Losing tummy bulge at maintenance cals

SavinnaMarie

I'm underweight at 5'3 and 95 pounds. my arms and legs are okay. not too skinny and i'm slowly gaining muscle in those areas but my stomach is bulging. it's a little bit swuishy and soft and my goal is to get a toned, flat stomach. I'm currently consuming a net of 1,200 calories to lose the fat and I'm doing insanity + additional arm and ab exercises to build muscle. lately, I've been having a hard time keeping my cals to a net of 1,200 and usually go over. is it okay to increase my daily intake to maintenance calories? will I still lose the stomach bulge + tone my abs? cause I think if I eat at maintenance, I won't lose the stomach fat and just maintain it and build some muscle under the fats so it won't show at all. but I'm really confused lol so I want to get your suggestions and opinion specially cause most of you guys have more knowledge and experience with getting fit and losing weight.

Aaron_K123

Have you considered the idea that you can actually eat in surplus, gain muscle AND flatten your belly? If you are already underweight your goal should be to put on weight, not to diet.

Aaron_K123

Before and after shot. Which one do you think is 11 pounds heavier?

EDIT: image doesn't fit, have to check out the link to see both sides of image

http://www.nerdfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Screen-Shot-2011-07-21-at-9.23.11-AM1.jpg

darrensurrey

Agree with Aaron.

I was eating around 1500, throw in HIIT and weights, ended up quite underweight. Didn't achieve what I wanted so had a think. Decided to eat about 2500 and continue lifting, only sport no HIIT. Many days ended up eating up to 2800. Filled in the fluffy bits with muscle. Look much better. Now focusing on keeping the muscle whilst removing more fat.

Oh, I weigh the same as I did at the start.

jenilla1

If you're already underweight, you don't need a deficit. I'd look into weight training and eating at maintenance. That works well for me (flat stomach and all.)

Aaron_K123

That flat and toned look comes from the underlying muscle stretching the skin taut. You won't get that from losing weight you will get that from putting on muscle.

Be honest with yourself. Picture that ideal look you are going for on a 5'3 woman (I'm sure you can find images online) and ask yourself, does that person have a flat stomach because she weighs less than 95 pounds? The answer is a most definite no.

People with flat toned stomachs have a good amount of muscle on them. If that is the look you are going for then you need to eat in excess of maintenance and lift weights and do resistance training to build up your muscle and put on some weight.

You are NOT, repeat, NOT going to put on ANY muscle eating 1200 calories a day in fact you probably need to be eating twice that, something closer to 2400 calories. That image of that girl I linked, she was eating over 3000 calories every day to get that look. Her stomach is toned and flat and at 5' 4 she weighs 142 pounds.

SavinnaMarie

should I be consuming a total of 1,500 calories a day or a NET of 1,500 calories?

Aaron_K123

should I be consuming a total of 1,500 calories a day or a NET of 1,500 calories?

A net of 1500 calories and honestly at your age and height if you want to be putting on muscle I'd think you'd want more than that. You've already admitted you are underweight, eating a net of 2000 calories with a regular routinue of heavy lifting would probably do you a lot of good. That might sound like a lot to you but I'm low-balling it. That girl I linked, the one with the flat stomach, her diet was between 3000 and 4000 calories every day while she was training. She is one inch taller than you and 50 pounds heavier with a flat stomach. I'm not saying that you should eat that much but what I am saying is you need to get over the idea that eating more is going to make you fat. If you exercise along with it eating more is going to make you healthier and leaner looking.

Eating only 1200 calories is not going to give you a flat stomach, at your weight it is going to give you health problems.

Unknown

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Aaron_K123

should I be consuming a total of 1,500 calories a day or a NET of 1,500 calories?

A net of 1500 calories and honestly at your age and height if you want to be putting on muscle I'd think you'd want more than that. You've already admitted you are underweight, eating a net of 2000 calories with a regular routinue of heavy lifting would probably do you a lot of good. That might sound like a lot to you but I'm low-balling it. That girl I linked, the one with the flat stomach, her diet was between 3000 and 4000 calories every day while she was training. She is one inch taller than you and 50 pounds heavier with a flat stomach. I'm not saying that you should eat that much but what I am saying is you need to get over the idea that eating more is going to make you fat. If you exercise along with it eating more is going to make you healthier and leaner looking.

Eating only 1200 calories is not going to give you a flat stomach, at your weight it is going to give you health problems.

Something that just blows my mind is that you give people advice on things that you don't do yourself. The advice you just gave above is exactly what you have been told to do but don't want to. You also have been stuck in your weight loss and wondered why and then you turn around and give advice to people on what to do. I don't mean to be an a** but it seems like much of the advice you are giving out, and a lot of it lately, is based on readings and not so much personal experience. Just my 2 cents. Take it or leave it

Readings are the experiences of many, personal experience is the experience of one. Not sure why personal experience trumps reading. I don't think you are an a** MrM27 I think you are blunt and I think you talk straight and I have respect for that. I will further assume that dishing it out you can take it as well.

So...in this particular case the person in question is underweight self-admittedly at 95 pounds. In comparison I am at 25% bodyfat and have a rather sizable stomach roll. My goal is to drop my bodyfat, hers is to have a lean flat looking stomach. I do not think it is hypocritical of me to, myself, diet in order to lose fat which I clearly have an excess of while suggesting to someone else who is underweight that they should attempt to put on weight. If the person I was saying this too was in the exact same situation I am in then yes that would be hypocritical, but they aren't. I am not underweight, far from.

If there is something I actually said to this person that you think is bunk then point it out and give your own take on it but I stand by the idea that if you are 95 pounds and looking to have a trim lean flat stomached look that probably you should be attempting to put on weight in the form of muscle rather than taking on an aggressive 1200 calorie diet to try to become even more underweight.

You are free of course to question anything I say based on what I say but if you are just questioning what I say because I am the one saying it not because of what I said then I'm not sure who you are trying to help doing that.

BlueBombers

1200 calories and you are underweight? Um yeah, you need a lot more than that.

SavinnaMarie

thank you for making everything clear. getting fit is not about working out and eating less. I'm gonna start eating more now