losing body weight not body fat

I am hoping that someone here can give me some advice and answers. First off, I am a little puzzled. I am middle of a  cutting phase. I have had good success however it seems as of late I have reached a plateau and don't know why. I am recording my body fat % on a weekly basis. I am using a biometric scale to determine the number. (whether or not that is the best way doesn't really concern me, I just want to see that the number is falling)
 
Here is my concern. Over the last 4 weeks my body weight has dropped 8.5 lbs. My body fat % however has stayed the exact same. Is that even possible? The only thing that I have changed is my workout time. Im concerned whether or not my post workout nutrition is attiquate. I am working out at 8 getting home around 10. I down some whey protein in water right after my workout. On the car ride home. I then wait about 45 minutes and drink another shake before bed. I put a little cottage cheese, 1 % milk, low fat yogurt and ice in the shake. Along with more whey. Now I know this isnt' the ideal situation but it is all I can do with my current schedule. Is my nutrition the reason whey my body fat % is stuck. What am I losing? Water? I would appreciate if anyone with more experience can help me modify what im doing to help me progress. Thanks in advance.

How much protein are you getting during the course of the day?  I would say get 1-1.5 g/lb every day.  I went through the same thing for a little bit, but I added some cardio to my routine (HIIT) and that really helped a lot. 

Another thing I did was alter how many carbs and fats I took in.  When I was loosing weight at a constant bf%, I ate less fat and more carbs (but still within my calorie allowance) and that helped as well.

im getting 1 gram of protein per lbs of body weight. Are you saying that the weight im losing is muscle is my body cannobolising muscle? It just seems hard to believe that I could lose that much muscle in a months time eating at 500 calories below maintence. (sometimes a little more)
 
I think I may try to up my carbs and lower my fat intake a little. Thanks for the advice.

Losing muscle is the nasty side effect that comes with cutting.  Kind of the spark that fires the Bulk and Cut system versus the clean gain system debate.  It is normal to lose some weight from muscle and therfore lose water weight that that muscle was holding.

but is it normal to lose 8 lbs without seeing any loss in bf%. That seems drastic to me.

randerson0398


but is it normal to lose 8 lbs without seeing any loss in bf%. That seems drastic to me.

Perhaps you need to calculate your BF with a different method.

175 lbs
47 48 years old
Feeling pretty good

The scales are less then perfect for sure, and need to have damp feet for better conduction.  Water levels in the body must also be good for this technique to be at all accurate.

ok so I purchased a hand held biometric body fat tester. I think that this is more accurate anyways. It puts me at 14% bf compared to 22.6% by the scale. I can see the top abs coming in so I always thought that I had to be lower than 22%. Anyways, I feel much better. I'll keep doing what im doing until I hit the single digit numbers.......never been there. Im on a mission.

I too had the same problem....lose weight and my BF% stayed the same while using the biometric scale. After talking with my trainer he said "the BF scale are not that accurate and as long as your getting stronger (going up in weight in your resistance program), dont concentrate too much on the BF. I was majorly stressing about it. Keep rockin!
 
Cas....

randerson0398


ok so I purchased a hand held biometric body fat tester. I think that this is more accurate anyways. It puts me at 14% bf compared to 22.6% by the scale. I can see the top abs coming in so I always thought that I had to be lower than 22%. Anyways, I feel much better. I'll keep doing what im doing until I hit the single digit numbers.......never been there. Im on a mission.

love those words in bold!

Anbe Sivam. Period.