Noob - afraid of getting too big

Annadriel

Hi,

I started to use MFP a month ago. My goal is to lose 12kg (4 down already) and to shape my body, so it would look nice. Sth like this:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/7670261839749565/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/298996862732022328/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/372672937886758334/

But I am afraid I would overdo it or sth and I would look too "big" so would start to form too many muscles, which I don't find cool anymore.

On the border:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/36169603230652741/ (because of her legs, I found them too much muscled) http://www.pinterest.com/pin/260786634645898519/ (because of her stomach, I wouldn't like that much muscles)

No way I want to look like this:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/260786634645898884/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/260786634645898815/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/260786634645898500/
All too masculine ... I mean for my taste that is.

I started to go to the gym (10min cardio, all other is weight lifting), I intend to do it every second day and every second day I want to continue with my normal cardio workout. But How do I know when do I need to stop, so I don't get too "big" or how do I even stop? Do u need to go on smaller weights or how do u maintain some exact amount of muscles?

I know this might sound stupid, but I was never into these things and it is my 1st time I would want to try shape my body. So any suggestion about how to achieve the result as pictured on first 3 examples, would be helpful.

My current gym workout list covers all the body (chest, shoulders, back, biceps, triceps, legs, stomach and 10min bike). At every other 2nd day at home I run/ play tennis / swim / sworkit / ski,....

Thanks.

LishieFruit89

Im too lazy to copy the URLs into my browser because im on my phone.

But it takes years and years of Lifting and eating right for a woman to have large muscles. Sometimes steroids are involved. You wont just wake up with muscle (but man do I dream)

3laine75

I haven't looked at the pics.

I'm pretty sure you won't manage to get too big by accident though.

vjohn04

Youre not going to get "bulky" without really trying-- like years of trying, or by taking steriods. The muscles you're seeing in those pics are from a low body fat perspective, like someone prepping for a competition (at least the first one was, I was too lazy to look at them all.

rejectuf

Women have the ability to become very strong without really showing it. It takes years of dedication and specific dieting for most women to become "too big."

JesterMFP

Get leaner with a calorie deficit and maintain the lean mass you already have by eating enough protein and doing some resistance exercises. You won't get "big" by accident. You won't achieve the looks in the second and third groups by accident, I promise. Those bodies take a long time and a lot of work. The last lot in particular take years to achieve, lots of progressive strength training, eating more calories than you burn, bulk & cut cycles etc. That's not going to happen unless you intend it to, and even then it would take a lot of hard work and dedication.

Also, don't discount the powers of good lighting, photography and photoshop, for all of those images.

For what you actually want to achieve, start here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants


ETA: oh, and how do you know when to stop? Look in the mirror and stop when you're happy with what you see. And, I don't mean stop exercising, but stop trying to lose fat.

SunofaBeach14

There is no way that you will ever get "too big" eating at a deficit. It's simply not going to happen. It takes quite a bit of work eating at a surplus for a woman to become "bulky" so put this out of your mind.

delicious_cocktail

Please look through this thread which has a lot of pictures of what has happened to women through weight lifting.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/977538-halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky

It truly won't make you bulky. That is a myth.

geebusuk

First off, don't take anabolic steroids.

Then, look in the mirror once a month. If you feel you've got enough or too much 'tone', stop increasing weight.

3dogsrunning

I have looked at your links. Even the border line ones - you do not look like that accidentally. I can't stress that enough. Those bodies takes a lot of hard, intentional work and attention to diet. Not all of them take drugs to achieve it, although some may, but it is years of working towards a specific goal to achieve that.

liesevanlingen

It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to look like that accidentally. You don't just suddenly wake up and find yourself "too big" one day. You stop, or ease up, when you're happy with how you look . It will take weeks (or months) for you to start losing significant amounts of body fat, and muscle is built slowly. Nobody gets a body like that unintentionally.

oaker

Believe me it will not happen overnite. Just start a lifting program. Pick something simple that works the entire body. You can always stop, lower the weights, eat less etc. once you have achieved the results you want. Remember, genetics plays an important too.

Cranquistador

What everyone else said for the most part.

3dogsrunning

I should also add that most, if not all, of your "ideal" and "borderline" photos are photo shoots. These models, while they maintain a low body fat most of the time anyway and still look good, still prep for these shoots through diet and use other techniques to look leaner and show off their muscles. Plus lighting techniques and photoshop.

For example - a different look from your #2 "don't want" group. Different level of bodyfat
http://www.yummyliciousyoga.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamie_eason_2_3U8okww.sized_.jpg

jackpotclown

I don't think it's going to become a real issue.....ever......\m/

SugaryLynx

Don't worry. Women only get sexy

ihateroses

That's like saying "I'm going to school for nursing...I only want to be a nurse though not a doctor. How do I make sure I won't accidentally become a brain surgeon."

You have nothing to worry about.

MyChocolateDiet

Maybe you could invest in a mirror. That way if you wake up one morning after your umpteenth workout and notice that you have turned into The Rock, you can change your game plan.

mereditheve

Some of my very good friends are professional bodybuilders, and it takes an incredible amount of work, a very specific diet (e.g, one eats over a dozen eggs for breakfast every morning during part of his training), and they aren't always lifting heavy weights like you might think. I would add that the way they look for a show is not how they look every day, and once they stop, their body quickly changes to looking more normal. You will not look like a bodybuilder by accident -- I guarantee it. On the other hand, I knew an Olympic weight lifting trainer who could lift incredible amounts of weight, and he looked like a normal guy.

I have lifted weights, and heavy weights, for the last 14 years with a 3-year break in the middle. Initially I was actually trying to get bigger because I weighed just over 80lbs at the time and I was in college. I drank weight gainer, ate fast food, tons of protein bars and shakes... and after graduation, my size hadn't changed by more than a couple pounds, and I was wearing all of the same clothes. About the only thing that really seemed to change after years of lifting weights almost daily is that I had low body fat, defined triceps (for a girl) and I could lift more than some of the guys at the gym.

usmcmp

I'm a natural bodybuilder. It took me years of hard work to build the muscle (very, very, very hard work). The girls in the pictures have very low body fat PLUS they did a quick workout before the shoot to fill the muscles with blood and make them look round/big. When I'm wearing regular clothes I don't even look like I have muscle, I just look athletic. Even in a swimming suit unless I put effort into flexing I just look like a normal in shape person with slight "tone" to my body.

FromHereOnOut

There's no way to look like any of those accidentally. (Oh, but how I wish!)

In fact, I would venture to say that if you go to the gym and work as heavy and hard as though you intended to look like the last pictures (the ones that you thought were too big), you'll have a better chance of actually looking like the first pictures (your dream body pictures). And the abs and veins that you see are because those women are extremely lean due to meticulous diet that only very few people have the will and knowledge to follow (and even then, it is only done periodically before competitions and photoshoots).