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Hi Raphael,
I read your column and was inspired to write because of two previous women in two separate columns.
I am 46, 5’7″ and 147 lbs. Last fall I began working out regularly to counter balance losing my job and the stress that goes along with that. In the last year I have only lost about16 lbs., but I do know that I have reshaped and lost fat. Lots of people guess my weight to about 130-135. I can wear clothes (6 & 4) that I haven’t been able to in a while. My daily calorie intake is between 1200 & 1800.
My doctor tells me to not judge by what the scale tells me but how my clothes fit & how I feel. I have worked on my strength, my abs, lower back & cardio. I haven’t followed a schedule or detailed plan, tried to have a good mix of cardio & strength.
I guess, I wanted or expected to have seen a larger weight change, but then I do realize that muscle weighs more than fat. I do realize that age does play a major role too. I am getting a road bike and plan on starting to ride again.
When I finally land a full time job again, it will be harder to work in the same amount of time I was spending before exercising, but it is something I want to continue. How can I compact my workouts to get more out of less time? Any additional suggestions? – Ann
Hi Ann,
I’m glad you felt inspired to write based on some previous questions I answered. That’s what this is all about.
One of the things you didn’t mention was if you’ve had a body composition test. I mentioned this in my last Q&A to another person but believe it’s worth mentioning again so that you and other readers understand its importance.
I highly recommend that you get a professional body composition assessment. Make an appointment with a personal trainer at a gym and have the trainer perform a caliper test. The caliper test is a skin fold test to determine amount of lean tissue (muscle, connective tissue, bones etc. versus body fat).
A good body fat percentage goal for women is approximately 18%-22% with the low 20′s being realistic for most. Based on genetics and age, some people do well with a little lower or a little higher percentage. The trainer administering the caliper test will tell you if you have some room to shed more body fat – or if you’re right on target with your current weight as it relates to your body fat percentage and lean tissue percentage. Just make sure that you use an experienced trainer to perform the brief test.
The fact that you’re wearing size 6 and 4s is a very good sign. However, you’re obviously dissatisfied to some degree. What you need to ask yourself is if you’re dissatisfied with the scale weight, or is it that you honestly believe you can shed more body fat to get the look you want? Only you know the answer to this. If it’s simply the number on the scale, then I would ignore that and compare the scale weight only to the results from the body composition test.
I helped an eDiets member to lose 115 pounds and she’s just a tiny bit shorter than you and weighs 140 pounds and is very athletic. I also helped another member who is your height and she, too, is athletic and weighs about 148. My point is that we have to also take into consideration your genetic structure (medium boned versus large boned). The number on the scale does not tell the entire story.
The other thing that caught my attention was your large variance in calories. I’m not certain what’s making you consume 1200 calories some days and 1800 on others. If you’re very active, then 1200 would be quite low for you.
However, I’m not sure if you’re using some sort of calorie cycling protocol (e.g. 2 days low calories and 1 day higher). You also mention not having a schedule with respect to workouts, so again I have no way of comparing your activity to calories and then analyzing those results with your body composition test.
As you can see there are several unknowns, but the body composition test can answer many of your questions (if not all of them) simply by comparing your scale weight to body fat and lean tissue.
One additional option is to email me a recent photo of yourself along with the results of your body composition test. However, I understand if this is not comfortable for you. It’s merely an option I’d like to extend to you because you sound very dedicated. I will then provide my feedback.
The final point I want to make is this: You sound like you look great. And 16 pounds of fat loss is more impressive than someone who lost 25 pounds with some of it being muscle and some fat. So although your loss of 16 pounds does not sound significant, you have to keep in perspective that if it’s all body fat, it is quite significant!
Best of luck in our job search, Ann, and thanks so much for writing.
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