guess on bf% and how much more to lose

[JustinX21]

Hey guys - first Im trying to get a guesstimate of my body fat % since the calculator they have at the gym is way off. Second, how much more weight do you think I have to lose before abs start to show and I start looking more lean.

The thing is Im pretty tall at 6'5 and I currently weight 195. I yo yo dieted for about 2 years all the way down from 265 and tried to keep myself at around 205-215 when I could.

The last 2 months I have spent lifting, doing mild cardio and staying on my diet and I have reached 195. Im obviously going to keep going b/c there is still fat. Maybe I have to get to the 180-185 range?

Here's 2 pics to go by.

Thanks dudes

[RoWdY_RuFf_BoY]

I'd say around 15 - 16%. You have loose skin though grats on the lost thus far.

Assuming 15 - 16% bf, you need to lose 10lbs of fat to get to 11% which you should start to see your abs. But seeing you still have loose skin, I'm not so sure.

[JustinX21]

thanks hopefully everything gets tight and lean in the next 10lbs!

[BankWalker]

I think at your height, 180 would be really thin. I don't buy into the cut/bulking stuff that the competitive BB'ers do...but I think you should just keep busting a$s, eating clean and lifting hard and you'll slowly reach your bf% goal and preserve or possibly even gain LBM.

[Popsicles]

You should not be cutting. Clean bulk.

[Deviance5]

No offence but without muscle you are just making yourself look thinner and thinner. You are around 15% bf now but if you put yourself on a lean gains diet I think you would still recomp downwards in bf and upwards in muscle most likely in the initial period and get better outcomes.

[mariusjacobsen]

You should not be cutting. Clean bulk.

^this. Don't take this the wrong way (because I'm really just trying to help), but there is not a lot of muscle on your body. And without muscle, you're not going to look good at 10% bf. You'll just look skinny. Trust me, if you go on a clean bulk and pack on some muscle, you'll look way better even at a higher bf%. Once you see the various muscle groups taking proper shape, you can consider cutting. Don't confuse bulking with getting fat. In your case, you might even be able to drop a little fat while bulking in the initial stages.

Good luck!

edit:
just realized that I pretty much repeated the last post

[JustinX21]

i dont take offense at all - I had a feeling cutting more would be bad. THanks for the input guys I really do appreciate it.

I really would rather clean bulk but yes I was worried about the fat hanging on and looking like one of those stalky guys who have muscle hiding under the fat.

[Pauly-Walnuts]

^this. Don't take this the wrong way (because I'm really just trying to help), but there is not a lot of muscle on your body. And without muscle, you're not going to look good at 10% bf. You'll just look skinny. Trust me, if you go on a clean bulk and pack on some muscle, you'll look way better even at a higher bf%. Once you see the various muscle groups taking proper shape, you can consider cutting. Don't confuse bulking with getting fat. In your case, you might even be able to drop a little fat while bulking in the initial stages.

Good luck!

edit:
just realized that I pretty much repeated the last post

^^^^^^more of this!

[exzile]

i dont take offense at all - I had a feeling cutting more would be bad. THanks for the input guys I really do appreciate it.

I really would rather clean bulk but yes I was worried about the fat hanging on and looking like one of those stalky guys who have muscle hiding under the fat.

Looking back to last year I wanted to cut so bad and get lean again....wish I had just lifted heavy and or bulked a bit then cut.

Over the past year and a couple months I haven't put on the muscle I would've hoped (lessened due to two surgeries, but still) and still trying to get that last bit off the naval area.

But if I had just lifted heavy and put off the cut, sure I wouldn't of looked thinner earlier, but when I did decide to cut I would've had alot more muscle under neath and probably be looking better right now.

[sureshk]

I think both ways are fine, either cutting 1st then bulking, or bulking then cutting. Both are equally valid, and it just depends on your personal circumstances and how you want to look that should determine which you do.

[AudiRS6]

If I were you I would try to bulk a little bit, your lose skin is pretty nasty. If you just gained a little more muscle in your abs/chest/back/arms/legs all that lose skin would tighten up plus you'd lose fat in the process.