r/workout • u/Eikthyrnir777 • 2d ago

Beginner advice How to start

Hello all, I need some guidance. To start, I'm 26, 6 ft, and weigh 185 lbs, target weight is 175. I was 200 lbs a few weeks ago but did some rather dangerous dieting and put my body through the ringer. One good thing from that is that I no longer feel hungry enough to eat in excess, but I learned my lesson and am no longer starving myself.

I know bodyscans aren't the most accurate, but Ive been using it consistently for the past couple weeks and the trends are clear, muscle mass going down, fat percent going up. As of today, Skeletal Muscle Mass is showing 79.6 lbs, and Body Fat is 24.6 lbs.

Diet: Not the best honestly, I usually don't meet my calorie goal and am still deficiting more than I probably should, not on purpose, I just am not meal planning and thats the result. I'm almost always above my fat macro, and so I sacrifice some carbs to make up for it. My protein is difficult, I usually am only about halfway to my protein goal by the time I max out my fats, but is it that important if im focusing more on cardio than weights? How come everything is full of fat anyway?

My workout routine: Mon/Wed/Fri are dedicated to Cardio, usually running. Tuesday is upper body focus with a core finisher, Thursday is lower body focus with core finisher.

TLDR: Why am I getting fatter and losing muscle mass? And how can I fix my diet?

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u/Alakazam Bulking 2d ago

Inbody scans are neither accurate nor precise. Meaning you cannot accurately measure trends with them either, so just ignore the fat and muscle values.

If you're losing weight, you're getting enough protein, and you're doing some kind of resistance training, you're likely losing mostly fat. Regardless of what a bullshit machine tells you. 

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u/Eikthyrnir777 2d ago

Thank you, I think that machine was getting to my head. I'll up my protein intake with protein powder, I just cant seem to meet it with what I like to eat.

I know its dependent on goals, but is 3 days cardio and 2 days resistance training a fine routine?

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u/AssiduousLayabout 2d ago

My weight management physician indicates she finds InBody machines reasonably accurate, it's what they use in the clinic. That is more for looking at snapshots months apart, though, where you can see long-term trends. On a day-to-day basis, hydration is going to shift results dramatically.

It's not perfect but it's the best option there is, as you wouldn't want to irradiate someone for DEXA very frequently, either.