30 yr old female trying to gain muscle (underneath my fat!!!)

MakeMeSkinty

Ok...here's the deal:

I am a pear shape, so I naturally gain weight on my lower half. I have a bunch of excess fat which I will worry about later. I notice I have lost a lot of my muscle, so I'd rather focus on building the muscle back before I bother TRYING to lose the fat. I imagine some of the fat will come off in the process anyway.

Anyway...I used to be very fit, tiny waist and bubble butt back in the day.

I have since had 3 babies, so now I've got a lovely muffin top and my booty has drooped and lost it's voluptuous shape. I WANT MY OLD BODY BACK! lol Or as close to as possible.

Thing is...I KNOW I need to workout, and need to focus on my diet taking in more protein, and eat less processed, more natural foods, but what I don't know is...

how many calories should I try to intake daily? And how should I set my percentages to ensure I'm taking in all the right nutrients to build my thighs and booty and I'm guessing my waist will naturally shrink a bit in the process.

Can anyone give me a good example of a simple meal plan for someone who sadly can't cook, so it's needs to be super basic, plus I'm a super busy mom, so I'd really like to keep it as simple as possible.

ALSO...I've recently read that sprinting uphill and walking/jogging stairs (every other step) will help build not only my legs, but give my butt a lift and help with the roundness...is this true? and how much should I be doing? So far, I've been skipping stairs up and slowly single stepping down, for about 8 rounds cause I'm exhausted after that. I'm trying to push myself at least 1 or 2 more times once I get to the point I feel like I want to stop because I've always heard those extra sets are the ones that really count.

How long until I will see some sort of results? A month? That little inkling of results always helps motivate me.

Truth is...I really don't know what I'm doing.

Please help?

MakeMeSkinty

I meant to add...I'm planning to begin Insanity to my schedule today, but I'm curious if this will make my butt bigger or smaller. I'd really like it to be bigger! hehe I naturally have a bigger butt anyway...like I said, I had a bubble butt in my younger days. I just wish I knew what I did to get it! haha

cathipa

So many questions to be answered...

(1) As far as calories that is dependent on your height, weight and activity

(2) Macro percentages are different for everyone. Do you have PCOS or other hormone imbalance? Reason being it may be that higher protein and lower carb might help improve your weight loss.

(3) Unfortunately meal plans usually don't work because what I like may not be what you like. Eat what you like to eat and weigh everything you eat. Log everything you eat and drink. Use grams or oz.

(4) Where did you read that about sprinting uphill? I'm sure it would help, but chances are the amount you would require to see a visible improvement would probably be unsustainable for most. If you want to build muscle you will have to do some form of resistance or weight training. If you can't use weights at home or in a gym look up You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning.

(5) Results take time and it will depend on how dedicated you are to logging your food entries and exercising. If you only exercise twice a week it will take longer than if you perform a 4 or 5 day routine. Have patience. Your body didn't change overnight so if you want this bad enough you will stick it out no matter how long it takes.

I'd be happy to help you even if it is daily check ins. Feel free to add as a friend. Best of luck to you!

MakeMeSkinty

Hello! Thank you for your response!

I am actually 5', almost 5'1", and weighing in these days around 165. My activity has been pretty sedentary up until this point, but I'm planning to start Insanity today, and joining the gym as well, so I can do weight training as well. Like I said above, I've been doing the stair climbing for probably about going on a week now and I do little random things like leg lifts and squats/lunges, twists, things like that throughout the day, whenever I think about it really. lol

As far as PCOS or hormone imbalance...I have NO idea! lol I am a carb addict though, so I've already decided to cut back on those, and trying to incorporate more protein in my diet. I don't do well with protein drinks, so I'm trying to find other ways aside from meats and dairy products. I've been studying a lot. lol

I read the sprinting uphill thing somewhere online because I was looking up how to get a sprinter's butt. haha baseball players always seem to have the best butts. I'm sure it's clear to see I'm really focused on trying to get my butt back. lol I don't think the sprinting uphill would need to be a forever thing...I've just seriously lost almost all of my muscle tone back there, and I figured maybe it would be a good starting point. I don't feel like I have much to work with these days because I've lost so much muscle tone and just have a lot of flabbyness going on.

By meal plan I was mostly thinking like should I do so many ounces of protein in the morning with a veggie, lunch this many oz of protein with whatever, etc...just an overall guide really.....nothing too specific.

I definitely need and WANT to work out more...my energy is low these days, so I know I need to do something. I'm not getting any younger! haha

Commander_Keen

how many calories should I try to intake daily? And how should I set my percentages to ensure I'm taking in all the right nutrients to build my thighs and booty and I'm guessing my waist will naturally shrink a bit in the process.

You prob. should be consuming between 1200 - 1500 kcal. but that is my guess.

Can anyone give me a good example of a simple meal plan for someone who sadly can't cook, so it's needs to be super basic, plus I'm a super busy mom, so I'd really like to keep it as simple as possible.

Breakfast -
1 egg
3 White eggs
veggies.

Lunch
4 - 8oz of white fish
1 - 2 cups of veggies.

Dinner
Chicken Breast - More bang for the buck vs Chicken thigh
1 - 2 cups of veggies.

cathipa

Insanity is a great cardio routine. I completed it a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Just stick with it. What are your calories set to? I know most people choose 2 pound loss per week, but for most this is unreasonable and quickly leads to failures. With your weight and height I would recommend 1 pound loss per week. I agree with higher protein and you don't need to drink protein drinks to bump up your intake. Meat, eggs, dairy (Greek yogurt, cottage cheese), beans, seeds/nuts, tofu are all excellent sources. If you are logging your weight loss calories I would only eat back 1/2. Try this for a few weeks and see what results you get. I'm sure you will lose.

sardelsa

Ok there is a lot going on in here so I will try my best!

First, if you still have significant fat to lose, I would personally not start a bulk right now. You are 5'1" and 165lbs so I would focus on eating at deficit with sufficient protein, and finding a lifting program with a glute focus (more om all this below). This will ensure you maintain the muscle you have while you lose, some people will grow muscle but this likely will be minor. Will you develop significant booty gains? Likely not unfortunately but you will hold on to and shape what you have.

Plug in your stats on MFP and it should give you your calorie intake (this doesn't include exercise calories). There are also many calorie calculators online that take exercise and activity into account, like www.scoobysworkshop.com etc and you can manually enter your calorie goal into MFP.

What I would recommend macro wise is:

Protein: 0.6-0.8 g per lb (or 0.8-1g per lb lean body mass)
Fat: 0.3-0.45g per lb
Rest you can fill with carbs

In terms of a meal plan, skinnytaste.com is my go-to.. she has great recipes for the whole family. I am a mom of two so I know time is tight and kids can be picky.. she makes easy, healthy and quick meals that everyone will love.

For your workouts, I would recommend Strong Curves, I like it because it is adaptable, it starts off basic (but can get as advanced as you want it), and it is very focused on the booty and lower body since that is your goal.

The sprinting uphill and insanity stuff is fine if you like it, you can do whatever cardio you like as long as it is not impairing your ability to recover from the strength training.

How long until you see results... this is super hard to gauge. In your case, it will be difficult because I would recommend cutting then recomp when you get close to goal or bulking if you are up for it. It took me about 9 months or something to get results, but obviously this will depend on what you do and genetics.. It is not a fast process, but believe me it is worth it!

MakeMeSkinty

cathipa wrote: »

Insanity is a great cardio routine. I completed it a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Just stick with it.

yeah, I did it several years back and loved it, but I definitely need to give it another go!

What are your calories set to?

I'm set to 1400 cal I used MFP several years back as well and tried the 1200, and that was miserable for me not to mention I didn't really lose any weight until I started eating a little more. I just don't remember how much I ate because it was a different account and I lost access to it. I didn't workout at that time tho so I got skinny fat which is what I'm trying to avoid this time around. I'd rather be bigger and solid the smaller and flabby. I found myself even more insecure and self-conscious once I lost the weight than before I did because of the way I lost the weight and lost my muscle tone. I want muscle tone even if it's covered in a layer of fat. I'll just deal with that later! lol

Meat, eggs, dairy (Greek yogurt, cottage cheese), beans, seeds/nuts, tofu are all excellent sources. If you are logging your weight loss calories I would only eat back 1/2. Try this for a few weeks and see what results you get. I'm sure you will lose.

Thank you so much for your advice!

MakeMeSkinty

sardelsa wrote: »

Ok there is a lot going on in here so I will try my best!

First, if you still have significant fat to lose, I would personally not start a bulk right now. You are 5'1" and 165lbs so I would focus on eating at deficit with sufficient protein, and finding a lifting program with a glute focus (more om all this below). This will ensure you maintain the muscle you have while you lose, some people will grow muscle but this likely will be minor. Will you develop significant booty gains? Likely not unfortunately but you will hold on to and shape what you have.

Plug in your stats on MFP and it should give you your calorie intake (this doesn't include exercise calories). There are also many calorie calculators online that take exercise and activity into account, like www.scoobysworkshop.com etc and you can manually enter your calorie goal into MFP.

What I would recommend macro wise is:

Protein: 0.6-0.8 g per lb (or 0.8-1g per lb lean body mass)
Fat: 0.3-0.45g per lb
Rest you can fill with carbs

In terms of a meal plan, skinnytaste.com is my go-to.. she has great recipes for the whole family. I am a mom of two so I know time is tight and kids can be picky.. she makes easy, healthy and quick meals that everyone will love.

For your workouts, I would recommend Strong Curves, I like it because it is adaptable, it starts off basic (but can get as advanced as you want it), and it is very focused on the booty and lower body since that is your goal.

The sprinting uphill and insanity stuff is fine if you like it, you can do whatever cardio you like as long as it is not impairing your ability to recover from the strength training.

How long until you see results... this is super hard to gauge. In your case, it will be difficult because I would recommend cutting then recomp when you get close to goal or bulking if you are up for it. It took me about 9 months or something to get results, but obviously this will depend on what you do and genetics.. It is not a fast process, but believe me it is worth it!

I didn't realize I could lose weight while still maintaining my muscle. I mean...I knew it was possible, but I thought it was difficult. This is why I felt that I had to choose and I'd rather have muscle. lol I have a friend that rotates back and forth and has gradually bulked and whittled. lol So, I just thought that's what I had to do. I just do not want to lose weight the way I did last time because tho I was smaller, I felt so skinny fat and it made me sooo self-conscious and almost made me wish I was just thicker again. Now I'm just thick AND flabby, so I mixed them both! grrr.

So the macro's...how does that calculate out percentage wise so I can plug it into my goals?

Thanks for the website, I will def check that out! Never heard of Strong Curves...is that a dvd program?

Thanks so much for all of the advice!!!

livingleanlivingclean

Commander_Keen wrote: »

how many calories should I try to intake daily? And how should I set my percentages to ensure I'm taking in all the right nutrients to build my thighs and booty and I'm guessing my waist will naturally shrink a bit in the process.

You prob. should be consuming between 1200 - 1500 kcal. but that is my guess.

Can anyone give me a good example of a simple meal plan for someone who sadly can't cook, so it's needs to be super basic, plus I'm a super busy mom, so I'd really like to keep it as simple as possible.

Breakfast -
1 egg
3 White eggs
veggies.

Lunch
4 - 8oz of white fish
1 - 2 cups of veggies.

Dinner
Chicken Breast - More bang for the buck vs Chicken thigh
1 - 2 cups of veggies.

I know OP said simple, but that is ridiculously boring and massively lacking in calories and fat.

bbell1985

I would lose weight first. You'll want to not only be in a healthy weight range, but be relatively lean, before you start a bulk. And your training should be heavy lifting or body weight training with a progressive overload.

cnbbnc

I'm just throwing out what I do for easy and lower calorie protein sources.

Breakfast: eggs, bacon, turkey sausage, Greek yogurt, protein bar or shake

Lunch: (usually a sandwich) chicken breast, lunchmeat with a slice of cheese, tuna, frozen bean burgers or turkey burgers.

Dinner: turkey or pork tenderloins just have to be baked, rotisserie chickens (or just bake a whole chicken and have leftovers), pork chops with shake n bake, if I'm pressed for time a frozen dinner that has a higher amount of protein, frozen precooked fajitas meat is quick. Barilla protein pasta with frozen meatballs.