Help needed setting realistic goals

JTattersfield
JTattersfield Posts: 7 Member
edited January 2018 in Health and Weight Loss
I had my body fat measured today in a bodpod and I found out I have 30.6% body fat (which puts me in the “excess fat” category). I’d like to get down to about 25% but I’m not sure what a realistic goal or timeframe would be for this. Does anyone have any knowledge or personal experience on how much I should aim to lose per week/ per month...etc?

I’m 130lbs. Female. 30 years old.

Thanks all!


Update: Sorry guys, Height is 65.7 inches (or about 5 feet 6 inches)

Some of the other measurements that came from it (that I don’t really understand) are as follows,
% fat free mass = 69.4%
Fat mass = 38.935 lb
Fat free mass = 88.291 lb
Body mass = 127.226 lb (I rounded up in the original post)
Body volume = 56.030 L
Body density = 1.0300 kg/L
Thoracic gas volume= 3.274 L

Excess fat is measured as 30.1-40% so I’m only just over and the category I would like to be in is “moderately lean” which is 22.1-30%.

Replies

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,610 Member
    How tall are you?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    How tall are you? 30% body fat at 130 pounds sounds unlikely, so I would just ignore that.

    You lose weight when you over time stick to a calorie deficit. You lose mostly fat when that deficit isn't too large.

    You can realistically lose up to 1% of your bodyweight per week, but this "up to" provides that you have sufficient body fat for it (and you don't), that you set a good calorie target, that you log everything and correctly all the time, and that you hit your target every day.

    So don't set a deadline for weightloss. Set a reasonable calorie target and aim to hit it, instead.
  • pamfgil
    pamfgil Posts: 449 Member
    If you're in healthy weight bmi, you could eat at maintenance and weight/strength train for recomposition. Have a look at the thread,"halp, heavy lifting made me supah bulky" for reassurance that you won't bulk up
  • 30kgin2017
    30kgin2017 Posts: 228 Member
    I doubt you have much weight to lose without your BMI being too low but since you haven’t stayed your height it’s just s guess. With this in mind you prob need to look at nutrition (in particular protein) and an exercise program to get your BF% down.
  • JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls
    JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls Posts: 165 Member
    as above, you're quite a low weight (unless you're under 5 ft), so you'll probably need to look at recomposition as opposed to weight loss. I would suggest doing some research on this, calorie cycling, and macros in order to achieve your goal. And adopt an appropriate exercise program too, like starting to do weight training if you don't already
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Thanks for the update. A BF% of 30 does not appear to be valid with a BMI of 21.
  • JTattersfield
    JTattersfield Posts: 7 Member
    I’m 5 foot 6. I was certainly surprised by the number but it was an official body composition test sponsored by the army so I’m inclined to believe it (unfortunately)

    Some of the other measurements that came from it (that I don’t really understand) are as follows,
    % fat free mass = 69.4%
    Fat mass = 38.935 lb
    Fat free mass = 88.291 lb
    Body mass = 127.226 lb (I rounded up in the original post)

    Excess fat is measured as 30.1-40% so I’m only just over and category I would like to be in is “moderately lean” which is 22.1-30%.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    If your BMI is 21 you must be lean. The bodyfat analysis could be wrong.
    If you like what you see in the mirror then sod any bodyfat %!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,610 Member
    I'm 5'6" ... and when I'm 130 lbs, I don't have much in the way of excess fat at all.

    What's your exercise like? What do you do? How much?
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    I would personally not try and lose weight - I'd recomp (so eat at maintainance, get plenty of protein and lift heavy things 3-4 days a week). You could MAYBE afford 5lbs. That's it. So, if you wanted to lose the 5lbs while doing a progressive weight routine, I'd recommend eating at a slight deficient - 250 below your TDEE.

    There's no way I'd put a time limit on this because RECOMP is SLOW. Patience needs to be had, some people take years to be happy with it.

    To figure out your TDEE: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    But honestly, I think, along with the rest of the responders, that your test was incorrect.
  • JTattersfield
    JTattersfield Posts: 7 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I'm 5'6" ... and when I'm 130 lbs, I don't have much in the way of excess fat at all.

    What's your exercise like? What do you do? How much?

    I actually stopped right before thanksgiving because of an injury. Since then I’ve gained 8 lbs and gone up 2 pant sizes and I feel like I’ve lost all my muscle (I also overindulged this holiday season on top of not working out). I’m ready to start again, but slowly, I don’t want to hurt myself again. Before thanksgiving I was working out 4 days a week. Mostly weight training with a little cardio mixed in.

    I wondering if it’s taken 2 months to get to this point if I can reverse it and get back to how I was in another 2 months.....if that’s my aim I would need to lose a little over 1% body fat a week but I don’t know if that’s realistic or not....
  • JTattersfield
    JTattersfield Posts: 7 Member
    edited January 2018
    kristen8000 wrote: »
    I would personally not try and lose weight - I'd recomp (so eat at maintainance, get plenty of protein and lift heavy things 3-4 days a week). You could MAYBE afford 5lbs. That's it. So, if you wanted to lose the 5lbs while doing a progressive weight routine, I'd recommend eating at a slight deficient - 250 below your TDEE.

    There's no way I'd put a time limit on this because RECOMP is SLOW. Patience needs to be had, some people take years to be happy with it.

    To figure out your TDEE: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    But honestly, I think, along with the rest of the responders, that your test was incorrect.


    Awesome website. and thank you for the feedback!
  • JTattersfield
    JTattersfield Posts: 7 Member
    edited January 2018
    JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls wrote: »
    as above, you're quite a low weight (unless you're under 5 ft), so you'll probably need to look at recomposition as opposed to weight loss. I would suggest doing some research on this, calorie cycling, and macros in order to achieve your goal. And adopt an appropriate exercise program too, like starting to do weight training if you don't already

    Thank you! I used to do more weight training so that won't be hard for me to get back into. I'm going to need to google calorie cycling and figure out what exactly my macros are. The center I went to for the bod pod at also does metabolic testing to tell you exactly what your macros are meant to be but it seems that the general consensus here is that the bod pod results weren't accurate....so maybe their other tests aren't either.

  • JTattersfield
    JTattersfield Posts: 7 Member
    30kgin2017 wrote: »
    I doubt you have much weight to lose without your BMI being too low but since you haven’t stayed your height it’s just s guess. With this in mind you prob need to look at nutrition (in particular protein) and an exercise program to get your BF% down.

    Thank you! I don't want to lose weight but I'd like to be 130lbs of muscle instead of 130lb of jiggle. Nutrition has always been really hard for me - no self control ;'( but I know you're right.
  • JTattersfield
    JTattersfield Posts: 7 Member
    pamfgil wrote: »
    If you're in healthy weight bmi, you could eat at maintenance and weight/strength train for recomposition. Have a look at the thread,"halp, heavy lifting made me supah bulky" for reassurance that you won't bulk up

    Thank you! I had not heard of recomposition before but I've been googling it for the last 10 minutes and there's a lot of great info out their that's going to help me. Thanks again!

Categories