2 years ago when i was in 10th grade i weighed like 230 and i made a goal to hit 150. Well, summer before college i weighed about 157 but was eating about 500 cals a day, 60 min cardio a day. Needless to say, i was killing myslef. I am so glad i picked up a weightlifing book and started to love lifting. Now im 174ish and looking to cut body fat. I am embarking upon the peanut butter diet (look at journals) im at end of week 1.

Is it possible that i can lose no more weight? If this is so, how can i meaasure progress of 'fat' lose, rather than weight loss?

Would a tape measure work? Where could i get one?

If there were such a thing as "set points", this website would be pointless. Sure, your body by nature has a tendency toward a certain amount of muscle and fat. That is what we refer to as your genetics. You will likely maintain this form unless you make a concerted effort to change it. That is the whole point of a complete diet/training regimen. We're not happy with our current state and want to go about changing it.

The tape measure is one of the best tools for gauging your progress. Changes in your waist and hip measurement will almost always be the result of changes in your body fat level. Likewise, changes in your arms measurement are dependent almost entirely on muscle changes. This happens because we deposit fat and little muscle on our waists/hips and only muscle and relatively little fat on our arms. Tricky areas are the thighs and chest, where we tend to deposit both fat and muscle.

Of course, you can get your body fat percentage professionally measured at many places, though there is always a degree of error. I have a Tanita (brand) body fat scale that is not terribly accurate, though it is consistent. I use it to judge changes in my body fat, but not as a definite number. The weight function is dead-on, too, so I'd recommend gettng one.

As for overall fat-loss tips, check out the sticky in the nutrition and supplements section. The sticky's in bb.com forums are also good: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=16

If you have more specific questions after reading that, I'll be glad to help if I can.

Good luck.

agree with teg4e 100%

the setpoint can be changed, but it's like a hard plateau to get over. it will take extra effort.