Advice for body recomposition? Ladies?

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  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Thanks for the OP, great info here! I am still trying to get my weight down a bit, so my strength training is working with dumbbells to keep the muscles I have while I lose. But as soon as I get the last 5-10 lbs off, I want to jump right into getting STRONG.

    Out of curiosity, to get these results, do you have to train with a barbell? I don't have one yet, and I'm not sure I have room in my apartment anyway, but I'll do what I need to do when the time comes :happy:
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    You have some good replies here. At 118, you definitely don't need to worry about losing any more weight. You aren't doing yourself any favors by eating 1200 calories (and eating clean, while fine and it's good to eat natural and unprocessed, is unnecessary).

    To get maximum results, you need to eat at maintenance and lift as heavy as possible. Also keep in mind this will take some time. It took me a good year to recomp and lose a couple % body fat. It's a much slower process than bulking and cutting, which I've also done.

    Just eat, lift, and be patient! :)
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I am not so fond of weight training. I prefer Yoga and stretching because I want a lean long body, not a bulky one.

    There is a lady on PBS Miranda Esmond White who does a morning routine, which helps me very much and I am much older than you but the same size.

    http://classicalstretch.com/miranda.htm

    I wanted to jump all over you for saying you are not fond of weight training and that you want to be long and lean and not bulky, because weight training does not make women bulky UNLESS they are trying to get bulky and even then, it'll take YEARS.

    But I can't. I just clicked on your profile and you are 69 years old. And you are rocking the road bike. And you are inspirational, just because. You rock.

    Right? I wanna still be riding my bike at 69 years old. Awesome.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Thanks for the OP, great info here! I am still trying to get my weight down a bit, so my strength training is working with dumbbells to keep the muscles I have while I lose. But as soon as I get the last 5-10 lbs off, I want to jump right into getting STRONG.

    Out of curiosity, to get these results, do you have to train with a barbell? I don't have one yet, and I'm not sure I have room in my apartment anyway, but I'll do what I need to do when the time comes :happy:

    No. You just need progressive loading. I love my barbell because I wouldn't be able to deadlift without it (I know technically you *can* with dumbbells but it's not the same), and dumbbell squats are hella hard. But dumbbells work as long as you can keep up with how much weight you need (I like my adjustable set). And body weight will work if you keep making the exercises harder.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Thanks for the OP, great info here! I am still trying to get my weight down a bit, so my strength training is working with dumbbells to keep the muscles I have while I lose. But as soon as I get the last 5-10 lbs off, I want to jump right into getting STRONG.

    Out of curiosity, to get these results, do you have to train with a barbell? I don't have one yet, and I'm not sure I have room in my apartment anyway, but I'll do what I need to do when the time comes :happy:

    a barbell helps and Don't wait...do it now.

    ETA: progressive load program is what you need to build strength.
  • tag624
    tag624 Posts: 166 Member
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    Body recomposition is where you eat close to your TDEE (the number you should be maintaining at) and following a solid lifting program. If you are new to lifting you will see beginner gains, but you are at the point where you should slowly increase your calories. This isn't going to be an overnight process, it will take months of hard work.

    This! Eat more and lift heavy
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
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    I am not so fond of weight training. I prefer Yoga and stretching because I want a lean long body, not a bulky one.

    There is a lady on PBS Miranda Esmond White who does a morning routine, which helps me very much and I am much older than you but the same size.

    http://classicalstretch.com/miranda.htm

    Weight training isn't going to make a woman bulky. Sorry.

    Sigh that thing again. I disagree. It depends on everyone's opinion about what 'bulky' is. I find my arms and legs too bulky, heck I keep getting comments about how muscular my legs look, and I'm probably still around 23% body fat (mostly on my hips, some on my back, some in my belly maybe under all the loose skin).. IMO it has more to do with genes than anything and some women *will* 'bulk'.

    Really? Take some photos of yourself, keep lifting and eat at a slight deficit, your own photos will prove you wrong after a couple years.

    I think bulky is a subjective word really...we all attach different meanings to it.

    I have been told my legs are muscular...very muscular and that my shoulders are too broad and muscled for sleevless/spagetti straps...

    I don't see it but others feel that way....to each their own one women's bulkiness is anothers dream....

    as for the recomp I know for me this summer eating almost at maitenance (I thought it was maitenance) and still lifting I have over the last 6 weeks lost 1.7lbs (this shows me I am not at maitenance) I have gone down 1/2 size (jeans I have on today are a bit big) and I just bought them at the start of the summer and they were "tight"...and I am getting a tonne of comments on how "toned" I am looking now...

    Have I built muscle...probably a bit (will have to get some pics done on my 1 year lifting anniversary)...but I could do this for a year...or two...it's been great...

    Eating food and lots of it, sometimes I wonder if I can get it all in, and lifting (which is one of my fav things to do) and doing a good thing for my body....apparently I am a patient person.
    I agree what is percieved by some as bulky is just good muscle definition to others. To me bulky means big, stocky mass without low enough body fat for muscle to be visible. I see lots of definition of muscles in anybody athletic if there low in body fat whether there a runner, weight lifter,swimmer,gymast etc. I think the word bulky is the problem, because women dont want to think theyll get bigger when there trying to lose weight. I over heard a women in the dressing room at gym say " i dont want to do lunges, my thighs are big enough already" i had to look of course, well yea they were masses of cellulite big. I just bite my tongue.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Awesome. I'm all excited now - I feel like Superwoman after strength training :laugh:
  • Lemongrab13
    Lemongrab13 Posts: 206 Member
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    Hi Jessica,

    I've been lifting heavy weights at the gym for the past year and eating at maintenance. I try to eat a gram of protein per pound of weight so am aiming for 130 grams of protein a day. I weightlift 2-3 times a week, and I try to lift as heavy as I can.

    I weigh more than you do and am 5'4". I've added some pictures below; I weigh the same amount (~130 pounds) in the middle and right pictures, but as you can see my body has changed a fair amount over the past year. I have more muscle, look more toned, and feel great.

    1_zps14437a55.png


    Good luck on your journey, there's a book called New Rules of Lifting for Women that I found helpful to get my head wrapped around this strength training business.

    Emma

    You look fooking magnificent.
  • Lemongrab13
    Lemongrab13 Posts: 206 Member
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    Btw OP, if you do start lifting heavy, 6 times per week is too much.
    If you follow any of the strength training programs listed from previous commenters they all recommend 3 days per week, with at least a day between workouts for recovery.
    Also make sure to research form for each exercise before you start (deadlifts, squats, barbell rows, etc) to avoid injury :flowerforyou:
  • strassenkoenigin
    strassenkoenigin Posts: 259
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    I just want to put in another two cents on the topic. If I do not like doing something, there is no use telling me to do it. I am not going to stick with it. And if I get good results from something I like doing, I am going to stick with it. So much for me not liking weight lifting.

    Thanks for the praise for me road biking at my age. I love it.

    There is another thing I want to say. After fifty years of trying to stay in good shape, I have seen so many exercise and diet fads come and go, that I take everything with a grain of salt.

    I lived through 25 years of Oprah pushing one diet after the other including her trainer, cook, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and some other weight loss gurus on us. The only result I have seen is that Oprah gained her weight always back and her trainers, cooks and doctors became millionaires and got their own TV shows and are still pushing their fairy tales on everybody. I do not know one person who permanently lost weight because of any of them.
  • jessicaliujiexin
    jessicaliujiexin Posts: 27
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    The feedback here is so great, I hope others are also getting something useful from this discussion. I have adjusted my intake to maintenance, which is about 1700-1800. Oh, and also, lots of protein! But part of me is still reluctant, because the flab on my belly and upper arms is instinctively making me want to remain in a deficit...
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    The feedback here is so great, I hope others are also getting something useful from this discussion. I have adjusted my intake to maintenance, which is about 1700-1800. Oh, and also, lots of protein! But part of me is still reluctant, because the flab on my belly and upper arms is instinctively making me want to remain in a deficit...

    I get it. I felt that way too, that is until yesterday at the gym :huh: I breezed through my workout & I'm ready to go up on most. The only thing I'm doing differently is consistently eating 2k cal/day.

    I've found that I'm not gaining, I'm not losing, but my muscles are defined and my lifts are progressing. My tummy is still soft but it's shrinking big time. I'm weighing the same yet taking up less space in the universe :laugh:

    It's only been about 2 weeks for me, but I'm seeing plenty of reasons to stay the current course. In the last 2 days, I've read a ton about Metabolic Homeostasis & got a little bit more confident by reading this website: http://calorieline.com/tools/tdee

    Good luck OP....I'm full steam ahead with eating at maintenance, heavy lifting compound movements & let the chips fall where they may. If the current trend continues, I'll be heavier yet smaller :wink:

    ETA: not sure if this is relevant or not but wanted to add, I'm on a keto diet, < 50 g of carbs per day, no sugar, no starch (T2D) since roughly April 2012
  • arabianhorselover
    arabianhorselover Posts: 1,488 Member
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    I guess I'm a little confused. I have always read that after losing the weight you want to lose you should eat at a slight SURPLUS while lifting heavy. Everyone here is saying to eat at maintenance. How can you build muscle on maintenance?
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    I guess I'm a little confused. I have always read that after losing the weight you want to lose you should eat at a slight SURPLUS while lifting heavy. Everyone here is saying to eat at maintenance. How can you build muscle on maintenance?

    She wants to lose fat. Someone new to lifting can effectively lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, although it is a slower process than doing bulk/cut cycles. When you bulk (eat at a surplus), then you are gaining fat as well as muscle. Then you must cut again to drop that fat.
  • Ali_momof2
    Ali_momof2 Posts: 478 Member
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    Hi Jessica,

    I've been lifting heavy weights at the gym for the past year and eating at maintenance. I try to eat a gram of protein per pound of weight so am aiming for 130 grams of protein a day. I weightlift 2-3 times a week, and I try to lift as heavy as I can.

    I weigh more than you do and am 5'4". I've added some pictures below; I weigh the same amount (~130 pounds) in the middle and right pictures, but as you can see my body has changed a fair amount over the past year. I have more muscle, look more toned, and feel great.

    1_zps14437a55.png

    Good luck on your journey, there's a book called New Rules of Lifting for Women that I found helpful to get my head wrapped around this strength training business.

    Emma

    Holy crap you look great !!!!
  • Lkarcher
    Lkarcher Posts: 2 Member
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    I came across this article this morning, and I hope its as inspiring to you guys as it was to me. I just completed my first 30 day challenge with Body Rock, and I feel really accomplished. I don't see much change on the scale, but I've lost 1 inch around the bust, 1 in the waist and 1 around the hips. As she says, change isn't always reflected on the scale.

    http://www.dailyhiit.com/hiit-blog/hiit-diet/1200-calories/
  • Petrusilly
    Petrusilly Posts: 37 Member
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    Try signing up for bodybuilding.com and picking a program for beginners. Using their bodyspace app, you'll be a pro in no time... that totally sounded like a commercial... haha but it's true. The community there is really good also, has helped me a lot to stay motivated! Add me when you do @petrusilly

    They have complete workout plans with videos of every move, and send reminders to your phone to complete them! They also have good info on nutrition/meal prep.

    Honestly, at this point (not overweight) *What you eat* becomes really important. I changed my calorie intake pretty minimally and started dropping weight like crazy when I switched to a high protein (45%P, 30%F, 25%C) diet. After so many years of just taking in the easy energy (probably as much as 80% carbs), my body had to completely figure out how to digest protein, and I ended up blazing through 10lbs of fat in about 8 weeks.

    Use your pie chart in the MFP mobile app... I think it changed my life :D
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
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    Try signing up for bodybuilding.com and picking a program for beginners. Using their bodyspace app, you'll be a pro in no time... that totally sounded like a commercial... haha but it's true. The community there is really good also, has helped me a lot to stay motivated!

    Just a note about BB.com - you'll want to stick to the Women's forum, or tread carefully in some others (as in, take what you read and feedback you receive with a grain of salt and a bit of your own research). There is great information there, but a lot of young, inexperienced people posting misinformation as well (not unlike here, I guess).

    And whatever you do, DO NOT GO THE THE "MISC" FORUM!
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Hi Jessica,

    I've been lifting heavy weights at the gym for the past year and eating at maintenance. I try to eat a gram of protein per pound of weight so am aiming for 130 grams of protein a day. I weightlift 2-3 times a week, and I try to lift as heavy as I can.

    I weigh more than you do and am 5'4". I've added some pictures below; I weigh the same amount (~130 pounds) in the middle and right pictures, but as you can see my body has changed a fair amount over the past year. I have more muscle, look more toned, and feel great.

    1_zps14437a55.png

    Good luck on your journey, there's a book called New Rules of Lifting for Women that I found helpful to get my head wrapped around this strength training business.

    Emma

    Holy crap you look great !!!!

    Agree!!! :drinker:

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