Trying to lose that last 30. Frustrated with body composition.

Industrialdieter
Industrialdieter Posts: 6 Member
edited November 25 in Introduce Yourself
So 5-6 years ago, due in great part to meds that cause weight gain I had gotten up to over 280 pounds. The frustrating thing was, I was trying to control my eating and exercising regulary.

With a med change I've been able to lose much of the excess weight. A particularly sweet victory was when I reached the weight I was as a Sophomore in H.S.- 215.

So now I'm 206, which I'm pretty happy about. My goal was 185. But it turns out at the rate things are going I would still be an overweight %24.5 Bodyfat. This is extremely frustrating. I think its the fact that I'm losing 1 lb of fat free mass for every 2-2.5 pounds of fat. So it seems impossible to be the %20 Bodyfat that I want to be.

I strength train twice a week and do cardio three times a week, at least when I'm healthy enough.
I do take the last week off out of every month for rest. I try to get a decent amount of protein but with my blood sugar issues I can't intake huge amounts of protein and have room for the carbs I need to not get false hypos. ( I have type 2 diabetes)

The Industrial in my username refers to Industrial music. I listen to Industrial Music and produce my own.

Replies

  • Industrialdieter
    Industrialdieter Posts: 6 Member
    edited March 2018
    By the way, I have been here for a few years I just never did the social aspect.
  • ValeriePlz
    ValeriePlz Posts: 517 Member
    There are other threads you should read about not focusing too much on BMI. Keep losing until you're happy with how you feel. That might be at a higher BMI or lower BMI than is currently your goal.
  • kathleennf
    kathleennf Posts: 606 Member
    I have been working on this same thing for several years- yep it takes a while - and I changed my "goals" several times. Bottom line, IMO and based on my own experience, you'll have to decide whether to focus more on losing the last bit of weight or on recomping. I have slowly gotten my BF% down to where I wanted it to be, but I was already at my goal weight and wanted to do it without regaining the weight.

    One piece of advice I got from my trainer was to quit doing any significant amount of cardio - he said I had to do that if I wanted to not lose muscle. He advised me to do only weight/strength training with yoga or pilates, and said I could do no more than 10-12 minutes of cardio to warm up. I have mostly stuck to that and it has worked. If you still want to lose weight that could be different.
  • Industrialdieter
    Industrialdieter Posts: 6 Member
    Well it's not so much BMI as my bodyfat percentage. I feel that's the best indicator. I like to be very precise and figure out things before they've happened. Sometimes it's a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. In other words, I figured the amount of fat and lean mass I was losing to figure out where I'd be, but I was wrong.
    I thought at that weight (185)there was no way I'd be much above %20 bodyfat.
  • Industrialdieter
    Industrialdieter Posts: 6 Member
    kathleennf wrote: »
    I have been working on this same thing for several years- yep it takes a while - and I changed my "goals" several times. Bottom line, IMO and based on my own experience, you'll have to decide whether to focus more on losing the last bit of weight or on recomping. I have slowly gotten my BF% down to where I wanted it to be, but I was already at my goal weight and wanted to do it without regaining the weight.

    One piece of advice I got from my trainer was to quit doing any significant amount of cardio - he said I had to do that if I wanted to not lose muscle. He advised me to do only weight/strength training with yoga or pilates, and said I could do no more than 10-12 minutes of cardio to warm up. I have mostly stuck to that and it has worked. If you still want to lose weight that could be different.


    Did you find you could recomp lean mass without having to bump calories too much? I hoped just putting them at maintenance level (when I reach that point) would help some.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    I have heard that weight control is particularly challenging with diabetes and it sounds like you have done a great job of reducing your weight. (Take a victory lap around the dessert cart. Eat a bowl of fruit with yogurt and some granola! Woot!) :p

    Now, don't get discouraged by your biometrics-- they are just numbers. Much more important is your overall health and well being.

    And, don't give up. It all takes time, and you sometimes have to go on maintenance for a while and come back to it after a respite.

    Best of luck!
  • Industrialdieter
    Industrialdieter Posts: 6 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    I have heard that weight control is particularly challenging with diabetes and it sounds like you have done a great job of reducing your weight. (Take a victory lap around the dessert cart. Eat a bowl of fruit with yogurt and some granola! Woot!) :p

    Now, don't get discouraged by your biometrics-- they are just numbers. Much more important is your overall health and well being.

    And, don't give up. It all takes time, and you sometimes have to go on maintenance for a while and come back to it after a respite.

    Best of luck!

    As long as the granola is gluten free. I have Celiac disease too, lol
    So I'm thinking once I reach 200 lbs or less I will mantain for a little while and see if I regain some lean mass (hopefully without gaining any signficant amount of fat)

    Thanks!
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