Does body recomposition actually work?

@kalistos You look great! Before reading the dates at the bottom of the photos and realizing left = after for you, I actually thought "poor lady, she looked fitter on the left" Your abs are poppin'!
 
@kalistos In this case it is because the left photo is actually the after photo, but since it is normally left-before, right-after I initially thought the left photo was the before photo.
 
@courtneym I actually do the lagree method which gets annoyed if you call it reformer Pilates (the lagree dude seems kinda douchey) but it adds a lot more resistance with spring load. So it’s heavy slow controlled movements.
 
@_marc97 Are you lifting heavy and doing progressive overload? If not, that could be your problem.

Also if 1500 is where you're at when you're sedentary then you're maintenance would be higher since you're working out.
 
@klara6 I’m kind of afraid to eat more bc I don’t want to end up fat again ya know, I’m trying to get over that though.

And yes Im able to lift heavier every week and I make sure to push myself to within failure or to failure
 
@_marc97 Honestly, until I got a fitbit and started seeing what I was actually burning in calories, my caloric estimates were way off. I was under-estimating all the time, like 1500 calories in when I was burning 2200 calories a day, and wondering why I wasn't progressing but just feeling tired all the time.
 
@blackstar11 This isn’t really true anymore btw. I can find the study if you want. But there was a study from I believe a Colorado university in 2021 that used a series 6 watch and latest Fitbit. The fitbit underestimated both males and females by 10-20% while the Apple Watch underestimates calories burned by males by 15% and overestimated females by about the same.

A lot of it does come down to what you do though, like walking and running are more accurate on both but cycling can be off on the Apple Watch.
 
@_marc97 Don't be! I know it's a mindfuck, but you probably do need to eat more to see results at this point.

I did the same thing earlier this year—I was sticking to 1450 calories, which was my sedentary deficit, without taking into account that I had started doing 75Hard and working out twice a day. And I wondered why I was exhausted all the time 😅 Turns out, my maintenance at that level of activity and my weight at the time was more like 2500 calories. Life got SO MUCH BETTER once I started eating more, and I started being able to do way more in my workouts.

Play around on tdeecalculator.net. If you're walking 5 miles a day on top of lifting 3x a week, I would put that at at LEAST moderate exercise, meaning your maintenance is probably more like 1800. And 300 calories is huge, like another small meal or big snack per day!
 
@_marc97 Well you can't expect to recomp if there's not anything to build. In fact, since you're eating under maintenance that can actually lower your metabolism semi-permanently (the research isn't clear on how long that effect lasts).

Here's a funny video that might resonate:


Also, if you're lifting heavier every week then that is itself a sign that you're on the right track -- in spite of the diet issues. For me, big help was flexing because after a few months I was able to notice that I was much more hard-body than before, if that makes sense.
 
@klara6 Thanks for the insights! I’m trying to work on my diet and the mental aspect of it I don’t know why it’s so scary haha but I’m definitely going to try harder
 
@_marc97 We're socialized to see gaining weight as a personal failure which makes no sense. But that's how it is for a lot of women. Patriarchy, I guess.
 
@_marc97 Sounds to me like you're on the right track. Particularly if you weren't lifting before, 2-3 months at 2-3x/wk isn't a lot of time. This is the point I'd expect you to just begin feeling comfortable with lifting basics and starting to push up your weight. You're doing a great job, don't give up now
 
@_marc97 Recomp definitely works, I'm living, walking proof of it.

However, the recomp I did three years ago was over the course of a year, and I was eating 1gm protein per pound of bodyweight, and lifting heavy five to six times a week.

it's a long and slow process. If you're looking for faster results, I suggest a bulk and then a cut.
 
@acer621 Say you're a person with a high body fat percentage (25%) and below average lean muscle mass.

If you want to become muscular with a low body fat percentage, is it really faster to bulk and cut rather than body recomp?
 
@_marc97 I've been recomping for 11 months now, starting 1/1/2021. I didn't notice significant changes until June, but it definitely does work!! When I was losing weight prior to doing the recomp, I was taking progress pictures weekly and that definitely did not serve me when recomping. I only check progress every month/2 months now.
 
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