Losing weight but look the same?!

[MarleyMarley]

I've been cutting for 2 and a half months and I've lost 22 LBS. According to the calculator I should be at 15% Bodyfat right now. Based off other pictures, I started at 25% and now I look around 18-20%. I don't feel like I'm dropping, even though I am on the scale. I see changes in like the first 5 lbs but after that not so much.

I've been looking the same for the past month. How far do you think 15% is?

[gomil]

Stop fixating on a number; you need to lose at least 15-20 lb more and then reevaluate.

EDIT: Are you eating and lifting properly?

[codsterlaing95]

How tall are you? You still have 15-20 lbs of fat to lose. Are you lifting heavy?

[MarleyMarley]

Stop fixating on a number; you need to lose at least 15-20 lb more and then reevaluate.

EDIT: Are you eating and lifting properly?

Yea I hit my Macro's and I'm on a 600-700 cal defecit. By the way 15-20 lbs sounds time consuming, I want to bulk as soon as possible , I was looking at 5-10 lbs. I just want to get to a 15% and then bulk and worry about dropping to the 12% range later. Plus could you estimate my BF%? It's so hard to analyze, the differences between 15 and 20 aren't that much.

[MarleyMarley]

How tall are you? You still have 15-20 lbs of fat to lose. Are you lifting heavy?

I lift in the 5 rep range. And I'm not aiming to get super lean just yet. I was looking at losing another 5-10 lbs, I just wanna be around 16 for now. I really, really, really want to bulk as soon as possible. And I'm 6 foot. Man this skinny fat look sucks.

[peter52x52]

you look like your making steady progress brah, you may of hit a wall if you're not losing any more weight, try carb cycling

[MarleyMarley]

you look like your making steady progress brah, you may of hit a wall if you're not losing any more weight, try carb cycling

Thanks bro, always good to have positive people on this site. But I am losing weight, I've been losing at 2 pounds every week. But it's just hard to notice anything significant in the mirror, it feels as if I'm not . I just wanna hit the 15% mark as soon as possible so I can bulk. And yea I might as well try carb cycling.

Also could you estimate my BF %? I have a hard time analyzing

[codsterlaing95]

What's your weight? Your choice. If it were me, I'd cut right down to 12% and then bulk to no higher than 15%. You'll have a lot more cutting to do in the future if you don't do it now. Why are you cutting so quickly at a 1000 cal deficit? Slow it down...

[MarleyMarley]

What's your weight? Your choice. If it were me, I'd cut right down to 12% and then bulk to no higher than 15%. You'll have a lot more cutting to do in the future if you don't do it now. Why are you cutting so quickly at a 1000 cal deficit? Slow it down...

I cut at around 600 and burn 400 (supposedly). How many more lbs would you recommenced to lose to drop to 15 % ?

[Sh724]

weight change isnt the same as bf% change. Muscle ways more than fat so as you add muscle your bf% is dropping but you arent losing weight. Also bf% loss is not straight forward its a lot easier to go from 30% to 20% then to go from 20% to 10%. To say at X weight bf% will be Y is not a very accurate way of calculating

[gomil]

How many more lbs would you recommenced to lose to drop to 15 % ?

Just cut until you feel more satisfied looking in the mirror and start bulking after that.

[codsterlaing95]

Just cut until you feel more satisfied looking in the mirror and start bulking after that.

This.

[ablankenship83]

You are getting smaller, it looks like both fat and muscle loss to me. I would also guesstimate you to be slightly under 20% bf so I don't think you're far off from your own guess. The reason you probably feel you look the same is the amount of muscle loss looks pretty proportional to the the fat loss. If you are cutting too aggressively I can see how this is happening, other than suspecting that you are not Lifting heavy/enough or getting enough protein for muscle sparing. Remember that cutting done right takes some time, you may be too aggressively cutting so skinnyfatness is happening.

[MarleyMarley]

You are getting smaller, it looks like both fat and muscle loss to me. I would also guesstimate you to be slightly under 20% bf so I don't think you're far off from your own guess. The reason you probably feel you look the same is the amount of muscle loss looks pretty proportional to the the fat loss. If you are cutting too aggressively I can see how this is happening, other than suspecting that you are not Lifting heavy/enough or getting enough protein for muscle sparing. Remember that cutting done right takes some time, you may be too aggressively cutting so skinnyfatness is happening.

Hmm I'm not sure if it's aggressive. Maybe it is I'm no expert. I usually lift heavy but I've been lifting very light (high reps) for like the past Month because I'm trying to improve my form. And I manage to stay within the guide lines and I only lose 2 lbs per week, on a 600 calorie deficit. Sometimes I have problems with my macro's. I guess I have to bump up my lifts.

[MarleyMarley]

Just cut until you feel more satisfied looking in the mirror and start bulking after that.

Yea. Can't wait to bulk. I'm so sick of cutting, seriously.

[shrededdream]

Patience bro, drop another 15 pounds and then clean bulk.
Need lean mass.

[MarleyMarley]

Patience bro, drop another 15 pounds and then clean bulk.
Need lean mass.

Yea patience is key -.- Never expected cutting to take this long. Would 15 lbs put me below 15%? As for bulking I'm super excited, I can't wait to bulk! Cutting is so boring.

[PatriciaRose01]

Loosing a weight doesn't mean that you will also going to loose inches, For inches loss and muscle building extensive exercise is needed. Eat lots of proteins and hit the gym you will definitely will see the results. I hit the gym whole week and eat good healthy diet and only once a week I eat outside(yellowpages.com/weston-fl/mip/moon-thai-japanese-inc-4618031) and that to be light food mainly Thai.

[shrededdream]

I am sure another 15 will get you to 15% but I will suggest you hit around 12-13% so that your lean mass phase can last longer. Incorporate HIIT and life heavy, Are you following a proper lifting routine? Look over Push Pull Legs routine, you can make good strength gains.

[MarleyMarley]

I am sure another 15 will get you to 15% but I will suggest you hit around 12-13% so that your lean mass phase can last longer. Incorporate HIIT and life heavy, Are you following a proper lifting routine? Look over Push Pull Legs routine, you can make good strength gains.

SL 5X5 bro and yea I'll just drop another 15 lbs. And I do HIIT on my 2 off days. I'll get to 12 and below later, I read somewhere that you can waste your noob gains on a cut.

[Znik]

SL 5X5 bro and yea I'll just drop another 15 lbs. And I do HIIT on my 2 off days. I'll get to 12 and below later, I read somewhere that you can waste your noob gains on a cut.

Nope, you do not lose your noob gains on a cut. Noob gains for the most part is the response to stimuli by lifting a big part is simply increased glycogen storage,intra-vascular water retention,inflammation bla bla bla and massive strength gains from CNS adaptions, all of which still happens during a deficit. If there is some noob hypertrophy gains they will happen to a small degree during a deficit or happen once you get in a surplus, there is no time limit on it.

I'd recommend dropping down to 10-12% and then get on a bulk, the first bulk is always going to be a challenge when it comes to narrowing in calories and fat gain. Unless you are lean enough you won't be able to tell if there is an excessive fat gain and know when to cut back on intake.

At 15-20% bf it's hard to tell a difference in body fat as you mostly just get bigger or smaller(which also answers you initial thread question), while being 10% gives you plenty of definition and striations to helps assess fat gain.

[MarleyMarley]

Nope, you do not lose your noob gains on a cut. Noob gains for the most part is the response to stimuli by lifting a big part is simply increased glycogen storage,intra-vascular water retention,inflammation bla bla bla and massive strength gains from CNS adaptions, all of which still happens during a deficit. If there is some noob hypertrophy gains they will happen to a small degree during a deficit or happen once you get in a surplus, there is no time limit on it.

I'd recommend dropping down to 10-12% and then get on a bulk, the first bulk is always going to be a challenge when it comes to narrowing in calories and fat gain. Unless you are lean enough you won't be able to tell if there is an excessive fat gain and know when to cut back on intake.

At 15-20% bf it's hard to tell a difference in body fat as you mostly just get bigger or smaller(which also answers you initial thread question), while being 10% gives you plenty of definition and striations to helps assess fat gain.

Yea I might as well. I know there is no proper answer, and many factors are involved, but how many LBS or Weeks from now would you personally think I would need to cut, to reach 12%? Would I have to cut for another 3 or 4 months?

[wave_length]

You were way higher than 25% when you started. You did make good progress.

[Znik]

Yea I might as well. I know there is no proper answer, and many factors are involved, but how many LBS or Weeks from now would you personally think I would need to cut, to reach 12%? Would I have to cut for another 3 or 4 months?

As you said there is no proper answer as there are so many factors.

But if you can keep up a loss rate of 2lbs/week then 6-8 weeks should get you there imo, longer if you cannot keep up with 2lbs/week.

[MarleyMarley]

As you said there is no proper answer as there are so many factors.

But if you can keep up a loss rate of 2lbs/week then 6-8 weeks should get you there imo, longer if you cannot keep up with 2lbs/week.

Thanks man appreciate your info. I'm happy to have a timeframe, instead of aimlessly cutting with no frame at all. So excited to bulk hahaha.