Body fat percentage and weight loss?

Hello! I was wondering if someone could help me out ... Jeremy seems to be a wealth of information so I am hoping maybe he or someone else could shed some light for me! My background is that my weight started out at 307 pounds with 50% body fat.  I had RNY 16 months ago and have gotten down to a current weight of 163 with 20% body fat.  I have stalled my weight loss since May and can't seem to budge the scale no matter what I do! I run 10-15 miles per week, do Spin class twice a week, and a power weight lifting class twice a week.  I only eat around 1400-1600 calories a day at the most and my dietician told me that I actually need to eat more to lose weight.  I understand this but I'm trying to find that fine line of eating too much versus eating "enough" for fear of returning to my former self!  My BMR is 1800 calories but I do way more exercising along with eating less than 1800 calories.  So I'm a bit stumped as to why I'm not losing anymore. Anyway, my question is ... is it more difficult to lose weight with the lower your body fat percentage is?  My doctor said my body fat percentage is great and that I shouldn't be concerned with losing more pounds.  But I really would love to lose a little more!  Any ideas??? Thanks! Deanna  :)

Me TOO! Me Too! I want to know!

I think that the only way for you to lose more weight would be to lose some of the muscle.  You have to have a certain percent of body fat to be healthy, and in young women - ages 18-25, that is between 17 - 24 %.  I would stop the weight lifting class, and see if that makes a difference.  But the shift, might make you weigh less, but in all reality, be fatter.  Your body fat % will increase, and your lean body mass will decrease, and then you can burn more fat off, but you might actually trade the higher number on your scale for larger clothes and such. Percent body fat is the most accurate way to determine a goal weight, not BMI or the number on your scale.

Congratulations on getting to 163!  Yes, it does get more difficult to lose as your body fat percentage gets lower, but the best thing you can do is increase calories in the morning with high quality food/protein.  Don't stop the weight lifting because that is building muscle which you need.  The cardio is great.  You may want to look at the amount of time you are running.  For instance, if when you started 10-15 miles was taking three hours and it now takes two hours, increase your mileage till you are back at the three hour mark.  This has worked for me, and I'm losing about a pound a month (with an intake of about 3000 calories per day).   Good luck Rob

Hi Rob! Thanks for the feedback!  I definately want to keep building my muscle so I won't give up on the weight training.  I think I need to eat more ... but it's a difficult concept to wrap my mind around ... eating enough without eating too much!  I'm sure you understand!  Anyway, I just recently increased my running mileage so hopefully some weight loss will start again soon. Thanks again for your reply! Deanna  :)

If you are at 20% body fat I think you should consider yourself done!  You need some fat and you are already well within the parameters for good health.  20% is great!  I'm 5'4" and weigh 140 but I have 28% body fat so I still need to lose another 7 pounds or so.  You, my friend, are already there!