Women that lift.. Help

SuperMoosh

Height:5ft (small I know)
Weight:125lb (Almost overweight for BMI.. :-/ )

****I am aware this post I am looking to loose weight and tone but was advised best advice on lifting etc would probably be in this section*******

Hello, so I posted earlier raising the issue that I have been dieting and exercising for 2 month and want to loose a stone. My weight has not altered much it pretty much stays at 125lb however I have lost a couple of inches and people have asked if I have been loosing weight. So when I raised this issue earlier I had a lot of re assuring feedback that it is better to loose inches than keep checking the weight on the scale. However I have been concerned for sometime my BMI is almost classed as overweight. So I got all my measurements and done some research, turns out its because I am small with a large body frame and the reason I weigh so much is because I have lean mass. Anyway the more I have researched I agree with the suggestions I need to up my strength training.

I currently eat a clean diet of chicken, tinned tuna, fresh fish, turkey steak, eggs, porridge, fat free greek yogurt, cashews (in moderation), veggies, fruits, milk, cereal, water etc and I only do 2x1 hour strength sessions in the gym at the minute and I will have a protein shake on those days.
I have only been eating about 1200 cal and 1400 at the very most but I mainly stick to 1200... will I have to up this and how many calories do people eat when training?

My weekly exercise's for the past 2 month have consisted of - metafit, circuits, insanity, spinning, zumba, swimming 3 times a week, 2x1 hour strength training and as of the past 2 week I have now started trying to squeeze a 3 mile run in there if I am not too busy.

SO now that I am thinking more strength I just need some more knowledge on fitness and nutrition so if anyone could add me or comment maybe help out with some tips, advice, meal plans, how many times and for how long I should be strength training for, or any alterations I need to make on my current diet and fitness regime would be very helpful! my goal is to loose body fat and tone!

Hope someone can help!

Fithealthyforlife

Are you trying to gain weight? I know this is the weight gain section, but it wasn't clear to me if that's what you're trying to do.
Are you using MFP's default calorie goal or another method? If so, what activity level do you have it set to?

At your size/bodyfat level (low/thin judging by pics) you will have to gain weight in order to build more muscle.

If you answer these questions, people should have an easier time helping you.

SuperMoosh

Are you trying to gain weight? I know this is the weight gain section, but it wasn't clear to me if that's what you're trying to do.
Are you using MFP's default calorie goal or another method? If so, what activity level do you have it set to?

At your size (judging by pics) you will have to gain weight in order to build more muscle.

If you answer these questions, people should have an easier time helping you.

I was originally trying to loose 1 stone but the scale wasn't moving however I lost inches instead. I am 125lb which for my height at 5ft is classed as almost over weight in terms of BMI but when I have been measured it just turns out I have a large body frame and apparently a decent amount of lean mass. So basically I am trying to loose fat and tone as oppose to loose weight on a scale

I am using MFP 1200 cal allowance they give me and sometimes eat a bit of my exercise calories back.

Fithealthyforlife

Are you trying to gain weight? I know this is the weight gain section, but it wasn't clear to me if that's what you're trying to do.
Are you using MFP's default calorie goal or another method? If so, what activity level do you have it set to?

At your size (judging by pics) you will have to gain weight in order to build more muscle.

If you answer these questions, people should have an easier time helping you.

I was originally trying to loose 1 stone but the scale wasn't moving however I lost inches instead. I am 125lb which for my height at 5ft is classed as almost over weight in terms of BMI but when I have been measured it just turns out I have a large body frame and apparently a decent amount of lean mass. So basically I am trying to loose fat and tone as oppose to loose weight on a scale

I am using MFP 1200 cal allowance they give me and sometimes eat a bit of my exercise calories back.

Yeah, BMI isn't a good standard. FFMI is a lot better for people who work out with weights.

What do you have MFP set to for activity level?

How are you logging your exercises? The reason I'm asking is because MFP under/overestimates certain exercise calories.

Are you happy with the amount of LBM you have, and just want to lose a couple of lbs of fat while preserving your muscle? Or do you want more muscle?

If you only want a couple more lbs of muscle, and want to stay the same weight, you can try (are you already doing this?) eating at maintenance to gain a bit muscle and lose fat while holding your bodyweight steady. But I doubt you would be able to add more than 3 lbs of muscle/lose 3 lbs of fat this way since you're already pretty thin. Do you know your bodyfat percentage (and not from a home scale, but from calipers or another reliable method)? If so, it would give us a better idea of how much you might be able to "recomp". Let's explore this a bit before people start suggesting (maybe unneccesarily) that you bulk and cut.

12by311

This is all my opinion…based on what you just said in your post…and if that's your current picture - don't even focus at all on losing weight!

If I were you I would eat at your maintenance actually.

Now based on what you just stated as your exercise and your stats, you should eat your TDEE of either 2268 or 2524 calories.

Don't freak out.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I would begin lifting and continue to do some of your cardio.

chrisdavey

disregard BMI. It doesn't account for BF%. I am "nearly" classed as obese again. Only overweight though

I would change one thing at a time. From your goals, I would probably start by switching one of the cardio sessions a week to another strength session (this will reduce total cals burnt).

If you are wanting to actually gain some muscle then you will have to gain some weight which means eating more (if the reduced cardio doesn't start that already).

If you are wanting to retain LBM and still lose weight (I wouldn't recommend it as you are already quite lean), then keep lifting and keep your cals where they are basically.

Fithealthyforlife

This is all my opinion…based on what you just said in your post…and if that's your current picture - don't even focus at all on losing weight!

If I were you I would eat at your maintenance actually.

Now based on what you just stated as your exercise and your stats, you should eat your TDEE of either 2268 or 2524 calories.

Don't freak out.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I would begin lifting and continue to do some of your cardio.

She said she is strength training already.

Whether she should eat at maintenance or not depends on whether she is satisfied with her current amount of muscle/athleticism. She may be able to gain a few more lbs of muscle/lose a few lbs of fat...but she is thin, so the ability to do so is limited. It would be best if she knew her bodyfat percentage.

Also, if her bodyfat is too low to recomp anymore, eating over maintenance will end up being her only option (for instance if she wants another 10 lbs of muscle). But I agree that she should try to recomp first. Recomping works well for women...but not so well at lower bodyfat percentages! And she shouldn't let that get too low, either.

Other things that matter:

-How she has her MFP set

-How she's tracking exercise calorie burns (I have a whole thread on the how these can be inaccurate)

Bottom line: I'm no woman, but I do have a good handle on weight training, gaining/losing weight, and the differences between men and women when it comes to doing so.

SuperMoosh

Are you trying to gain weight? I know this is the weight gain section, but it wasn't clear to me if that's what you're trying to do.
Are you using MFP's default calorie goal or another method? If so, what activity level do you have it set to?

At your size (judging by pics) you will have to gain weight in order to build more muscle.

If you answer these questions, people should have an easier time helping you.

I was originally trying to loose 1 stone but the scale wasn't moving however I lost inches instead. I am 125lb which for my height at 5ft is classed as almost over weight in terms of BMI but when I have been measured it just turns out I have a large body frame and apparently a decent amount of lean mass. So basically I am trying to loose fat and tone as oppose to loose weight on a scale

I am using MFP 1200 cal allowance they give me and sometimes eat a bit of my exercise calories back.

Yeah, BMI isn't a good standard. FFMI is a lot better for people who work out with weights.

What do you have MFP set to for activity level?

How are you logging your exercises? The reason I'm asking is because MFP under/overestimates certain exercise calories.

Are you happy with the amount of LBM you have, and just want to lose a couple of lbs of fat while preserving your muscle? Or do you want more muscle?

If you only want a couple more lbs of muscle, and want to stay the same weight, you can try (are you already doing this?) eating at maintenance to gain a bit muscle and lose fat while holding your bodyweight steady. But I doubt you would be able to add more than 3 lbs of muscle/lose 3 lbs of fat this way since you're already pretty thin. Do you know your bodyfat percentage (and not from a home scale, but from calipers or another reliable method)? If so, it would give us a better idea of how much you might be able to "recomp". Let's explore this a bit before people start suggesting (maybe unneccesarily) that you bulk and cut.

Activity level is set at sedentary
I log my weight training or any cardio I do at the gym myself because I use techno gym
And if I go to a fitness class or swimming training I just use an online calculator type in my details and get an estimate of how many cal burned.

Well this is only an estimate but I think from looking at online calculators im about 25% body fat but not sure if that is correct I need to get it checked somewhere reliable. I still have bits of fat I don't want for example I want to loose my love handles, I have excess fat under my arms, thighs etc, obviously not an alarming amount. I know I have a decent amount of muscle there its just about getting it defined now which would either mean loose weight or make my muscles bigger i am just not sure how to go about it.

Fithealthyforlife

Activity level is set at sedentary
I log my weight training or any cardio I do at the gym myself because I use techno gym
And if I go to a fitness class or swimming training I just use an online calculator type in my details and get an estimate of how many cal burned.

Well this is only an estimate but I think from looking at online calculators im about 25% body fat but not sure if that is correct I need to get it checked somewhere reliable. I still have bits of fat I don't want for example I want to loose my love handles, I have excess fat under my arms, thighs etc, obviously not an alarming amount. I know I have a decent amount of muscle there its just about getting it defined now which would either mean loose weight or make my muscles bigger i am just not sure how to go about it.

Thank you!

So from what you've said, I would say you're best off eating roughly at maintenance, plus eating back all exercise calories...and getting sufficient protein...and lifting intensely 3 times per week. After several months of this, you should find that your bodyfat decreases slightly and your muscles increase slightly.

But exercise burns can be off a bit. If after a month you've lost a pound or two, eat slightly more. And if you've gained a pound or two of fat (not counting the water/glycogen gains in muscles when you start lifting more, which can be up to 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks) then scale back slightly. When you adjust diet, do so by 100 calories or so, and wait 2-4 weeks before jumping to conclusions about whether it worked or not.

I would ride it out at maintenance for a while and enjoy lifting hard!

12by311

This is all my opinion…based on what you just said in your post…and if that's your current picture - don't even focus at all on losing weight!

If I were you I would eat at your maintenance actually.

Now based on what you just stated as your exercise and your stats, you should eat your TDEE of either 2268 or 2524 calories.

Don't freak out.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I would begin lifting and continue to do some of your cardio.

She said she is strength training already.

Whether she should eat at maintenance or not depends on whether she is satisfied with her current amount of muscle/athleticism. She may be able to gain a few more lbs of muscle/lose a few lbs of fat...but she is thin, so the ability to do so is limited. It would be best if she knew her bodyfat percentage.

Also, if her bodyfat is too low to recomp anymore, eating over maintenance will end up being her only option (for instance if she wants another 10 lbs of muscle). But I agree that she should try to recomp first. Recomping works well for women...but not so well at lower bodyfat percentages! And she shouldn't let that get too low, either.

Other things that matter:

-How she has her MFP set

-How she's tracking exercise calorie burns (I have a whole thread on the how these can be inaccurate)

Bottom line: I'm no woman, but I do have a good handle on weight training, gaining/losing weight, and the differences between men and women when it comes to doing so.

Right on.

I override MFP's settings to put in my TDEE cut by 20% (for my current goals). I never eat back exercise calories.

So OP, when I'm speaking of TDEE, you wouldn't be eating back exercise calories.

As far as programs go for weight lifting, I've only done strong lifts before, but New Rules of Lifting for Women is a program many on MFP like.

SuperMoosh

Activity level is set at sedentary
I log my weight training or any cardio I do at the gym myself because I use techno gym
And if I go to a fitness class or swimming training I just use an online calculator type in my details and get an estimate of how many cal burned.

Well this is only an estimate but I think from looking at online calculators im about 25% body fat but not sure if that is correct I need to get it checked somewhere reliable. I still have bits of fat I don't want for example I want to loose my love handles, I have excess fat under my arms, thighs etc, obviously not an alarming amount. I know I have a decent amount of muscle there its just about getting it defined now which would either mean loose weight or make my muscles bigger i am just not sure how to go about it.

Thank you!

So from what you've said, I would say you're best off eating roughly at maintenance, plus eating back all exercise calories...and getting sufficient protein...and lifting intensely 3 times per week. After several months of this, you should find that your bodyfat decreases slightly and your muscles increase slightly.

But exercise burns can be off a bit. If after a month you've lost a pound or two, eat slightly more. And if you've gained a pound or two of fat (not counting the water/glycogen gains in muscles when you start lifting more, which can be up to 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks) then scale back slightly. When you adjust diet, do so by 100 calories or so, and wait 2-4 weeks before jumping to conclusions about whether it worked or not.

I would ride it out at maintenance for a while and enjoy lifting hard!

Thanks, this seems a bit scary because I am worried as hell this backfires and I end up fat because I don't lift good enough or something but i will give it a go and keep posted. Where can i find maintenance calorie calculator? what do you class as lifting intensely?

geekyjock76

This is the TDEE and calorie calculator I use:

http://www.weightrainer.net/losscalc.html

Just curious but what is your weekly weight loss goal set at? 1200 calories seems awfully low for someone as lean and active as yourself, despite being 5 feet tall. You should ideally be set to lightly active - because you probably aren't hibernating in bed literally all day - and 0.5 lbs per week loss (if you were trying to reduce fat mass). If you aren't using a digital food scale, you very well could be eating more than 1200 calories. To me, if you were eating that little, you'd likely be losing weight and fat mass at a pretty fast rate.

Edit: Also, you seem to be lower than 25% body fat from that picture. I'd guess you're around the 20 to 21% range at most.

acogg

If this helps, I am 5'5" tall and am 53 years old. I was maintaining without exercise at 1500-1600 calories. I started doing New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women in late January. About four weeks later I was starving from eating at maintenance calories. I have been bumping up my calories trying to find the right balance. Just today, I am trying 2000 calories per day. I am very familiar with the fear of fat from eating too much. It is so important to experiment with finding a good balance that builds muscle and doesn't add too much fat. Seeing a 2000 calorie goal on my food diary makes me feel like a moon walker, woot!

Fithealthyforlife

Activity level is set at sedentary
I log my weight training or any cardio I do at the gym myself because I use techno gym
And if I go to a fitness class or swimming training I just use an online calculator type in my details and get an estimate of how many cal burned.

Well this is only an estimate but I think from looking at online calculators im about 25% body fat but not sure if that is correct I need to get it checked somewhere reliable. I still have bits of fat I don't want for example I want to loose my love handles, I have excess fat under my arms, thighs etc, obviously not an alarming amount. I know I have a decent amount of muscle there its just about getting it defined now which would either mean loose weight or make my muscles bigger i am just not sure how to go about it.

Thank you!

So from what you've said, I would say you're best off eating roughly at maintenance, plus eating back all exercise calories...and getting sufficient protein...and lifting intensely 3 times per week. After several months of this, you should find that your bodyfat decreases slightly and your muscles increase slightly.

But exercise burns can be off a bit. If after a month you've lost a pound or two, eat slightly more. And if you've gained a pound or two of fat (not counting the water/glycogen gains in muscles when you start lifting more, which can be up to 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks) then scale back slightly. When you adjust diet, do so by 100 calories or so, and wait 2-4 weeks before jumping to conclusions about whether it worked or not.

I would ride it out at maintenance for a while and enjoy lifting hard!

Thanks, this seems a bit scary because I am worried as hell this backfires and I end up fat because I don't lift good enough or something but i will give it a go and keep posted. Where can i find maintenance calorie calculator? what do you class as lifting intensely?

Either use TDEE like others have suggested, or use what you're doing now as a starting point. Either way, there will be trial and error. I prefer MFP over TDEE because I have very different activity levels each day. Some days I might burn no extra calories, and another day out of the blue, 700 extra. I'm all over the place, and MFP is better in that case. But either way, it's an approximation. Like many things that have to do with health, I've learned this is more an art than a science...though it's art based on a science.

Intensely means something like stronglifts, as others have mentioned.

"New Rules of Lifting for Women" is Excellent book with a capital "E". I'm a guy and I'm actually reading through the women's book right now. It's great, and it stesses recomping for women, because women can gain muscle without gaining weight easier than men can if there is also bodyfat to burn. This is due to differences in energy metabolism, hormones, and body composition between the sexes. (No, I didn't buy it for myself!)

There are also a ton of women's groups here that you can use in addition to the general forums...there is one fo the book, for example.

Good luck!

Fithealthyforlife

And one more thing...

If you do something intense, like Stronglifts, the "weight training" entry on MFP underestimates calories. So if you're worried about being over, that would give you a cushion.

In fact, my personal experience is that I was unable to gain weight (my goal) for a month since I started Stronglifts...despite increasing my calories by another hundred when I started! (I was doing a regular, lower intensity program before that, and gaining weight fine.) I had to actually increase calories by *another* 200 on exercise days to keep gaining! I now eat 3000+ every day. I am so lean that recomping is out of the question for me...I have to gain weight to gain even a pound of muscle.

Gross caloric intake determines weight gain/loss. Lifting determines how much of that gain/loss (or body composition if maintaining) is muscle vs. fat. It's that simple (assuming proper nutrition--protein/other macros--and rest).

Squamation

I have a completely different body than you, but here's what worked for me:

-Lose the scale and take pictures/measurements. I stayed at 130 lbs but changed significantly.

-Strength train 3x a week and do cardio just 2x a week.

-Lift moderate to heavy- meaning shoot for 8-12 reps per 3 sets. If you can squeeze out more than 12 reps then up the weight your next set.

-On strength training days warm up with a quick run/cardio session (5 to 10min)

-Squeeze some Yoga in at least once a week, and don't forget to stretch after every workout.

** I am not a professional- just another female letting you know what worked for me **

Good Luck! And like everyone else said- Ignore BMI it only takes into account body weight and has nothing to do with physical health. I track BF% as I feel it's more accurate for where I am fitness wise.