Search the Community

My goal is to have some shape and definition without losing too much weight. My arms have definition but only when I flex. I'm carrying a bit of weight in my belly and waistline but I do not know if it is fat or water. What do the trends in these numbers tell you? Over the last six weeks, my weight has decreased from 160.5 lbs to 157.6 lbs. My body fat had decreased from 19.5% to 18.7%. My muscle mass has increased from 42.2% to 42.6%. And, my body water has increased from 58.7 to 59.3%. What needs improvement? What can I do to reach my goal faster? Let's say that goal is 17% body fat and more than 42.6% muscle mass. Thanks so much.

So I haven't been strength training for long and at first I was doing it just to lose some excess body fat. I managed that, but now that I'm starting to make a lot of progress on muscle gain, I'm just hungry all the time! In addition to gaining muscle mass, I'm also gaining that fat mass back and it's really frustrating me. I've noticed the biggest challenge for me is snacking continuously either before or, typically, after I've had dinner. So I'm not really sure how to eat appropriately to achieve my desired body composition (was last about 24% body fat, would like to be around 17%) and how to know when I'm eating enough, and of what (I have a big sweet-tooth, so I'm always overdoing the carbs). Any advice, tips, and/or guidance to help me manage a healthy diet would be absolutely wonderful and very much appreciated! Additional info: I use My Fitness Pal to track calorie intake (although on really busy days it gets hard to be diligent with this). Can't say I've had a very regular diet lately, however. I stopped using the tracker to meet goals and use it just for information instead, but I'm going to try switching back to having a daily intake goal once I get some more information.My weight has only increased since I began strength training, but in the first six weeks by body fat percentage dropped from 27.5% to 22.5%, although it has increased, as I mentioned, since then. Right now my weight varies between 150 and 155 and I'm 5' 10".

Main Quest Goals Build strength Increase cardio fitness Increase muscle mass Decrease visceral fat Maintain low levels of depressionMethods Stronglifts 5x5 covers #1 and #3 and a bit of #4 HIIT on non-weight lifting days covers #2 and #4 following 30 Days of HIIT from http://neilarey.com Cycle to work every workday covers #5 and a bit of #4 and #2 Side Quests Clean eating unprocessed foods reduced sugars Paint kitchenMotivation I went to my wife's diet/fitness place, had myself measured, listened to the trainer about what I need to improve on and decided to do something about it. I'm not far from my goal and that's what seems to make it somewhat elusive: losing the last 10lbs is harder than the first 10lbs (so I believe) and that is why it has been difficult for me to reach the final goal.