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Hi Raphael,
I really enjoy your column and the general eDiets advice, and I do try and incorporate the tips into my own fitness regime and eating habits.
I have a question about general fitness and body fat/weight. Normally by getting fit, we lose weight (and body fat) — I don’t think I would be the only one who considers getting fit equal to becoming slim.
I, however, find myself struggling. I seem to be getting fit and stronger (lifting heavier weights, running for longer and faster, etc.) and improving my general fitness, but I don’t seem to be getting any slimmer! Have I hit a body fat wall? Is it true that there is only so much body weight you can actually lose?
Thanks
Josephine (London)
Josephine,
Thanks for reading my column and for your great comment!
It’s possible to not lose body fat or even gain some body fat while improving one’s fitness level. You’ll see that quite clearly if you ever watch a marathon and notice some of the overweight runners. I remember the first time I ran a half marathon and was amazed at overweight runners that were passing me during the race. However, it’s also reasonable to say that these runners could have improved their run times with lower body fat levels.
If we’re working out with intensity and consistency and noticing fitness improvements, then it’s difficult to point to flaws in the training approach. When that’s the case there is only one place to analyze: food intake. This is the area, when tweaked even slightly, can begin accelerating fat loss.
And as you probably already are aware of, it’s not how little you can eat to get the results you seek but more how much you can eat. In other words, if I can get you to lose a pound a week by lowering calories by 200, I’d rather do that than simply lowering by 500 calories at the start. I don’t like big drops in calories until someone has a baseline (i.e. no change in activity and drop of 200 calories). Dieting tends to slow the metabolism over time, so the manner in which calories are handled is extremely important.
On the opposite end, it’s also possible that you require more calories. You mentioned increasing your running time and intensity. You also mentioned that you’re lifting heavier weights. So it’s possible you require more food to meet the needs of the activity level — a level that still has you in a caloric deficit based on the calories you’re burning from your more intense workouts.
You didn’t mention your height, weight or current body fat percentage. If you had provided these numbers, I could have better analyzed your situation and determined if you required more or less food. However, this does give you something to think about, and you sound very knowledgeable so I suspect you may intuitively recognize what’s required even as you’re reading this.
It’s certainly possible that you’ve gained some muscle through your intense workouts but based on your question it sounds like there’s something you’re seeing in the mirror that’s still telling you, “I’m not there yet.”
I 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 versus body fat. I like a body fat percentage goal for women to be approximately 18%-22% with the low 20′s being realistic for most. I also encourage people to get the test performed every three weeks to monitor progress – once you get to your goal with respect to body fat percentage you’ll see a scale weight that’s most likely ideal. Based on genetics, some people do well with a little lower or a little higher percentage.
Once you have the test done please send me another email and include the results from the test. Also provide me your height and weight. I’ll be able to give you my input.
Thanks for your question, Josephine. I can tell you’re very dedicated. All the best to you!
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