Harder to lose weight when in acceptable weight range?

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I'm in the healthy weight range but I want to decrease my bodyfat percentage. Is it true that it gets harder to lose more fats when you are in the acceptable weight range or something? Because I've been remaining at the same weight no matter how much I exercise. I'm even on a 200-300 calorie deficit.

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  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    Snap. Would love to know the answer.
  • Alexandra289
    Alexandra289 Posts: 330 Member
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    In my experience, it's harder to start losing the weight when you're an acceptable weight but when you sort of get some momentum it gets easier - only personal experience, don't know if that's the same for anyone else!
  • Jenny9000
    Jenny9000 Posts: 45 Member
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    For me it has been, ever since I hit a healthy BMI, my body has been like...HELL NO !
  • Nissi51
    Nissi51 Posts: 381 Member
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    Just requires a little more discipline with your nutrition and takes some time.
  • hhayes06
    hhayes06 Posts: 189 Member
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    Take measurements, even if your weight stays the same you might be losing inches and body fat %. I have heard and seen (from personal experience) that the closer you get to goal the harder it is.
  • carissar7
    carissar7 Posts: 183 Member
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    In my personal experience, yes it is. I initially dropped 10 pounds in 1 month, 6 pounds the next, and then ANOTHER full month just to lose 1 pound. I've now gone down 17 lbs in 3 months but I'm not too concerned about the number on the scale, I just want to get my body fat % down. I'm constantly hearing from people "You don't want to lose any more right?" or "You're so skinny, you don't need to lose any more weight!!" but it's not about the size of my clothes or the number on the scale for me. I think when you're already at an acceptable weight it becomes more about changing your body comp- I want to lose as little muscle as possible while getting down to 18-20% body fat. Last time I checked about 4 weeks ago I was at 23%.
  • minizombie
    minizombie Posts: 40 Member
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    Thank you all so much for your kind responses! It's amazing how our body works :) The dilemma I'm facing right now is that I want to gain muscle mass and yet lower my bodyfat percentage at the same time so I'm undecided on the approach I should take.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,039 Member
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    Just requires a little more discipline with your nutrition and takes some time.

    This is my experience.. not "harder" just takes more time..
  • goodtimezzzz
    goodtimezzzz Posts: 640 Member
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    un look as if you are at the "correct" weight..u need to do body recomp now...slowly "gain" a bit of weight and muscle ..no more weight needs to be lost...now you have to sculpt the body of your dreams
    Kristian Rocco
  • koing
    koing Posts: 179 Member
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    Thank you all so much for your kind responses! It's amazing how our body works :) The dilemma I'm facing right now is that I want to gain muscle mass and yet lower my bodyfat percentage at the same time so I'm undecided on the approach I should take.

    200-300 calorie deficit will take you 17.5 or 11.7 days to drop 1lb.

    Summer is coming up, cut until September and then bulk from then till February and cut. Feb to June = 20 weeks to cut, an absolutely great time to cut slowly and retain your LBM.

    Koing
  • minizombie
    minizombie Posts: 40 Member
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    Thank you all so much for your kind responses! It's amazing how our body works :) The dilemma I'm facing right now is that I want to gain muscle mass and yet lower my bodyfat percentage at the same time so I'm undecided on the approach I should take.

    200-300 calorie deficit will take you 17.5 or 11.7 days to drop 1lb.

    Summer is coming up, cut until September and then bulk from then till February and cut. Feb to June = 20 weeks to cut, an absolutely great time to cut slowly and retain your LBM.

    Koing

    I'm still relatively new to the terms "bulking" and "cutting" because I thought only males are able to do that. Mind simplifying it for me? I've read up on it but I seem to get different information.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Thank you all so much for your kind responses! It's amazing how our body works :) The dilemma I'm facing right now is that I want to gain muscle mass and yet lower my bodyfat percentage at the same time so I'm undecided on the approach I should take.

    200-300 calorie deficit will take you 17.5 or 11.7 days to drop 1lb.

    Summer is coming up, cut until September and then bulk from then till February and cut. Feb to June = 20 weeks to cut, an absolutely great time to cut slowly and retain your LBM.

    Koing

    I'm still relatively new to the terms "bulking" and "cutting" because I thought only males are able to do that. Mind simplifying it for me? I've read up on it but I seem to get different information.
    Bulking = calorie surplus + lifting to gain muscle

    Cutting = calorie deficit + lifting to muscle while losing fat

    Women can do it too
  • minizombie
    minizombie Posts: 40 Member
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    Ah I see, thanks so much! I think I should start bulking up first! Yay food :)
  • bettyalbright1
    bettyalbright1 Posts: 1 Member
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    From everything I have read, your body gets used to how many calories your are taking in (even if its under), so it may be helpful to increase your calories for 2 weeks so your body gets use to that amount of calories and then reduce them once your body had adjusted.
  • sam308lbs
    sam308lbs Posts: 1,939 Member
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    Thank you all so much for your kind responses! It's amazing how our body works :) The dilemma I'm facing right now is that I want to gain muscle mass and yet lower my bodyfat percentage at the same time so I'm undecided on the approach I should take.

    imagine if we could lose all the fat at the same pace througout,very soon we would run out of fat stores and starve to death.Whenever the human body senses scarcity of food,it tries to hang on to all the fat deposits for survival.Therefore we lose very slowly when we are at lower bf%
  • IreneAdler221
    IreneAdler221 Posts: 185 Member
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    Just requires a little more discipline with your nutrition and takes some time.

    This is my experience.. not "harder" just takes more time..

    Same. I also yo-yo 2-3 lbs for awhile before losing which can be frustrating.
  • ohmscheeks
    ohmscheeks Posts: 840 Member
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    Yes, the more overweight, you are the faster it comes off. The closer you are to your appropriate weight, the slower it comes off.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    Ah I see, thanks so much! I think I should start bulking up first! Yay food :)

    Just be aware that when you "bulk" you'll also gain fat along with your muscle. This is why most people bulk in the winter. Sweaters are more forgiving than bikinis.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    Just requires a little more discipline with your nutrition and takes some time.

    This is my experience.. not "harder" just takes more time..

    Yes! I'm close to goal weight and weight loss is slower. My clothes are getting looser all the time though and I am toning up more. My BMI is 25.3 now so I guess technically I am still a little bit overweight.

    My personal trainer said that at this stage what you eat really does matter.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Ah I see, thanks so much! I think I should start bulking up first! Yay food :)

    Just be aware that when you "bulk" you'll also gain fat along with your muscle. This is why most people bulk in the winter. Sweaters are more forgiving than bikinis.
    OP looks pretty small though so she'll be OK. Strongfat looks better than Auschwitz mode.