Fat Not Going Away, Not Overweight

susanayt97

Hi guys
I have a question. I'm not overweight, but I look like I am a little bit. I have HUGE thighs, butt, muffin top and arms. And I can't get rid of it! I've been eating as well as possible (I'm in a situation where I can't exactly eat how I want, but I'm managing to stay under 1200/1300 calories) and I've been working out. I'm doing a lot of HIIT (maybe too much?) and a little of strenght training. I drink a lot of water (probably too much).
I don't consider myself skinny fat, that's why I'm not focusing a lot on strenght training. I'm trying to burn this annoying fat through cardio.
So does anyone have any advice? Why isn't this working?

malibu927

What are your stats and how are you measuring your intake?

no_sushi4you

It could have something to do with what exactly you're eating. I'm not an expert but that could be a factor. How often are you resting between bouts in the gym? The only sure fire way that I can think of burning fat is adding more muscle to help burn it? Do you eat 30 minutes before going to the gym? (Complex carbs are good for giving your body energy for a workout and for making sure that the body is burning what it needs to be burning and not getting rid of your muscle.)

goldthistime

Recomp: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

susanayt97

malibu927 wrote: »

What are your stats and how are you measuring your intake?

Sorry, what stats do you mean? xD
I weight everything I eat for breakfast and snacks, and as for lunch and dinner I can't do that (because of my family), so I try to guess but I definitely log more calories than I'm actually eating

susanayt97

no_sushi4you wrote: »

It could have something to do with what exactly you're eating. I'm not an expert but that could be a factor. How often are you resting between bouts in the gym? The only sure fire way that I can think of burning fat is adding more muscle to help burn it? Do you eat 30 minutes before going to the gym? (Complex carbs are good for giving your body energy for a workout and for making sure that the body is burning what it needs to be burning and not getting rid of your muscle.)

I thought so too, but I've done this before and I managed to lose some fat, eating even worse food than now.
I'm not resting much, and I also don't get much sleep. Could that be it?
I think I'll rest more in between HIIT sessions and do more strenght. A lot of the times I workout first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach.

sardelsa

Stats as in.. height, weight, etc.

If you are not losing weight, you are eating more than you think. You are either underestimating your intake or if you eat back exercise calories you could be overestimating calories burned.

Cardio can help you create a deficit so it burns calories, but it is actually not necessary to "burn fat"

If you are in a healthy weight range and happy with your weight then I would look into the link above about recomposition.

I would recommend you start to focus more on the strength training to lose fat and help preserve the muscle you do have. I am not overweight or "skinny fat" either, but I am leaning out with a calorie deficit and lifting.

steph2strong

What is your height, weight and age. How long have you been at this? Are you having any scale weight change, such as 0.5-1 lb loss per week or anything like that? Sometimes weight loss/fat loss isn't substantially noticeable until you lose quite a bit, especially when you are looking at yourself everyday in the mirror. If you lose 1 lb of fat it doesn't automatically come off your thighs it comes from everywhere, spread out. The first 10 lbs my sister lost wasn't very noticeable to me, she didn't look much different, but then all of sudden 5 more lbs down and it was noticeable, her body shape started to change.

susanayt97

I'm 161 cm and 52,5 kg, which would be 115.5 lbs and 5' 3.4" according to google. I'm 20.
I keep doing this on and off, my current streak is 7 days but I was doing it before. I know this isn't a lot of time, but before I used to see a difference after a week and now nothing is changing.
I'll do what you guys said. I will eat more carefully, I will focus more on strenght training and let my body rest. And I will try to be more patient.

Ironandwine69

If you are not overweight but look fat( to you) chances are you are skinny fat. It's hard to say without stats and pictures.
There's never a good reason to stay away from weight lifting, unless it's not possible because of a medical condition.

susanayt97

Btw, could stress have a big impact on this? I have a lot of anxiety and stress affects me a lot. This week I've been experiencing a lot of numbness in my hands, which my doctor says is probably stress.

steph2strong

You need to give yourself a lot longer than 7 days, you are not going to see any real changes in your body composition in that amount of time. Be consistent and reevaluate in 4-6 weeks. It took me 8 months of dedicated strength training to change my body shape.... and that was just the start to get a good base. It took my husband 4 months of dedicated strict calorie adherence in combination with strength training to lose the fat layer he gained during a bulk and preserve his lean mass. Time, consistency and you will see results.

loneda

5'3" and 115 lbs is a normal BMI and with those stats I cannot imagine you look, as you say, like you have "HUGE" thighs at that weight. It sounds like your body type is more curvy at the hips and like you might have some body dysmorphia.

Meelisv

goldthistime wrote: »

Recomp: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

This.
As in switch from HIIT to a decent progressive weight training routine, while making sure that you're eating at maintenance.

susanayt97

loneda wrote: »

5'3" and 115 lbs is a normal BMI and with those stats I cannot imagine you look, as you say, like you have "HUGE" thighs at that weight. It sounds like your body type is more curvy at the hips and like you might have some body dysmorphia.

I used to be very underweight and even at that time I used to see fat in my body that wasn't there. But now it definitely is, my family has commented on it

DebLaBounty

Good grief. I hate it when family members jump in with their opinions about how you look. They're out of line, and they are wrong.

susanayt97

DebLaBounty wrote: »

Good grief. I hate it when family members jump in with their opinions about how you look. They're out of line, and they are wrong.

Right?? To begin with they know I've had problems with food in the past so it seems to me they're just asking for an eating disorder. And then I have a healthy weight so they should just be happy about that. Annoys me so much

Maxxitt

The key for you is to focus on strength training, with enough "cardio" thrown in for health purposes, if you would like to look leaner, but this is entirely up to you. That recomp thread noted above has a ton of helpful information and it's worth starting at the beginning of it. When it comes to other peoples' unhelpful comments, I mentally put up what I call the BS Umbrella and go on about my business; people may be entitled to their opinions, which I am free to discard as unrelated to me

cmriverside

Tell the nosy family members that your body and weight are off-limit topics. Then when they say something, walk away. Some people like to get a rise out of you and will keep at it. Pay no attention and don't let them see that it bothers you.

You're at the lower end of your healthy BMI (21.7)
Calculator here: Body Mass Index Calculator

It's common for new adults to have some distorted body image due to having a new body as an adult. You're not the little child any more with stick legs and stick arms and skinny torso. Your body changes a lot in young adulthood. You're not fat.

I agree with the weight-lifting and recomp advice above. If nothing else, you'll look strong and they won't mess with you.

susanayt97

Maxxitt wrote: »

The key for you is to focus on strength training, with enough "cardio" thrown in for health purposes, if you would like to look leaner, but this is entirely up to you. That recomp thread noted above has a ton of helpful information and it's worth starting at the beginning of it. When it comes to other peoples' unhelpful comments, I mentally put up what I call the BS Umbrella and go on about my business; people may be entitled to their opinions, which I am free to discard as unrelated to me

Starting tomorrow I'll definitely focus more on strenght training! I had thought of going that way before but I wasn't sure.
Haha wise words! I gotta get one of those umbrellas, otherwise I can't even be comfortable in my own home

susanayt97

cmriverside wrote: »

Tell the nosy family members that your body and weight are off-limit topics. Then when they say something, walk away. Some people like to get a rise out of you and will keep at it. Pay no attention and don't let them see that it bothers you.

You're at the lower end of your healthy BMI (21.7)
Calculator here: Body Mass Index Calculator

It's common for new adults to have some distorted body image due to having a new body as an adult. You're not the little child any more with stick legs and stick arms and skinny torso. Your body changes a lot in young adulthood. You're not fat.

I agree with the weight-lifting and recomp advice above. If nothing else, you'll look strong and they won't mess with you.

Yeah, I roll my eyes at them if I even see them looking at me up and down. Hopefully they'll stop caring so much about what I look like.
You're right, I can't expect to be 30 and still look 5, obviously my body isn't the same as it was 5 years ago.
Haha can't wait to be able to kick their butts!