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My Weight Loss Theory
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I 19 years old and I weigh 160 lbs. Two years ago I used to weigh 180 lbs but then lost 40 lbs and went down to 140 lbs. Now, even thought that was very close to my ideal weight because I am 5'5'', I still had a lot of fat to lose.
Now, thinking about it, I came to this conclusion and I want you to send me our comments about this: In order to be slim and have that muscular look we all want, we need to go down not specifically in weight, but in Fat %. For muscles to be defined we need to have any where from 6% fat to 10%. Now, when I was 140 lbs, my Fat % was 16%. That is why I was not seeing that slim figure. Now, you can't go lower than your ideal weight because you would be under weight which is also unhealthy. What needs to be done is weight training to gain muscle. When you go up in weight due to muscle weight (without any change in your fat weight), you can now begin to lose weight again and this will lead you to lose fat and not muscle. My ideal weight is anywhere from 125-135 lbs. The body doesn't care what that weight is composed of (muscle or fat), it just needs to be at that range in order to be healthy.
What do you think? -
Well, congratulations on your weight loss. Weight loss can be very difficult, especially maintaining it.
You're right in saying that your weight isn't as important as your body fat % when it comes to being healthy. However, a very low body weight can be unhealthy, especially if you're at a very low body fat % (i.e. for you 100 lbs and 4% body fat).
As you wrote a good body fat % range for being lean and allowing you to show good muscle definition if 6% to 10% for men. I would even extend this range to 12%. A lot of how you look at a certain body fat percentage is bad on how your body distributes fat and there isn't a whole lot that we can do about that.
In addition to have a low body fat percentage it is also healthy to have a good amount of muscle if you're looking to be defined and muscular. At your height of 5' 5" a body weight of around 135 to 150 lbs with a body fat percentage between 6% to 12% would give you good definition and a muscular appearance
Also, in reference to how weight should be gained and lost it is important that it is done in the right order. If you have a high body fat percentage then it is best to gain muscle, but have your primary goal be losing the fat. Body builders refer to this as their cutting phase. If you're on the thin side then your focus should be to gain muscle while losing a little fat or maybe even gaining a little fat. This phase is known as the hypertrophy phase or muscle building phase. Body builders often go through cycles of cutting and muscle building year round. The reason that they do this is that it can be difficult to gain a lot of muscle while losing fat and it can be difficult to lose a lot of fat without losing some muscle. There really is a balance to reaching a good healthy build and the keys are being consistent and working at a slow steady pace.