Weightlifting struggles

Leonie_M234 wrote: »

@AnnPT77 Thankyou! I looked at the recomp thread a while ago and it's really interesting. There seems to be alot of conflicting ideas on whether to start at the right BMI or when you are still overweight. But anyway just want that muscle definition so bad if truth be told!! will just keep on trying and experimenting : )

FWIW, if the photo on the left is how you look now, I don't think you look significantly overweight, though I'm no expert (and a lot of it is personal preference anyway). Visible muscle definition is going to be reaching the right combination of good muscle development, and fat loss to let it show, the combination that gives you the look you personally prefer.

You can add muscle mass (in theory) at pretty much any body fat level, it just won't show up much until you reach a certain leanness. I accidentally recomped a bit while obese (in that I lost a couple of sizes, but stayed around the same weight), but I still just looked fat. When I finally lost weight, I was surprised to see that I had a bit of li'l ol' lady muscles underneath the fat layer.

Keep in mind that you don't have to pick a course now, and stick with it forever. Depending on how you feel at this point, you could focus more on muscle gain, more on (slow) fat loss, or try to get a balance. In a six months or a year or whatever (give it some time!), if you feel good about the progress, keep going. If not, you can re-evaluate and change course.