Lose weight (fat) or body recomp

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gdfrew
gdfrew Posts: 45 Member
edited October 2020 in Health and Weight Loss
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Sorry for the bad photos. I'm having trouble of what direction I should be heading in. I've lost 39lbs so far. Currently 75.7kg in weight and I am 33yo at 6ft tall. So I'm almost ideal weight but my body fat for belly and chest area is too much. According to my bluetooth scales although I don't believe it says bf is 16.1%

Should I continue to lose weight? I'm happy to lose more if needed obviously don't want to be underweight. Or concentrate more on body recomp? I've been working with some dumbbells for the past 3-4 weeks trying to incorporate resistance training as much as possible but I do miss a proper gym routine.
I've been doing loads of miles of walking for cardio so i don't lose too much muscle make sure I get plenty of protein in my diet. Haven't had too much trouble losing weight so far so I haven't gone mad with properly tracking calories to the extent of weighing everything. I do keep a decent track on the app. But I will up the effort if need be and start cutting more carbs and fats, sugar, salt and such when needed.
I'm really active at my job and usually end on between 10,000 and 13,000 steps everyday and up to 25,000 on walking/jogging days

Any help is much appreciated. Any routines? Best workout plans and such all the info i can take in is better

Replies

  • ajwindsorii
    ajwindsorii Posts: 18 Member
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    In addition to what @sijomial said, if you're new to lifting (1-2 years) or over fat, then you will still gain muscle whole losing weight, provided you are resistance training.

    Scales or handheld devices that supposedly measure fat aren't accurate and should only be used for tracking trends over time. Use either calipers, a tape measure, or get a DEXA scan if you want a more accurate measure of body fat percentage.

    Weight loss is done in the kitchen; you can't outrun a bad diet. You need to track your calorie intake as much as possible and make sure you're at least 500 calories under your daily TDEE (for 1lb/week average weight loss).

    Hope this helps. Best of luck to you!
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,599 Member
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    Thanks, @sijomial

    That was a very interesting link I hadn’t seen before.
  • gdfrew
    gdfrew Posts: 45 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    Yes you should continue to have a deficit to lose what is still quite a lot of fat (sorry!).
    Your scales are terribly wrong, that estimate is WAY off.
    Have a look at these pictures for a rough idea - https://www.builtlean.com/body-fat-percentage-men-women/

    Yes you should continue / step up weight training.
    Cardio doesn't burn muscle, that's a horrible myth. Inappropriately large deficits can cause muscle loss but that's not the exercise it's the diet. It can also be a useful way to maintain a sensible calorie deficit (judge by your rate of loss) while getting to eat more food.

    As a young man your cardio ambitions really should be a lot higher than walking - for fitness and not for weight loss though. With a very active job and lots of steps walking for exercise is really more of the same and you might get more benefit / more return on time invested from doing something more of a contrast.

    Thanks for the honesty. I kinda guessed the scales were way off. I suppose they are good for tracking a trend though. I didn't go into much detail as I should have. My cardio is more than walking. I've built up in the last 4 months a good 18kg weight loss and I'm now running to just over a mile running without stopping (yeah my fitness was really bad) but I'm happy to get going further and reach my next goal of 5k. I'm upping the resistance training weekly and I can start to see some positive changes in my bicep and shoulders at the very least.

    So I will continue to be in a calorie deficit and achieve my next 5kg weight loss goal I have in mind and see where that takes me
    Thanks again.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    gdfrew wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Yes you should continue to have a deficit to lose what is still quite a lot of fat (sorry!).
    Your scales are terribly wrong, that estimate is WAY off.
    Have a look at these pictures for a rough idea - https://www.builtlean.com/body-fat-percentage-men-women/

    Yes you should continue / step up weight training.
    Cardio doesn't burn muscle, that's a horrible myth. Inappropriately large deficits can cause muscle loss but that's not the exercise it's the diet. It can also be a useful way to maintain a sensible calorie deficit (judge by your rate of loss) while getting to eat more food.

    As a young man your cardio ambitions really should be a lot higher than walking - for fitness and not for weight loss though. With a very active job and lots of steps walking for exercise is really more of the same and you might get more benefit / more return on time invested from doing something more of a contrast.

    Thanks for the honesty. I kinda guessed the scales were way off. I suppose they are good for tracking a trend though. I didn't go into much detail as I should have. My cardio is more than walking. I've built up in the last 4 months a good 18kg weight loss and I'm now running to just over a mile running without stopping (yeah my fitness was really bad) but I'm happy to get going further and reach my next goal of 5k. I'm upping the resistance training weekly and I can start to see some positive changes in my bicep and shoulders at the very least.

    So I will continue to be in a calorie deficit and achieve my next 5kg weight loss goal I have in mind and see where that takes me
    Thanks again.

    If you lost 18kg in 4 months you need to slow down as you continue. Aim for .5kg a week.
  • gdfrew
    gdfrew Posts: 45 Member
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    Yeah sorry I'll clear up what had happened it was maybe 5 months. And then I had a bad breakup with my then girlfriend in month 2 (July) So for about a week and a half I was barely eating at all, you know how it is. Sadness and such. So there I guess I lost a bit of muscle from malnutrition

    Not looking for the sob story just how it goes.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    gdfrew wrote: »
    Yeah sorry I'll clear up what had happened it was maybe 5 months. And then I had a bad breakup with my then girlfriend in month 2 (July) So for about a week and a half I was barely eating at all, you know how it is. Sadness and such. So there I guess I lost a bit of muscle from malnutrition

    Not looking for the sob story just how it goes.

    There is no reason to pile on to what happened during that period worrying about bits of muscle. That is majoring in the minors.
  • being_fit_101
    being_fit_101 Posts: 16 Member
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    Losing weight is relatively easy as you just have to maintain caloric deficit. Losing body fat percentage is very tricky. Last year I tried to lose weight very slowly by maintaining 100-200caloric deficit and ended up losing 10 lbs in one year. Dexa scan showed i lost same amount of fat n muscle. Body fat percentage changed very little. Weight training is very important factor in retaining muscle mass when you maintain deficit. From my understanding the body fat scale r accurate when you have uniform fat distribution throughout body which is rare. My home scale shows I m 13pc, but dexa shows I m 26pc! I have similar body structure like yours. When there is skinny fat envolved, options r limited. Recomp is best but is very slow process. I lost 2pc body fat in 2years. Lesson I learnt is don't stop weight lifting. Retaining n slowly adding muscle is the key.
  • gdfrew
    gdfrew Posts: 45 Member
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    OK thanks again. This is such a nice community here, All the advice is brill. I'm in it for the long haul! I'm always making sure I eat plenty of protein to keep the muscle there and build as well
  • CardinalComb
    CardinalComb Posts: 66 Member
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    I looked at your diary and don't see any green vegetables. Lot's of protein shakes, potatoes and toast though. Your body needs micro-nutrients. Foods like lettuce, broccoli and green beans are extremely dense in minerals and vitamins for the little calories they have.

    I'm about the same stats as you. 170 lbs, 6' male. I personally do keto and intermittent fasting. I eat green veggies every day. I eat high fat very low carb. Nutrition dense, low calorie foods. I lost 65 lbs in 6 months last year without losing any noticeable muscle and I don't lift weights (haven't since high-school). Just a little bit of cycling each week. Research keto and IF and consider flipping your macros.

    Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

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