Weight dropping but bf% going up?

tulsaBill · July 2013

I've been steadily loosing about 2lbs a week since Jan. Up until 4 weeks ago my bf% was dropping in line w/ the weight loss. Now in the last three weeks my bf% has been creeping back up. It's been bound to a range of 27.6 - 28.6 for the last month but weight has dropped from 254-248 in that same time. So I am loosing muscle but not sure why.

I've not really changed my diet, I'm now about 1820 cal a day and for the last 6 months I have been reducing that number in line with the weight; taking away about 20 cal every two weeks or so to keep my TDEE -20% in line.

6 weeks ago I started lifting 2x a week. I can feel myself getting stronger and I am getting some definition in my arms and back. I do the same cardo as always; I walk or jog a 5k every weekday (more on weekends). Last month I logged 100miles.

I try to keep my macros to about 40,30,30 carbs, fat, protein. If I don't hit that mark it's usually less crabs and more fat. 30% protein is hard to hit daily but I do try. I log everything even when I do go over.

The only thing that might be a 'change' in my routine is stress. Things are moving at work and my stress level has gone up some but it's not unbearable. My trainer suggested a good Vit B complex but I've always been hesitant to supplement.

So, what do you think could be other possible factors in steady weight loss but bf% increase?

ndj1979 · July 2013

what are you using to measure body fat?

JamesDanek · July 2013

How are you measuring BF?

All but the High end Medical methods are notoriously unreliable.

If you are getting more definition in your arms then you are loosing fat not muscle.

Vitamin B tablets are not really Hardcore supplementing, i expect you will be ok

Why is the Scale going down still. Because you are loosing weight. simple. is it fat? almost certainly. That and water maybe.

I wouldn't overly freak out if I were you.

primalpam · July 2013

Too much cardio. 7 days a week of cardio is going to end up burning muscle as well as fat. You need to create a better balance between cardio and strength, and increase your protein. You muscles can't grow without adequate protein.

csuhar · July 2013

I've not really changed my diet, I'm now about 1820 cal a day and for the last 6 months I have been reducing that number in line with the weight; taking away about 20 cal every two weeks or so to keep my TDEE -20% in line.

Out of curiosity, have you double-checked this by re-doing the TDEE equations? It sounds like it's been working for you, but maybe you've reached a point where removing 20 clories every 2 weeks is no longer lining up with your current needs.

tulsaBill · July 2013

All good suggestions and mostly what I suspected.

I use a Fit bit scale to measure body fat. I know that it may not be 100% accurate but at least it gave a base line and even if the number to start with was not accurate a + or - would be relative to the baseline (even if the baseline was not correct).

I've considered that I might be over training but I do enjoy my daily jogs so much :-). I think I'll cut out the jog on lift days since I really don't feel it on those days anyway.

My trainer is a really unique guy and I love his methods and I trust his opinion; so I am going to check out a B complex he recommended. At the same time I'm going to try a protein supplement to see if I can boost that macro some.

I've not done the math on the TDEE-20% in a while. What I do is reset my goals in MFP after every 5lbs or so lost. Sometimes MFP takes away 10 or 20 cals and sometimes none. Rarely more than 20. Once MFP takes me below 1700 I reset my weekly loss goal by .5 lb to get my daily cal back up and start over. This has worked for the last 6 months. I started at -2lb a week. Now I am at -1.5lb a week. Soon I'll be at -1lb a week.

Blue line is actual, black line is a projected trend, red line is goal.

Weight dropping but bf% going up?

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