Confused....body recomp question

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squirrelzzrule22
squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi friends,

I'm trying to get back into gear to shed my last 15-20 lbs (depending on how I feel when I get closer.) I'm trying to get into lifting more. I believe in all the benefits, But I've seen some information lately that seems somewhat conflicting and I'm hoping for clarification.

First a little background. I am 24/ female/ 5'8" hit my highest weight in college somewhere in the 175 area and looked and felt awful. Just by being a bit healthier starting law school I dropped the first ten pounds slowly without trying. Then I stalled around 165. Then I kicked my MFP usage into high gear, trained for and ran a half marathon, and got down to 154.5. These 20lbs have made a world of difference. I am now at roughly 26.5% body fat (estimated by a scale but that does look about right.) the goal weight number I have in my head is 135. The goal BF I'd like to have is 21%. No judgement towards anyone with different goals, that's just the look I like best on myself because I have a relatively curvy figure that I'd like to keep. My strategy is slow loss with a lifestyle I can sustain. That being said I set my calories pretty low knowing I will go way over one or two weekend nights, giving me a healthy deficit for the week on average.

SO my question is this: I know you can't really gain muscle at a deficit. However, I see loads of posts from women who are still overweight and trying to lose fat talking about why you should "ditch the scale" because they look better and are losing inches through lifting but aren't losing pounds. But if they are eating at a deficit then how can this be? How can they be shrinking but gaining muscle weight? I'm not a science-minded person but that makes no sense to me. I don't want to remain 154 lbs....I know that's stubborn and its just a number but I want to shed pounds of fat while maintaining my LBM, not increasing it. I understood this to be possible by eating at a deficit and lifting. However, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence to the contrary on this website.

Tl;dr: I don't understand body recomp and I'd love someone to spell it out for me.

Replies

  • udt123
    udt123 Posts: 22 Member
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    Hi Squirrelzzrul,

    You can sustain your weight and/or lose weight while lifting heavy and eating less. Just make sure you have your diet in check and you're lifting some heavy *kitten* weights - you'll be good to go.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
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    I have the same question. If one cannot gain muscle in a deficit, and lift encourages the retention of existing muscle, then by eating at a deficit, one would assume the loss would be fat. I'm good that far. But how exactly does one lose inches but maintain the same weight (or gain) while eating at a deficit? If they aren't gaining muscle (due to eating at a deficit), what exactly is happening to cause the weight to remain the same or increase?
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    When you step on a scale, you are not just measuring fat and muscle. When you are lifting, you tend to retain water and glycogen in the muscles...whether or not you are gaining mass...and this can add pounds on the scale even though you are losing fat and getting smaller. On a smaller scale, when you lift, your bones are getting stronger as they are being built to withstand pressure. This can add to the scale in a small way.

    Most people who start lifting do see small increases (or maintain) their weight AT FIRST. Give it a couple of months and this normalizes so that you start losing pounds as you expect.

    Don't forget about newbie gains of muscle as well...
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
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    First, make sure you get enough protein. It's especially hard if you don't eat too many calories to begin with.

    Then, lifting will make you retain water in your muscles (that's just a couple of pounds but some people get really stressed out over it)
    And finally, lifting will leave you hungry. It will be hard to maintain your deficit.

    So I assume (apart from newbie gains) most people upped their calorie intake along with starting a lifting routine. I'm one of them. Just starting to count calories again....
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
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    Ah okay, thanks for the answers!

    Yes vitamindd that is EXACTLY my confusion. But the other responses do make sense to me....so the water retention and glycogen is masking the loss in pounds while the body still burns fat and shrinks....but as long as I eat at a deficit while I lift I will lose pounds of fat eventually? I certainly have fat to lose!!

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