19% bf and still fatty?

meaganisamermaid
meaganisamermaid Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Female. 19. 5'7. 123 pounds and 19%, sometimes 17.5% body fat, but for some unknown reason I am jiggly! My arms, legs, buttocks, tummy, and I can pinch the fat on my back. How? I'm currently trying to build muscle and lose fat. The lowest you should ever go accordingly is between 10-12%, but will that even make that remarkable of a difference to my body? 5-6% body fat reduction?

Replies

  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    From what I read there are a few schools of thought on this.

    1. You have loose skin from when you are overweight. This can take up to a year or two to fully re tighten depending on age.

    2. You still have some sub cutaneous fat. Basically your actual adipose deposits are gone but your skin itself is still retaining some fat and won't tighten until you shred this last bit off.

    Either way depending on how bad the problem is you can approach the problem from two angles. The first, you can push for a bit more weight loss and see if that helps tighten your skin. However I think for you the best route would be to abandon the diet and build muscle. As your muscles grow they will fill the some of the space that used to be occupied by those fat deposits. And your skin will have something to hold it again.

    Unfortunately genetics are also a factor in this some people just have some very loose skin. It's a problem I am beginning to notice myself now that I have lost serious amounts of weight.
  • 87Djones
    87Djones Posts: 145 Member
    Hi
    Your situation sound similar to one of my cousin that’s in shape but still has some jiggle affects. One thing that helped to reduce the jiggle arms was performing drop sets and high reps over 4-5 weeks to build muscle. I would suggest performing cardio on empty stomach if it fits in your schedule. Good luck on your goal am sure you will achieve it. Feel free to add me if you need advice or motivation
  • martyn2007
    martyn2007 Posts: 3 Member
    what's your fat intake each day, you have to remember if you don't take in enough fat your body will try and retain what it has for energy so you have to KEEP your fat to at least 50/75g day split over five meals and on your training days eat a few more carbs
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,054 Member
    How are you assessing your body fat? Calipers? Bio impedance scale?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Fujiberry
    Fujiberry Posts: 400 Member
    If you are have 'low body fat', but you're still 'jiggy', then you don't have enough muscle. Skinny fat is an actual thing.
    Also, keep in mind that depending on what you used to measure your bf, you can be 1-10 degrees off.
  • daynerz
    daynerz Posts: 227 Member
    you desperately need to build muscle
  • GreenIceFloes
    GreenIceFloes Posts: 1,491 Member
    Your weight seems perfectly fine for a 5'7" woman, and your bf% seems fine too, if it is accurate. Compound lifts are the way to go from here IMO.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Female. 19. 5'7. 123 pounds and 19%, sometimes 17.5% body fat, but for some unknown reason I am jiggly! My arms, legs, buttocks, tummy, and I can pinch the fat on my back. How? I'm currently trying to build muscle and lose fat. The lowest you should ever go accordingly is between 10-12%, but will that even make that remarkable of a difference to my body? 5-6% body fat reduction?

    10-12% bodyfat for a woman is competition level isnt it? not soemthing you would sustain year round? at under 14% you're at risk of losing your period.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Your weight seems perfectly fine for a 5'7" woman, and your bf% seems fine too, if it is accurate. Compound lifts are the way to go from here IMO.

    Actually I am the same height and 120lbs is on the cusp of underweight...

    As for the BF% 17-19% eh for me at the same height to be 20% BF I could weigh 145lbs...20lbs more..

    you need to build some muscle which will make the scale go up.

    As fo your goal...yah that is not sustainable for a woman for very long...
  • martyn2007
    martyn2007 Posts: 3 Member
    remember abbs are made in the kitchen not the gym the same apply's to the rest of your body
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    Yes a few % makes a huge difference. But I don't think the issue is that bf %, what method did you use to calculate your percentage? Many methods are really inaccurate, especially those retarded machines that you put your arm into which supposedly tell you your fat %.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    1. How are you measuring body fat? Are you sure it's accurate? If it's a bathroom scale it is not.

    2. It's normal, natural and healthy for a woman to have fat on her body. Perfection doesn't exist. Sounds like to me, you are being way to hard on yourself.

    3. Lift weights, get adequate protein. Eat at or above maintenance in order to build muscle and improve physique without dropping to *too* low of weight or body fat percentage.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I'm guessing that your body fat percentage isn't all that accurate since you mention it changes from 19% to 17.5%. BF% isn't something that is going to fluctuate by 1.5% day to day (if it's measured correctly).
  • GreenIceFloes
    GreenIceFloes Posts: 1,491 Member
    Your weight seems perfectly fine for a 5'7" woman, and your bf% seems fine too, if it is accurate. Compound lifts are the way to go from here IMO.

    Actually I am the same height and 120lbs is on the cusp of underweight...

    As for the BF% 17-19% eh for me at the same height to be 20% BF I could weigh 145lbs...20lbs more..

    you need to build some muscle which will make the scale go up.

    As fo your goal...yah that is not sustainable for a woman for very long...
    120s is definitely at the low end for 5'7", but maybe she has a smaller frame. She probably went lower and lower just to get rid of the jiggly bits. Anyway, it's the perfect time for her to start bulking. Gaining a few lbs of muscle is the next step now. And totally agreed, no point at all in going to a lower bf%.
  • GreatDepression
    GreatDepression Posts: 347 Member
    A recent calliper test put me at roughly 14% BF and I still look very overweight under my clothes. Gosh, it seems like the fat is refusing to come off my thighs and belly.

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