Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

HollandOats wrote: »

I've brought this up in another thread before, but discussion didn't go far -- was wondering about switching to maintenance/recomp, even though I have ~7lbs to goal, but using the TDEE of my goal weight for maintenance cals.

The idea being that it'd still be a deficit between current weight's TDEE and Goal's, so I'd still lose, albeit slowly, and then eventually even out...

Of course, I know that TDEE calculations can be off in either direction based on many factors, but in my situation, a little experimentation into this theory might be worthwhile...

Thoughts?

I don't see why you couldn't do that. Realistically, the difference in your TDEE at 7 pounds less than right now is going to be pretty small. You could go ahead and calculate it yourself to see that. TDEE calculations are best estimates and TDEE isn't a constant anyway.

Much obliged for the responses... I think that sounds like a good logical approach, @sijomial ... I'm gonna run the numbers...

senecarr wrote: »

I believe the general estimate is each pound of fat contributes around 4 calories to BMR, so yeah, 7 pounds is probably a 28 calorie difference. That's going to get swallowed in the variability of TDEE.

Oooh, sciency... grassy *kitten*!

bioklutz wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

This morning I noticed a strange indent in my skin - below my belly button. Looking closer it seems like the skin is a little loser there but I can feel muscle under the skin. I am assuming that I lost a little bit of fat there. If only it would come off my thighs and butt as quickly as it comes off my stomach...

I wish it would come off my stomach more quickly. We each have our own places that seem to hold fat. Blah.

senecarr wrote: »

I believe the general estimate is each pound of fat contributes around 4 calories to BMR, so yeah, 7 pounds is probably a 28 calorie difference. That's going to get swallowed in the variability of TDEE.

Yep. However, I think that is the impact on BMR. There will be a bigger impact on TDEE as you are basically moving more weigh around (assuming you are staying at a consistent BF) - still not a huge impact though.

I think that the benefits are mainly gained through the act of lifting - the caloric burn during, and after, which includes the energy expended buy you to actually build muscle (repairing the damage), similar to when your body is trying to recover from an illness or injury (hypermetabolism).

That being said, the impact of muscle in its resting state is usually overstated - as you mention, its not that much at all.

senecarr wrote: »

Sarauk2sf wrote: »

senecarr wrote: »

I believe the general estimate is each pound of fat contributes around 4 calories to BMR, so yeah, 7 pounds is probably a 28 calorie difference. That's going to get swallowed in the variability of TDEE.

Yep. However, I think that is the impact on BMR. There will be a bigger impact on TDEE as you are basically moving more weigh around (assuming you are staying at a consistent BF) - still not a huge impact though.

I think that the benefits are mainly gained through the act of lifting - the caloric burn during, and after, which includes the energy expended buy you to actually build muscle (repairing the damage), similar to when your body is trying to recover from an illness or injury (hypermetabolism).

You mean you don't strap weights to yourself for every pound you lose to keep TDEE the same? You're weird.

And ugghh...typo in my post - I hate seeing them after someone has quoted me lol.

LiftingRiot wrote: »

So that my body utilizes the fat stored on me thereby loosing fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible.

It does not work that way. Dietary fat and carbs do not turn into body fat (well, dietary fat technically does but its not a 1:1 ratio or a direct relationship). In simplistic terms: You use carbs for energy (they can get stored as fats but this is not common). You use protein for energy and for muscle growth. Dietary fats get used for fat storage and energy. Your body balances out the use of these macros and will partition them to basically end up at the same place, irrespective of the composition (that is assuming you do not have a totally extreme diet and also get sufficient protein).