being able to adjust after the assessment

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi,
using the Workflow app, I think I have been able to develop a very efficient and quick “measure routine”. Every day, I weigh myself, I measure neck and waist circumference, and the app uses the data to calculate bf% and lean mass (US Navy formula), then it saves all the data for the day. It takes only a minute and I’m able to consistently track my progress this way (I then use another workflow to calculate the weekly average, that’s the data point I actually consider and compare with the previous week’s number).

However, my problem is that I don’t always know what to change, if the assessment yields negative results. For example:

  • You are gaining weight, a lot of it is lean mass → good job!
  • You are gaining weight, some of it is lean mass → nice!
  • You are not gaining weight → eat more!

but then…

  • You are gaining weight, but the system of measurement used says it’s basically all fat → ?
  • You are gaining weight, but the system of measurement used says the amount of lean mass you gained is really really tiny → ? what’s the minimum amount of lean mass one should pack on while gaining weight? Let’s say I gained 1.5 Kg of mass, 0.3 of that being muscle… is this good enough?

Could you please give me a couple of general guidelines on what do to in these 2 last cases? Is this something that can be addressed through diet? Is my method of measuring simply too rudimentary to be able to measure these small changes in body composition?

Thanks!

2

Davide,

Thanks for the post and for joining us on the forum. That said, I’m going to make you ask me a better- more specific question.

3

What should I do if, according to the system of measurement I described, it seems like I am gaining weight, but only a negligible part of it is muscle mass? Ideally, after gaining 1 Kg of total body weight, how much of that should be lean mass in order to be able to say that progress is good and I don’t need to reassess anything diet-wise?

I hope this time I made myself clear, I really appreciate the time you put into this Q&A forum.

4

Check for accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of measurements being used to predict the outcome and if you’re satisfied with that, adjust your input.

That is a 100% individualized question.

5

Thanks. Maybe a better question could be: while gaining weight, what should be the maximum percentage of body fat I should consider tolerable, before starting to think about losing some fat?

6

I did not mention that I am male, 180 cm, currently 75-76 Kg, around 16% bf… is there a maximum percentage of body fat I should try to never reach, while gaining mass?

7

Actually, I am sorry, it doesn’t matter, you don’t have to reply. I realised this kind of questions don’t make much sense, and they cannot be answered online in a forum. I apologize :smile: