To the muscular girls out there

Saramelie

I need your input.

Current body : 208 pounds on a 5.4 frame. Flabby, no muscles, big belly (look pregnant), size 16

``Old body`` (10 years ago) : Went from 200 to 140 pounds, firm, muscular, no belly, size 7.

I wish I could go back to that ``old`` body, but is this realistic? Let me explain.
Back then I was younger. I did not have kids ( I had 2 in 2 years, messed up my belly). I overexercised (2-3 hours/day, EVERYday, and ate about 1800 cal/day. I DO NOT WISH to go back to that amount of exercice. I would like to stick to a 30-45 minutes/day of exercice (everyday is fine). Is it REALISTIC to even dream about regaining that kind of body without the ``overexercising``? I am talking a body type like Jillian Micheal.

For those of you who have a muscular frame, what is your routine (time wise) and how many calories do you eat. Were you ever obese??? Did you have kids and problems with the tummy area?

When should I start lifting seriously? For now I am doing a light routine mixed up with cardio. (total of about 3.5 or 4 hours/week). For now, I concentrate on cardio and think about moving to serious lifting in 40-50 pounds, but my guts tells me this is stupid, that I am losing my time and should concentrate on the lifting NOW. Yes or no?? I guess I`m afraid of just ```bulk up`` without losing weight and end up looking fatter instead of fitter.........

DavPul

For now, I concentrate on cardio and think about moving to serious lifting in 40-50 pounds, but my guts tells me this is stupid.....

michellekicks

If you were firm and muscular at 140 on a 5'4" body, you are still muscular. And you probably have gained lean mass in the 10 years since you were that size last. Your legs moving you around at 208 have been working harder than they did at 140.

Diet down slowly, eat lots of protein - like 150g daily - and do a full-body lifting routine 3 times a week. Figure out your TDEE and cut 500 calories/day from your average TDEE. You'll be down 50 lbs in a year and you'll feel like a million bucks.

Don't try and go too fast with all cardio; you'll lose all that good lean mass under there. Trust me; I've done it.

Hauntinglyfit

You should start lifting right now. And get your diet in check. That's what it takes to get that body.

1dce

I am 5'6" and delivered both of my sons at around 230 lbs. I was also in a size 16 at one point. I currently do about 45 to 60 minutes of circuit training similar to crossfit 4 days a week then another day of whatever I feel I've missed. I think weights are essential now, the more muscle you have the better shape you're going to have. Muscle also burns more calories just maintaining than fat does. This means you will lose fat quicker on the same diet if you have more muscle. I won't lie I dieted hard and didn't focus on weights until I got down to 140. I then added weights and actually gained a few pounds and my toosh is bigger lol.

Fullsterkur_woman

Mrsbigmack and Hauntinglyfit are right. The time is now. The weights will help you retain the muscle. Don't go for too big of a deficit, or you'll lose that lovely calorie-burning muscle.

The diet is the key to losing weight. You can't out-exercise a bad diet; if you could, I wouldn't be fat. I was 5' 7", 137#, and about size 6-8, then let it go all back to hell again and I've been spinning my wheels and/or yo-yoing since. These last several months, I've found my maintenance range and I'm happy to stay there because I'm trying to get stupid strong. I am not losing inches or body fat percentage either, so I'll just have to be satisfied with reaching one goal at a time (moar skrong!). I'm going to Iceland next summer to lift hyooge rocks, and after that, if I still want to, I can cut back my diet a little bit to lose some fat.

Sadly, at 5' 7", and exercising an hour a day and shooting for 1800 calories/day (but averaging more like 1950), I just barely maintain, so 1800/day might not be reasonable for you if you're only lifting 30-45 minutes/day. Weight loss is simple, but it's not easy... :sad:

However, the best time to plant a tree is yesterday, and the second best time is today, right?

librarianjenne

I think you can do it. I was a pretty muscular 140, then had my son, lost the weight, thyroid went bad, gained 60 pounds. I've lost almost 55 pounds and now have MORE lean body mass and muscle than I did the last time I was at this weight. I'm even in a size smaller (I still have some of the same clothes, so it's not just vanity sizing.)

If being big and cut were my goal, I would do a combination of HIIT for cardio and high weight/low rep weight training, especially with the limited daily time you have available.

Edited to add: I've always had a bit of a belly-- part of the problem is that I stand with a bit of a swayback, so my belly pooches out. Doing yoga and working on my alignment has really helped.

manda1978

10yrs ago I was nearly 20kg heavier than I am now. I have a 3 year old daughter. I lift 3 times a week, do a weight circuit once a week and bootcamp once a week. I still have a bit of a lower belly pudgy but overall I'm in much better shape than I was.

cafeaulait7

Did you lift back then? I think you might be able to do it easily enough, but it depends on how much you like to eat But lifting doesn't take much time, so that part might be much faster than you were used to back then. Lift heavy; it's a fast workout compared to cardio 'toning' ones that depend on tons of reps.

For the calories, it depends on your TDEE and what you feel comfortable eating, or not eating as the case may be The retained muscle does give you more to eat, and you can eat really well if you get to eat above maintenance to put on muscle. Most folks do wait on that (eating above maintenance) until they've lost most of the fat.

Magana94

I went from 157 to 137 in 2 and half months. That loss was from lifting. I ate somewhat health but always had cheat days. And I started losing more weight and burning more calories lifting. I do cardio about 3 hours every week at most and all the other time is spent lifting. I went to the gym for an hour to a hour and half.You will not bulk up thats what all women are afraid of. I've toned and slimed down in all areas. When I didn't lift I wasn't seeing any results in weight loss or muscle definition. If you want the Jillian Michael's body I would start lifting. And don't be afraid to lift heavy either, you won't bulk up, you will just have nice noticeable muscle definition. If you do decide to lift make sure you drink protein 20-45 minutes afterwards so you're muscle will recover and not deteriorate. I currently count my calories and go to the gym 2 hours a day and l run a mile everyday, lift, work abs, stretch and go in the sauna for 10 minutes. So the two hours isn't spent just working out. I've seen the best results in such short time lifting!

Saramelie

Thanks for all of your answers! I will print them and refer to them. I will have to check my routine and adapt to add more weight training. As for the diet part, I'm pretty good now but if i calculate my TDEE and cut back 500 cal/day it seems like I am not eating enought because my TDEE is at 2650 (?!!). Afraid to eat more than 1800/day and stop losing.....
I am not worried about "'bulking up"", never was. I love muscles! What i am afraid of is starting to lift now and build those muscles under the fat and end up just looking bigger.... But I will have to do it to see!
Thanks again