I've been BFLing since March and am a bit disappointed in my progress so far. I think I am expecting too much too soon.
Since today is the first day of the rest of my life (I turned 40 yesterday!) I am reassessing my goals and want to know if I am being realistic or not.

Do you seasoned BFL Babes think that someone should be able to lose 10 - 15 percent of body fat between now and September?
My ultimate goal is to lose 25 percent and I have already lost 5 percent. Am I being too radical or not radical enough?
Sandra

Happy belated Bday, Sandra

To be honest, yes, I think you may be setting yourself up for disappointment with goals that high. A 10% loss sounds doable, roughly 2% per month. Do you know your present BF%? And what is your goal?

At 40 years of age 25% BF is considered desirable, getting much lower than that may not be possible, or at least possible on a permanent level. To give you some idea of % of BF at different ages have a look at this thead. To give you an example, a 50 year old woman with a BF% of 25% is comparable to a 30 year old with a BF% of 18. Why? Because while body fat is just that, body fat, lean mass is a number of things, including, but not just, lean muscle. As we age our bones become less dense and less heavy. Setting goals that just aren't physically possible (which is not what I am suggesting you are doing, Sandra ) can be very defeatist.

HTH some
Nat

Sandra......

The thing about setting a goal for %BF to lose.....or even pounds to lose, is that our bodies do what they do......to a large degree, and no matter how hard we try or how hard we work, we can't speed them up.

I'l love to be losing 2 pounds a week, however my body just isn't made that way. I'm doing my best, and I have to be satisfied with how it's going......that or be endlessly frustrated and disappointed.

HTH
Marlaine

Sandra,

I am NOT an expert on BFL by any means, however I did just finish my C1 and will share a bit with you. I got frustrated at times especially in the begining becuz here I was working soooo hard and the weight was NOT coming off -- what the heck! The first half of my challenge I focused on the scale -- and didn't lose a pound. But guess what? My clothes started fitting looser and by the end of the challenge I went from a size 24 to 20! I have one of those fancy scales that measures BF% and it shows that I lost a couple of % but what really makes me happy is how I feel -- strong! I looked at my original why and goals and have rewritten them several times as I make my BFL journey. -- Toni

Love your comments Marlaine....they are RIGHT ON. (I think I"ll post them on my weight bench... LOL)

Sandra, it really is a matter of just doing your best and then waiting for the results to happen.... they will happen, you'd be a freak of nature if they didn't.... it's just a matter of time and patience. In the meantime, celebrate the small changes rather than waiting for the big ones, which can seem so far away sometimes.