The FastDay Forum

So I've just decided that I'm stopping losing (Christmas blip aside) and moving onto maintenance. I have a BMI and fat % that are both, according to my research, healthy. My aim was to get to a point that I felt I had lost major excess fat, to allow me to start building strength and fitness, and I was curious to see how much it too to lose stomach fat (see Men's Health covers!). I thought I'd have to lose 2 stone, but I ended up losing >3, and as it happens the stomach fat went right at the end. I did a couple of Bodpod measurements to get a better idea of lean mass and fat % en route to make sure I wasn't losing muscle (I wasn't). Reaction from friends has been (a little oddly) generally disapproving and negative. To be fair, my face has gone quite thin, (I'm in my 50s, and that seems to be the price at my age), and they don't see my body below the neck, but it makes it quite difficult to engage with them at all (maybe I'll do a separate post on this). Anyway, I feel fitter than for decades, like my body more, love that I wear jean sizes I last wore >30 years ago, and am looking forward to getting into some strength work for my sport.

Congratulations Iceskater!
Your results are amazing and very inspiring. All the best on maintenance. I know you will continue to improve and most importantly, have done wonders for your health and longevity

Well done mate, you have finished up like me in BMI and fat percent but lost an awful lot more in the process! I have been hanging around my maintenance target for about eight months now, and was prepared to up it a bit in exchange for more muscle - not convinced that the extra couple of pounds at the moment are actually caused by getting stronger... Good luck in maintenance!

You are looking great. I do think that newly successful dieters can look haggard at first till the body readjusts and tightens up the saggy skin. You have a good body for a 50+ year old. I should know, I have to look at my 50+ hubby.

Reaction from friends has been (a little oddly) generally disapproving and negative. To be fair, my face has gone quite thin, (I'm in my 50s, and that seems to be the price at my age), and they don't see my body below the neck, but it makes it quite difficult to engage with them at all

Hi iceskater. Congratulations with your fantastic results. In my case reactions have been very positive, but I decided to stop losing weight at a BMI just above 21. The continuing downward slope of my weight suggested that I could lose more very easily, but I felt my face and body started to look skinny already, so decided it was enough. Not for the fear of reactions, but just from my own sense of what seemed 'a good shape'.

By the way: does your forum name reflect one of your sports activities (and possible location in 'the lower countries')?

[carorees]

Congrats on your superb weight loss. Looking at your pics and stats I'd say you look good! Your BMI is healthy. I think @kencc says that a BMI of 22 is considered ideal. But of course BMI is such a crude measure. Your fat% is perhaps a tad low even for a man. Out of interest how did you feel at 15% fat? My OH looks just a little less skinny and our scales say his fat% is 15%...your pics suggest our scales aren't too far out!

Anyway, ignore the critics...only you know at what weight you feel best, and you've certainly made a great transformation.

[wildmissus]

Well done on you weight loss. Personally I think that your body takes a little while to catch up with the weight loss. I have noticed recently that everything isn't quite as 'loose' as it used to be. I'm like you, I've still got a bit of weight to lose and it is all belly fat - so I'm glad to hear that it does go eventually.

As for the critics......the people that have been the most supportive and complimentary are my friends on here. My sister in law has lost a lot of weight this year and has a lot more to lose and looks so much better but she has made a few bitchy comments aimed at me! People don't seem to like others that they know succeeding in losing weight. Jealousy!

Well done, you look very fit and in great shape. I think any negative comments you may have received are due to jealousy and envy so just ignore them and be proud of your achievement.

You look great. Don't anyone tell you any different. Ignore your critics. They are probably as jealous as hell. Congrats to you

Well done - such a great inspirational story, and good luck with maintenance.

As to your friends action, it's interesting how people are resistant to change - they see something they're not used to and react but in my humble opinion, what matters most is how you feel and what you think and it sounds like you like this new you, you feel more fit and like how you look which is honestly absolutely fantastic!!

Congrats, iceskatr & agree with all, how you feel is most important. You are an inspiration to me, who has such a long way to go. Thanks for posting the pics, you look awesome.

I think you look marvellous. Why is it that some people try and put you down when you're succeeding with a diet? It's a very odd phenomenon. What matters is how you feel....brilliant success!

By the way: does your forum name reflect one of your sports activities (and possible location in 'the lower countries')?

Hi P-JK, yes it is my main current sport, but I come from a small island off the coast of the Lower Countries!

Congrats on your superb weight loss. Looking at your pics and stats I'd say you look good! Your BMI is healthy. I think @kencc says that a BMI of 22 is considered ideal. But of course BMI is such a crude measure. Your fat% is perhaps a tad low even for a man. Out of interest how did you feel at 15% fat? My OH looks just a little less skinny and our scales say his fat% is 15%...your pics suggest our scales aren't too far out!

Anyway, ignore the critics...only you know at what weight you feel best, and you've certainly made a great transformation.

Hi Carorees, Thanks! Regarding fat %, I've been reading a bodybuilder who happened to have advocated something very similar to 5:2 before 5:2 came along (he calls it Eat Stop Eat) called Brad Pilon (http://bradpilon.com/), who is quite scientific, and makes sense to me. He says "I suggest body fat levels no higher than 15% for men and 25% for women. Since most people don’t know their body fat percentages, my other suggestion is to always keep your waist circumference less than 50% of your height." And what he does himself is stay 10-12% ("On the odd occasion where I am under 10% body fat, I'll only fast once per week, but any other time it's once or twice a week that holds me between 10 and 12% body fat. If for some weird reason I sneak above 12%* then I increase my fasting back to twice a week."). So for him 'lean' is below 15% for men.

I also have my fat % tested occasionally using a BodPod (which accurately measures your volume and works out your fat% reasonably well as well as calculating your lean body mass (I've never used scales and have no idea how accurate they are for this), and their chart at http://portlandbodpod.com/bod-pod-weight-chart describes:
---------------
Risky (high body fat) - Men >30%; Women >40%
Excess Fat - Men 21-30%; Women 31-40%
Moderately Lean - Men 13-20%; Women 23-30%
Lean- Men 9-12%; Women 19-22%
Ultra Lean - Men 5-8%; Women 15-18%
Risky (low body fat) - Men <5%; Women <15%
---------------
The precise details don't matter in that people will argue, but the main points for me were:
- women require ~10% more fat than men
- for a man 10-12% is healthy and quite fit, and I was curious to see how that looked (as I was losing weight anyway, why not go there and see?; I could always revert).

Nothing wrong with 15%, but at the weight I still had a pad of fat over my stomach, and again I was curious to see when this disappeared. Also I wanted to maintain a few pounds lower than my upper limit, so I'm playing with 10-12% being my lower and upper limits at the moment.

The other point about % fat is that if I now add muscle and no fat, my fat % will fall, so I could be at the same fat % as someone else, but look different - so this is also crude, and just a guideline.

Reaction from friends has been (a little oddly) generally disapproving and negative. To be fair, my face has gone quite thin, (I'm in my 50s, and that seems to be the price at my age), and they don't see my body below the neck,

You look great. Find an excuse to take your top off - that will shut them up!