Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

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  • brentopia
    brentopia Posts: 113 Member
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    Bookmarking to learn. Thanks! <3
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,365 Member
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    usmcmp wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    usmcmp wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    Oooh, finally a thread for me! :)

    I'm recomping. Mainly because I'm 51, menopausal and not genetically designed to build muscle... didn't know how effective a true "bulk" would be, particularly as I'm not very ambitious about my progressive overload. Also because I'm not diligent enough to follow a strict intake plan, my eating is all over the place, and I'm guesstimating calories/macros more than half the time since I'm not the cook.

    But I wanted to build/maintain bone density and muscle tissue as I know how fast those can decrease for us middle-aged females, and I've got a strong predisposition toward osteoporosis anyway. A secondary goal was to firm up some spots that had moved south and turned mushy within the past couple of years (despite no change in weight).

    I've probably been at this seriously for about 10 months now, although I didn't start making more effort with protein intake until about 6 or so months ago. And I must be eating precisely at maintenance because my weight has stayed exactly the same. My pants are noticeably looser... I've lost about 1" off waist and 1.5" or so off hips. (Paradoxically, thigh measurement has increased 1") There is more visible definition -- well, ANY is better than NONE, which is what I had before. BF per scale (I know, I know) says down 1.5%.

    Not really sure what has been going on, whether I'm succeeding in gaining muscle or just losing BF, or a combination of both, especially when my weight has been so ridiculously stable. I wish I had access to a DEXA scan so I knew what was going on in there.

    From what it sounds like you have done a bit of recomposition in that time frame. If your clothes fit looser and you have lost inches without losing weight that's an indication that you are losing fat while building muscle. You don't have to try to rush to get to the end and it sounds like you are going at a pace that suits your needs.

    That's what I was hoping, except I kinda thought I should have gained a little weight if I'd added muscle. I'd be okay with that as technically I'm a wee bit underweight per BMI charts and the number on the scale doesn't concern me much. Nobody but me sees that... the mushy bits are potentially more evident.

    As for pace, I'm just super paranoid about joint injury. I don't heal so quickly these days.

    An even exchange in fat and muscle is not typical (which is why the guys who want to stay at 180 and get huge get frustrated). Your exchange happened over a long enough time line that you didn't gain weight. You said that you haven't been ambitious on the overload, combined with age means slow gains in lean mass. You may gain a few pounds especially in water weight if you did focus more on the lifting. Since you are getting results and are happy with it at this point there is no need to change.

    Ahh, I get it. I was a bit concerned that I was doing something wrong, or not achieving muscle growth.

    OMG, I'm doing something right! Lol. That's actually very comforting, thank you. And I'm super happy with the visible results... so much so that aesthetic goals are starting to replace body composition goals.
  • dmt4641
    dmt4641 Posts: 409 Member
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    Thanks for this post. I'm in to see more recomp results. I have 2 lbs to go to get to my goal but it has taken me over a year to lose the last 10 lbs . And I have been trying to lose these last vanity lbs on and off on different diet schemes for probably 8 years since I had kids. I am tired of constantly dieting and never want to do it again.

    The problem is when I hit my goal I will be 5'8 and 130 lbs and still around 24% bf based on a body pod test a few weeks ago. If I lose any more scale weight I will be close to underweight but still a higher bf % than I want. I need more muscle to achieve the look I want and almost every post I see says to bulk in my situation. But if it took me a year to lose 10 lbs, won't it take me a year to cut again after a bulk? I can't imagine doing that again.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    dmt4641 wrote: »
    Thanks for this post. I'm in to see more recomp results. I have 2 lbs to go to get to my goal but it has taken me over a year to lose the last 10 lbs . And I have been trying to lose these last vanity lbs on and off on different diet schemes for probably 8 years since I had kids. I am tired of constantly dieting and never want to do it again.

    The problem is when I hit my goal I will be 5'8 and 130 lbs and still around 24% bf based on a body pod test a few weeks ago. If I lose any more scale weight I will be close to underweight but still a higher bf % than I want. I need more muscle to achieve the look I want and almost every post I see says to bulk in my situation. But if it took me a year to lose 10 lbs, won't it take me a year to cut again after a bulk? I can't imagine doing that again.

    Recomp would be a good direction for you. You could ease into it now without losing the extra two pounds. You may find that you lose them and lose inches or you might not lose those pounds, but lose inches and see changes you are looking for.
  • Angiefit4life
    Angiefit4life Posts: 210 Member
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    After reading this thread I have a few questions.


    Stats
    61 inches, 37 female
    SW 156
    CW 121
    GW 119

    However, I still have a high body fat. My thighs are gigantic and stomach not that impressive.

    Based on what I calculated my protein should be around 143.
    I also did my TDEE on Scooby. The reducing fat gain muscle option and 3-5 days of mod workout. Gave me 1982 calories per day. (Wow that's an increase from what I have been eating) Happy Dance! I realize I need to increase slowly.
    Due to an autoimmune disease I am limited to walking. (I am closely followed by dr. Moving is important and my best defense! )
    I try to do 3-5 days of walking. 3.75 miles at 60mins each day. Some weeks I can't do any but since starting my new journey those are far and few between.

    Any lifting ideas? I saw someone mention The new rules to lifting. Is this a thread? I haven't a clue where to start.

    Thanks in advanced.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    amwcnw wrote: »
    After reading this thread I have a few questions.


    Stats
    61 inches, 37 female
    SW 156
    CW 121
    GW 119

    However, I still have a high body fat. My thighs are gigantic and stomach not that impressive.

    Based on what I calculated my protein should be around 143.
    I also did my TDEE on Scooby. The reducing fat gain muscle option and 3-5 days of mod workout. Gave me 1982 calories per day. (Wow that's an increase from what I have been eating) Happy Dance! I realize I need to increase slowly.
    Due to an autoimmune disease I am limited to walking. (I am closely followed by dr. Moving is important and my best defense! )
    I try to do 3-5 days of walking. 3.75 miles at 60mins each day. Some weeks I can't do any but since starting my new journey those are far and few between.

    Any lifting ideas? I saw someone mention The new rules to lifting. Is this a thread? I haven't a clue where to start.

    Thanks in advanced.

    new rules of lifting for woman, starting strength, or strong lifts.
    strong lifts is a website…new rules an starting strength are books.

    also if you are not happy with your body fat you may want to keep cutting for a bit, maybe shoot for .5 pound per week loss. So take 1982 and subtract 250 from it and eat to that number for a while and when you get to a body fat % you like, switch to recomp….
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    I have some questions. I have 25lbs to lose and my body fat is about 28-29% should I keep trying to lose weight?(which is becoming harder and harder),or can I start a recomp now? Ive asked these questions many many times on different forum boards and never received an answer. I have been lifting the last 34 months.and only been eating in a deficit since sept of this year.before that I wasnt watching my intake. any help would be appreciated.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    amwcnw wrote: »
    After reading this thread I have a few questions.


    Stats
    61 inches, 37 female
    SW 156
    CW 121
    GW 119

    However, I still have a high body fat. My thighs are gigantic and stomach not that impressive.

    Based on what I calculated my protein should be around 143.
    I also did my TDEE on Scooby. The reducing fat gain muscle option and 3-5 days of mod workout. Gave me 1982 calories per day. (Wow that's an increase from what I have been eating) Happy Dance! I realize I need to increase slowly.
    Due to an autoimmune disease I am limited to walking. (I am closely followed by dr. Moving is important and my best defense! )
    I try to do 3-5 days of walking. 3.75 miles at 60mins each day. Some weeks I can't do any but since starting my new journey those are far and few between.

    Any lifting ideas? I saw someone mention The new rules to lifting. Is this a thread? I haven't a clue where to start.

    Thanks in advanced.

    Your current weight isn't far from your goal weight, so it might be a good time to slowly increase your calories until you maintain. There are lots of programs out there as ndj mentioned. I started with some of the free programs on bodybuilding.com because they had videos for all the exercises. From what I have heard about the previous programs that were mentioned I think that New Rules of Lifting starts off slow and teaches a lot. More important is picking something you feel comfortable with as a starting point, even if it is a body weight program like You Are Your Own Gym (I think they have an app).
  • KarmaxKitty
    KarmaxKitty Posts: 901 Member
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    Want to come back to this later.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    I have some questions. I have 25lbs to lose and my body fat is about 28-29% should I keep trying to lose weight?(which is becoming harder and harder),or can I start a recomp now? Ive asked these questions many many times on different forum boards and never received an answer. I have been lifting the last 34 months.and only been eating in a deficit since sept of this year.before that I wasnt watching my intake. any help would be appreciated.

    I would work on losing about another 15 pounds. That doesn't mean that you will be wasting time between now and then. If you haven't started lifting now is the perfect time! You'll be ahead of things and your body composition will be better when you get closer to that weight goal than if you dieted and did cardio without the strength training. That means that when you finally switch to recomposition you will be spending less time in that phase because you've build a great foundation.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    bioklutz wrote: »
    I have been eating at maintenance and started New Rules of Lifting for Life mid January. My original intention was not recomp. I am 40 years, 5 feet tall. I was 112 lbs. in September. I wanted to trim a few pounds because I was 2 pounds over my max weight. I ended up dropping down to 100 lbs. My younger self would have looked ill at this weight. I had lost muscle mass and was worried about bone density so I started a strength training program. Plus I couldn't pick my dog up.

    I strength train 3 times a week and I do 30 minutes of cardio the other days. I weigh myself every day to monitor trends. I adjust my calories if need be. At this point I am mostly worried about dropping weight. I did see 98 lbs. on the scale a few times.

    Protein is the only stat that I am concerned about with my diet. I aim for 80 grams minimum but often get 100 grams. I usually hit the fat and carb goals MFP has set but I don't fret over it.

    If I had to guess, I would say that when I started strength training my body fat was somewhere between 25-27%. Now I would guess that it is around 23-25%. I have lost a few inches overall:

    Hips: 36.5 to 35.5
    Biggest part of my butt: 38 to 36.5
    Thigh: 22 to 21
    Waist: 26 (still 26)
    Chest: 34 to 33.5

    Oh...and a few months ago I picked my dog up easily :)

    Woohoo! It sounds like your protein is adequate for your age, weight and goals. Your measurements definitely show progress. Since you have been working at it a while you sound like you have a solid handle on what your body needs. You may find as your body composition improves you'll need to increase your calories to maintain your weight. Thank you for sharing!
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    usmcmp wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    I have some questions. I have 25lbs to lose and my body fat is about 28-29% should I keep trying to lose weight?(which is becoming harder and harder),or can I start a recomp now? Ive asked these questions many many times on different forum boards and never received an answer. I have been lifting the last 34 months.and only been eating in a deficit since sept of this year.before that I wasnt watching my intake. any help would be appreciated.

    I would work on losing about another 15 pounds. That doesn't mean that you will be wasting time between now and then. If you haven't started lifting now is the perfect time! You'll be ahead of things and your body composition will be better when you get closer to that weight goal than if you dieted and did cardio without the strength training. That means that when you finally switch to recomposition you will be spending less time in that phase because you've build a great foundation.
    Thanks, I already do lift and have been doing heavy lifting since 2013,the year before that i didnt lift heavy but did lift. I do it about 3 days a week.
  • Angiefit4life
    Angiefit4life Posts: 210 Member
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    Thank you both for the info. Looking forward to getting lean! Great thread.
  • FitForL1fe
    FitForL1fe Posts: 1,872 Member
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    in for the return o dis thread and what I assume will be slammin advice
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    draznyth wrote: »
    in for the return o dis thread and what I assume will be slammin advice

    I hope others will join in with their stories and advice!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited June 2015
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    usmcmp wrote: »
    amwcnw wrote: »
    After reading this thread I have a few questions.


    Stats
    61 inches, 37 female
    SW 156
    CW 121
    GW 119

    However, I still have a high body fat. My thighs are gigantic and stomach not that impressive.

    Based on what I calculated my protein should be around 143.
    I also did my TDEE on Scooby. The reducing fat gain muscle option and 3-5 days of mod workout. Gave me 1982 calories per day. (Wow that's an increase from what I have been eating) Happy Dance! I realize I need to increase slowly.
    Due to an autoimmune disease I am limited to walking. (I am closely followed by dr. Moving is important and my best defense! )
    I try to do 3-5 days of walking. 3.75 miles at 60mins each day. Some weeks I can't do any but since starting my new journey those are far and few between.

    Any lifting ideas? I saw someone mention The new rules to lifting. Is this a thread? I haven't a clue where to start.

    Thanks in advanced.

    Your current weight isn't far from your goal weight, so it might be a good time to slowly increase your calories until you maintain. There are lots of programs out there as ndj mentioned. I started with some of the free programs on bodybuilding.com because they had videos for all the exercises. From what I have heard about the previous programs that were mentioned I think that New Rules of Lifting starts off slow and teaches a lot. More important is picking something you feel comfortable with as a starting point, even if it is a body weight program like You Are Your Own Gym (I think they have an app).

    May I ask if the poster in this thread weighs 121lbs how can her protein goal be 143g?

    I read a month or so back that protein macros should be set at 0.64 - 0.82 g P per lb of bodyweight based on studies on a range of different athletes .. there would be no harm in exceeding but there was no further benefit .. I believe the 0.82 per lb bodyweight was for serious bodybuilder types

    (ETA Link from heybales http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/)

    I would be interested in knowing whether you agree with that

    I'm on maintenance at 160 (+/- 3-5lbs) ... progressive lifting 3x a week.. watching my protein and fats minimums and assuming there will be some kind of recomp over the next couple of years.

    But overall I'm relatively OK with what I see in the mirror I'm just keeping a vague eye on the slightly wobbly bits (mainly my small c-section pooch which is ever so slowly dissipating) ... I think I'll stick with the jumping up and down in front of the mirror nekkid approach and continue to keep an eye on what's a-wobbling :wink:
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    I guess that I have a different perspective to many being an "old-timer". :smile:

    When I started training in the 70's eating/calories/macros were for the vast majority simply not on the radar - you went to the gym to get stronger, faster, fitter. Training and diet were for the most part completely disconnected. Bulk/cut cycles were solely for body-builders, I never met anyone consciously bulking or cutting.
    But remember back then there wasn't the current obsession with being lean unless you were competing in a weight limited sport. I was training with a power lifter recently which made me realise that big/strong/fat (relatively!) was very common when I was young but it getting quite unusual now.

    So despite having personally been every combination possible in my lifetime of light/heavy, muscular/under-muscled, slim/fat I've never done a bulk & cut cycle.

    For me the pendulum has swung too far away from recomp and people are getting some weird ideas that are frequently voiced on these forums that you can't build muscle without a surplus. For me people are tending to copy the language and diet of elite athletes without realising that they also need to train like elite athletes! The young kid doing bicep curls with their protein shake by their side for example.

    Really it comes down to both goals and to a large degree training/physique status. For anyone just starting out they will make the best progress of their life purely because they don't have many training miles under their belt so a calorie surplus (to me) is pretty irrelevant. I'm at the other end of the spectrum at 55 - I've lost my ability to gain muscle fast whatever my calorie balance (shame I haven't lost the ability to gain fat fast too...). So a bulk for me wouldn't really give me anything except a spare tyre. I'm also performance focussed not physique focussed - my goals are fitness and strength related not body composition or physique, that's just a bonus.

    Some random comments:
    Hate the phrase "spinning your wheels" (Lyle McDonald?) being applied to everyone - it has context for people advanced in physique and training but not the general population who are currently far from their potential.

    There is a perception your diet has to be completely on point to recomp - disagree completely, that's a requirement for people aiming for advanced level of physique, leanness, training and not the vast majority of people (remember that MFP is an unusual demographic).

    Diet and calorie balance is frequently being over-emphasised at the expense of focus on training. Diet should support training.

    People don't really put enough thought into their goals. Sure a six pack would be nice but many aren't really prepared to make the sacrifices needed to achieve it. I know I'm not.

    There's a perception that to get to advanced levels you MUST cut/bulk, not actually true. Bret Contreras and Alan Aragon are both training people to competition levels without bulking.


    I'm glad you posted, especially the bold. I first heard this a couple of months ago here in the forums and it kind of baffled me honestly. I think my diet is generally on point but I don't think it's 100% and I've made progress just fine. I've honestly worried about it a lot less than I did when I tried (briefly) to bulk. With bulking I was anxious about doing everything just right to gain the most possible muscle and not just put on fat. With recomp I just relax, train, and try to get good nutrition.

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