Female weight training - bulking but no fat loss?! HELP

whitebalance

You need to read this. Check this girl's stats and she is your age.

Her "bulky" 142 is wayyyy hotter than her mushy 117.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Whoa ok, she looks amazing. I'm convinced. Maybe I should stop obsessing over the scales and just keep training hard. Thank you

YAAAAAAAY!!!!!

Here's to OP for open-mindedness, hanging in there, and future awesome results. :drinker:

ravenmiss

Well done for sticking with it and listening to the great advice and inspiration OP.

Hope you continue to see great results!

little_gemm

Well with that new knowledge take another look at your progress. Your scale hasn't moved and yet your body is clearly noticebly swollen with retained water in your overworked muscles....what does that tell you? :-) I think you'll like the answer.

Good point! I never thought of it like that. Thank you for your help :happy: I was feeling so disheartened earlier. Now feeling really motivated again and can't wait to get back in the gym tomorrow.


Thank y'all :flowerforyou:

Nissi51

Three weeks does not a plateau make. Keep lifting, ensure your calories are appropriate and practice some patience. Fat loss, body transformation require consistency over a long period of time!

kdeaux1959

1. Keep lifting and continue cardio. These are both helpful in becoming FIT.

2. The scale is a deceitful chap when it comes to fitness and overall progress

3. You may well be gaining a little muscle since you are new to this BUT not nearly what you are gaining in pounds. You are definitely gaining strength and that is good.. Some of this strength comes from learning how to manipulate the resistance.

4. Most of the weight gain is from glycogen stores used in muscle repair.

5. If you are truly on a calorie deficit you are not gaining a lot of muscle and what you are gaining will cease to increase (you still get stronger). You don't gain appreciable muscle mass while on a deficit since you are in a catabolic state (cell breakdown) rather than an anabolic state (cell building).

6. As others have indicated, if you are a woman and not taking anabolic steroids, loading up on protein, AND eating at a surplus, then you are not going to gain like a male bodybuilder. It really takes all three. What you are perceiving as "bulk" is most likely the water buildup due to the muscle repair process and will build up as you lift and go away after a day or two. It comes and goes.

NOW, as to the real question at hand...

How are your clothes fitting. IF they are fitting looser, then you are definitely on the right track. You are losing SOMETHING ... In that case you are essentially dropping fat (fat is less dense than muscle)... If in fact your clothes are also getting tighter then it may well be that you are taking in more calories than you think and/or are not burning what you THINK you are... In that case, more activity and less eating would be most helpful. I suspect the former.

MireyGal76

Be sure you are taking measurements too... As you lean out, the fat that covers your muscles will start to disappear. You may start seeing more striations than before. It'll looks less uniform and stronger. But often, you will think you look "bigger" when the measurements may actually prove the opposite.

If you don't like the "ripped" look. Stop losing weight at that point and go into maintenance.

For me... I love the definition... So I keep my body fat on the lower end.

So glad to see you are responding so well to the feedback!

One more thing... If you have before /current pics, would you consider posting them?

Example:


Many people thought I looked more muscular on the right... But I am not. The measurements were basically the same, if not a bit smaller.

But the loss of fat in my shoulders, arms, and abs, make it seem that way.

whitebalance

:girlcrush:

MireyGal76

:girlcrush:

:flowerforyou: :smooched:

ishq88

I had this problem. I was doing weight training 3x/week and cardio twice a week. My cardio would consist of the elliptical or zumba. I had very little weight loss. So I changed up my routine and now do tabata twice a week and strength training twice a week.. and am losing weight at a stead pace .

Tabata does wonders. Check out these videos on youtube. They are my go to ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PutmjSp0Qk8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoL4Tqk_ih0

albayin

Be sure you are taking measurements too... As you lean out, the fat that covers your muscles will start to disappear. You may start seeing more striations than before. It'll looks less uniform and stronger. But often, you will think you look "bigger" when the measurements may actually prove the opposite.

If you don't like the "ripped" look. Stop losing weight at that point and go into maintenance.

For me... I love the definition... So I keep my body fat on the lower end.

So glad to see you are responding so well to the feedback!

One more thing... If you have before /current pics, would you consider posting them?

Example:


Many people thought I looked more muscular on the right... But I am not. The measurements were basically the same, if not a bit smaller.

But the loss of fat in my shoulders, arms, and abs, make it seem that way.

oh my lord...you are my motivation to keep lifting~