Recomp? Keep losing? Bodyfat %?

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youdoyou2016
youdoyou2016 Posts: 393 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I am hoping those of you with more experience (and who are not in my head) can help me with something. I'm 5'1" (almost) and fluctuate between 116-118. I'm not sure what to do. Sometimes I think I am "there" and done with dieting. Then, sometimes all I can see is fat left to lose.

I'd like to get leaner, stronger, and more fit.

Currently I lift 3xs a week -- just upper body as I am rehabbing leg injuries. I just use the machines at the gym; seems to be working as I am getting stronger and notice some changes in my body. I just started being able to do some cardio, but very little: 10 mins on an elliptical and 15 on a ski machine (not on the same day), but I go slow. Really, I'm just moving. I've gotten up to 10K steps too.

Any thoughts about my body fat %? I look at photos online and honestly am not a good judge of myself when I compare them to examples. I don't mind remaining in a deficit to drop more. (5 lbs? 10?) But am also fine if I'm at a low enough bf% to go into a recomp. Anyone have thoughts about how to proceed?


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Replies

  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    If it were me I would stay in a deficit to blast some more fat while keeping up what you're able to do as far as workouts. Very important that you're keeping your protein consumption on point too.

    I hate when people compare themselves to others because we're all built different and have varying body compositions, but I have to weigh 114-115 to be lean enough to recomp, and I'm 5'4. I never thought I would have to take my weight that low, but that's what it took for me to get enough fat off....

    I say just keep on keepin on for now. :wink:
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Stay in a deficit, maybe start thinking of 5lb chunks? Lose 5lbs - reassess.

    Good luck with your rehab, training and recomp will be far more effective when you can work your lower body too.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Maybe lose a couple more pounds and then try recomp?
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
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    How much weight have you lost? I would have a hard time guessing your body fat. It looks like you have a little bit of loose skin around your belly button which makes it harder to estimate (I bet that you will see a big improvement with a little time as the skin tightens up). I would not lose more than 10 pounds.

    There is also nothing wrong with trying maintenance and lifting and deciding 6 months from now if you want to lose more weight or you are perfectly happy with your weight.

    I hope you have a speedy recovery!
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Have you had an actually BF measurement done recently? That would help with any advice we can give you
  • youdoyou2016
    youdoyou2016 Posts: 393 Member
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    deannalfisher wrote: »
    Have you had an actually BF measurement done recently? That would help with any advice we can give you

    On November 2, 2016 I had a dexascan. I weighed 134.2 and my BF came out to 32.5%.

    (I don't have the opportunity to get one redone.)

    I've lost 17 lbs since then. I do not think I do a good job measuring myself (my pants are falling off but my #s are the same?), but from January to the beginning of March, I lost 7" all over. (About an inch off my both belly and hips and the other loss from upper arms, etc.)

  • youdoyou2016
    youdoyou2016 Posts: 393 Member
    edited April 2017
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    bioklutz wrote: »
    youdoyou2016 wrote: »
    bioklutz wrote: »
    How much weight have you lost? I would have a hard time guessing your body fat. It looks like you have a little bit of loose skin around your belly button which makes it harder to estimate (I bet that you will see a big improvement with a little time as the skin tightens up). I would not lose more than 10 pounds.

    There is also nothing wrong with trying maintenance and lifting and deciding 6 months from now if you want to lose more weight or you are perfectly happy with your weight.

    I hope you have a speedy recovery!

    Thank you -- and everyone else -- for the responses and ideas. Very helpful.

    To answer your question: so far I've lost 114 lbs. Hard to wrap my head around sometimes, but I was sick / hurt for a long time and my body went haywire. You're right about some loose skin as well as it tightening up. Sometimes I look and it's a major bummer, but it does seem to be changing. Am about to turn 47 if that's worth anything ...

    (Oh, and please excuse the house remodeling mess going on the background.)

    Wow! You have lost as much as you weigh! That is truly amazing and inspiring! As you were losing the weight did you take any maintenance breaks or when was the last time you had a maintenance break? If you have just been plugging along without any breaks maybe it is time to stop for now and take a break and focus on fitness and maintenance.

    Yeah, when I get on the scale I cannot imagine doubling the number I see. Thanks for the kind words!

    I have not taken any breaks or maintained until just recently. This was not planned, but for the last 6 or so wks my weight has stayed the same -- coinciding with the weight lifting my appetite increased, and I became more lax in eating. I'm still maintaining at 116, though. I do feel that I'm getting smaller (I have to wear a belt now or my pants will literally come down as I walk around), and I'm seeing some definition on my arms, etc but I find it difficult to measure myself accurately and I have not consistently taken pics (which I'll do now).

    I feel like the jump in appetite has tapered off, and I'm ready for this diet-thing to be over (and switch gears into maintenance) ... So it seems (now that I've had 6 wks of popcorn and an occasional Chinese take-out) that I can mentally hunker down again and get into a deficit. It's just that since I'm so small and can't exercise much that I my total calories per day to lose anything is pretty low. I'll read on here people my height write things like "I can lose at 1650." I'd gain at that amount ... But given everyone's feedback, I guess it's time to just suck it up (buttercup) and work on getting this losing-part over with asap.
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
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    youdoyou2016 wrote: »
    bioklutz wrote: »
    youdoyou2016 wrote: »
    bioklutz wrote: »
    How much weight have you lost? I would have a hard time guessing your body fat. It looks like you have a little bit of loose skin around your belly button which makes it harder to estimate (I bet that you will see a big improvement with a little time as the skin tightens up). I would not lose more than 10 pounds.

    There is also nothing wrong with trying maintenance and lifting and deciding 6 months from now if you want to lose more weight or you are perfectly happy with your weight.

    I hope you have a speedy recovery!

    Thank you -- and everyone else -- for the responses and ideas. Very helpful.

    To answer your question: so far I've lost 114 lbs. Hard to wrap my head around sometimes, but I was sick / hurt for a long time and my body went haywire. You're right about some loose skin as well as it tightening up. Sometimes I look and it's a major bummer, but it does seem to be changing. Am about to turn 47 if that's worth anything ...

    (Oh, and please excuse the house remodeling mess going on the background.)

    Wow! You have lost as much as you weigh! That is truly amazing and inspiring! As you were losing the weight did you take any maintenance breaks or when was the last time you had a maintenance break? If you have just been plugging along without any breaks maybe it is time to stop for now and take a break and focus on fitness and maintenance.

    Yeah, when I get on the scale I cannot imagine doubling the number I see. Thanks for the kind words!

    I have not taken any breaks or maintained until just recently. This was not planned, but for the last 6 or so wks my weight has stayed the same -- coinciding with the weight lifting my appetite increased, and I became more lax in eating. I'm still maintaining at 116, though. I do feel that I'm getting smaller (I have to wear a belt now or my pants will literally come down as I walk around), and I'm seeing some definition on my arms, etc but I find it difficult to measure myself accurately and I have not consistently taken pics (which I'll do now).

    I feel like the jump in appetite has tapered off, and I'm ready for this diet-thing to be over (and switch gears into maintenance) ... So it seems (now that I've had 6 wks of popcorn and an occasional Chinese take-out) that I can mentally hunker down again and get into a deficit. It's just that since I'm so small and can't exercise much that I my total calories per day to lose anything is pretty low. I'll read on here people my height write things like "I can lose at 1650." I'd gain at that amount ... But given everyone's feedback, I guess it's time to just suck it up (buttercup) and work on getting this losing-part over with asap.

    You got this! :smile:
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    I would stay in a deficit focusing on lifting weights. Set a 30 day challenge for yourself and really tighten up on the calorie intake focusing on lean proteins and veggies. I bet at the end of 30 you'll drop that 5-10 Lbs. On another note, congrats on your loss and believe me I know how hard it is to tighten up that lose skin in your higher 40's! Good luck!
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
    Options
    youdoyou2016 wrote: »
    bioklutz wrote: »
    youdoyou2016 wrote: »
    bioklutz wrote: »
    How much weight have you lost? I would have a hard time guessing your body fat. It looks like you have a little bit of loose skin around your belly button which makes it harder to estimate (I bet that you will see a big improvement with a little time as the skin tightens up). I would not lose more than 10 pounds.

    There is also nothing wrong with trying maintenance and lifting and deciding 6 months from now if you want to lose more weight or you are perfectly happy with your weight.

    I hope you have a speedy recovery!

    Thank you -- and everyone else -- for the responses and ideas. Very helpful.

    To answer your question: so far I've lost 114 lbs. Hard to wrap my head around sometimes, but I was sick / hurt for a long time and my body went haywire. You're right about some loose skin as well as it tightening up. Sometimes I look and it's a major bummer, but it does seem to be changing. Am about to turn 47 if that's worth anything ...

    (Oh, and please excuse the house remodeling mess going on the background.)

    Wow! You have lost as much as you weigh! That is truly amazing and inspiring! As you were losing the weight did you take any maintenance breaks or when was the last time you had a maintenance break? If you have just been plugging along without any breaks maybe it is time to stop for now and take a break and focus on fitness and maintenance.

    Yeah, when I get on the scale I cannot imagine doubling the number I see. Thanks for the kind words!

    I have not taken any breaks or maintained until just recently. This was not planned, but for the last 6 or so wks my weight has stayed the same -- coinciding with the weight lifting my appetite increased, and I became more lax in eating. I'm still maintaining at 116, though. I do feel that I'm getting smaller (I have to wear a belt now or my pants will literally come down as I walk around), and I'm seeing some definition on my arms, etc but I find it difficult to measure myself accurately and I have not consistently taken pics (which I'll do now).

    I feel like the jump in appetite has tapered off, and I'm ready for this diet-thing to be over (and switch gears into maintenance) ... So it seems (now that I've had 6 wks of popcorn and an occasional Chinese take-out) that I can mentally hunker down again and get into a deficit. It's just that since I'm so small and can't exercise much that I my total calories per day to lose anything is pretty low. I'll read on here people my height write things like "I can lose at 1650." I'd gain at that amount ... But given everyone's feedback, I guess it's time to just suck it up (buttercup) and work on getting this losing-part over with asap.

    You sound a lot like me in that my tdee is low too, and I would be gaining on what some women get away with eating. I also chose to just plow through the weight loss with no breaks. They're good for some people but I just wanted to be done! At 45yo I'm also dealing with extra skin, but it's all good. :wink:

    Congrats on your progress so far!!!

  • youdoyou2016
    youdoyou2016 Posts: 393 Member
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    cushman5279 wrote: »
    I would stay in a deficit focusing on lifting weights. Set a 30 day challenge for yourself and really tighten up on the calorie intake focusing on lean proteins and veggies. I bet at the end of 30 you'll drop that 5-10 Lbs. On another note, congrats on your loss and believe me I know how hard it is to tighten up that lose skin in your higher 40's! Good luck!

    Thanks for the idea. You got me thinking: my birthday is in 6 weeks (I'll be 47). Seems like a good time-frame as well as end-date to create new goals.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
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    I'm 5'3 and recomped around 125. You might want to lose 5+ more lbs. It looks like you've recently lost weight. Your bf% might be higher than expected for your size.

    There's an informative recomp thread here on the forums. For me, recomp was a very slow process...about 1.5-2 yr. If it is going to take awhile, you might as well lose a bit more first.
  • jmp463
    jmp463 Posts: 266 Member
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    My advice is to just do what you have been doing. Its working. Eat well and workout. I would not fill your head with things like "recomp" and this and that. Unless you plan on being a serious body builder I would just focus on what you have been doing in the past that has worked really well for you.

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