Then what’s the point of bringing back weightlifting as a habit?
This forum welcomes differences of opinion, but “Doing things doesn’t work” is not a supported sentiment among weightlifters for obvious reasons.
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you’re right, I will edit the post, thanks
the idea is that lifting will help to build lean body mass to help boost one’s BMI, which is the goal I am interested in
Weightlifting is a habit. Do you see why saying habits are bunk doesn’t make sense?
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Lifting to build lean body mass and increase BMI is a good and valid idea.
I looked back at your posts from 2012. You know how to lift.
It seems your problem is eating, and body comp is primarily a dietary thing.
So why don’t we redirect this thread to eating for satiety and body composition rather than projected gains, which is incredibly variable.
Also, it would help if you answered other posters questions fully. You’ve already lost interest of several very helpful people, one of which I am absolutely certain could help you with my recommended redirection. If you let him.
sure, thanks
since it was requested, I dug into methods to calculate body fat % and found this method that is seemingly used by the US Army / Navy
The equation for men is:
% body fat=[86.010 x Log10 (waist – neck)] – [70.041 x Log10 (height)] + 36.76
There’s also some online calculators here for it;
Using the methods from that PDF I got these measurements;
- waist: 29”
- neck: 13.5”
- weight: 130lbs
- height: 5’ 8” (68 inches)
- sex: male
based on the math described there, and putting the same values in the calculators, it suggests my current body fat % would be in the ballpark of 10.9%.
I dont have calipers or any other way to measure it and I expect some significant margin of error with the Army / Navy method, so I am not sure how useful those ballpark figures are. But fwiw its worth, looking in the mirror I can clearly see pretty much every muscle in my abdomen and torso, including minor muscle groups such as the serratus / intercostals, definition the various deltoids, etc.. So it feels like I stumbled on the world’s biggest cut. And since I shouldnt stay at this bodyweight / BMI it seems like the best course of action is to try to build back some of the lean mass I have lost.
I also found this article which appears to cite a bunch of sources with some tables of results from various studies
let me know if there is any more information needed. I really was not asking for any sort of in-depth advice here, just a sanity-check on some of the ballpark lean mass gain values I threw out there.
Sure, no biggy. Since it wasn’t mentioned, there would be drastic differences between gains expected by a 36 year old 127 lb. Male vs. Female. Hence the lack of that tidbit being read as recalcitrance.
All good though.
Onward with the redirect.
What is your current eating like?
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Ding ding ding.
I am glad it was finally clarified.
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Not sure what exact details you’re looking for but here’s a screenshot of the app I’m using to track food
The part at the bottom shows the totals of the past seven days with the dotted line supposedly being the “goal” of 1900 Calories ; until this past weekend I was struggling to hit 1500+. But the Zepbound dosage reduction to 7.5mg which I described finally seems to have kicked in and now it’s getting easier.
Despite all that, most days I’m getting 130-200g protein from meat + protein shakes
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Post a picture.
None in particular. Just that you’re tracking cals., macros, and using good whole sources.
I’m not very analytical of the composition of any given meal or even overall plan, just that there is a plan and it is being adhered to.
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It seems like you’re on the right track, man.
Lifting is not a variable here (you already had a plan that worked and there’s no reason that should change).
You’ve reduced your dose.
You’re now able to blow away your calorie goal.
Are you able to eat that ~2700 daily? If so, I’d really just do that for 6 weeks and report back.
Turns out I can’t keep up 2700 Calories daily but I’ve been fairly consistent with 1900-2100 Calories daily.
Hired a coach to help with programming. He gave me a full body program so I’m doing a selection of lifts for all the major movements groups each session, 3x/week. It includes a lot of new movements I’ve never done before and never would have come up with on my own.
Finally hit 137lbs. So that’s +10lbs in 13 weeks. And only 3lbs away from my goal so I think I should be on track for 140lbs by December.
Waist measurements have held steady at about 30.5 inches measured with tape around the navel ; this is actually kinda tricky to do consistently myself because of the curve between my waist and my hips so if the tape is misaligned it can be +/- 1”. But I’m still fitting into the same pants I was wearing at 127lbs which I think is also a good sign. Pretty sure I’ve gained a little as body fat since I’ve lost a little bit of definition but not too much. Online calculator suggests I’m probably closer to 14% bodyfat at this point.
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Great work!
Well thanks. But you know if you do the math maybe it doesn’t sound as nice lol
If I really was 10% bf at 127, and if I really am now 14% bf at 137, that would be
(137 * .14) - (127 * .10) = 6.5
So that makes it sound as if I would have gained 6.5lbs fat and 3.5lbs lean mass. Hmmm! 
You may have been in a position where you needed to gain a little fat just to have the hormonal profile to build a little muscle.
In either case, you know your calories and are doing a great job manipulating. You can always slow down your rate of gain if the proportion of fat to muscle isn’t where you’d want it. Your other metrics (waist measurement and visual) would lead me to believe you’re probably not really gaining a ton of fat, though.
And if you’re off by even 1.5% in your body fat estimates above (margin of error even for May testing modalities), you’ve just flipped the ratio.
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OP I think another factor to consider is how you are feeling. Maybe I am crazy but sounds like you are trending in a better direction now in the last post. I would have to imagine you are sleeping better, have more energy, etc at a higher body weight. Gaining some weight in the form of muscle, getting some strength back, and gaining a little fat overall seems like a good thing to me compared to your last photo. Keep it going and don’t second guess yourself or discourage yourself with body fat % crap…you weigh less than a buck-fifty …you can’t be fat yet; keep getting strength back you are going to need it later in life.
While you are lean; you appear to be lacking something …vigor, energy, I dunno it’s woo woo to tell from one photo, but from the other posts above and the photo you look tired man. Gotta take care of yourself, form healthy long term habits, and not be overly concerned about gaining a little fat back. Be confident in yourself regarding the new habits you are forming with lifting and nutrition. Just because you drank a lot and ate like an asshole at one point in your life doesn’t mean that is who you are at the core or that you need to take medicine to keep yourself from backsliding prey to your destructive former self. Covid-era kicked a lot of people while they were down.
final thought: physics is also at play here. Conservation of mass…your body can’t build new muscle tissue from thin air. You need to supply your body with enough nutrients to recover from your training, repair damaged muscle tissue, AND THEN a little more for it to be able to add new tissue. If GLP’s are getting in the way of being able to do this it is something to really think about. You can easily spin your wheels with a great lifting program with not enough nutrition to support it.
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Thanks I appreciate the feedback
Update; things are going really well.
Here are some photos to show
Overall weight chart
Weight chart since started lifting
Recap:
- Started lifting and trying to regain & rebuild at the end of July when I bottomed out at 127lbs, ~29” waist, estimated 10-11% bf
- Hired a coach in September
- September pre-coaching 1-rep maxes; Bench 135lbs, Squat 205lbs, Deadlift (hex bar) 235lbs
Goal:
- 140lbs bw by December 8th for Doctor appointment for Zepbound follow-up
Current:
- Bodyweight bouncing around between 136-138lbs, trending steadily upward, and hit a high of 145lbs over the weekend while on a trip
- Waist measurements staying in the ballpark of 30” consistently
- Coach assigned full-body training program, current training lifts recently hit Bench 125lbs x 4 x 5, Squat 195lbs x 2 x 5, Deadlift 235lbs x 4 x 5 ; notably all of these are 5-reps at or near my 1RMs from just two months ago
I think the most gains have been in my lower body, my thighs especially have gotten noticeably thicker (I could almost completely wrap my hands around them before), and the wife has given approval of gains in the glutes.
Recent photo
For food, Hamburger Helper has been one of my main meals. Because it’s cheap, easy to cook, stores well in the fridge, and tastes good. I usually throw in a whole can of seasoned beans too for extra fiber and calories.
Figuring all this out has been pretty critical; I was stalled on weight gain for a couple weeks until I increased my carbohydrates intake significantly. I was still eating under the old mentality I had while training at 200lbs+ and 25%+ bf, where I used to go hard on protein and limit carbs. Clearly that didn’t work here and it was not until I shifted my diet back closer to an even 30/30/30 fat/carb/protein ratio that I started trending up in weight at the rate I wanted.
I give a lot of credit to my coach, he is a genius, I’ve learned a ton just from studying the programming he’s given me. Lots of training techniques I was familiar with but never would have considered using or knew how to use for myself. Such as RPE based cycling, mixing in and transitioning through various gpp movements, etc..
My official weigh in date is Dec 8th but I think I don’t expect a ton of changes between now and then. My plan is to eat chicken & rice teriyaki every night for the last few days leading up to the appointment, that’s been successful so far in spiking my weight up. So far I’m still hoping to try to keep this trend going through 2026, will aim for about 150-160lbs.. Or maybe I’ll come up with some more interesting and compelling goals by then.
On a side note, anyone interested in the GLP-1’s and the science of eating behavior should check out this recent article, they isolated specific brain waves in a patient that were associated with disordered eating behaviors, while they were taking Tirzepatide. Crazy stuff, the science behind all this is nuts these days
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Nice work. Keep up the steady progress.
I think its cool you’re focusing on the “Good Stuff” like gains and strength and not getting stressed and hung up on body fat equations.
Good luck with the December weigh in.
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