Couldn't tell I lost 10lbs while maintaining. What I found out about stubborn fat and the importance of nutrition while building muscle.

Hopefully my story will be helpful to people trying to get rid of those stubborn areas of fat and look great for the summer.

30 year old 6'1" male here. Started losing weight July 2018 by eliminating sugar and starch from my diet and only eating in the evening. Went from ~230lbs to 190s by December, when I added in a bit of gentle strength training at the gym (gentle due to bad back from sport back in the day). By February I was easily around my goal weight in the high 170s and stopped being quite so careful with what I ate nor bothering to get on the scale. Sugar and starch make me feel gross now so I figured maintaining would be pretty easy, and I had no problems continuing with the same foodtypes as before.

Just by what I saw in the mirror and the fit of my clothes I assumed I was maintaining over the next month or two. So I was shocked when I hopped on the scale again and saw the counterweights reading dead on 167lbs. [For reference BMI for me gives 140-189 as the healthy range]. Apparently I had gone down another 5-10lbs without realizing!

I'm not one to put much stock into what the scale reads. I had lost weight to get back my energy, be able to move around easier, and of course look good. I'd definitely been reaping the benefits of the first two, and I couldn't really complain about the latter either (at least when wearing clothes). In the mirror shirtless though I still had a jiggly belly and flabby chest. It seemed like no more than a couple pounds worth of fat and I had thought it was fine to carry it and it would slowly firm up as I toned up underneath. Yet this hadn't happened. Not only had I been going to the gym for months now, but I had lost 10lbs while at a healthy weight without noticing any reduction in the pudgy areas of my body.

So here I am thinking about ways forward in the beginning of April. I had clearly still been eating at a deficit while trying to maintain as evidenced by the continued weight loss. My strength and endurance had continually improved so I must have built some muscle, but it hadn't been enough mass to offset loses. I figured I could keep losing and see if those bits of fat eventually melted off, or take the fitness focused approach and bulk (eat above maintenance to help build muscle) before cutting (eating at a deficit) back down. I went with the eat more method and upped my nutrition game.

I haven't noticed much improvement with respect to gains in the gym nor recovery (though maybe I'm just not lifting heavy enough for back fears to realize them), but over the last 3 weeks I've gained three pounds and already my chest and belly are much firmer and look so much better! I know the squishy bits are probably still hiding spread out over the top, but the muscle underneath gives it a way better look and muscle definition is not a priority of mine.

I guess the moral of the story is you might want to address stubborn flabby bits by building muscle instead of losing fat, indeed it might be the only solution. And when you are trying to build muscle don't ignore complete nutrition. Apparently muscle can get stronger without getting larger, but it is larger muscles that helps smooth and tone the look of the body.

Kick ass on your own journeys and here's to feeling good and looking good!

submitted by /u/five-o-and-go
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2VK4G29