If you are trying to lose weight, chances are during your research you will come across the terms ‘body recomposition’ and ‘calorie deficit.’ While both of them are common weight loss strategies, there are some differences between the two.
When I first started my modern fitness journey, what I was ultimately doing was a body recomposition strategy. Body recomposition involves building muscle mass while losing weight, and in the process, changing my body’s composition. I focused heavily on weightlifting, eating protein, and refraining from eating added sugar, fast food, and other processed foods. In my younger years, that was enough to lose a meaningful amount of weight in a relatively short amount of time.
However, now that I am middle-aged, that body recomposition strategy proved to only be able to get me so far on my weight loss path. When I started that strategy, I was 206 pounds (at 5’4″), and since I had not lifted weights in over a decade, I had basically zero added muscle mass. After about two years, I had increased my muscle mass by a noticeable degree and had lost a decent amount of stored body fat, yet, I couldn’t seem to get past a weight loss plateau once I hit about 180 pounds.
I would occasionally dip into the 170s when I ramped up my cardio, but for the most part, I was stuck at around 180 pounds and could not get rid of the last of my stored fat in my midsection. I have an endormorph body type and while the rest of my body will thin out, my midsection is definitely last on the biological weight loss pecking order. Out of a combination of frustration and necessity, I ramped up my research on getting rid of belly fat which led me down the calorie deficit diet rabbit hole.
For those who are unaware, a calorie deficit diet involves consuming less calories on a daily basis than it takes to maintain your current weight. I encourage people to check out previous articles on this website dedicated to ‘what is a calorie deficit diet‘ and what happened to me when I stuck to a calorie deficit diet for five weeks. Both of those articles provide a lot of information about how to calculate your own ‘maintenance calorie level’ and be better suited to know how many calories you need to consume daily to be in a deficit.
Once I properly researched the concept of a calorie deficit, it became clear to me why I was plateauing. While what I was eating the last two years was healthy, I was still consuming a daily calorie level that was right at around my maintenance calorie level.
I wrapped up six straight weeks of a calorie deficit diet as of yesterday, and whereas I plateaued when pursuing a body recomposition strategy, the calorie deficit diet that I have faithfully stuck to has brought my weight down from 180 pounds to 167 pounds. The 13 pound difference is seemingly 100% stored body fat based on how I look visually, and how I have maintained my strength levels in the weight room.
My calorie deficit diet puts a priority on protein, which combined with lifting weights 5 days a week, has seemingly kept my body from using muscle as fuel and instead resulted in my body burning up my stored fat for fuel. I often get asked what my weight level goal is, however, my goal is to vanquish my love handles into the abyss of history, not necessarily a certain weight level. With that in mind, I will stick with my current calorie deficit diet for the time being of 1,500-1,600 calories per day and one gram of protein per pound that I weigh until I meet that goal.
If you are trying to lose weight, hopefully this article gives you some things to consider. My personal advice to readers is to initially pursue a body recomposition strategy of weightlifting, prioritizing protein intake, and refraining from eating added sugar, fast food, and other processed foods, as well as drinking as much water per day as you can. Do that until you plateau, then pursue a calorie deficit diet.
Part of that is so you build your muscle mass first, and also so that you don’t lose motivation. Body recomposition is easier to stick with compared to a calorie deficit in my opinion, and you want to build up some metaphorical steam first before you pivot to harder strategies.
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