Sustainable fat loss and muscle gain don’t come from extreme dieting or complicated training plans—they come from consistency, simple habits, and smart coaching. One of the best examples of this is Chris, a 47-year-old client who has spent the past year transforming not just his body composition, but also his strength, performance, and lifestyle.
This article breaks down how he did it, what tools we use (including the InBody 570), and what actually matters when you’re trying to change your body in your 40s and beyond. If you’re looking for a simple, no-nonsense framework for meaningful fat loss and muscle retention, this guide will help you get there.
Chris’s Story: A Year of Consistency, Not Perfection
When Chris started working with me at One Life Fitness (Virginia Beach, Red Mill), he was in the mid-250s with a body fat percentage over 35%. Today, he’s dramatically reduced his body fat, improved every strength and performance metric we track, and maintained—if not increased—muscle across his entire body.
What’s more impressive is how he did it:
- He hit his daily steps.
- He strength trained three times a week with me.
- He performed conditioning on non-lifting days.
- He followed a mostly whole-foods diet without being overly restrictive.
- He stayed within a simple caloric target with built-in flexibility for weekends, events, and family time.
There was nothing extreme or gimmicky—just consistent execution of the basics. His transformation is a perfect example of what body recomposition really looks like in the real world.
How We Track Progress (and Why No Single Tool Tells the Full Story)
At One Life Fitness Red Mill, we use the InBody 570 commercial body composition analyzer to help clients establish goals and assess changes over time. It’s an excellent reference point, but it also has limitations that people should understand.
When assessing progress, we look at multiple indicators, including:
- Strength progression
- Cardio performance and recovery
- Bodyweight trends
- Photos
- How clothes fit
- Appetite, cravings, and energy
- Confidence and daily functioning
The InBody results are just one piece of the puzzle—not the whole story.
Understanding the InBody 570: What It Measures and What Affects It
The InBody uses bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to estimate body fat, muscle mass, and water balance. It’s one of the most respected BIA machines on the market, but its accuracy depends heavily on the following:
- Hydration levels
- Sodium intake
- Recent meals
- Carb intake
- Caffeine
- Training within the past 24 hours
- Sleep
- Stress
Because of this, we use the InBody to measure trends, not isolated snapshots.
The Core Metrics We Care About
1. Body Weight
Bodyweight fluctuates daily based on water, carbs, digestion, sodium, and hormones. We look at the weekly and monthly trend, not the one-off number.
2. Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM)
This shows the amount of lean muscle tissue on your body.
For men in their 40s, maintaining or gradually increasing muscle is essential for metabolism, joint health, aging, and performance.
Chris has maintained muscle while losing a significant amount of fat—a sign of excellent training, nutrition, and recovery consistency.
3. Percent Body Fat
InBody estimates body fat using multi-frequency impedance, giving a useful approximation over time.
For a 47-year-old male, a healthy and athletic range generally falls between 10–18%, depending on goals. Getting leaner than that is possible, but often comes at the cost of energy, sleep, cravings, and recovery.
4. ECW/TBW (Extracellular Water / Total Body Water)
One of the most overlooked metrics.
This ratio tells us about:
- Inflammation
- Water balance
- Recovery status
- Stress
- Potential edema
A normal range is typically 0.360–0.390. If your number is creeping upward, it often means stress, soreness, inflammation, or poor recovery.
Why Strength Training Is the Foundation for Recomposition
Strength training is the most important variable for long-term fat loss and health—not cardio, not supplements, not detoxes.
With Chris—and nearly all my clients—we focus on:
- Simple exercises
- 2–4 strength sessions per week
- Progressive overload (gradually improving reps, sets, or weight)
- Safe technique
- Consistency year-round
This is how adults in their 40s, 50s, and beyond build and maintain muscle while losing fat.
Conditioning: The Right Dose at the Right Time
We complement strength training with two forms of conditioning:
- Low-intensity Zone 2 work (walking, incline treadmill, light bike work)
- Enhances recovery
- Improves endurance
- Helps manage stress
- High-intensity training (when appropriate)
- Time-efficient calorie burn
- Improves metabolic fitness
- Builds athletic capacity
The combination of both forms creates a balanced, sustainable system.
Nutrition: The Driver of Fat Loss
You can’t out-train poor nutrition. Here’s the approach Chris follows:
- High-protein meals
- Mostly whole foods
- Consistent calorie targets
- Flexible weekends
- No cutting entire food groups
- No extreme restrictions
This is the style of eating that works for real people with real lives.
What You Can Learn From Chris’s Transformation
You don’t need:
- Perfect weeks
- Superhuman discipline
- Extreme dieting
- Fancy exercises
- Hours of cardio
You need:
- A simple plan
- Strength training 2–4 days per week
- Daily movement
- A balanced diet
- Consistent execution
Chris’s results are not rare—they’re repeatable. They’re achievable for anyone willing to put the basics into practice.
Final Thoughts
Body recomposition doesn’t require perfection; it requires commitment to simple habits. Tools like the InBody 570 help guide the process, but they’re just one part of a much larger strategy.
If you’re looking to improve body composition, reduce fat, build muscle, and feel better in your 40s and beyond, follow the model Chris used:
Lift. Move. Eat well. Be consistent. Repeat.