Recomp or more weight loss...

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VeryKatie
VeryKatie Posts: 5,934 Member
edited October 2020 in Fitness and Exercise
I saw someone else post a very similar thread and it got me thinking if I should be switching to recomp mode instead of weight loss mode.

My stats:

Female
Age 32
Height 5' 6" maybe a smidgen less (like 0.25")
Current weight about 130 lb
Former weight pre-pregnancy was 125 lb
Been trying to get back there.
My visual complete guess would be that I have 25-30% body fat still, mostly on my abdomen/upper hips...

Been struggling a bit to lose the last 5ish lbs. I think I could do it but im not sure how much benefit it will give me. I have a couple pairs of pants that would look better on me if I lost those lbs fat-wise.

I recently set up my weights again so I was going to restart lifting anyway.

But given that my fat % is still kinda up there, higher than I would like (20-25% would be great)... what would you recommend? Lose a little more while lifting, then recomp? Or move right into recomp now?

My bmi is fine now. I think the min for my height is somewhere around 119 lb.

I'm not struggling too much to stay in a deficit, now that im weighing food a bit better (as of... today lol!)... but just not sure if its really worth it.

Thoughts?

Replies

  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Honestly, it depends on you and your goals. You really could go either way. I would recommend if you want to recomp to do it sooner vs. if you get too lean (if you get too lean or low in weight it is not as productive).

    I recently went through the same thing. I lost weight. Got down to around 135lbs (I am 5'7") I recomped for 6 months, made some great progress then resumed cutting (more because I wanted to run a bulk).

    I don't think it can hurt to try to get back to 125lbs especially if you aren't struggling with the deficit. Maybe just keep it fairly small and close to maintenance, then you can always re-evaluate after a few lbs and decide if you want to switch over to maintenance. OR you can do what I did and recomp then cut down a bit more. It depends on your goals, how much time you want to spend, etc. Recomp can be slow going so keep that in mind. But it did help my overall body composition as I was able to build my muscle back up and lean out a bit. If I had just cut the whole time I would have less muscle than I do now.
  • msapplek
    msapplek Posts: 95 Member
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    @VeryKatie - Hope you don't mind if I also jump in on your thread, although I don't have advice to offer, but am in a somewhat similar position.

    I've lost about 40lbs since April. I did sporadic bodyweight workouts, but 4wks ago I found an enjoyable strength & resistance training workout that runs for 10weeks total. Still eating at a small deficit, so I think I'm in recomp right now? I am definitely seeing some muscle that wow, I never thought was possible.

    However, I still have fat to lose, so with the new muscle and fat (and loose skin, sigh), I look kinda...bulky? Especially my upper body looks huge.

    My question would be similar to VeryKatie- should I prioritize the fat loss first (larger calorie deficit and don't go too heavy on the weights) and think about strength/resistance training only when I'm at my goal weight (maybe 10-15 more lbs to go)?

    Or, should I continue what I'm doing, and the fat loss will still happen and I will look leaner but with muscle definition?

    I didn't think I'd fall into the mindset of being afraid to be female and look bulky. But I also didn't think I'd be someone to grow any muscles haha.

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