BMI, body fat %, etc

[binbina]

Hey hey! I just got my first Dexa and RMR tests done and I was hoping some folks here could help me interpret the results. For starters, I'm a 51 yo male, 5'9", 170ish. Desk job but fairly active. Here's what came back:

• BMI = 25.1
• Body fat: 27.3
• Lean mass: 69.1
• Resting energy expenditure: 1598 calories/day.
  
  I am good about tracking my calories and I think I'm pretty close to 1,600 most days. Plus I work out at least 4x/week, a mix of weights and cardio.

My question is how I can improve these numbers. I could probably mix up my workouts to integrate more HIIT type training, but I've made muscle gains this year, so it's not like I'm sitting around. And I'm sure I undercount calories sometimes but not by a lot, so drastically reducing my food intake probably won't help.

What should my game plan be from here if I'm looking to drop some body fat? Is it time to focus on macros? What's the right split? Quitting booze probably wouldn't hurt either, yeah? And if I can get the diet right what's a realistic BMI and/or body fat % reduction in three months, six months, or a year?

Anyway, lots of questions here but any advice is appreciated. There's so much info out there and I'm not sure what's right. Thanks in advance!

Cross-post to r/fitness40plus

 

[roberto1820]

@binbina In my opinion you should probably start by looking at nutrition and not just calories. Are you eating high fat food a lot? If so, change it up for higher protein and see if you get noticeable results. So, not less calories, just different calories. But I would also recommend tracking them carefully, not just guesstimating. I agree that cutting booze is also going to help!

 

[justaperson1]

@binbina I got a DEXA last year which motivated me to change my lifestyle. Building muscle is a decent way of shedding fat, but losing fat is ultimately about calories in vs calories out. I track calories and macros pretty rigorously, and I’m about your height and weigh 140lbs. My TDEE is about 2000 cals (MacroFactor estimate which is corroborated by online calculators). All this leads me to think you might be underestimating your intake. I suspect the hidden cals are in the alcohol or maybe some “grazing” habits. Unless you’re tracking your cals using an app like MyFitnessPal or MacroFactor and a food scale, you’re not going to get an accurate picture of your calorie intake. Also, if you’re eating out a lot or getting takeout, the count won’t be accurate.

My recommendations:

1) eat at home
2) eat real food
2) limit alcohol and processed foods
3) track calories and protein using an app and a food scale
4) lift weights
5) get enough sleep

Tell us where you got to in a years’ time.

edit: my DEXA had me at 35% body fat with a weight of 135lbs. It was pretty shocking. I will have another scan this September.

 

[bfg33]

@binbina Getting a DEXA scan, or other quality body composition measurement, is on my to-do list.

I had an impedance measurement at work some years ago, but suspect it was too low at 6', 230 pounds and 28% body fat.

 

[steve12]

@binbina I'm a finesse newbie that has watched a lot of fitness YouTubers so take this with a grain of salt:

If your resting metabolic rate is ~1600 Calories then you should be losing 1.7 pounds per week which is about 1% of your body weight on your current diet. That is the max that Greg Doucette recommends for weight loss.

Other fitness YouTubers recommend cutting only 200-300 calories per day to gain muscle and lose fat (body recomposition). Your maintenance Calories is probably 1.5x your RMR or 2400. So you could do 2100 Calories a day while lifting hard and see how that goes for a month.

I found your post interesting because I'm 53, 5'9”, and I had my DEXA scanned earlier this month when I weighed 176 pounds. It said I was 25.9% body fat. I didn't see lean muscle mass on my report, only total lean mass which I assumed included my skeleton since it's double your lean mass. You and I only need to be 168 lbs at our height to be considered "normal" weight and BMI for our height. Good luck!

I am using the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro and Cronometer App for Calorie/macro tracking. I highly recommend Cronometer.

 

[griffithjose]

@binbina Switch to a plant based diet. Specifically, whole food plant based. This will change what you eat from calorie dense to calorie sparse.