Body Fat %

julesloveland
julesloveland Posts: 93 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is there a calculation for assessing how much body fat I should be losing?

In the last 5 months I have dropped 22lbs and my BF has gone from 38% to 31%. That doesn't seem like much of a drop. Does it seem about right to you?

I'm 5'5", 11st 2lbs. My target weight was initially 10st 7lbs but actually I'd rather get to about 18% BF, so I'll need to lose more weight than planned.

Do I need to think abut recomping as a way to reduce body fat?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    It's up to you. 147 is on the upper end of a healthy BMI, so you have more room to lose if you need to. Are you currently doing any strength or resistance training?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    18% is pretty lean, unless you've got a fair bit of muscle you'll probably need to be around 9 and a half stone not 10 and a half
  • julesloveland
    julesloveland Posts: 93 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    18% is pretty lean, unless you've got a fair bit of muscle you'll probably need to be around 9 and a half stone not 10 and a half

    Yeah that's what I'm coming to realise.

    malibu927 wrote: »
    It's up to you. 147 is on the upper end of a healthy BMI, so you have more room to lose if you need to. Are you currently doing any strength or resistance training?

    I would be willing to lose more so long as I don't look weird. 18% would be my long term 'dream goal' but 25% is prob a more realistic goal in the meantime. I'm doing Body Pump twice a week and HIIT circuits that include own body strength resistance training.

    I'm guessing I need to lift heavy or consider calisthenics? Any adjustments to diet?

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    How old are you? bf % range changes as we get older

    It's almost Impossible to measure accurately too

    But 18% is always low (too low for my aesthetic..I prefer 22-25%)
  • julesloveland
    julesloveland Posts: 93 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    How old are you? bf % range changes as we get older

    It's almost Impossible to measure accurately too

    But 18% is always low (too low for my aesthetic..I prefer 22-25%)

    I'm 37. I guess the target can change - it's more that I don't feel I am losing much body fat in terms of %. Is it typically slow to reduce?
  • julesloveland
    julesloveland Posts: 93 Member
    Bump - just wondering if anyone knows how fast or slow body fat % should reduce. Mine feels slow when I am losing 1lb weight a week, but I don't know the science/maths!
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    There's really no set rate and without having dexa scan when you started and then every so often to check, you are really only really tracking a trend. Losing slower and doing strength training will keep the majority of weight that you do lose as fat.
  • richardpkennedy1
    richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
    As a reference, I'm a 32 year old, 5'7" guy with 18% body fat. My weight is 10 stone 5 lbs in my profile pic. I'm pretty active and lift weights. It's highly unlikely that you carry more muscle than I do so you might want to set your weight goal lower.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    richardpkennedy1 wrote: »
    As a reference, I'm a 32 year old, 5'7" guy with 18% body fat. My weight is 10 stone 5 lbs in my profile pic. I'm pretty active and lift weights. It's highly unlikely that you carry more muscle than I do so you might want to set your weight goal lower.

    The only difference is woman look leaner with a higher body fat %. Your 18% is closer to her 25%.
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    richardpkennedy1 wrote: »
    As a reference, I'm a 32 year old, 5'7" guy with 18% body fat. My weight is 10 stone 5 lbs in my profile pic. I'm pretty active and lift weights. It's highly unlikely that you carry more muscle than I do so you might want to set your weight goal lower.

    bud...
  • julesloveland
    julesloveland Posts: 93 Member
    :D

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