Goal achieved but do I keep cutting?

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dave_in_ni
dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So my goal was 83kg / 183 lbs from 106kg / 233 lbs in January and today I hit my goal. I am now at a health BMI for the first time in my adult life. Now the issue I have is I'm not sure if 83kg was enough. I still have some flabby skin around my belly just hanging there.

My plan was drop the flab and hit the weights, I have been lifting 6 days per week while on my diet but because of the deficit no muscle was built.

So with a bit of belly flab still hanging would you end the cut and go up to maintenance and keep lifting or continue dieting?

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    It's extremely difficult to say without pictures. What is "a bit" to some people can be hardly anything or a lot in reality. However, after losing 50 lbs in 5 months, going to maintenance for a bit while continuing to lift is a good plan. You can do that for several months, give yourself a break from dieting, build more strength and muscle, and then decide if you want to cut some more fat.
  • dave_in_ni
    dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
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    8bty1e7vdgxg.jpeg
    Ok it's not pretty
  • dave_in_ni
    dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
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    Perhaps I should also post a before picture.

    wv4qn9sx4fub.jpeg


    Again not pretty.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Try not to get down on yourself. I know it's hard--I have a stretched flap that goes from hip bone to hip bone. But you're doing well and your before/after pics show great progress. If I were you I would do the extended maintenance break and then decide about cutting more. Keep lifting, though. At this point, lifting and a smaller deficit will give you better results than a big deficit.
  • Ob30470z
    Ob30470z Posts: 10 Member
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    Nothing to add to the above, but congratulations!
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
    edited June 2016
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    dave_in_ni wrote: »
    So with a bit of belly flab still hanging would you end the cut and go up to maintenance and keep lifting or continue dieting?

    What is your height? What to do next is up to you. Other than weight weight loss, what other goals do you have? Would you like to get leaner? Add muscle? Looks like you're at a point where your BMI is healthy but you can still lose more body fat. Are you on a lifting program or just winging it 6 days a week? I would try to knock off a few more pounds and then consider a diet break of eating at maintenance or slightly below and hitting the weights hard. Try to get a rough estimate of your body fat % and focus on getting that number down.

    Great job - keep at it!

  • dave_in_ni
    dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
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    loulamb7 wrote: »
    dave_in_ni wrote: »
    So with a bit of belly flab still hanging would you end the cut and go up to maintenance and keep lifting or continue dieting?

    What is your height? What to do next is up to you. Other than weight weight loss, what other goals do you have? Would you like to get leaner? Add muscle? Looks like you're at a point where your BMI is healthy but you can still lose more body fat. Are you on a lifting program or just winging it 6 days a week? I would try to knock off a few more pounds and then consider a diet break of eating at maintenance or slightly below and hitting the weights hard. Try to get a rough estimate of your body fat % and focus on getting that number down.

    Great job - keep at it!

    I'm 6ft, I'm looking to build muscle, at the moment I have the skinny fat look. As for the program yes I tried one called strong lifts but felt it was doing much so started one called bigger leaner stronger from Mike Matthews
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    Good to hear you're using a program. Use one of the Navy Body Fat calculators to start tracking your body fat %. I would still consider cutting another 8-10 lbs to get your BF% less than 18%, while still lifting. You can either continue on your current deficit or decrease the deficit. How many calories are you taking in now?

  • dave_in_ni
    dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
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    loulamb7 wrote: »
    Good to hear you're using a program. Use one of the Navy Body Fat calculators to start tracking your body fat %. I would still consider cutting another 8-10 lbs to get your BF% less than 18%, while still lifting. You can either continue on your current deficit or decrease the deficit. How many calories are you taking in now?

    I have calipers but can't figure out how to work them lol. I'm on 1500 cals the lowest I can go really.
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    Haha, I also brought a cheap pair of calipers and found them useless. Lucking they came with a tape measure and you can use the tape measure to estimate your BF%. I use this site http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

    I would definitely not go below 1500. How much were you losing per week on 1500? While in my weight loss phase I was easily losing 1 lbs/week on 2200 (I'm 6'2", started at 245 lbs, down to 185 lbs, BF% ~17% and trying to get down to 15% before I reassess).
  • dave_in_ni
    dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
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    loulamb7 wrote: »
    Haha, I also brought a cheap pair of calipers and found them useless. Lucking they came with a tape measure and you can use the tape measure to estimate your BF%. I use this site http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

    I would definitely not go below 1500. How much were you losing per week on 1500? While in my weight loss phase I was easily losing 1 lbs/week on 2200 (I'm 6'2", started at 245 lbs, down to 185 lbs, BF% ~17% and trying to get down to 15% before I reassess).

    Usually around 1kg per week so whats that 2.2 lbs or so
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    Again this is up to you, but I would start to increase calories until you get up to 2000 or losing 1 lbs per week. Keep lifting and progressing on weights. You might see a slight body weight bump initially but that will level off and you will continue to lose. Get to 175 and reassess.

    Great job at losing 2.2 lbs/week. I would be damn hungry if I was only eating 1500.

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