Lower body fat percentage?

dj_alvarez
dj_alvarez Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, I'm reaching out to maybe get some pointers on how I can lower by body fat percentage while also gaining the most out of my muscle growth in my workouts and nutrition. Here's some clarification: I'm 25, 5''11, 185 lbs, 25.4% BMI with a 19% body fat. I used to be at 174 lbs before starting my nutrition journey in late June. I've bulked up about 4 lbs the past month and am now wanting to start cutting to get my BF to at least 14-15% in the future, maybe lower if I'm feeling up to it. My goal is to get back in shape to get hired and go back to the police academy, which may take well over a year before I'm eligible. In the meantime, I'm getting back in peak shape and having the right macros to help me reach my goals.

For the past few weeks, I've been consuming well over 220g of protein and my carbs and fats hover around 80-150g, so it's an understatement to say I'm packing in a lot more protein than what's recommended. I consume enough fiber, hardly eat sugary foods and my intake on sodium is consistently under 2,000mg totaling about 1500-1700 calories a day instead of the 3000 as my goal. I weightlift about 2-3 times/week, and do HITT exercises/cardio every other day. I'm noticing my muscles are being more pronounced and have more energy throughout the day, however I'm not seeing my BF dropping like I'm wanting. I'm new to this journey so I'm just hoping I can get some advice on how I can prove my blueprint and not plateau, all help would be gratefully appreciated!

Answers

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,229 Member
    edited August 5
    Lowering body fat percentages takes time, have patients. If your getting enough protein spread out over the course of the day and your eating in a deficit, you will lower your body fat percentage. Don't complicate it and micromanage a transition that needs time to materialize. imo
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,854 Member
    If your muscles are more pronounced, then you're losing body fat, no?

    You don't mention what your weight has been doing. But 1500-1700 calories sounds quite aggressive for a guy, even more so if your maintenance calories are 3000. That's a deficit for theoretically losing 2.5-3lbs per week. I'm not expert on bulk and cut cycles, perhaps it's normal to go that low, but as a 5f5 woman, I lost my weight eating more than you :smile: And for general weight-loss, a rate of 0.5-1% of body-weight per week is recommended. The more aggressive the calorie deficit, the more likely you are to lose muscle mass along with body fat.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,957 Member
    edited August 5
    replied to wrong thead
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,234 Member
    At your stats you need to select muscle gain or fat loss. Both simultaneously will be difficult.
  • dj_alvarez
    dj_alvarez Posts: 3 Member
    I’m aiming for fat loss
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited August 6
    dj_alvarez wrote: »
    Hello, I'm reaching out to maybe get some pointers on how I can lower by body fat percentage while also gaining the most out of my muscle growth in my workouts and nutrition. Here's some clarification: I'm 25, 5''11, 185 lbs, 25.4% BMI with a 19% body fat. I used to be at 174 lbs before starting my nutrition journey in late June. I've bulked up about 4 lbs the past month and am now wanting to start cutting to get my BF to at least 14-15% in the future, maybe lower if I'm feeling up to it. My goal is to get back in shape to get hired and go back to the police academy, which may take well over a year before I'm eligible. In the meantime, I'm getting back in peak shape and having the right macros to help me reach my goals.

    For the past few weeks, I've been consuming well over 220g of protein and my carbs and fats hover around 80-150g, so it's an understatement to say I'm packing in a lot more protein than what's recommended. I consume enough fiber, hardly eat sugary foods and my intake on sodium is consistently under 2,000mg totaling about 1500-1700 calories a day instead of the 3000 as my goal. I weightlift about 2-3 times/week, and do HITT exercises/cardio every other day. I'm noticing my muscles are being more pronounced and have more energy throughout the day, however I'm not seeing my BF dropping like I'm wanting. I'm new to this journey so I'm just hoping I can get some advice on how I can prove my blueprint and not plateau, all help would be gratefully appreciated!

    I feel like I'm missing something. You're 0.4% away from being in a normal BMI. What's the standard you're trying to meet before going back to the police academy that's going to take you a year? Did I misunderstand the eligibility issue?
  • dj_alvarez
    dj_alvarez Posts: 3 Member
    Im just trying to look shredded without being too lean like the instagram models. My main focus is to be in peak shape cardio wise. I was 216 lbs last year and have come a long way

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