General Fitness Final: Goal Within Reach, Now What?

Alright Joe my goal weight is in sight.  Now what?

Now it is time to buckle down for the long haul.  It is time for what is know as body recomposition.  It is time to stay the same weight, but lose fat and gain muscle.

The best way to do that is by exercising regularly, like I hope you were doing to lose weight.  While keeping up the exercise you eat maintenance calories.  This is a very long process and takes time. 

What you need to do while going through recomp?

1.  Make sure you aren't eating to much or too little.  While calorie applications do estimate how much you need during the day to maintain it can be off.  So you will have to play the calorie game.  The game is to adjust your calories on a monthly basis to find that sweet spot.  Start with the applications maintenance number and if you still lose weight adjust it by 200 calories.  Then wait a month and if you still lose another 200 calories.  If you gain weight subtract 200 calories or even 100 calories.  Now this isn't 100% fool proof, but try and get it close.

2.  Lifting is the best way to gain muscle and lose fat.  Now I'll go more in depth about numbers, but a good place to start is Stronglifts 5x5. 

3.  Protein is one of the main building blocks for muscle.  Now you can't shy away from fat or carbs too much, but you have to make sure you have enough protein in your diet.  You might have to play the same game with Macro's that you did with calories.  A good starting place is 30% of your daily calories and adjust from there if you need.

4.  The scale is only there to make sure you aren't putting the pounds back on.  Now that the scale is useless you will have to get a fabric measuring tape (fabric stores) and start taking measurements.  Bicep, Chest, Waist and Thigh are the best places to start and it is a good idea to measure once every other week or even once a month.  Pictures also help as a way to see the change that you might not feel. 

So there you go.  Congratulations on losing the weight you wanted to lose now it is time to tone up and build muscle.  :-D