Fat loss timeline question

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Allterrain_Lady
Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
edited November 2014 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello there!!!

Not sure where to post this, hopefully I'm in the right place.
Not sure if anyone as an answer for me either but I'll try!!! I feel like I've browed this entire website before asking for this myself!

I'd like to know if there's any way to estimate how long it would take someone to lose 1% of bodyfat.
I'm not talking about weight loss. I celebrate when the scale go down cause it motivates me but truth is I don't care that much because it's not all fat.

My bodyfat % has been mesured by a doctor: 33%, great! :-(. I'm 5.3ft, 33 years old, 153lbs, small boned, as pear shaped as possible.
Trying to get to 125-128lbs. But mostly, I want to reach a way healthier bodyfat.
I really really like being curvy so I'd probably be happy at 25% bodyfat.
I plan on having my bodyfat mesured again in late January.

Anyway, I succeed when I have goals to reach in a reasonnable given time.

If anyone can help with their own experiences, science behind it all, any insight... that would be very helpful. Maybe a poll of personnal results might be a nice read.

And, yes, I do know that "results may vary", that everyone is different and that all depends on how good I'm am with food and exercise.

TL;DR I need help in setting goals for fat loss, time wise.

Thanks in advance for any help!! It might be a stupid question, sometimes I get caught in neeeding precise answers on something there isn't an answer to.

Vanessa

Replies

  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    There is not a way to really estimate that on a general basis because there are too many variables - the speed of weight loss, the nutritional plan you are on, the exercise plan you are on, your genetics, your diet history, your current weight, etc.

    Understand that no matter what you do, that as you are losing weight, part of that will be lean muscle mass. You can do things to minimize muscle loss, but you will still lose some, so you may need to do a series of cuts and bulks to hit 25%.
    TL;DR I need help in setting goals for fat loss, time wise.
    why?
    Why do you "need" to set a time goal? How long it takes is irrelevant to your plan. Set a performance goal - ie 25% BF - and come up with a plan that will let you achieve your goal in a healthy manner and stick to the plan.
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
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    This question is impossible to answer with 100% accuracy. Understand that it is nearly impossible to lose fat without losing some lean body mass as well. Losing 2 lbs of LBM for every 8 lbs of fat seems to be about average and on the lower end.


    Some back of the envelope calculations have that are a weight of around 130 lbs for you to hit around 25% bf. If you lose a pound a week, that would be 22-24 weeks, or 5-6 months. If you try to go faster (lose more quickly), you'll likely lose a larger percentage of lean body mass and won't necessarily speed up the time it takes to get to 25% bf, you'll just end up at a lower total weight to get there.
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
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    If you want to try for yourself, the following equation gives you an idea of how much weight you need to lose to reach a certain body fat percentage:

    50.49 - 0.8x = 0.25*(153 - x)

    153 is your starting weight
    50.49 is your current amount of body fat (0.33 * 153)
    0.25 is your goal body fat percentage (25%)
    0.8 is the amount of each pound lost that is fat (80% fat)
    x is the number of pounds lost (solve for this)

    Basically the 0.8 is the one biggest variable here. Some people claim to have amounts greater than 80%, some get closer to amounts near 60%. Understand that the faster you lose, the less percentage of your loss will be fat.
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
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    GauchoMark wrote: »
    Why do you "need" to set a time goal? How long it takes is irrelevant to your plan. Set a performance goal - ie 25% BF - and come up with a plan that will let you achieve your goal in a healthy manner and stick to the plan.

    I don't "need" it. It helps me to stay focus. Don't know why.

    And I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I do know that I can't lose only fat. That's not my question. I'm wondering if I can get an idea of how long it takes to decrease bodyfat by one percent.

    It's a long shot and I'm pretty sure there'e no answer to this. But I had to ask!
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
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    frob23 wrote: »
    If you want to try for yourself, the following equation gives you an idea of how much weight you need to lose to reach a certain body fat percentage:

    50.49 - 0.8x = 0.25*(153 - x)

    153 is your starting weight
    50.49 is your current amount of body fat (0.33 * 153)
    0.25 is your goal body fat percentage (25%)
    0.8 is the amount of each pound lost that is fat (80% fat)
    x is the number of pounds lost (solve for this)

    Basically the 0.8 is the one biggest variable here. Some people claim to have amounts greater than 80%, some get closer to amounts near 60%. Understand that the faster you lose, the less percentage of your loss will be fat.

    Thank you for this!! I get that it's not a 100% accurate. But if I can get an idea of how much lbs I need to lose that gives me an idea of time.

    Now, I'm gonna get myself a headache trying to solve the equation!
  • helena_jj
    helena_jj Posts: 200 Member
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    I solved it. X=22.25. You need to lose 22.25 lbs to get 25% bodyfat. And I think 0.8 is fair enough coefficient for you as you do a lot of strength training. I would estimate it the same.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    helena_jj wrote: »
    I solved it. X=22.25. You need to lose 22.25 lbs to get 25% bodyfat. And I think 0.8 is fair enough coefficient for you as you do a lot of strength training. I would estimate it the same.

    Well since weight loss is not all fat loss there is no equation that you can get. You can estimate how low it takes since we know the quicker you lose weight the more it will be muscle loss.

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    so with only 22 lbs to lose your goal should be to lose 0.5-1 lb/week so 25-35 weeks should be reasonable to get to your goal of 25%, so 8% over say 32 weeks would be 1% every 4 weeks, on average.
  • d6melanie
    d6melanie Posts: 84 Member
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    Solve for x here.
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
    edited November 2014
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    And, I bet you told your high-school math teacher that you'd never use algebra in real life. ;-)

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