How to not get underweight?

ErikaAurelia

Hey everyone, maybe an odd title, haha.
I've made a few threads since I started here talking about this and that, I assumed my weight was between 56,6 ~ 57,1 kg since that was what is was two weeks ago, but it seems like I'm down to 55 kg now. I have not started to exercise yet, but I want to do aerobics and some more, including strength exercises.
But now to the question in the title: how do I do this without getting underweight at first? I mean, if I remember correctly you lose fat faster than you build muscle, and I think I will find the aerobics more fun than the strength exercises (I will do them anyway, but yeah).
I know that last time I changed eating habits (got rid of chips and junk food) I dropped to 51 kg within a month, and I assume that's where I'm heading now too. (since I did not do anything to lose fat at that point I suppose it was all water weight?)

Is it terrible to be a little underweight for some months till the muscles start adding weight? Should I take it easy with the cardio and go more for strength first?
I don't want to start eating large amounts of chips again in order to maintain this weight.

I'm not really sure what I should do.

olganto

focus on building muscles and don't concentrate too much on kilos but rather on jean/dress sizes...if you have muscles you will look good and firm so yes kilos matter but they shouldn't worry you that much.

middlehaitch

How are you counting your calories at the moment?

Your basic stats and calorie goal would help other with more detailed answers, as would having an open diary.

MFP - input stats, set to maintain, eat those calories, then enter and eat back 50-75 of your exercise calories. Best to use this method if you don't exercise consistently.

If you use an HRM, or a step counter let that guide you. I know little about them except to sync it to your MFP account

TDEE (by an outside calculator) enter your stats including exercise, chose to maintain. Follow that calorie goal. Best to use if your exercise is consistent week in week out.

Muscles will not develop if you are eating on a deficit so it is not good to ignore your calorie intake.

Do a mix of cardio and strength on alternating days, not the same day as you are just beginning.

Cheers, h.

sijomial

ErikaAurelia wrote: »

I'm not really sure what I should do.

Eat the right amount of food to maintain your weight taking into account your exercise and activity.

There's no compulsion to eat at a deficit, that's a choice you make through your food choices and portion sizes.
No reason to drop cardio, eat those exercise calories back and it has no impact on your calorie balance.

RoxieDawn

It will take many weeks to see any minimal gains in muscle eating at maintenance. You will see gains fairly quickly eating at a surplus.

Since you are / will no longer be in a deficit to loose weight and not eating at a surplus gains will be minimal although you may get newbie gains in the first 5 - 7 weeks (these taper off pretty quickly and this due to first time lifting weights). BUT if no increase in weights and increase calories you will not gain weight in muscle.

If you continue to do cardio while eating at maintenance you will pretty much maintain your weight depending on how you control the energy balance. At some point your body may just adapat and the energy balance takes care of it self without needing to eat over your maintenance.

IMHO, starting lifting even in a deficit helps one maintain their current muscle. Keep the cardio and do lift. You may find that if you do both, you can loose fat/gain minimal muscle at the same time, BUT THIS IS A VERY SLOW PROCESS... very slow.

ErikaAurelia

Thank you all for your answers! They help, they really do.

I don't have a scale at the moment to weigh my food on (will buy one), I am planning on starting to count calories. I have no idea how many calories I eat every day as it is now, I just eat till I'm no longer hungry and try to eat healthy things (eggs, veggies, fish). I am quite curious to know how much calories I consume in a normal day, so I will see when I get that scale.

How much more calories (than at maintenance) would I have to consume to make muscle gain a bit better (if I plan on having 3 strength training days per week)? Maybe this website can calculate that? I will have a look around, I got some learning to do.

Maybe should have mentioned my height in the TS, I am 168 cm.

I'm pretty sure I got close to no muscles. Ofc I have some because I can stand and so on, but I am weaker now than I was when I was at 48 kg I find that ridiculous.

Yi5hedr3

Weights should always be the priority and come first. Do cardio last, and least.

middlehaitch

@ErikaAurelia you can enter your strength training under the cardio exercise tab ( not weight lifting as that us just where you record your lifts and sets) on MFP and eat about 50% of those calories.

Or you can go to the website posted below, enter all your stats and exercise- it will tell you how many calories to eat each day, including the days you don't exercise. It spreads your extra calories throughout the week, so if you lift x3 a week, every day you will get a few more calories.

At 123-125 lbs probably an increase of 100-150 cals on lifting days would work. This is my personal experience at a little lighter weight than you. You may need a few more, or less.

Cheers, h.
http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

ErikaAurelia

Thank you for explainging how to do, I will check that out