Should I keep going or phase off
 

Let me start by saying thank you. Though I haven't posted much, the conversations on this board have helped me through a long journey and I am truly grateful for everyone who has shared their story.

Need some advice here. I started at 326.7 on Memorial Day and I am down 84.5 pounds total to 242.2. I originally set my goal at 245 and 15% bf. I am right around 15-16% bf right now. I hit my goal but the competitor in me wants to see if I can hit 10% bf. I plan on running the Tough Mudder in 3-4 weeks so I am concerned about running it carb depleted (last time I ran it at 325 lbs). I am getting the feeling my wife wants me at a sustainable weight and thinks I may be pushing too far if I stay until I hit 10%. I am somewhat afraid that if I put 5-10 lbs back on after phasing off, I may not be satisfied.

Any thoughts?

How tall are you?

6'3

According to WHO & NIH here's the list for men:
21-40 yrs old healthy range 8-19%
41-60 yrs old healthy range 11-22%

So, unless you are over 40 you could always try for it, but it is much more difficult to maintain at a lower BF than to originally get there. You may not like all the work and major discipline that it takes. You are still healthy at 15% though, and at the fitness range, so no worries really, just a personal choice. How was your body fat tested? DXA scan? Hydrostatic weigh?

Liana

Thanks for the info. I tested using the scale at my coaches office and I have a Withings scale at home. Both are with in 1% so I think it is on. I am 36 so I am kind of excited to see just how far I can go but almost worried if I continue that it is a sign I am becoming over-obsessed.

I can also see how easily it is to get "addicted" to losing weight. I think how you plan to maintain is probably an important part of the equation. If fitness and possibly even a lot of weight-training is a big part of your life, then it will be easier to maintain a lower BFP.

I did lose 7-8 lbs when phasing off...and that gives me a cushion I enjoy as a new maintainer. If I find this weight too difficult to maintain I will reset myself for a lower/higher weight. As a working mom, I have no desire to try to maintain a body weight/body fat percentage that requires 1-2 hours of heavy cardio daily. No thank you. Good luck - and come visit the maintainers thread when you do decide to phase off!

I would phase off....you can still lose some weigh while phasing off!

Both those scales use the same technology so it would be surprising if they had a large difference between them. Unfortunately they are not accurate and can be off by a large margin.

You would have to be very large boned or pretty muscular to be 6'4" and 15% at 242 lbs. It's quite possible but also possible the bio impedance scale is just wrong. Due to their margin of accuracy you could be over 20% body fat.

Getting to your question to get down to 10% is certainly possible. Sustaining it is another matter. I never got there myself but hover around 13% body fat pretty easily.

The one thing to be cautious of is muscle loss. Staying on phase 1 too long when you are getting lean can result in pretty significant loss of muscle.

I'd personally suggest you take a break (phase off) for at least a couple weeks before making any decisions.

Thanks evemomma. The input helps with expectations for when I do phase off.

I am a former athlete and still rather muscular. I carried 240lbs of lean mass at one point in time so that makes me believe the bio impedance scale is close. The more I think about it, phasing off sounds like a good plan but is it that harder to phase back on if I decide to take it a little further?

For what it's worth, I phased off to go on vacation...I did 2 weeks of P2 and a week of P3 before I went. As soon as I got back, I went right back on P1 and my losses were pretty big losses (for me) for a good couple of weeks. It seemed the "break" from P1 did my body good and my losses were great once back on P1...it seemed to jump start my losses!

Good luck with your decision!

Than it is probably relatively accurate in your case. While I like certain aspects of the IP diet one thing it does a terrible job for is accounting for context. In the context of getting below 15% body fat I would suggest not being on phase 1 for more than 4 weeks to prevent loss of muscle. I would also up the protein and wouldn't suggest going below 1000 calories daily. It's much easier to keep muscle than to rebuild it.

If you want to stick with the IP diet I would suggest phasing off and once fully off for two weeks come back to P1 for 4 weeks before again phasing off.

Physically it's not harder to go back on but some people find the mental aspect challenging to go on once off. My guess is you'll be fine since you have a specific goal in mind.

I found that around 12% I was thinking about food all the time so I gave up my goal of being able to have a six pack. Plus beer. YMMV.

Goodluck!

Thanks Sally. It looks like you are getting close too. Good work!