I'm petite & put on 7kgs which I want to lose!

rk_19

Hey guys, newbie here - just joined this website minutes ago!

I'm 5 feet 1 inch. Last year, I was 45 kgs, which was slightly on the lower side. I've gained 7 kgs in a year, and I'm now 52 kgs, which I don't like at all. I have a round tummy, side fat, my legs have started looking stumpy and my arms are slightly bigger. I don't want to go back to 45 kgs, but I want to be about 47-48 kgs. My BMI is 21.1

Everyone tells me it's hard to lose weight at the weight I'm at. I've been maintaing a low carb diet and half an hour of cardio about 4 times a week. I can't see any results and when I do, it is so so so marginal.

I'm confused because I thought if I put on this much weight, I should be able to lose it.

Help? Advice? Suggestions?

Ninkyou

To be honest, you're already at a healthy weight. Trying to lose weight where you are is going to be really hard, and take a long time, because your body simply does not have the fat stores to constitute alot of weight loss. IMO, you shouldn't even try to be losing weight. What you should be doing instead, is focusing on body recomposition. In short, you want your inches to change (ie, clothes fit better, more defined figure, etc). For this, you need to start some weight lifting. No, you're not going to get all buff and become man-ish. Your body will change though, and you won't look "skinny-fat". Just remember though that you cannot spot reduce. The inches will come off wherever they please.

I'm sure there are several experienced women on these boards that can give you advice on lifting heavy.

delicious_cocktail

I am seconding the suggestion for weight lifting. It's not that you need to weigh less, you need to change your body composition so that there is less bulky fat and more dense, lean muscle. This will give you the toned look.

eldamiano

Carbs arent bad. How about cutting calories?

psuLemon

To be honest, you're already at a healthy weight. Trying to lose weight where you are is going to be really hard, and take a long time, because your body simply does not have the fat stores to constitute alot of weight loss. IMO, you shouldn't even try to be losing weight. What you should be doing instead, is focusing on body recomposition. In short, you want your inches to change (ie, clothes fit better, more defined figure, etc). For this, you need to start some weight lifting. No, you're not going to get all buff and become man-ish. Your body will change though, and you won't look "skinny-fat". Just remember though that you cannot spot reduce. The inches will come off wherever they please.

I'm sure there are several experienced women on these boards that can give you advice on lifting heavy.

this... drop the cardio, add weight training. But I would also have your account set at either maintain or at 1/2 lb per week and lightly active to moderately active since you exercise 4x a week. If you are struggling from lack of definition, it's probably due to the fact that you have low composition, so it's possible to get more lean and fit that you would to add some more muscle, which would require a bulk/cut phase or back recomposition as mentioned above.

rk_19

Thank you all!

So basically, I should focus more on weight training and less on cardio?

I'm at a stage where the number on the weighing scale doesn't matter as much as what I see in the mirror. You're right - I want to loose inches and I think I am "skinny fat" at the moment, it's kinda uncomfortable

And sorry if I sound dumb, I'm new to this - but what exactly does weight lifting mean? I've heard it in many different contexts. Does it mean with physical weights like dumb bells or machines or squats crunches etc?

psuLemon

There are a few trains of thoughts, but I would suggest finding a good full body routine that concentrates on compound lifts (lifts using multiple muscles) and keep reps between 8-15. Since you believe you are skinny fat (without a picture it's hard to tell), it would suggest to me that you lost too much muscle or never developed enough muscle to give you a lean and tight body.. And since you had a low weight of 99 lbs, that would make you almost under weight; this is another indicator that your total composition is low.

What I would generally suggest is setting yoru deficit to 1/2 lb per week and do a full body routine 3-4 days a week and do HIIT or flexibility (yoga/pilates) 1-2 days a week. After a few months of learning how to weight train with proper form, I would suggest doing a couple bulk/cut cycles where you add mass. Adding muscle, will fill in your skin and give you a leaner and tight look. The below link is a good example. For you, concentrate on Staci's progress when she went from 120 to 130 (going from 130 to 140 is more extreme and you wouldn't have to go as far). I suggest bulk/cut cycles because it's much quicker than recomposition (eating at maintenance and weight training). Or you can look at a program like leangains but that takes a lot of precision and monitoring of your diet.


http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

rk_19

What would the time duration be for the body duration each day? 30 minutes, 45 minutes?

I don't understand what "deficit to 1/2 lb per week" means (I'm really bad at calorie intake calculations etc).

And I thought total body routine and HIIT are similar?

I do do yoga twice a week for 45 minutes each (got one thing right so far haha!)

Also, Im not sure the difference between bulk cut & recomposition.

I sound like such an idiot! But hey, we all gotta start somewhere.. Gonna try reading up on these terms.

Thank you so so much psulemon this is really helping me even though im a bit confused at the moment haha

psuLemon

What would the time duration be for the body duration each day? 30 minutes, 45 minutes?

I don't understand what "deficit to 1/2 lb per week" means (I'm really bad at calorie intake calculations etc).

And I thought total body routine and HIIT are similar?

I do do yoga twice a week for 45 minutes each (got one thing right so far haha!)

Also, Im not sure the difference between bulk cut & recomposition.

I sound like such an idiot! But hey, we all gotta start somewhere.. Gonna try reading up on these terms.

Thank you so so much psulemon this is really helping me even though im a bit confused at the moment haha

You can workout between 30-60 minutes, depending your schedule. You can youtube/google full body weight training routine. I know bodybuilding.com has some, as do other sources. HIIT generally doesn't involve weights and is more cardio focused. You want a full body weight training routine that incorporates stuff like overhead press, squats, deadlifts. I believe in doing some isometric moves such as curls and tricep extensions. Also, I personally like routines that can engage the core (front, side, back abs). So you can either do lifts that incorporate that or do a ab routine. I have found some sciatic/lower back issues, and between full core routines and yoga/pilates, I haven't had any issues.

Second, spend some time in the gaining weight section. A bulk phase is when you eat above your maintenance calories to intentionally gain weight. You lift so you can progressively overload your muscles so when you gain weight, it's not all fat. You use some of the energy to gain new muscle. After a 8 or 12 week bulk cycle, you then go back into a calorie deficit so you eliminate all the fat you gained during your bulk. Realistically, as a women, of the weight you gain 50% will probably be new fat. This is why you have to cut after each bulk cycle. I know it's scary, but it's effective. I will show some math below to see if that helps you understand.

So what I would suggest is do 3-4 full body routines on the non yoga days and then the two yoga days. Now based on your stats, your metabolic rate is around 1348 calories (calories you would burn if you slept for 24 hours). Once you add in exercise and daily activities, your TDEE (total daily energy expended or maintenance calories) is around 1900 calories (you are between lightly active to moderately active.


With that said, if you want to gain mass, you need to eat above 1900 calories. If you want lose mass, you would eat below 1900 calories. What I would suggest while you are building knowledge and learning a routine would be set you around 1750 calories (macros around 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats). After a few months and learning form, I would bump you to about 2150 calories (this is considered a slow bulk) for 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, I would drop you down to about 1750 calories for 4-6 weeks. This would be one example of a bulk/cut cycle. Before you jump in, spend a lot of time researching this. Below is a good group to join with very knowledgeable people. Just make sure you read their rules before asking questions to be polite.

If you want an established routine, there are many such as starting strength, strong lift or new rules of lifting for women. Hope this helps.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

ell_v131

To be honest, you're already at a healthy weight. Trying to lose weight where you are is going to be really hard, and take a long time, because your body simply does not have the fat stores to constitute alot of weight loss. IMO, you shouldn't even try to be losing weight. What you should be doing instead, is focusing on body recomposition. In short, you want your inches to change (ie, clothes fit better, more defined figure, etc). For this, you need to start some weight lifting. No, you're not going to get all buff and become man-ish. Your body will change though, and you won't look "skinny-fat". Just remember though that you cannot spot reduce. The inches will come off wherever they please.

I'm sure there are several experienced women on these boards that can give you advice on lifting heavy.

I agree. The weight loss would be quite hard, but it may happen. If I were you I'd focus on body fat % and inches. I calculate my body fat here http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html.

I have lost 7 kilos since June while counting calories and I'm near my target weight, kinda like you are. I don't expect big changes in my weight anymore, but I started lifting in September and my body has changed a lot in those 3 months. 2 inches down from my waist, and about 1 inch on hips & thighs. I can really see the difference.

Currently I do a split routine (working out different muscle groups on different days) 5 days a week. I am moving on to Stronglifts 5x5 as of January, as that I believe will be even more effective. If you are a novice to the weights, you might be intimidated like I was, but I opened an account on Bodyspace.com and they have videos on how to do exercises or even whole programs. I practiced at home with no weights before I went to the gym lol. After those 3 months I know all the guys who lift there and am comfy and enjoy my workouts.

Look into New Rules of Lifting For Women, it's supposed to be a great book praised by a lot of women on here. Stronglifts 5x5 is a great program that I'm going to start, another one I find credible is Starting strength. And don't be afraid of looking bulky. As women, it would take hours each day in the gym and likely some juicing to get to a bodybuilders physique

Good luck!