Re-thinking goals?

Today I had my bf% measured, 24%, lower than I had anticipated for sure...
I was estimating 30% or more.

Doing the math, my lean weight is approximately 219 lbs. I've been lifting,
so I don't expect my lean mass to drop too horribly much.

Based on those numbers, is 220 too agressive? Should I continue attempting
220, but stop when I think I'm looking good, or perhaps when my bf% hits a
certain number? Seriously, I was attempting to hit 220, fully expecting to
have about 10% bf. What is healthy?

Dan - 305/288/220?

Try dropping another 40 lbs and then see. How did you measure your
bodyfat? Are you sure that you got a reliable answer?

i

I was measured with a caliper by one of the trainers at the gym. I'm pretty
sure it's reliable, +/- 2%

Dan

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 21:32:17 -0500, "Daniel"
wrote:

Today I had my bf% measured, 24%, lower than I had anticipated for sure...
I was estimating 30% or more.

Doing the math, my lean weight is approximately 219 lbs. I've been lifting,
so I don't expect my lean mass to drop too horribly much.

Based on those numbers, is 220 too agressive? Should I continue attempting
220, but stop when I think I'm looking good, or perhaps when my bf% hits a
certain number? Seriously, I was attempting to hit 220, fully expecting to
have about 10% bf. What is healthy?

Dan - 305/288/220?


Well, you won't still have 219 lbs. of lean weight if you hit 220.
Keeping up with your lifting will help you retain muscle, but you'll
still lose some of it. In addition, you also lose connective tissue
and such as you get smaller, so your lean mass will definitely drop.

I'd just recommend continuing to lose for a while and seeing how you
feel and look. And get another bf% measurement done in a while -- say
at around 250 or so.

And, I don't know how you had the measurement done, but keep in mind
that most of these tests aren't wildly accurate, so your numbers may
change unexpectedly next time. Try to have the same person do the
test for you next time. I think the most accurate method is immersion
in a water tank (or something similar done in a chamber that measures
air displacement -- don't recall the name of it). In the caliper
method or the Tanita scale method, there's a fair margin of error (or
just variability).

When I last had my bf% measured, I weighed around 212 and was at 29%,
which would imply that I had 150 lbs. of lean tissue. If I still did,
I would now (at 176 lbs.) have a bf% of 9%, which is most certainly
not the case (and which would be an unhealthy number for a 55-year-old
female). I'm muscular, but I'm nowhere near that lean. And I have
been lifting 5x/week throughout.

Chris

Daniel wrote:
Today I had my bf% measured, 24%, lower than I had anticipated for sure...
I was estimating 30% or more.

Doing the math, my lean weight is approximately 219 lbs. I've been lifting,
so I don't expect my lean mass to drop too horribly much.

Based on those numbers, is 220 too agressive? Should I continue attempting
220, but stop when I think I'm looking good, or perhaps when my bf% hits a
certain number? Seriously, I was attempting to hit 220, fully expecting to
have about 10% bf. What is healthy?

Dan - 305/288/220?


I set my goals for a body fat percentage. I'm aiming for 23%: not
terribly athletic but curvy and healthy for a woman of my age. I find
that the goal weight is a moving target because my LBM is slowly dropping.

How about you do minigoals? 15% BF would be healthy on a man = 260 pounds
if you didn't lose any LBM. Get to 260 and re-evaluate.

Wendy

I set my goals for a body fat percentage. I'm aiming for 23%: not
terribly athletic but curvy and healthy for a woman of my age. I find
that the goal weight is a moving target because my LBM is slowly dropping.

How about you do minigoals? 15% BF would be healthy on a man = 260 pounds
if you didn't lose any LBM. Get to 260 and re-evaluate.

Wendy

That sounds like a good idea, I will probably re-evaluate around there.

Thanks!

Dan