Slipping and Goal Setting

So, Halloween weekend was defiantly "off diet", and ever since then, I've had a heck of a time sticking to diet. Sugar is my weakness.  I've been keeping up on the workouts. But, I'm eating terribly in the "extras" catagory.  I have, however, been pretty careful to get in my daily protien allotments.  So, I'm hoping that my body has enough protien in it for anabolism.

I've been thinking that my goal should be a % body fat goal rather than a pure weight goal.

When I started the 6 week program, I was 231 lbs and 25% body fat. That means that I was carrying  58 lbs of fat, and had a lean body mass of 173 lbs. This last weekend, we got a pair of body fat calipers. And, on Saturday, I was 210 lbs and 20% body fat.  That means I have 42 lb of fat and a lean body mass of 168 lbs.

Of course, those numbers makes it look like I've lost muscle in the last seven weeks. But, those measurements aren't inaccurate. They were two different measurement devices and methods. And,  each one has a 2-5% margin of error anyway. (Body fat calipers are supposedly accurate to +/-3%. God only knows what the accuracy of that oddball electroshock zapper video game controller is.)

If I use the standard BMI recommendation, I'm shooting for 195 lbs, to the top end of the "normal" range. If that corresponds to a 15% body fat state, I'd be composed of 29 lbs of fat and 165 lbs of lean mass.

If I use the FFMI calculator, I'm currently at a FFMI of 21.7. This seems high, though. The male average is supposedly 19. And, the upper limit of non-steriod users is supposedly 25. (An FFMI of 25  would mean that, without steroids, I could get to a 225 lb and 15% body fat, or 215 lb with 10%. That basically means that anybody who is 6'2" and bigger than 225 lb is most likely taking 'roids - not that there's anything wrong with that IMO.)

What I'm not sure about is whether or not you actually grow muscle mass while you are dieting. I suspect not. Based on my numbers so far, my lean mass hasn't really grown at all. (By the numbers, I've actually lost lean mass, but, as I said, that's probably measurement error.) I really don't think it will go up at all while dieting. How could it?

I think, for me, a good goal would be to maintain 15% body fat. If I wanted to go on a strength building trip, I'd try to get to about 205-210 with  15% body fat. That's a lean mass of 165-170, but it would be covered in a healthy layer of fat.

So, long term goal would be 205-210 with 15%. That's a pretty strong, pretty fit dude. He can do 10 pull-ups no problem. To get there, I'd probably need to trim down to 180-190 with less than 15%. (This assumes lean mass is 165-170 lb.)  Then, do a real bulking program to build 10 lbs of muscle - get lean mass up to 175-180 lb - which might mean gaining up to 201 - 215, then cutting back to 205-210 at 15%.

This guy says he is 6'2", 180 lbs, 13%
That's 160 lean, FFMI = 20.7
This is less fat that I'd be going for.

This dude says he's 6'2", 195, 8%
That's 180 lb lean, FFMI = 23.2
This is way less fat than I'd be going for.

This dude says he's 6'2", 170 lb.
Looks like 15%, so lean mass could
be as low as 145.  I think I'm already more mass
than this guy.

This boxer is 6'2", 170 lb.
Looks like ~10%
So, lean mass at 150. I'd be a bit fatter, but around this size.

This meat head says he's 6'2", 190 lb, 5%
That's 181 lean, FFMI =23.3
This could be done without juicing, but
holy crap, why? 

This guys is 6'2", 235 lb, and less than 8%
LLMI = 28.4 So, he's using steriods,
in all likelihood.