2000 Cals to low and losing weight but not fat?

[bto131]

Hey guys,

I’m 6’5 and started at around 224 but am not down to 213 after a month or so. I’ve been dieting around 2000 cals and lifting 4-5 days a week with 60 mins of LISS a week.

Is that calorie amount too low?

My weight has dropped but my body fat % has only dropped a percent or so.

I will try to attach a couple pictures. (I’m new here and on mobile) Could you also estimate my body fat %? I get 21.7 on my scale and a similar number when I use a tape measure and online calculator

[SuffolkPunch]

I came in here to say ignore readings from bodyfat analysers because they are all crap - but even that is saying you have lost fat. So I'm not really sure what the problem is?

2000 is a tad low but not unreasonable if you are getting at least 150g protein per day and at least 75g fat.

TBH, I don't even think that a bF% number will help you in any way. You'll know when you are lean enough from looking in the mirror. Unless you've been training for years to build muscle, it's likely you'll need to get well under 200, possibly 180-190

[sunsean]

Agreed, don't put your trust in those scales, use them to weigh yourself but ignore the body fat reading you get from it.

Just wanted to add - after looking at your pic, I'd say you are in the low 20s % wise, but don't let that reinstall your faith in the scales, they're more likely to be off than on.

Also looks like you don't have a ton of muscle development, so buckle up for your fat loss, it may take longer than you estimated when you started out. It's very common for people to think they have less fat/more muscle than they do. If you're 213 now you will have to drop well below 200lb.

[JCubb12]

The only thing I may add to what is stated above is as you continue to lose body fat, you may want to consider tightening your deficit to avoid muscle loss. I am not sure how lean you want to get, but know that the risk of losing muscle increases as your bodyfat decreases.

You are a pretty big guy so your TDEE is probably 3000+ assuming you aren't extremely sedentary outside of the gym. Given your one month weight loss, your deficit could easily be 1500+ if you had some cheat days throughout the month. That is a pretty significant deficit by any measure.

[bto131]

Agreed, don't put your trust in those scales, use them to weigh yourself but ignore the body fat reading you get from it.

Just wanted to add - after looking at your pic, I'd say you are in the low 20s % wise, but don't let that reinstall your faith in the scales, they're more likely to be off than on.

Also looks like you don't have a ton of muscle development, so buckle up for your fat loss, it may take longer than you estimated when you started out. It's very common for people to think they have less fat/more muscle than they do. If you're 213 now you will have to drop well below 200lb.

Yea, I was down to 199 a little over a year ago but then started a new job that threw off my diet...

My new goal weigh is 190, but once I get under 200 I'm going to take a couple days to judge where I should head next (continued cutting/lean bulk).

I'm not trying to be a massive body builder or anything but I'd like to take my shirt off in public with some more confidence.

[johndoethethird]

Closer to 200lbs you will start seeing the first results come in and that will motivate you a ton to continue going. There's a phase at 16-20% give or take where things don't seem to be changing but as soon as you get below that there's a night and day difference, scale weight will go down but body composition will "seem" the same until then.

Agree with SuffolkPunch and sunsean 200lbs and below, very likely closer to 185lbs if you are looking @ 13% or there abouts, everyone underestimates how much fat they actually have.