How do I figure out lbs. of fat lost when weight stays the same but bf% goes down?

[Puddles]

I was looking at the scale for the past couple of months and getting very discouraged because it's not really moving down but today I measured my bf% ...

Today I'm at 143 lbs., 2 months ago I was at 144. My bf went from 22% to 18.8%. I'm happy about the % going down but I'm curious...how do I figure out how many lbs. of fat I've lost & how many lbs. of muscle I've gained? Is there a formula?

I'd also like to slow down on muscle growth and just focus on loosing bf for a couple of months until I get my tummy tuck and breast lift done. Right now I do 12 rep sets, and I do three sets per excercise, usually 3 excercises per body part once a week, except abs which are done twice a week. I don't want to loose muscle though either. Any suggestions?

I've also noticed that my right trap is considerably larger than my left. I think it's largely due to how I hold the wheel when I drive...I drive an average of over 2 hrs. a day 5 days a week and I feel it when I'm driving in my right trap, especially the day or two after I've worked it. I'm doing shrugs with 55 lb. dumbells, should I use a lighter weight on the right or should I add an extra set on the left or what?

Thanks for any input, folks!

 

[makedah]

144 lbs, 22% of which is fat. That means you had 31.68 lbs of fat.

now,
143 lbs, 18.8% of which is fat. That means you now have 26.884 lbs of fat.

total fat loss: 31.68 - 26.884 = 4.796 lbs

 

[Puddles]

Thank you, Makedah!

I guess it should have been obvious how to figure it out but math isn't one of my strong points.

 

[Puddles]

Bumpity, bump for my next two dillemas.

I'd also like to slow down on muscle growth and just focus on loosing bf for a couple of months until I get my tummy tuck and breast lift done. Right now I do 12 rep sets, and I do three sets per excercise, usually 3 excercises per body part once a week, except abs which are done twice a week. I don't want to loose muscle though either. Any suggestions?


I've also noticed that my right trap is considerably larger than my left. I think it's largely due to how I hold the wheel when I drive...I drive an average of over 2 hrs. a day 5 days a week and I feel it when I'm driving in my right trap, especially the day or two after I've worked it. I'm doing shrugs with 55 lb. dumbells, should I use a lighter weight on the right or should I add an extra set on the left or what?

Thanks for any input, folks!

 

[SteelWeaver]

Well, I dunno Puddles - you look delicious to me

Mmm. Well, if you're on restricted calories, you shouldn't really be growing much anyway. But if it's still too much (how could it ever be too much?) then do lots of cardio and drop the number of sets you're doing. Maybe increase reps?

On the other hand, technically if you dropped the reps waaay low - like 2-3, you'd continue getting stronger but stop growing so much, since it would be mostly neuromuscular stimulus. I think. But wait for spatts or W6 to verify that. Spatts grows on that though .....

For that trap - well, you could move to SA where we drive on the other side of the road
Or you could just do a few extra sets for the smaller side - maybe an intense drop set at the end of trap work just on that side.

Hope this helps, and if it doesn't, well, I was happy to drop in to say hi

 

[Puddles]

lots of cardio and drop the number of sets you're doing. Maybe increase reps?

On the other hand, technically if you dropped the reps waaay low - like 2-3, you'd continue getting stronger but stop growing so much, since it would be mostly neuromuscular stimulus

Thank you for the ideas, Steel. Hi righ back atcha!

Last night I changed things around a little, lightened the weights considerably, increased the reps, and did them faster, not too fast, but my heart rate was definitely up compared to usual. It was a nice change but I'd rather continue to grow stronger. I'd enjoy lifting more if I could do it like you suggested...lower reps and more weight, continuing to see increases in strength. Maybe alternate the two methods every other week?

I'm just feeling kinda lost since I've only been lifting since this summer and I don't know how to approach this.

Spatts, W6...any thoughts?

The reason I just want to maintain what muscle I have now and focus on fat loss is because I'm planning on a tummy tuck and breast lift/implant surgeries starting in March. I've lost a lot of fat and I need to let the skin shrink back as much as possible before surgery. Then after recovery, I can see what's really going on and continue to build from there. I'm barely 5'3, my waist when relaxed is 31", tightened up it's 29 1/2...pretty wide for someone my height, biceps are 11" relaxed, 12 1/4" flexed, calves at 13 1/2". I need some proportion here!

What is a "drop set"? If I do extra sets for my left trap, how do I add those in? Do I do them on the same day, maybe alone at the beginning of my work out before I get to shrugs (I usually do shrugs at the end) or just add them in while I'm doing shrugs? Or do I add them in on another day...I think that would interfere with recovery.

I've been trying to drive using my left side more...it just feels so weird! I keep finding my right hand remaining on the wheel after every turn. LOL Old habbits are hard to break!

Steel, if I ever make it to SA it won't be for the driving experience.

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

Spatts -- question about your approach above....recently I have been going somewhat light, little rest, high reps for an entire week's split, then heavy the next - just as a way to change things up. Is this much different than heavy chest/lite tri and visa versa ..... as you suggested?


Thanks.

Mrs.Puddles...good luck on your surgeries.

 

[SteelWeaver]

newgirl, I'm not spatts, but I would guess that doing all heavy in one week would smack your CNS really hard. Doing heavy squats and heavy deadlifts in one week is pretty taxing. I suppose it depends on your nutritional and sleep status though. When dieting I am literally wiped out for 2 days after heavy deads, and then it takes a few more days to start feeling better - I literally feel a deep energy dip. Now in a hypercaloric state, I have abundant energy for quick recovery, but I'm still sort of doing the heavy/light thing - depending on how I feel that day, and what I did the last time.

I'm not exactly sure how nutritional status affects CNS recovery, but in terms of actual myofibril damage hypercaloric = faster recovery.

I've done mesocycles where I've worked balls (or something) to the wall heavy heavy heavy for 6-8 weeks at a time, and I ended up getting minor and not so minor injuries happening.

How about you try both ways for a few weeks and see what happens?

Puddles: "if I ever make it to SA it won't be for the driving experience." You mean you won't give me the pleasure of .... OK, hang on. Tsk, tsk. This is a public board, best I stick to the topic (heh heh)

Traps! After you finish your normal shrug routine, take your usual rest period, then pick up only the left db, and do as many reps as you can, then immediately pick up a db a few kilos lighter and do as many reps as you can with that, then dump it and pick up another db a few kilos lighter and squeeze out every last single bit of power you can muster into that one, then finally, before giving out, do a bunch of quick partials/burns. You should probably hold onto something with your right hand while doing this. That's a drop set, btw - you keep dropping the weight and continuing the set until you're toast - although you shouldn't really need more than 2 drops - don't choose weights that are too light on the drops. You don't need to do this every single week - maybe alternate weeks.

Good luck with the surgery

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

Well it is most certainly worth a try Steel -- I needed to change things up again as I have been doing the heavy one weight, light the next for a few months now.

As for heavy deads or squats -- I have refrained from squats for a little while to give these 42 year old knees a breather -- but I agree with you that after any heavy workout -- primarily the lower body such as a deadlift -- yeah I am pretty wiped (dieting or not) ...hell I am a ravenous pig for a day or so after.

But I will try -- and never really occurred to me about all heavy one week being harsh on cns.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Puddles]

Thank you for the very clear explanation. Tonight was my night for shrugs. I lightened the weight a little and added in extra reps at the end of each set, then did another extra set on just the left side...it was a start! Drop sets sound fun though...I'm lookin forward to trying them next week!

Steel, rest assured, if I ever make it to SA it will be purely for giving you the pleasure of .... a special massage.