My progress - where do I go next?

adamcroft
adamcroft Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I started on 22nd April at 197lbs (5'9"), 32.9% body fat and am now, on 29th May, at 178.6lb and 27.5% body fat. So that's 64.8lbs of fat down to 49.1. The only thing that worries me is that my lean body mass has also gone down - from 132.2 to 129.5. It did go up part-way through the process, but has since gone back down to lower than where it started.

My muscle gain in lbs is also practically the same, although I feel I have considerably more strength (certainly noticeable). I eat around 1,500 calories under my maintaining target, giving me a weight loss of around 3lbs a week. I do quite a lot of cardio work (an hour to an hour and a half on the exercise bike, 4-5 times a week) as well as weight training most days (free weights).

My question is, should I be worried that things are starting to plateau? I mainly want to get my BF% down into the 'normal' range (below 25%) and have muscle definition. Is it worth me bulking and gunning it on the weights or should I continue to cut and hope to see the plateau through?

Any help gratefully appreciated!

Replies

  • adamcroft
    adamcroft Posts: 3 Member
    Anyone...?
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 836 Member
    No you should not be worried that you are slowing down. As you get smaller you start to lose slower. If you feel that you are taking out too much lean mass with your fat, you could try decreasing the gap between your cals and maintenance - I would do this only as a last resort.

    I would check you are eating enough protien. I would stick with the free weights - I have read time and time again on this site that you can't build muscle while eating at a deficit - you are lifting weights to try and maintain the mussel mass you have while losing weight. You will still gain strength.

    You will still gain muscle definition as you shed fat. Ie As you lose fat the muscle you have currently in your arms/tummy/ whole body will be able to be seen

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