Lose fat and maintain/ gain a little muscle

florent_ven
florent_ven Posts: 18 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

I’ve been on my weight loss journey since September 2020. I weighed 98kg and now weigh about 82kg.

In the last two weeks of February, I took a diet break to help boost my metabolism. I weighed about 83 kg at the start of March and now, as already mentioned, about 82kg.

Before my diet break, I was losing about 0.6-1kg a week in November/December. But from New Year’s Eve - February, I plateaued which is why I took the diet break in February.

My body fat right now is about 26.3% according to my Renpho scale. I want to get down to about 15-17% body fat for now. However, I don’t want to lose fat and look skinny. I want to look toned. As a result, I’ve been keeping my defecit at 500 below maintenance and have been doing 3-5 strength training sessions a week (doing upper and lower body splits). I’ve been walking almost everyday 10,000 steps a day and have been doing maybe 1-2 10min HIIT running on the treadmill a week after weights. I’ve also been eating back my calories that I’ve burnt through exercise to ensure I don’t exceed my calorie defecit of 500. *I put my activity level as sedentary and add the calories burnt to myfitness pal*

However, I just don’t feel like I notice any difference. I know I shouldn’t rely on the scales. When I weigh more because of water retention or just drinking a litre of water, for example, my body fat % also goes up which is why i don’t rely on the scale. It’s so frustrating because I want to lose the fat around my belly especially since summer is on the way. I want to know if I’m maintaining muscle and if my body fat is going down. It’s a big difference going from losing 1kg a week to barely noticing a difference on the scale. For me, seeing my weight go down is motivating. I know I will still continue lifting and eating in a defecit. Btw, I know to gain muscle, I need to be in a surplus. My goal isn’t to gain. I mean, it would be good if I could. But my main priority is to lose fat, about 9-10kg of it, and look toned.......any comments? Advice? Suggestions??

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,047 Member
    Keeping lifting heavy to RETAIN what muscle you already have. It's better to get closer to the 17% before recomp or it may take forever and a day to get there.
    And don't rely on Body impedence scales accuracy because they rely on how your body is hydrated to work.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • florent_ven
    florent_ven Posts: 18 Member
    Would it be sensible to reduce my calorie a bit more to speed up the fat loss, whilst still lifting heavy and consuming enough protein? Or should I stick to a defecit of 500? Since i’m not that fussed and all I really care about us losing fat and maintain as much.

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