5’7” 20 year old male goal weight/body fat percentage/BMI?

ryanweng24
ryanweng24 Posts: 3 Member
Note: This is a somewhat long post because it’s my first one o: and I don’t want to leave out any details that might help. Also, all weight and body fat measurements are from using a scale (I know that weight fluctuates during the day/day-to-day basis due to water weight/sodium levels/time of day and that this method of measuring body fat is one of the most inaccurate).

Just kidding about the BMI btw, cause it seems unreliable based on other posts I’ve read since it only takes height and weight into account with no regard to body fat percentage or fitness level.

With that said, I joined MFP and started my lifestyle change 26 days ago. I started out at 236 lbs with 32% body fat percentage, which put me at 36.9 on the BMI scale. I didn’t know too much about BMI vs. body fat percentage as indicators of health and fitness at the time. I used the CDC website and found that I would have to slim down to 159 lbs to be right at 24.9 BMI, the highest for my height to still be considered “normal.” I did some calculations just now and saw that with my starting weight and starting body fat percentage, I started with a lean body mass of about 160.5 lbs and 77.5 lbs of fat. It was then that I realized how inaccurate and useless BMI is at gauging health/fitness since I could be at 0% body fat and still not be “normal.”

The point of this post is to ask what a good/reasonable goal weight would be if my goal body fat percentage is 15% (I know I’ve got a long way to go haha). I’m currently hovering around 219-223 lbs and 28-30% body fat (I weigh in first thing in the morning and right before I shower at night just to track daily progress for a better average throughout the week). Hypothetically, if I’m at 220 lbs right now with 29% body fat, then my lean body mass is about 156 lbs with about 64 lbs of fat. If I maintain this lean body mass, in order to reach my goal of 15% body fat, I’d have to have 156 lbs of lean body mass with 27.5 lbs of fat for a total of 183.5 lbs. I just want to know if it’s impossible to maintain all/almost all lean body mass while losing that much fat (I try to do strength training while getting enough protein*), so that I might end up at something like 140 lbs to get to 15% body fat, or if 184 lbs is a good goal, or if I forgot about something/miscalculated/don’t have my facts straight… as you can tell I’m quite the noob, and I’m not really sure what to do or what my goal weight should be, so I appreciate all help/advice/responses!

*also side question how much protein is “enough protein” I’ve heard some say 1 gram per lb of body weight or 1 gram per lb of DESIRED body weight cause then for me that could be 220 grams or 150 grams

Replies

  • Mbierschbach
    Mbierschbach Posts: 94 Member
    Sooooooooooooooo many questions, so many ways to answer.

    Forget BMI, forget "healthy" weight. What do you want to look like? I am 5'9", 195, 12% bodyfat. That's a BMI of 28.8. Did you see that though? 12% bodyfat as checked by this dumb dumb with gasp, cheap home calipers. I eat a TON of protein and lift a ton of iron. I'd personally like to be in the 8-10% bodyfat range. Your 15% goal is a very reachable and very maintainable one. Back in January I was 28% bf and a BMI of 34.1. Lean body mass at 235 @ 28% and now 195 @12% either way you slice it is right around 170 lbs. That means I lost purely fat (give or take) as I ALWAYS lifted heavy both before and after getting my diet in check.

    You are free to weigh 160 + whatever bodyfat percentage you want...in the case of 15% you'd be around 189. You'll still be "obese" at 5'7" - but if you have any sense in you, you'll stop caring.

    FWIW, this is the difference between say 25% bf and 13-14% I don't have more recent pics.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1338802-40-lbs-lost-today-with-pics?hl=40+lbs+lost+today&page=1#posts-20554770
  • 86_Ohms
    86_Ohms Posts: 253 Member
    malebodyfat11.jpg
    menbodyfat2.jpg
    Source: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/02/body-fat-percentage/

    Get a decent measurement and take % difference on your current weight. That's going to be your goal weight.

    Example:
    200 lbs at 25% body fat.
    Want to get to 15% body fat (25% - 10% = 15%)
    200lbs*10% = 20lbs to lose

    So aim for 180 (but do your own calculation for your own parameters)
  • ryanweng24
    ryanweng24 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for the responses!

    Mbierschbach, it seems as if we started out with similar weights/body fat percentage. I clicked on your post and saw the amazing 4 month progress! Congrats and hope it's still going well for you. You mentioned that you eat a lot of protein and lift a lot. Do you have any workouts that you did that you might recommend? Also, would you say 180-200 grams of protein a day would be enough?
  • McCloud33
    McCloud33 Posts: 959 Member
    My stats are REALLY close to yours. Started at 5'-8" 235 and ~30% BF. Even eating plenty of protein I still lost some LBM. Plan on probably 80/20 fat to muscle loss and could even creep closer to 70/30 depending on how QUICKLY you want to lose it. I found that the rate at which I was losing had more to do with it than my protein consumption. I lost the majority of my weight (223-185) at a rate of 1.75 lbs/week. Since the end of May I've moved to a more conservative 0.5 lbs/week and I've been able to stay at about 95/5 split at that rate. I'm currently at 182.6 and about 16.5% BF

    At the same time, I wouldn't lose it any slower at the beginning because .5 lbs per week would take me over 2 years to get to where I am now. You just need to be honest with yourself that you probably will lose SOME LBM during the process. My original goal was 185 as well, but now I'm thinking I want to be closer to 165-170 ultimately. Still considered overweight by BMI (go figure). 165 would project me to be about 8% BF. 180 would be about 15% if that's what you're shooting for.
  • ryanweng24
    ryanweng24 Posts: 3 Member
    My stats are REALLY close to yours. Started at 5'-8" 235 and ~30% BF. Even eating plenty of protein I still lost some LBM. Plan on probably 80/20 fat to muscle loss and could even creep closer to 70/30 depending on how QUICKLY you want to lose it. I found that the rate at which I was losing had more to do with it than my protein consumption. I lost the majority of my weight (223-185) at a rate of 1.75 lbs/week. Since the end of May I've moved to a more conservative 0.5 lbs/week and I've been able to stay at about 95/5 split at that rate. I'm currently at 182.6 and about 16.5% BF

    At the same time, I wouldn't lose it any slower at the beginning because .5 lbs per week would take me over 2 years to get to where I am now. You just need to be honest with yourself that you probably will lose SOME LBM during the process. My original goal was 185 as well, but now I'm thinking I want to be closer to 165-170 ultimately. Still considered overweight by BMI (go figure). 165 would project me to be about 8% BF. 180 would be about 15% if that's what you're shooting for.

    Thanks for the info and comparison! What kind of exercises did you do to help you burn fat and maintain most of your LBM? I've been doing mostly body weight exercises (pushups, tricep dips, planks, etc.) as well as cardio, but wanted to start lifting. Any tips? Or should I go with one of those full body 3x/week regimens?
  • McCloud33
    McCloud33 Posts: 959 Member
    My stats are REALLY close to yours. Started at 5'-8" 235 and ~30% BF. Even eating plenty of protein I still lost some LBM. Plan on probably 80/20 fat to muscle loss and could even creep closer to 70/30 depending on how QUICKLY you want to lose it. I found that the rate at which I was losing had more to do with it than my protein consumption. I lost the majority of my weight (223-185) at a rate of 1.75 lbs/week. Since the end of May I've moved to a more conservative 0.5 lbs/week and I've been able to stay at about 95/5 split at that rate. I'm currently at 182.6 and about 16.5% BF

    At the same time, I wouldn't lose it any slower at the beginning because .5 lbs per week would take me over 2 years to get to where I am now. You just need to be honest with yourself that you probably will lose SOME LBM during the process. My original goal was 185 as well, but now I'm thinking I want to be closer to 165-170 ultimately. Still considered overweight by BMI (go figure). 165 would project me to be about 8% BF. 180 would be about 15% if that's what you're shooting for.

    Thanks for the info and comparison! What kind of exercises did you do to help you burn fat and maintain most of your LBM? I've been doing mostly body weight exercises (pushups, tricep dips, planks, etc.) as well as cardio, but wanted to start lifting. Any tips? Or should I go with one of those full body 3x/week regimens?

    I started off doing A LOT of running (every other day, 3-7 miles) push ups and sit ups. That was probably my first 2 months. then I started doing the original p90x workouts on MWF and a little less running (2-3 miles) on Tues/Thurs/Sat. Starting mid June I picked up the Stronglifts 5x5 program on my lifting days and have seen great improvements since then. But if you don't have access to a gym or buy your own weights, you're kind of limited to body weight stuff. Everything I've read/experienced would say to do the 3x/week compound lift workout. Whether it's Starting Strength or Stronglifts or something else. Those will give you the best bang for your buck at this point. I'm already up to a 250+ deadlift, 200+ squat and 170+ bench and I've never really lifted weights before in my life. Mostly just body weight stuff. If there's one body wight exercise to start doing though it would be pull-ups.
  • Mbierschbach
    Mbierschbach Posts: 94 Member
    Thanks for the responses!

    Mbierschbach, it seems as if we started out with similar weights/body fat percentage. I clicked on your post and saw the amazing 4 month progress! Congrats and hope it's still going well for you. You mentioned that you eat a lot of protein and lift a lot. Do you have any workouts that you did that you might recommend? Also, would you say 180-200 grams of protein a day would be enough?
    Thanks. Were you ever into lifting before? If you're a beginner then I'm with everyone else, do something like Strong lifts until you max out at that. I've been into lifting even when my diet sucked so I had a good muscle foundation. I lift 4x per week
    Monday: Chest and biceps
    Wednesday: Back and triceps
    Friday : Shoulders
    Saturday: Legs
    I do 3-4 exercises of 12/10/8 pyramids for any given muscle, changing it up a little each week. For example for biceps one week I'll do reverse grip curls, incline bench curls, and narrow grip barbell curls. Next week I'll change up one or two of those movements. I go a little bit of ab work each workout but saving a good chunk of it for Friday's because shoulders just aren't that long a workout. I also do cardio for 30 minutes after each weight training session. I'm at the gym roughly 90 minutes.