Why is body composition so hard to change?

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biggestloser105

New member
I lost 25 pounds so far, but I only lost 2 percentage points of body fat. I have been working out a lot, so I would have thought my body fat would have dropped considerably more. (It's at 42% so far, very high.)

Why hasn't it? What do I need to do to change that?
 
are you getting enough protein?

Also, a hunk of the weight can be water weight. It is going to take time.
 
I eat about 100g of protein a day. Could I be losing muscle along with the fat? I was working out until I got an injury, mostly cardio though.
 
You probably should increase your protein, however at 42% BF you're safer than a lot of people in terms of retaining muscle. (I can't give you an actual target without knowing your weight)

One thing that you have to take into account is that when you're that high body fat % you will be guaranteed to lose some connective tissue (as opposed to muscle) This is sort of necessary if you want to be a 'normal' size, and eating protein/working out won't keep connective tissue.

Also, if you're eating a lowish carb diet you'll show up as higher BF % on the scales that measure it just because it affects how much water you retain. Hard to say for sure without more info from you, but that could be a factor.
 
Jeanette401 said:
You probably should increase your protein, however at 42% BF you're safer than a lot of people in terms of retaining muscle. (I can't give you an actual target without knowing your weight)

One thing that you have to take into account is that when you're that high body fat % you will be guaranteed to lose some connective tissue (as opposed to muscle) This is sort of necessary if you want to be a 'normal' size, and eating protein/working out won't keep connective tissue.

Also, if you're eating a lowish carb diet you'll show up as higher BF % on the scales that measure it just because it affects how much water you retain. Hard to say for sure without more info from you, but that could be a factor.
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I am 165 cm. female, and I weigh 200 pounds ( I started at 230).

What do you mean I will lose connective tissue? What is connective tissue? Is it a bad thing to lose?

I am eating a lowish carb diet, but I would not call it low carb. I will eat things like oatmeal and whole grain rice and whole wheat pasta from time to time. I also eat dairy which has carbs.
 
Connective tissue is your tendons, cartilage etc. It's not a bad thing to lose at your current weight, although as you get leaner the loss will slow down.

Here's a quote from Lyle McDonald
But not all of it is actual muscle tissue, some of it is what researchers are now calling inessential LBM. Basically it’s increased connective tissue, glycogen, water, etc. that is gained as body weight increases. It’s also usually accepted among obesity researchers that, because of this gain, up to 25% of the total weight lost can come from LBM.

That is, unlike in the situation with leaner individuals, where LBM loss is a problem that needs to be dealt with/stopped in its tracks (since the majority of that LBM is skeletal muscle), loss of LBM in the extremely obese is less of an issue. Quite in fact, to achieve a ‘normal’ body weight (whatever exactly that means), loss of some of the ‘extra’ LBM may be necessary.
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And the reason I asked about low(er) carb diet is that BF scales use the amount of water in your system to determine your BF%. Muscle holds more water than fat, so scale assumes more water = less fat. However, the fewer carbs (and salt) you eat, the less water you retain. The scale isn't smart enough to tell the difference between less water due to your diet vs less water due to fat. So if you switched to a lower carb diet, that might throw off the scale.

So I guess a really short answer is... I wouldn't be too worried about what the scale tells you on that front until you're in the 180s.

Also, I'd probably aim for about 120g of protein a day, although I really wouldn't sweat it as long as you're regularly getting 100g in.

Also, I'd like to throw out there that you're about my height and I started on my weight loss at about 220 lbs. By the time I got down into the 160's I could wear size 8 jeans :D So you've got something to look forward to!
 
Jeanette401 said:
Connective tissue is your tendons, cartilage etc. It's not a bad thing to lose at your current weight, although as you get leaner the loss will slow down.

Here's a quote from Lyle McDonald

And the reason I asked about low(er) carb diet is that BF scales use the amount of water in your system to determine your BF%. Muscle holds more water than fat, so scale assumes more water = less fat. However, the fewer carbs (and salt) you eat, the less water you retain. The scale isn't smart enough to tell the difference between less water due to your diet vs less water due to fat. So if you switched to a lower carb diet, that might throw off the scale.

So I guess a really short answer is... I wouldn't be too worried about what the scale tells you on that front until you're in the 180s.

Also, I'd probably aim for about 120g of protein a day, although I really wouldn't sweat it as long as you're regularly getting 100g in.

Also, I'd like to throw out there that you're about my height and I started on my weight loss at about 220 lbs. By the time I got down into the 160's I could wear size 8 jeans :D So you've got something to look forward to!
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How many calories do you think I should eat? I was eating around 2k when I was working out for 3 hours a day, but since I injured my knee and foot I am hardly exercising and am trying not to exceed 1200 calories.

It's hard sometimes to get the required protein in. :(

Do you think also that it's possible to lose weight too quickly? I am concerned about having loose skin afterwards, is this something you had to deal with? How long did it take you to lose the weight?
Size 8! That's awesome. I'll be glad to be honest to fit into a 16, because right now I can't even buy mainstream clothing which only goes up to size 16.
 
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My rule of thumb is generally 10*current weight. So I don't think 2000 calories would be too high for you, although you could go lower if you wanted. If you start exercising again, I'd definitely up calories - low calories + lots of exercise can reportedly stall or inhibit weight loss. It's more important to get enough protein than it is to have a larger calorie deficit (assuming you want to lose fat and not muscle!)

It took me about 9 months to lose 70lbs - that was 5 years ago and I cycle up & down between 145 and 160 depending on how good I'm being (at 145 I can wear size 6:p) I didn't have any loose skin issues with that rate although I still have the silver stretch marks from when I was gaining. I still have some flab even at 145, but nothing that anyone who's not me notices.
 
I actually went the Atkins route with one 'cheat' day a month. I did almost zero exercise - which I regret now, because I lost a lot of muscle which I'm slowly working on building back up. :/ It would have been a lot easier to just watch my protein intake and lift twice a week but I didn't know any better at the time!

About a year and a half ago I switched off of Atkins and have been maintaining with a new plan - eat < 1800 calories a day, at least 100g of protein, and 20g of fiber. It actually works better than Atkins - as long as I stick to it. Which of course, is the sticking point of any diet plan, right? :D I also lift 3 times a week now and have slowly seen my muscle mass increasing (I eat more on lifting days and less on non-lifting days). I also try to eat low glycemic load - brown or wild rice instead of white, whole wheat pasta, steel cut oats instead of oatmeal, lots of fruit & veggies. I try to have at least one protein & one fruit or veggie with every meal - starches are optional. If I go to a restaurant I'll have fruit instead of toast at breakfast, veggies instead of pasta or potato, although I admit sweet potato fries are something of a weakness of mine.

I have to say, I'd definitely recommend my 'new' plan over Atkins. It's sooo much easier mentally, my cholesterol numbers are better, and I can eat with my friends and not worry about being unable to find anything to eat. Plus I'm rarely hungry.

Hope this helps! :D

(Also - I will say that it was a very happy day for me when I started buying 'real' pants again instead of sweats :p I had a variety of sizes from my lighter days that I hadn't gotten rid of, and I'd measure my progress in part by trying them on and seeing how much closer they were to fitting. The first time I got a pair of size 12s over my hips was just awesome!)
 
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