Is 90lbs a reasonable LBM for 5'6" female?

Losing fat with result in losing muscle along with it. Sufficient protein and strength training will help preserve as much of your muscle mass as possible. The more muscle you have, the higher BMR you'll have and the more fat you can potentially burn. Plus you won't have to lose as much fat to look how you want, if you put on more muscle.

You're fine:) And super pretty btdubs, not to sound like a creeper. Haha anyway, I'm 5'6'' and float betweeen 107 and 111 lbs. To those who will be inclined to jump in saying that's too low, I've always been thin and I carry it well. So hate elsewhere please and thank you :drinker: I'm working on body composition, which I can say at our weight a little goes a long way! It's great seeing results relatively quickly due to that lower body fat %. Anyway, go you!

The way I would look at it is by body fat percentage. Depending on which chart you read, I believe 20 to 23% is low-average and some women are less, depending on age, genetics and level of athleticism. 12% is usually considered very low for a woman and very hard to achieve. Models are usually around 15% fat.

I would get my body fat checked to establish a baseline. The DXA scan is considered the best, but calipers are also good if used by an experienced person. I use a scale, which isn't completely accurate, but which is consistent.

Thanks for both of the replies, maybe I will rethink my approach since I am now very close to my goal. I have just recently started Insanity (which I know is heavily cardio based, but I really want to try to finish it) but I think I will consider increasing my net calorie goal. Any suggestions for a reasonable net? I am sedentary aside from my exercise and I add it in using my polar ft4 (and will be eating those calories back).

I definitely don't want to be underweight, I do have a small frame and I like being small, but I want to be fit and I definitely want to get a bit more solid.

I do not care at all about my weight, I weighed 124 in June, gained some weight after a month off, then went back down to 124 (where I'm at now) but I now wear a size smaller in jeans than I did in June so I know that there are a lot more important factors aside from scale weight. As long as I lose inches and look better, I'll be happy!

That's pretty much my centement. I'm use to being small but wasn't a fan of the squishy. There's nothing wrong with cardio, it's great for your health, but it certainly doesn't help with re-composition if you're trying to get leaner, which if you're concerned about LBM, seems to be the case. I'm also sedentary other then exercise. I work with software, not much exercise in that. If getting your LBM high and your BF low is your goal I'd recommend increasing your calories to a slight surplus (which is hard to guestimate from my side, you'll more or less have to figure that out yourself which is easily approximated if you start gaining weight). With that lift heavy weights (meaning 85% your max rep, for about 5 reps). After you get to be to a point you're happy with your LBM you can do a cut via going back on a calorie deficit, continuing the weights, until you get to whatever weight you want to be. Stronglifts 5x5 is a free starting point and what I used as a program, but there are many progressive heavy lifting routines that would benefit you just as well. I didn't have the money to start into that stuff so I went onto a classified site and got weights and a bench for free. So it doesn't need to cost you a pretty penny either. And you can still continue with cardio if you enjoy it (make sure you fuel up so your muscles repair and you have a break inbetween). Stronglifts is usually recommended for 45 minutes 3 times a week.