Help me. Gaining more fat than muscle.

chloepaulino

I’ve gotten into body building. When I first started I was eating about 1800 calories with lots of cardio. Lost fat and muscle. So I bumped it up to 1950-2000 kc-minimum cardio. However, I did the big weigh in today and my weight went from 123 to 124 and gaining about 3 pounds of fat. I’m feeling very discouraged, I don’t know what to do anymore. Yes, I eat clean. Yes, I track my calories/ weigh the food. Now my fat has bounced to almost 27 % body fat. I don’t want to quit, but I do not know what to do anymore. Should I decrease calories back to 1800. Should I stop and try to get my body fat back down to lower then try to start to re bulk.

My goal is to just be in a normal muscle mass for my age and to be able to lift my weight. Does this mean I still have to bulk? Or can I eat maintenance calories and still gain lean muscle?
I will post my tanita machine results down below.

mmapags

How are you measuring this body fat increase?

Buff_Man

Hmm you can try changing up your macros, your workout routine etc. But I'd try not to make too many changes at once otherwise you won't know what's working. Don't worry too much about the fat % readouts. Take progress pics and measurements to gauge your progress. When you've been lifting for a while you'll hit plateaus so you need to change things up to progress

chloepaulino

mmapags wrote: »

How are you measuring this body fat increase?

The Tanita machine and how my clothes feel/ photos.

My stomach looks bigger, none of my pants fit me. All the Tanita results show my fat going up.

chloepaulino

Buff_Man wrote: »

Hmm you can try changing up your macros, your workout routine etc. But I'd try not to make too many changes at once otherwise you won't know what's working. Don't worry too much about the fat % readouts. Take progress pics and measurements to gauge your progress. When you've been lifting for a while you'll hit plateaus so you need to change things up to progress

I have upped the protein by about 20 grams.

sardelsa

You gained 1lb .. in what span of time? Those scales can be fairly inaccurate, water can affect results so I wouldn't put too much stock into the results especially if you have only gained 1lb and it says you have gained 3lbs of fat which means you would have to lose muscle, in a surplus I would say that is very highly unlikely.

How do you feel about your results and your bodyfat? Do you feel very lean and want to put on weight or do you feel happy with your size and just want to work on body composition?

With your stats you could also recomp.. so maintaining your weight to lose fat and gain muscle over time. Make sure you are following a proper progressive lifting program and getting adequate protein (~1g per lb bodyweight)

If you do want to bulk successfully it's not about how clean your diet is, it's about how big a surplus you are in, lifting progress, protein intake and your starting leanness which will make the most difference in terms of how much fat to muscle you gain.

chloepaulino

sardelsa wrote: »

You gained 1lb .. in what span of time? Those scales can be fairly inaccurate, water can affect results so I wouldn't put too much stock into the results especially if you have only gained 1lb and it says you have gained 3lbs of fat which means you would have to lose muscle, in a surplus I would say that is very highly unlikely.

How do you feel about your results and your bodyfat? Do you feel very lean and want to put on weight or do you feel happy with your size and just want to work on body composition?

With your stats you could also recomp.. so maintaining your weight to lose fat and gain muscle over time. Make sure you are following a proper progressive lifting program and getting adequate protein (~1g per lb bodyweight)

If you do want to bulk successfully it's not about how clean your diet is, it's about how big a surplus you are in, lifting progress, protein intake and your starting leanness which will make the most difference in terms of how much fat to muscle you gain.

Maybe I should just recomp. Because I have never been more stressed out in my life obsessing over calories in an extreme manner. Body building is more of a lifestyle, I’m just so stressed. Can you explain what recomping is?

chloepaulino

I can do a lot of body weight exercises easier and have gone up in weights. But I feel fatter, my pants don’t fit anymore and my stomach has gotten bigger.

sardelsa

chloepaulino wrote: »

I can do a lot of body weight exercises easier and have gone up in weights. But I feel fatter, my pants don’t fit anymore and my stomach has gotten bigger.

This is with only 1lb gain? Are you feeling very bloated? Maybe a food sensitivity issue?

Here is a great thread on recomp

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

nkzard

First off ignore that body measuring machine, it will be inaccurate. It sounds like your become obsessive/really stressed over this, so maybe take a bit of a step back as trust me, it's not work sacrificing your mental health for this. You're a beginner, so it's ok not to be perfect right away. You're doing the right thing, eat right, train hard and as long as you really are doing those two properly, you will make progress. Take photos now, and then wait a few months and compare then. But good luck you will make it, but there's no point trying to be perfect from the beginning!

PAV8888

All these symptoms with a single lb of weight change? Wow!

Are you measuring at the same point in your monthly cycle? Women tend to retain more or less water at various times of the month.

Are you using a weight trend app?

And... maybe bulking is not a great idea for right now assuming you're already above a BMI of 20 or so.

chloepaulino

I have measured in the morning at the same time. I’ve just been using the Tanita machine. Should I just recomp instead of bulk? Eat at maintance and lift heavy)

sardelsa

chloepaulino wrote: »

I have measured in the morning at the same time. I’ve just been using the Tanita machine. Should I just recomp instead of bulk? Eat at maintance and lift heavy)

I would recommend recomp especially if you are struggling now. It really depends on your goals but bulking doesn't sound like a good fit for you, at least not right now.

chloepaulino

Does recoump really work, do you have experience in this? Heard success stories?

sardelsa

I personally have only dabbled in recomp, but check out that thread I linked there is a lot of fantastic success stories there. It does take time and requires trust and patience.

sardelsa

PAV8888 wrote: »

All these symptoms with a single lb of weight change? Wow!

Are you measuring at the same point in your monthly cycle? Women tend to retain more or less water at various times of the month.

Are you using a weight trend app?

And... maybe bulking is not a great idea for right now assuming you're already above a BMI of 20 or so.

BMI actually has nothing to do with bulking, it is more about bodyfat % unless that is what you meant. Typically it is recommended for women to start bulking at 20% bodyfat or less. Keep in mind the scale she used may not even be accurate so OP could be quite lower than it said.

chloepaulino

I have done other machines and bf has been higher or about the same of about 27%

sardelsa

chloepaulino wrote: »

I have done other machines and bf has been higher or about the same of about 27%

If you truly think you are 27% based on scales, comparing photos online etc. Then I would definitely not bulk.

sijomial

"I’ve gotten into body building."

Think you are in danger of misleading people unintentionally - that phase suggests physique goals far, far higher than.....

"My goal is to just be in a normal muscle mass for my age and to be able to lift my weight."

There is ZERO need to do bulk/cut cycles to achieve your goal.
Suggest you work on reducing your stress over calories and fat gain and simply eat at maintenance and lift.

It's your training that drives results - focus on that. Optimise your training and everything will fall into place.

Theoldguy1

sardelsa wrote: »

chloepaulino wrote: »

I have done other machines and bf has been higher or about the same of about 27%

If you truly think you are 27% based on scales, comparing photos online etc. Then I would definitely not bulk.

This, most sources will say a female should not be bulking if over 20-22% BF

magnusthenerd

chloepaulino wrote: »

I have done other machines and bf has been higher or about the same of about 27%

If they're all BIA (bio-impediance analysis) scales or similar, they aren't that accurate. People with a bit of experience just taking a look and estimating at a person in a bathing suit are actually more accurate than a BIA. Other methods that are accurate are someone experienced using calipers, bodpod, DEXA, and underwater weighing.