Weight loss without inches lost

[Sgtdonf]

I posted this in another forum, but didnt get much help. I am hoping someone can help. I have been on a diet for quite a while and have been fairly successful in meeting my goals. I started out at 200lbs and now I weigh 153. Along the way I have both measured my waist and weighed to gage results and make adjustments.

The problem is that up until recently everything was consistent. For about each 6-7 lb I would loose an inch or so from the waist. But in the past few weeks I have lost similar weights but my waist measurement has not changed. This is especially concerning since I am at about 12% bodyfat or so I should technically require less weight loss for a change in waist. My obvious concern is with muscle loss. Does anyone have insight or help? I am so close to getting into the single digits on body fat and am now getting discouraged. I appreciate any thoughts or ideas

Also, for more background; I have been lifting weights for the past 6 months. I lift three days a week on a split schedule meaning that I do Back/ Bicep on Monday, Chest/Tricep on Wednesday, and Shoulders, Legs, and Abs on Friday. I have made good strength gains and increased all muscle sizes.

I do a 'carb up' meal on Saturday to replenish glycogen stores. On those days I never eat above maintenance calories. At times I have been in ketosis (on purpose), and had good fat losses. I am trying to spare as much muscle as possible while getting to a pretty low body fat %. I can see 6 of my Abs (as opposed to all 8) which normally indicates that I am indeed at 10-12% body fat now. All of my extra fat is adipose (which is VERY hard to remove). I have been able to still loose about 1.5-2 lbs per week but for about 3 weeks I have had virtually no change in waist measurement (which is the primary indicator of body fat without doing body fat caliper measurements).

I am hoping someone can provide some insight as to what is going on. I should be about 7 or so pounds from being about 7% body fat, but normally loosing lbs without loosing waist size is bad. PLEASE HELP!

Don

[vabeachgirlNYC]

I don't know how long "quite a while" of dieting is but maybe it's time to do a bulk so you can build some muscle back up, then do a cut to get the BF% you want.

And welcome to FitDay!

[Sgtdonf]

I was thinking the exact same thing. I think I will do a short bulk as recommended by Layne Norton of about 6 weeks and then cut for two more to see if the fat % will decrease. Thanks for the reply!

Don

[PinkPhotoJen]

The only way to know what your lean weight is versus fat level is to do a hydrostatic body fat test. I've done 3 with the 4th coming up in about a month. I've lost both fat and muscle the two follow up tests showed, so I'm hoping I've got the nutrition tweaked to make that stop (probably not, not getting enough calories likely).

I'd get the test done so you know exactly where you are and then go from there.