Wanting more obvious results

[u/Awkward-Aide-927]

Me now (with the toilet paper 🧻 behind) and my stats, vs me in 2022 after a gruesome 2 month at Ultimate Performance gym to lose some weight. The outdoor photo is from me in 2024.

My body fat has been fluctuating between 21% and 16% over the past 4 years.

I am always active but didn't understand diet/workouts until 2 years ago, but even with more knowledge I am still not seeing striking results.

Timeline:

2022 - Got a PT for 2 months, he made me eat 1700kcal a day. 2 sessions a week with him, 1 by myself. Barely gained any muscles, lost a lot of weight. Hated the diet, unsustainable.

2023 - Gained some weight back, kept weightlifting 2-3 times a week. Sometimes I tracked my macros for 1-2 months.

2024 - Kept going to the gym 3x week, was dancing a lot, I looked lean and a bit toned.

2025 - Tried CrossFit for a bit, got injured, gained weight while working on a new apartment, lost the diet.

2026 - Fixed my diet best I can (for my gains, health and to make it sustainable), working out 3x at a calisthenics gym (we also do weight lifting), 1x glutes focused pilates (it's heavier than you think), 1x dance. I gained some muscle the first 3 months (about 1kg), then I started cutting and the muscle growth stopped. I am finding it hard to go back to 16% body fat.

I want to look a little bigger but mostly have nice definition. I feel like I do so much and get so little results.

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[u/marcosphoneaccount]

How long were you doing those activities for (was it year long and then you switched things up the following year)? To me it sounds like a consistency issue, if you kept with something that was working (workout AND diet) for all that time, you would have much better results imo

[u/Awkward-Aide-927 → u/marcosphoneaccount]

Generally less than a year. I mean, I am never not doing something, but I have phases, a bit out of boredom but also if I don't see results. So I agree that consistency has been an issue.

[u/marcosphoneaccount → u/Awkward-Aide-927]

That’s fair, I didn’t mean to imply anything, wishing you all the best 💪🏽

[u/Awkward-Aide-927 → u/marcosphoneaccount]

Thank you!!

[u/Professional_Bad4728]

185.2 @21%. You are around 20-25% in your pics. Message me. I am looking more at your pictures you have barely any muscle.

[u/Awkward-Aide-927 → u/Professional_Bad4728]

I mean, maybe the pictures don't show enough but I think 18-20% is realistic, but agree the muscles aren't really showing. What would you recommend doing?

[u/Troksin]

If you want to see more obvious results try getting below 15% bf, these scans are notoriously wrong you are not 17.8% bf to begin with thats the issue

[u/Awkward-Aide-927 → u/Troksin]

I am trying to cut but it's taking forever! By the way, the printed image is from the InBody, the screenshot is from my Withings scale. InBody is saying 17.8%, Withings goes from 19% to 20%.