@3john3 Yep that pretty much checks out! Guess I just need to focus on building muscle because losing a significant amount of weight isn’t really an option for me where I’m at now
@yourservant Absolutely! You'll want to pay attention to your diet to do that, too, maybe even more than you need to do JUST for weight loss, because that really is just calories in/calories out. Recomp requires high protein and eating at only a small deficit—both these things combine to help your body maintain and build lean mass while potentially burning off some fat. For reference, I'm currently around the same weight as you (but 2" shorter) and doing a recomp, eating ~1950 calories and ~100g protein, and I literally just added weight lifting to my routine this week! I've been doing yoga every day, but I think I'll aim to swap that for lifting 3-4 times a week and keep the yoga on the rest of the days.
I really like using tdeecalculator.net to get my calories and macros, but it's always best to cross-reference a few different sites at first just to be safe.
@yourservant Just want to give my 2 cents that if your weight has been stable for a long time without tracking (i.e. you intuitively eat around maintenance calories) it's probably enough to start just tracking protein. I tried tracking calories for a week and hated it, but made great progress with muscle development by hitting a protein goal and continuing to eat when I was hungry (and not eat when I wasn't). I also think it's hard to figure out what a slight deficit looks like calorie-wise, because a calculator will give you a ballpark, but you have to track calories and weight change over time to really know. Plus,you caloric needs will change as your body changes and you increase your workout load. But I'm pretty sure I ended up in a slight deficit by increasing protein (lost like 1lb a month for ~5 months) because it's pretty satiating - fewer calories per gram than fat and takes longer to digest compared to carbs.
Obviously if you want to get super lean, that would eventually change, but I just mean to get from your starting point to a metabolically healthy place. But, you know, experiment and see what feels good for you.
@yourservant This is super interesting, thank you for sharing! I find the tables of body fat percentiles surprising — seems like the average body fat percentage is higher than I thought.
It's cool that you've got top-tier bones without weightlifting! I was just reading how much genetics plays into natural lean tissue mass, I wouldn't be surprised if genetics is important in bone density too.
@pastormoazzam No problem! Happy you found it interesting. And proud to be a member of the r/neverbrokeabone club. I find it pretty interesting how I can be so “thin” but still above average for body fat percentage.
At a BMI of 20.5, a WHR of .75, and a size 4-6 pant I would never call myself overweight, but it’s interesting that I’m not as healthy as meets the eye.
Definitely underneath the clothes though I’m the very definition of skinny fat lol
@yourservant About 7 years ago at my lowest weight (like BMI 16.5) I was at 30% body fat because I was the "starve yourself" type instead of "hit the rack" type. Literally just bones and fat lol, zero muscle mass. Now that I'm working out and lifting, I gained 10 pounds and dropped to 15% body fat. The visual difference is astounding! Everyone asks me if I lost weight but I actually gained.
@marlyb5421 That’s so inspiring! I’m definitely the “starve yourself” type, but definitely not on purpose. I work a busy job and I’m on medication that suppresses my appetite. I’m definitely inspired to try and eat more and convert this fat into muscle
@yourservant This was me back when I was in college! Although my body fat percentage was measured to be just above 36% but otherwise similar stats: 5'7, and around 130lbs. I had to get a bunch of tests done, including scans, as I was dealing with a slew of health issues. My doctors flat out told me that I was metabolically obese because the excess body fat was causing a multiple health issues including pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. I eventually did lose weight reducing the health issues. But the struggle is real. Definitely opened my eyes to judging a persons health on appearance alone.
@bookworm79 Wow I really appreciate the insight. I actually had my cholesterol measured recently and the nurse said it was perfect. I feel like my energy levels are good and haven’t felt any adverse health so far, but it’s definitely a warning to start taking my health seriously
will definitely post updates!