Body fat NSV...but still confused!
 

Not surprising, right? ;)

My body fat last December when I initially reached goal was 19.7%, taken at the YMCA, with a +/- 3.5% error. I had the same person test me as I was losing the weight, and she also tested me today, almost one year later.

I have complained on here for the past six months about my migraines and cluster headaches that have really run me ragged. I no longer workout as frequently or consistently as I used to. Basically went from an average of 4 times a week, to maybe just once or twice. My intensity has also gone down, because exercise can often cause my migraines (like today...yippee skippy...)

So....I was 19.8% today. Blown away. How can I basically be the same and yet barely working out? I read all the time on 3FC about heavy lifting and changing your body fat, etc. I was convinced my composition must have changed, despite wearing the same size clothing and being the same goal weight.

And it did...slightly. My arms and chest are a hair skinnier, and my waist and thighs a hair bigger. So body fat did redistribute. And I know this is a GOOD NSV, I just want someone knowledgable to explain this, if they can! :dizzy: I eat well, in my opinion, and do move quite a bit throughout the day naturally, but how can I be the same BF% without the same amount of exercise???

This definitely is not my area of expertise... but it's my understanding that one's BF% and body composition wouldn't change much in that time period in the absence of weight gain... since you've been maintaining your weight these last several months... Although you could have lost some of your fitness eg. strength and endurance due to working out less...

I'll be curious to what others have to say...

And congrats on that BF%...

Why do you think that you are supposed to gain fat/lose muscle if you are maintening your weight? Your body composition do not drastically change by itself.

Good question! I really believed that if I didn't maintain my activity level, I wouldn't be able to maintain my muscle/body fat proportion. Kind of the whole "skinny fat" idea. I could weigh 125 last year and be fit and lean, but 125 this year and lose some muscle and replace it with fat. Right?

I am probably missing something obvious, but this just stumps me! :dizzy: Maybe I just don't need as much exercise to maintain my muscles, which is awesome and I will not complain! I have just been really down on myself abut not being able to work out as much as I used to.

I'm thinking if you lost muscle and replaced it with fat, you'd probably be gaining weight and you'd notice a change in your body. That only makes sense to me.

If you're doing enough to maintain basic muscle tone and not eating either calorie excess or deficit, your lean mass to fat ratios shouldn't be dramatically changed unless your hormonal state shifted in a massive way. Great NSV and good for you for resting when you needed it!

Maintaining muscle is a lot easier than building it! You actually don't have to do all that much to maintain what muscle you have, and it sounds like what you've been doing is enough to keep what muscle you've got :)