Have you tried GLP1 medications and found it didn't work for you? We'd like to hear about your experiences, what you tried, why it didn't work and how you're doing now. Click here to tell us your story

Advice on calorie intake for skinny fat person?

elga_thres
elga_thres Posts: 117 Member
edited September 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

Replies

  • dmillz89
    dmillz89 Posts: 10 Member
    If I were you I would eat at at deficit. Once you've lost 8-10% BF you can switch to a small surplus and start putting on that sexy lean muscle.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    Or do a recomp which I believe involves lifting weights, and eating at a slight deficit for the week.

    So you lose some fat and gain some muscle.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    elga_thres wrote: »
    Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

    Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

    Please share how you came to the conclusion that you are 27-28% body fat. That doesn't sound right for your height and weight.

    Do you lift heavy on a progressive weight lifting plan? What weight lifting plan do you do? I suggest buying the book The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. It's a great book.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    Eeek, I hate the term 'skinny fat. I feel it isn't giving yourself enough credit for being a healthy weight! I'd suggest weight lifting and strengh work-out's to "Firm Up". If you are a member of a gym, speak to a trainer and they'll be able to tell you exactly what you should be doing (and how often!). Best of luck :)
  • flrancho
    flrancho Posts: 271 Member
    I'm in the same position, almost. I have about 25 more pounds to loose and am 33% body fat. I was told that once I reach my weight goal, to eat at maintenence and then do strength training to build muscle. I don't really get why you'd eat at a deficit when you don't need to loose weight, just body fat.
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
    dmillz89 wrote: »
    If I were you I would eat at at deficit. Once you've lost 8-10% BF you can switch to a small surplus and start putting on that sexy lean muscle.

    She'd need to go below 100 lbs to lower her bf % that much through diet alone, even assuming that every pound lost was fat. Not a good plan
  • elga_thres
    elga_thres Posts: 117 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    elga_thres wrote: »
    Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

    Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

    Please share how you came to the conclusion that you are 27-28% body fat. That doesn't sound right for your height and weight.

    Do you lift heavy on a progressive weight lifting plan? What weight lifting plan do you do? I suggest buying the book The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. It's a great book.

    I take measurements weekly and use calculator to estimate my body fat. I've tried several formulas and the results range from 27-28%. They do have around 3% error margin, so I could have less body fat than the results show. But my goal is at least 21% or better, 19%.
  • elga_thres
    elga_thres Posts: 117 Member
    flrancho wrote: »
    I'm in the same position, almost. I have about 25 more pounds to loose and am 33% body fat. I was told that once I reach my weight goal, to eat at maintenence and then do strength training to build muscle. I don't really get why you'd eat at a deficit when you don't need to loose weight, just body fat.
    Merkavar wrote: »
    Or do a recomp which I believe involves lifting weights, and eating at a slight deficit for the week.

    So you lose some fat and gain some muscle.

    Thank you!!! So, no aggressive deficit.. That's good news....
  • elga_thres
    elga_thres Posts: 117 Member
    Eeek, I hate the term 'skinny fat. I feel it isn't giving yourself enough credit for being a healthy weight! I'd suggest weight lifting and strengh work-out's to "Firm Up". If you are a member of a gym, speak to a trainer and they'll be able to tell you exactly what you should be doing (and how often!). Best of luck :)

    Actually I kind of dislike it too, it took serious efforts to reach my current weight. However, the fact is my body fat % is high, I have to accept that fact so I can do something about it. Thanks for the suggestion! Best of luck for you too :D

  • elga_thres
    elga_thres Posts: 117 Member
    Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I just recently started weight lifting. I used to do too much cardio. Thank you for the suggestion! I'll Google the book.:)
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    elga_thres wrote: »
    Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

    Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

    Please share how you came to the conclusion that you are 27-28% body fat. That doesn't sound right for your height and weight.

    Do you lift heavy on a progressive weight lifting plan? What weight lifting plan do you do? I suggest buying the book The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. It's a great book.

  • Char231023
    Char231023 Posts: 700 Member
    Merkavar wrote: »
    Or do a recomp which I believe involves lifting weights, and eating at a slight deficit for the week.

    So you lose some fat and gain some muscle.

    Actually for what I understand about recomp is you eat at maintenance no deficit. Recomp is keeping the scale number the same while improving you overall muscle tone by lifting weights.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    dmillz89 wrote: »
    If I were you I would eat at at deficit. Once you've lost 8-10% BF you can switch to a small surplus and start putting on that sexy lean muscle.

    She'd need to go below 100 lbs to lower her bf % that much through diet alone, even assuming that every pound lost was fat. Not a good plan

    At 4' 11", under 100 lbs would not be a problem. On the lower side of healthy BMI, yes, but not a health issue.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    elga_thres wrote: »
    Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

    Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

    Please share how you came to the conclusion that you are 27-28% body fat. That doesn't sound right for your height and weight.

    Do you lift heavy on a progressive weight lifting plan? What weight lifting plan do you do? I suggest buying the book The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. It's a great book.

    Keep in mind at 4' 11", 112 lbs is on the higher side of healthy BMI, just as 27-28% BF is on the higher side of healthy %BF for a woman. I have no trouble believing that she may be close in her estimate.

    Does someone have that picture showing the range of bodies at different %BF? Maybe OP can pick out to which she thinks she is closest? Seems that's as accurate an estimate as the online calculators.
  • elga_thres
    elga_thres Posts: 117 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    elga_thres wrote: »
    Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

    Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

    Please share how you came to the conclusion that you are 27-28% body fat. That doesn't sound right for your height and weight.

    Do you lift heavy on a progressive weight lifting plan? What weight lifting plan do you do? I suggest buying the book The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. It's a great book.

    Keep in mind at 4' 11", 112 lbs is on the higher side of healthy BMI, just as 27-28% BF is on the higher side of healthy %BF for a woman. I have no trouble believing that she may be close in her estimate.

    Does someone have that picture showing the range of bodies at different %BF? Maybe OP can pick out to which she thinks she is closest? Seems that's as accurate an estimate as the online calculators.

    I'll look up that picture, thanks ☺..
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    elga_thres wrote: »
    Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

    Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

    Please share how you came to the conclusion that you are 27-28% body fat. That doesn't sound right for your height and weight.

    Do you lift heavy on a progressive weight lifting plan? What weight lifting plan do you do? I suggest buying the book The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. It's a great book.

    Does someone have that picture showing the range of bodies at different %BF? Maybe OP can pick out to which she thinks she is closest? Seems that's as accurate an estimate as the online calculators.

    pyhprjxa4w7i.jpg
  • sbukx
    sbukx Posts: 16 Member
    flrancho wrote: »
    I'm in the same position, almost. I have about 25 more pounds to loose and am 33% body fat. I was told that once I reach my weight goal, to eat at maintenence and then do strength training to build muscle. I don't really get why you'd eat at a deficit when you don't need to loose weight, just body fat.

    to lose fat you would need to eat a deficit or exercise to loose the weight
  • flrancho
    flrancho Posts: 271 Member
    I was told diet to loose the weight, and exercise (specifically progressive weightlifting) to loose the fat - regardless of wether or not I was still dieting at the time (ie, eating at a deficit).

    I am about 20 pounds away from a mid-range healthy BMI index weight, yet I still look like the 40% BF picture above; continuing to eat at a deficit at this point would make me too skinny. What am I supposed to do, yo-yo diet until I get rid of all the fat?
  • elga_thres
    elga_thres Posts: 117 Member
    Thank you very much!!!! Yes, I look like somewhere between 25%-30%. I just used the scale which can measure body fat percentage and it said 30% .
    stealthq wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    elga_thres wrote: »
    Hi, everybody! I'm 19 years old, my height is 4'11" and my weight is 112. If we use BMI, then I fall into the normal category. However, my body fat is 27-28%. So, I guess I'm what we call skinny fat. Before MFP, my weight loss attempt was unhealthy. I used to not eat enough. I would like to do body recomp, but I'm wondering how should set my calorie goal. Should I eat at deficit, slight deficit or maintenance? I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-4x a week.

    Your opinions will be appreciated. Thank you! ☺

    Please share how you came to the conclusion that you are 27-28% body fat. That doesn't sound right for your height and weight.

    Do you lift heavy on a progressive weight lifting plan? What weight lifting plan do you do? I suggest buying the book The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. It's a great book.

    Does someone have that picture showing the range of bodies at different %BF? Maybe OP can pick out to which she thinks she is closest? Seems that's as accurate an estimate as the online calculators.

    pyhprjxa4w7i.jpg