Lost a bunch of weight but still have lovehandles..

[locolocodice]

At the beginning of 2020, shortly after my 40th birthday I realized I had to change my body.

Up until a few years earlier I'd kept fit by running long distance, I had ran a couple of marathons as well. However, I developed quite a severe ankle injury, which I still have problems with to this day, and the weight slowly but surely piled on.

I found myself at my heaviest at about 253lbs/115kg. At 6'4"/195cm that put me at a BMI of 30.2 which is obese. Actually, truth be told, there was only one thing about the added weight I simply couldn't accept somehow, which was my lovehandles, I just thought they looked terrible. They had to go.

So I started dieting, apart from one cheat day a week on Fridays, I cut out snacks and booze and kept to a routine of essentially a whole food, sugar-free diet of a moderate breakfast, simple small lunch and very small dinner, if I had dinner at all.

Throughout this I usually have been walking a minimum of 2 hours a day, 4 hours a day on the weekend, and 4 mornings a week spend 20 minutes on bodyweight exercises.

Since early 2020 I've lost over 88lbs/40kg, the other day my scales read 152lbs/69kg, which is a BMI of 18.1. I've dropped a significant amount of weight, however one thing still troubles me.

I can still grab a handful of fat on my hips, in other words my lovehandles are still there, even though they are significantly reduced in size. I thought by now they would be completely gone.

152lbs/69kg is just a bit under what I've identified as the low end of being in the healthy range of BMI, so I told myself I'd drop to this weight, and then maintain until I do my research on what to do next. the goal still remains - get rid of my lovehandles!

On a side note, I've read that it could be loose skin. I've looked up photos of what loose skin looks like and that isn't what it appears to be, but, maybe I'm wrong.

What are my longer-term goals? As I age I want a strong core and to be healthy. I like the idea of gaining a bit of muscle, I want to get back up to about 187lbs/85kg, but do this with low body fat.

So at the moment, I think I have a few options...
a. Keep losing weight. I have a feeling it might take another 22lbs/10kg. I could be wrong though. But this would put me at 130lbs/59kg and a BMI of 15.5 which, to be honest, sounds ridiculous to me.
b. Add in some kind of nutrition and fitness routine where I'm maintaining or even gaining weight but dropping body fat.

I'd greatly appreciate any input on next steps to take.

[faithbrah]

maybe your bf% is still too high since you didn't do enough lifting

sometimes you just need to have a decent amount of muscle to warrant cutting low enough to see the love handles disappear

[CBRIT89]

You way too light at 6ft4 and 69kg. You won't get rid of that fat - believe me, i've been 72kg at 6ft5, and it doesn't go. You just get smaller.

Do more weights, with a solid and consistent program.

[xsquid99]

From someone who is 6'5", if you're 6'4" and 152 lbs and still have love handles then cutting even further you can guarantee only 1 thing, that you'll probably never get rid of them by just cutting weight alone. You're already very underweight, and what you are is skinny-fat due to a lack of muscle.

I suggest you do what I did and spend several years (and cut/bulk cycles) building up more muscle mass. To start with this you need sufficient protein intake and a good strength training program. I would start with the Workout Program forum stickies and trying something like Fierce 5, but you could also go with Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, or other novice lifting program. You could conceivably lift on that program for a good 12-18 months while adding about 1-2 lbs per month, then spend a few months cutting down and doing some fat reduction, then switching gears and building again. Rinse and repeat as required until desired results are achieved.

[Tommy W.]

OP you just lack muscle so work on THAT. You'll end up looking like a concentration camp victim if you keep trying to lose fat

[RapidFail]

You're already underweight - dropping lower is a bad idea. Focus on building muscle and try to keep weight gain to ~2lb per month. Your love handles won't get smaller while bulking, but they make appear smaller/less noticeable compared to a larger chest and shoulders. Once you're happy with your level of musculature (which will probably take 2 years or so because gaining muscle is a much slower process than losing fat) then have another look at fat loss.

[locolocodice]

Thank you for the replies everybody. It's nice to see everybody is more or less saying the similar things - and some additional good advice.

I'm going to stop losing weight and really hot gaining muscle, but very much respect, especially 41 it will be a slow and steady process which might take years.

I'm ready,👍🙂

[AdamWW]

I think you’re probably mistaking love handles for hip bones...

You have NO business losing weight if you want to be healthy and live a long life.

[snailsrus]

Thank you for the replies everybody. It's nice to see everybody is more or less saying the similar things - and some additional good advice.

I'm going to stop losing weight and really hot gaining muscle, but very much respect, especially 41 it will be a slow and steady process which might take years.

I'm ready,👍🙂

you also might want to get some labwork done to check for anemia/deficiencies

[xsquid99]

Thank you for the replies everybody. It's nice to see everybody is more or less saying the similar things - and some additional good advice.

I'm going to stop losing weight and really hot gaining muscle, but very much respect, especially 41 it will be a slow and steady process which might take years.

I'm ready,������������

It can be done, I started at 43 and I'm almost 47 now and look nothing like I did back then. Height is kind of a disadvantage for looking muscular, but you can still change your physique significantly if you are just consistent with your nutrition and training.