about a pound a week in loss. I currently do 2 days of pure cardio and 4 days of pure weight lifting. I do over my macros often, but only rarely is it over ALOT...this weekend was bad . That being said, I've still lost 1lb a week on average.

Any help would be appreciated.

You won't know what % your body fat will be until you get down closer to your goal. Usually your weight goal should be a "range" and everyone is different. Even with body fat, different people look different at the same body fat level.

Here are examples:




Two females at 15%, totally different. I'm float around 11% and I look nothing like either of them.

Both the guys are at 10%

Exercise (especially lifting weights) is to make your lean body mass pretty when the fat is gone.

A calorie deficit is the only thing that makes fat go away.

You can't out exercise too many calories.

Body fat / Lean Body Mass / Bone density If it's not DXA it didn't happen. I don't trust any other measurements for body fat and muscle. Too many stories of bulking are just not true. DXA.

DXA proved that I did not lose lean body mass while on a calorie deficit for 2 years, and that lifting weights for over 30 years made my 51.5 year old bone density that of a super athletic 30 year old (according to the technician).

^^^This. To get that look you're striving for, fat loss is only one side of the equation. You're going to have to spend some time building muscle as well.