burning muscle and not fat?

cwjett

Hi I am a little confused, I'm new to this site. I entered in my information and It told me i need to eat around 1200 calories a day. I'm concerned about my body burning muscle, how does that work?

Please give me any advice you have. thanks
I am 5'5 and about 127 lbs.
I want to lose about 10 pounds!

Thank you! So far I really am enjoying this site!

cwjett

Hi I am a little confused, I'm new to this site. I entered in my information and It told me i need to eat around 1200 calories a day. I'm concerned about my body burning muscle, how does that work?

Please give me any advice you have. thanks
I am 5'5 and about 127 lbs.
I want to lose about 10 pounds!

Thank you! So far I really am enjoying this site!

nmsp2180s

If you really want to guarantee that you are burning fat, take up weight lifting.
I don't mean that you have to walk around like a gym rat with no neck, I simply mean that you will need to add resistance and weight training to your workout routine.

Some good exercises to start with are squat thrusts, old fashioned push ups, walking lunges with combined shoulder press and triceps press and dumbell curls.

Don't forget to add some ab training as well.

cwjett

Thanks nmsp for your suggestion. wow I forgot about those good ole squat thrusts from PE days! lol
I do my cardio at the gym and then i do weight training, I much prefer weight training than cardio. I think that may be my problem, I get too bored on cardio machines and I want to stop after 20 minutes or so.
So I'm worried about just building muscle over this layer of fat that I have and ultimately making myself look bigger.
I guess what it all balls down to is I need to suck it up and stay on the cardio machines longer!

banks1850

you may want to read this. A lot of it focuses on how the body burns energy.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

cwjett

Thank you banks, that is ALOT of info! LOL I will print it out to refer to it often. How can eating healthy and losing weight be so confusing??? lol

banks1850

Thank you banks, that is ALOT of info! LOL I will print it out to refer to it often. How can eating healthy and losing weight be so confusing??? lol

At first it seems overwhelming, but after a while it gets easier. Stick with it, you will get used to it quickly.

edyta

Hi! You look great on your pics :flowerforyou:

Everybody's different and have different goals but since I'm the same hight and I'm fighting a few pound just as you I thought I would give you my opinion.
I'm 5'5' and 139 right now and want to go down by about ~10lbs which is really hard. I was checking out lots of "ideal weight" calculators and even if you have a really small frame (mine is medium/large) your 125lbs is perfect! Remember that if you are fit and have much muscles you'll automatically weigh a little more.
Of course it's a matter of how you feel in your skin but probably you just need to tone up so exercise regularly and maintain.
Please, think if you really need to lose weight because you may just find it very very difficult to lose this little body fat you have and put unnecessary pressure on your body.
Body fat % is more important than your weight so maybe try to measure this.

Good luck in achieving your goal no matter how you'll set it :flowerforyou:

cwjett

thanks edyta! I know I am in my ideal weight cattegory. I just think I would feel more comfortable 10 pounds lighter. In the last 3 years when I started a new job that i sit at a desk most of the time I have put on the 10 pounds and I don't want more weight to start to creep on.
I really need to firm up too! I have noticed my legs are more flabby than they ever have been; I guess thats what happens when you sit at a computer all day right?!? lol
Thanks for the encouragement, I really like this site!