body fat question -- help !

loretta

Member
<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Apr-12-00 AT 01:58PM (EST)</font></center>

Hi Cathe,
I recently got my bodyfat tested (hydrostatic?)
and I have some questions. Okay I was tested at 29.8 % at 201 lbs. I indicated that my ideal is 18 % bodyfat and I was told I would need to lose ~29 lbs of fat to get to 170 lbs to reach that goal.

Here is where I get caught up in the numbers. My goal is to be much lighter than 170 lbs. I am 5'4" and that seems a bit big. Does this mean I need to lose some muscle as well? Over the last 3 years my weight has gone up 40lbs but only 2-3% BF. What does this mean? Am I putting on muscle to easily and I need to do more cardio?

BTW, I was at the Spring '99 Road Trip. To get an idea of what I looked like 8-10 lbs lighter. I am between Beth and Lisa on a picture on this site the picture is here:
http://www.cathe.com/images/Beth_and_Lisa.jpg

Thanks for any help/insight you can give.

Loretta aka LHMerritt
 
Can any one help ?

Can any one offer insight? I'm really starting to
get depressed about the whole weight loss thing.
Ive been trying for the last 6 years to lose one way or another and I have only managed to gain an average of 10lbs a year.
Loretta
 
Weight loss

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-00 AT 06:32PM (EST)</font></center>

Hi Loretta,
I have been exactly where you are I'm not Cathe but I can speak from my own experience.I weighed 235lbs. at my highest even though I was a pretty active person. However my eating lifestyle was horrible.I decided to take the focus off the #'S and start focusing on getting healthy that's when I started exercising regularly I did cardio 45-60min.at least 5 days a week and started Cathe training(I mean weight training)and I started to eat healthy fruits,veggies,whole grains I did not cut anything out of my diet I just started making better choices and everything in moderation.Also water,water,water is the best thing out there.Anyway in 9mos.I lost 85lbs. and have maintained it for 2years.Whew let me breathe(ha-ha).My advise would be set a goal for yourself to live a healthy lifestyle,exercise regurlarly and enjoy yourself AND the rest will come.By the way I had a bodyfat test done and my doctor was so disappointed because it said I had 29% bodyfat at 160lbs. I am very athletic and very muscular so he said that it actually was not correct.So it also depends which test you had done.I don't think that they are all correct.(SORRY FOR THE LONG MESSAGE BUT I FEEL YOU AND THERE IS HOPE JUST DON'T GIVE UP)
MARISOL

P.S I think Cathe addressed this issue on a post done on March 6th called bodyfat vs. muscle mass it's interesting check it out
 
I am right there with you!

Hi Loretta-
I know how you feel, because your numbers are very close to mine. I too am 5'4", and far closer to 200lb than I like. I find it interesting that your Dr. said 170 because I remember from the way up, that there was a distinct difference in how I felt when I went over 170, vs below it. Although I agree with you on a preferred weight being lower, I do think the 170 lb is probably a healthier weight threshold, and that you will notice more energy there. I do believe when you to lose weight, there is no reason to stop there, it is certainly healthy at 5'4" to be quite a bit lower than that.
I used to be 115lb in HS, and thought I was fat then, so it seems no matter what, it is hard to be happy with a female body, but now from a more mature perspective, I think I would look great at 135lb with muscle tone. Of course, I would accept the under 170 thing too.
I agree that you need to focus on healthy eating and exercise. I am not sure that weight loss will necessarily follow, I think that depends on your genetics. But even so, eating healthy and exercising are important for feeling good. Remember- if you can do Cathes, you are healthy, even if you are "overweight".
Linda
 
clarification

Hi Loretta
I did'nt mean you should focus on weight loss only, I must have misunderstood because I thought I read that you said you wanted to lose weight.Anyway what i meant to say was if you take your focus off the #'s be it bodyfat percentage or the scale and just continue to do the Cathe tapes or whatever cardio you do and adopt a healthy lifestyle the results you are looking for are sure to follow.I am very confident when I say this because I had been overweight practically all my life and when I just made small changes amazing things started to happen.So above all be encouraged.
Marisol
 
a little clarification

In most of my reading the ideal is to maintain
muscle and loose BF. If I do that I'm loking at
18% BF and ~170 lbs according to the chart I was given based on my BF test (not in a Dr's office). So should my goal be to lose muscle and fat to get under 170 lbs? Does that mean lots of cardio and less weights? This is where my confusion lies. Should I (and how) change my routine to achieve those goals.

Loretta
 
Not at all

Hi Loretta,
In my opinion I don't think you should sacrifice one for the other.Doing both on a consistency will give you great results.The cardio sessions will help you lose the body fat,and the weight training will help you gain lean muscle mass.What we are all trying to achieve is to lower body fat and replace it with lean muscle mass.
Although muscle does weigh more than fat it does take up less space, so you will appear to look smaller even though you might weigh more(I'm not sure if that made sense to you).Weight training is also beneficial for preventing osteosporosis because as women as we get older we gain fat and lose muscle so the weight training is a very important factor in helping you achieve your goal.I would definately not sacrifice one for the other regardless of what the #'s say.That's why I personally hate it when I get caught up in #'s.
Also eating a healthy balanced diet will help you reduce bodyfat without having to sacrifice muscle.
How much cardio do you do now?
And how much weight training?
I hope this helps
Marisol
 

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