reached goal weight, but not goal body fat %

Hi,

So I've reached my goal weight of 130lbs.  I'm 5' 5".  My body fat %, according to my scale is still 23%. When I used the measuring device at the gym a few weeks ago it was a few % higher  than my scale, point being that 23 is probably a low estimate.  I'm shooting for 21%.  Should I keep a calorie deficit along with exercise, or move to maintainance calorie intake and train away the body fat.  I suppose I could stand to lose a few more pounds, but I'm okay with 130.  BTW, I'm 46 years old.  Lost 22 lbs in 5 months.

The biggest thing I learned from reading this forum is that, when you maintain a calorie deficit, you lose muscle as well as fat. So you may become smaller, but your body fat percentage will remain the same. The way to fix this is to start a weight lifting routine, and make sure you eat enough to feed those muscles. Eventually the added muscle mass should help burn off fat. You can read more about it in melkor's sticky at the top of the fitness forum page.

Hope this helps, and congratulations on your weight loss!

Thanks! I've been using the nautalis type machines, but I'm thinking I should learn some free weight lifting.  Just have to get over the hurdle of "the other room" at the Y. 

Congrats on reaching your goal!!!!   To keep burning fat you will need to keep a calorie deficit.  I hope your exercise routine includes weight training that will really help you lower your BF%.  If you haven't already give HIIT cardio a try.  Keep eating protein to help preserve your muscle.  Post workout meals are really important for this.  I usually eat protein and carb after working out.  

First of all, congrats on reaching your goal.

I do have to say though that I completely understand your frustration. Your post spoke to me because it kind of reminded me of my own situation. I worked out like a madman for months and while my scale weight dropped, my bodyfat never really decreased.

Did you have a big deficit and do a lot of cardio? These are two things people do when they are trying to lose scale weight. More times than not, it results in weight loss from a loss in muscle. This is what you don't want because it is muscle that helps you to lose bodyfat. You have to adjust your diet a bit by taking in more calories of the right foods. As long as you continue to eat clean, the increase in calories will help you to build muscle better and recover faster without making you fat.

In all honesty, the scale is the LAST thing you should pay attention to when you exercise. The scale is a tool designed more for sedentary people who don't workout. When you work-out, you will put on weight based on muscle gain from weight-lifting. A much better way to monitor progress is to get your bodyfat% taken at your gym by a trainer with the callipers. Get it done every few months to monitor progress. In between readings, keep track of how your clothes are fitting and how you look in the mirror.

If you focus less on your scale weight, and more on weight-training and eating more clean calories, you will see more of a drop in your bodyfat. To help push the bodyfat loss along even further, try doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for cardio.

Thankfully, my bf has been going down with the scale.  I've been keeping my deficit at about 500, but maybe I have been doing too much cardio.  Hard to resist when more calories burned means more food to eat! :)  I tried HIIT once.  Maybe that's a good solution.  Any suggestions on the whether stationary bike or elliptical is better for that?  I don't do treadmill because I always wind up with ankle problems.

Eating cleaner could be a solution as well.  I'm a vegetarian, so one might think I also eat clean, but hey, there's no meat in ice cream! :D

I'm a little disappointed that caloriecount doesn't also have a bf goal chart.

Personally I like using the bike for HIIT in the cardio room because you can really go all out on your sprint intervals with the pedaling motion of a bike. I know that a lot of people prefer to use the eliptical though. A 500 calorie deficit below maintenance sounds about right actually. It is a small enough deficit to keep your body from going into starvation mode, and it lets you lose a pound of fat per week. I actually just started on a 2700 calorie per day diet as opposed to my usual 3200 (my maintenance). I was mainly concerned with building muscle, but now I would like to get my bf% into the single digits.The trick however, is knowing how much to eat on your workout days. If you don't increase your calories on your workout days, then you go below the safe range on your deficit. 45-60 minutes of weight-lifting burns 200-250 calories and you also have to keep track of how much you burn while doing HIIT as well.

Since you are a vegetarian, not getting enough protein might be your problem. Make sure you are getting one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Also, make sure your carbs are mostly complex and low on the GI scale. A great choice is anything with whole grains like whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat bread, etc.. Get healthy fats as well (almonds, peanut butter, etc). Finally a lot of water.

Original Post by lynne4t:

Thanks! I've been using the nautalis type machines, but I'm thinking I should learn some free weight lifting.  Just have to get over the hurdle of "the other room" at the Y. 

I finally took the plunge and went into "the other room" at the Y a couple of weeks ago.  I signed up for an instructional session, which was really informative, but I also was really clear on my goals.  It took about 2 workouts to get comfortable in "the other room", but now I feel really good about it.  All those big tough guys are so into their own muscles that they don't even notice you!

Original Post by vyperman7:

Personally I like using the bike for HIIT in the cardio room because you can really go all out on your sprint intervals with the pedaling motion of a bike.

 

Since you are a vegetarian, not getting enough protein might be your problem.

Do you increase resistance on the bike during the "sprint"?  I never see anyone doing HIIT at either "Y" I frequent.  Do people look at you funny when you "pedal like your life depended on it"  for those few seconds?

Yeah, come to think of it, I used to eat a lot of beans and meat substitutes(soy protein) but I've switched to more fruits and vegetables for the lower calories.  Good to know the 1 gram per lb/body weight.  I'll start paying attention to that.

Thank you for the valuable information.

Original Post by flybee:

Original Post by lynne4t:

Thanks! I've been using the nautalis type machines, but I'm thinking I should learn some free weight lifting.  Just have to get over the hurdle of "the other room" at the Y. 

 All those big tough guys are so into their own muscles that they don't even notice you!

Funny you should say that.  I'm much more comfortable, as a woman, in the Y I go to that has a lot of mirrors, because the guys are always looking at themselves!  At the Y w/o mirrors, they tend to be looking at everyone else.  LOL!

Original Post by lynne4t:

Do you increase resistance on the bike during the "sprint"?  I never see anyone doing HIIT at either "Y" I frequent.  Do people look at you funny when you "pedal like your life depended on it"  for those few seconds?

 

Yeah, come to think of it, I used to eat a lot of beans and meat substitutes(soy protein) but I've switched to more fruits and vegetables for the lower calories.  Good to know the 1 gram per lb/body weight.  I'll start paying attention to that.

Thank you for the valuable information.

No worries.

When I do HIIT on the bike, I select manual and then keep the resistance at a possible 5 out of 20 for the whole workout. When I do my sprints, I pedal as hard and as fast as I can, and when I do my recovery intervals I slow it down. The reason why I keep the resistance low is because it allows me to get the rpm's up much higher. The higher the rpm's, the higher you can get your heart rate. For HIIT to be truly effective, you have to get your heart rate @ 85% or higher.

If you have the resistance up too high, you won't be able to pedal fast enough to get the rpm's up to the level you need them to be at.

Hi-congratulations on reaching your goal! I am somewhat similar to you-"skinny fat" I believe might be the term. But, what I have been doing a lot lately for the past 6 months or so is weight lifting-It is amazing! I know what you mean about the cardio-the machine gives you that number of calories you burned and you think, "great, more room for dessert tonight!" However, I've learned that when you lift weights, you build muscle, which helps burn fat-also, after you lift, your body continues to burn mega calories after your workout.

I am a vegetarian also-so, even though we don't eat meat-just like you said-it doesn't mean we are "clean eaters." I love ice cream and chocolate and everything else that's bad for you without meat. But, I really have been trying to eat better-incorporate more fruits and especially veggies into my diet-nuts, peanut butter (the good kind!!) almond butter, and I do drink protein shakes every day, especially after I lift. Eating healthy is hard-especially when you hate fruit, but I think "clean eating" is what people like you and I are needing to get the results we want.

Again, congrats and good luck with your continued efforts:)