I'm at a weird place with my weight.

sunflowerinkashmir
sunflowerinkashmir Posts: 15
in Getting Started
Hey guys! I'm 19, 5'1 and currently weigh 109.4 lbs as of this morning. While I know this is a healthy weight for my height and age, I am interested in losing weight because I have a lot of fat on my body. I have noticed that I have been gaining weight lately and I know that my birth control is part of it, but I do need to work out and eat better. I've started going to the gym again this week, but I'm just not sure what I should be doing or what I should be eating.

Diet is my main concern. I eat A LOT but I have a pretty fast metabolism. I've tried to eat less this week but I'm so hungry all of the time, it's horrible. And I've read that eating less will slow down your metabolism but I've relied on my metabolism all these years, I don't want it to slow down! I'm not trying to gain muscle right now, just weight loss. I'm very confused on what to eat and how much. I I've started counting calories and trying to eat more filling foods but I'm so hungry! ): any tips on diet?

For exercise, I'm trying to focus more on cardio even though I despise it. I did 50 mins of cardio today (30 on the precor elliptical/Stairmaster thing and 20 on the regular Stairmaster as a cool down). I also am trying to work one core even though I'm not trying to gain muscle. I need a strong core to help with my back issues. I did crunches today as well. Will this plan for a few weeks work for me?

I'm just confused really. :/ any advice would be so greatly appreciated. Thanks so much everyone!

Replies

  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Why are you not trying to gain muscle? You should absolutely be trying to gain muscle, especially with your stats. If you say you have excess fat at your weight and height it's because you don't have enough muscle. Bulk first to put on muscle, then cut to get rid of the fat and keep the muscle. In your situation right now, weight lifting will be far more important than cardio.
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
    If you want to reduce fat, you need to replace it with muscle. You should try strength training to build muscle and lose fat. Losing more weight is going to wind up putting you at an unhealthy weight, and your body fat percentage will only decrease if you recomp your body.

    You won't get huge and bulky like body builders. You'll just get toned.
  • sunflowerinkashmir
    sunflowerinkashmir Posts: 15
    Why are you not trying to gain muscle? You should absolutely be trying to gain muscle, especially with your stats. If you say you have excess fat at your weight and height it's because you don't have enough muscle. Bulk first to put on muscle, then cut to get rid of the fat and keep the muscle. In your situation right now, weight lifting will be far more important than cardio.

    Beeeeecause I don't know what I'm doing...hence my questions XD but it makes me happy to hear that I don't have to focus on cardio as much, strength training is so much more fun. Thank you so much!
  • sunflowerinkashmir
    sunflowerinkashmir Posts: 15
    If you want to reduce fat, you need to replace it with muscle. You should try strength training to build muscle and lose fat. Losing more weight is going to wind up putting you at an unhealthy weight, and your body fat percentage will only decrease if you recomp your body.

    You won't get huge and bulky like body builders. You'll just get toned.

    Thank you for the advice! (:
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    If you want to reduce fat, you need to replace it with muscle. You should try strength training to build muscle and lose fat. Losing more weight is going to wind up putting you at an unhealthy weight, and your body fat percentage will only decrease if you recomp your body.

    You won't get huge and bulky like body builders. You'll just get toned.

    ^ Listen to this woman! You should be replacing fat with muscle. Weight training is the way to do it. It will make you look leaner (muscle is denser than fat, so takes up less room), and being strong is great in its own light.

    The Eat, Train, Progress MPF group is a great resource for weight training:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

    The stickies at the top of the group forum are very helpful for beginners (and everyone else, too, really).

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