What changes do i need to make to get leaner!

radeema

Hi everyone

I seem to have stalled in my "getting leaner" plans so im hoping the wonderful community at MFP can help me out with suggestions. In reality i actually need a trainer to help me with my personal goals, but seeing that i cant afford that now (being fresh out of grad school and on the hunt for a real job!) i will hold off on that until next year perhaps.

Here are my stats:

Weight: 108 lbs (started at 165)
Height: 5'1
Age: 26
Sex: Female
Frame: Petite (Toned arms, legs and glutes but i have a flabby midsection)
Body Fat:19%

Goal: I want to get my BF down to 14% and look toned

So here's an overview: i started on WW in February 2011 and steadily lost weight solely exercising portion control and making better food choices until february this year. Prior to that i had a really busy schedule(grad school+ 2 jobs), so i didnt have time to get any workout in but i did walk a lot (60-90 minutes a day). I joined 24 hr fitness in march this year and have been working out religiously 5-6 days a week. I love thte group exercise classes so i usually do 3 body pump classes and 4 kickboxing classes plus atleast 1-2 zumba classes apart from my daily walk to and from work which lasts about an hour long.I also try to spend some time running on the treadmill or using the stairmaster when i cant make it to class. I used to do 2 spin classes a week but i cant make it due to my current job timings. I also feel more motivated doing group exercise classes instead of working out on my own!


Diet-wise i eat pretty well during the week and keep my calories around 1500. I try to eat atleast 100-110 grams of protein. I do supplement my protein with whey protein shakes on the days i work out (i take these within 30 minutes of working out). Since i am pretty close to goal, on weekends i do splurge a little- i love food to much not to! But i almost never go over 2200 calories and i am usually pretty active-i walk around a lot.


What i want to do is tone my body more and loose the flab around my midsection. I know you cant spot reduce so i figure i have to do so my increasing lean muscles. Body pump has done wonders for my body but i think its time to start lifting heavy to get more defininition- i just find this very intimidating! Not the actual lifting part but doing it on my own. How much should i lift? How many reps? How often?


Am i eating enough to build muscle?


Any suggestions on how i can reach my goal?

radeema

Would appreciate any suggestions!

jefedesalto

Hi everyone

I seem to have stalled in my "getting leaner" plans so im hoping the wonderful community at MFP can help me out with suggestions. In reality i actually need a trainer to help me with my personal goals, but seeing that i cant afford that now (being fresh out of grad school and on the hunt for a real job!) i will hold off on that until next year perhaps.

Here are my stats:

Weight: 108
Height: 5'1
Frame: Petite (Toned arms, legs and glutes but i have a flabby midsection)
Body Fat:19%

Goal: I want to get my BF down to 14% and look

So here's an overview: i started on WW in February 2011 and steadily lost weight solely exercising portion control and making better food choices until february this year. Prior to that i had a really busy schedule(grad school+ 2 jobs), so i didnt have time to get any workout in but i did walk a lot (60-90 minutes a day). I joined 24 hr fitness in march this year and have been working out religiously 5-6 days a week. I love thte group exercise classes so i usually do 3 body pump classes and 4 kickboxing classes plus atleast 1-2 zumba classes apart from my daily walk to and from work which lasts about an hour long.I also try to spend some time running on the treadmill or using the stairmaster when i cant make it to class. I used to do 2 spin classes a week but i cant make it due to my current job timings. I also feel more motivated doing group exercise classes instead of working out on my own!


Diet-wise i eat pretty well during the week and keep my calories around 1500. I try to eat atleast 100-110 grams of protein. I do supplement my protein with whey protein shakes on the days i work out (i take these within 30 minutes of working out). Since i am pretty close to goal, on weekends i do splurge a little- i love food to much not to! But i almost never go over 2200 calories and i am usually pretty active-i walk around a lot.


What i want to do is tone my body more and loose the flab around my midsection. I know you cant spot reduce so i figure i have to do so my increasing lean muscles. Body pump has done wonders for my body but i think its time to start lifting heavy to get more defininition- i just find this very intimidating! Not the actual lifting part but doing it on my own. How much should i lift? How many reps? How often?


Am i eating enough to build muscle?


Any suggestions on how i can reach my goal?

Hi, I have recently dropped to 10% body fat from 26% in 9 months. But I am a guy so I understand its different. However, I did stall at around 14%. I read your workout. It looks like all you do is cardio. Did I read that correctly? You don't lift any weight?
If that is the case, I strongly think that you would be an awesome candidate to benefit from 3 days a week of 45 minute weight training sessions.
Mon- Chest and back
Wed- Biceps and Triceps
Fri- Shoulders and legs

My wife had the same issue with shedding those last percentage points in body fat until she picked up some dumbbells. You should keep your weight lifting to light weight with 15-20 repetitions per set. The reason being that it is a different type of calorie burn. Here is an excerpt from a great article by women's health.....

"Cardio's edge: Calorie for calorie, cardio has a slight advantage. You'll burn 8 to 10 calories a minute hoisting weight, compared with 10 to 12 calories a minute running or cycling, says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., director of research at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Strength's edge: Lifting weights gives you a metabolic spike for an hour after a workout because your body is trying hard to help your muscles recover. That means you'll fry an additional 25 percent of the calories you just scorched during your strength session, Westcott says. "So if you burned 200 calories lifting weights, it's really closer to 250 overall." And if you lift heavier weights or rest no more than 30 seconds between sets, you can annihilate even more.

And there's more good news when it comes to iron's fat-socking power. "For every 3 pounds of muscle you build, you'll burn an extra 120 calories a day -- just vegging -- because muscle takes more energy to sustain," Westcott says. Over the course of a year, that's about 10 pounds of fat -- without even changing your diet. Yes, please."

Read more at Women's Health: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/cardio-vs-strength-training-workouts#ixzz29z4U4mjK

If you start a weight regiment and cut back on the cardio a little you will.... I promise WILL achieve that toned look you want.

Also to take your diet to another level, look at the 40 40 20 diet, 50 30 20 diet, and google carb cycling codex. This will help you with Macronutrients and help get you even leaner. Try it for 60 days and let me know if it worked for you. It certainly worked for my wife and I and is still working.

jefedesalto

I just read that you are intimidated by lifting heavy as well. Sorry I missed it the first time. Here is a link to an awesome post here. These ladies have great suggestions.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/776081-interested-in-heavy-lifting

Also does your gym have trainers that you can ask to watch you perform strength/ weight exercises?

xxthoroughbred

You should keep your weight lifting to light weight with 15-20 repetitions per set. The reason being that it is a different type of calorie burn.

I completely agree with everything you said but I'm confused by this. Shouldn't she be lifting heavy with 8-10 reps in order to increase muscle size?

radeema

Thanks for your feedback! Well Body pump does count as cardio due to the low -weight, high reps aspect of it, but it is still considered strength training. But i understand i have to go heavier if i want more definition. I will try incorporating the workout you suggested. In terms of diet-do i need to increase my caloric intake to facilitate buidling of muscles?

radeema

I just read that you are intimidated by lifting heavy as well. Sorry I missed it the first time. Here is a link to an awesome post here. These ladies have great suggestions.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/776081-interested-in-heavy-lifting

Also does your gym have trainers that you can ask to watch you perform strength/ weight exercises?

There are trainers but they are usually busy giving personal training sessions- i need to break out of my comfort zone and start, and i just want some guidance on some starting weights.

Also confused about whether my diet complements my goals

qtiekiki

How much calories you eat will depend on your goal? do you want to gain muscle? or do you just want more definitions without muscle gain (losing BF%)? You want to gaining muscle will require a calorie surplus, and you will gain fat along with the muscle. That's why body builder goes through bulk and cut cycles. If you just want to lower BF% and have more definition, then you may not need to eat a surplus. You can eat at maintenance and lift heavy to achieve that.

I suggest checking out NROL4W, Starting Strength or Stronglifts to check. Get those compound lifts down, and then you can add in more body part specific lifts.

jefedesalto

I just read that you are intimidated by lifting heavy as well. Sorry I missed it the first time. Here is a link to an awesome post here. These ladies have great suggestions.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/776081-interested-in-heavy-lifting

Also does your gym have trainers that you can ask to watch you perform strength/ weight exercises?

There are trainers but they are usually busy giving personal training sessions- i need to break out of my comfort zone and start, and i just want some guidance on some starting weights.

Also confused about whether my diet complements my goals

That is correct if you are trying to put on muscle quickly and eating 1000 calories over your maintenance calories. The problem with that is you will also put on excess fat. 8-10 reps is what body builders do during "Bulking cycles". Then they go into "cutting cycles" before competitions. In order to stay lean and achieve tone you need to make small adjustments. I'm talking 200-400 calories a day. Lifting weights heavy without eating over your calories is counter productive.
To me, what it sounds like she wants to do is stay petite and just tone up a bit. At 19% body fat if she stays on a calorie deficit and lifts light weight at 15-20 reps, the excess body fat she wants to get rid of will provide the fuel she needs to tone her muscle.
When you think about it, our muscles adapt to handle what we need them to. If a person is swinging an ax all day his/her muscles will adapt to that activity. If a person needs to move heavy objects all day their muscles will adapt to do that activity.
Does that make sense? Does that answer the question?

radeema

I just read that you are intimidated by lifting heavy as well. Sorry I missed it the first time. Here is a link to an awesome post here. These ladies have great suggestions.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/776081-interested-in-heavy-lifting

Also does your gym have trainers that you can ask to watch you perform strength/ weight exercises?

There are trainers but they are usually busy giving personal training sessions- i need to break out of my comfort zone and start, and i just want some guidance on some starting weights.

Also confused about whether my diet complements my goals

That is correct if you are trying to put on muscle quickly and eating 1000 calories over your maintenance calories. The problem with that is you will also put on excess fat. 8-10 reps is what body builders do during "Bulking cycles". Then they go into "cutting cycles" before competitions. In order to stay lean and achieve tone you need to make small adjustments. I'm talking 200-400 calories a day. Lifting weights heavy without eating over your calories is counter productive.
To me, what it sounds like she wants to do is stay petite and just tone up a bit. At 19% body fat if she stays on a calorie deficit and lifts light weight at 15-20 reps, the excess body fat she wants to get rid of will provide the fuel she needs to tone her muscle.
When you think about it, our muscles adapt to handle what we need them to. If a person is swinging an ax all day his/her muscles will adapt to that activity. If a person needs to move heavy objects all day their muscles will adapt to do that activity.
Does that make sense? Does that answer the question?

i see. Yes i do want to remain petite and want to tone up my body. I have another question- can i continue doing cardio, or will this sabotage my efforts to build muscle?

radeema

How much calories you eat will depend on your goal? do you want to gain muscle? or do you just want more definitions without muscle gain (losing BF%)? You want to gaining muscle will require a calorie surplus, and you will gain fat along with the muscle. That's why body builder goes through bulk and cut cycles. If you just want to lower BF% and have more definition, then you may not need to eat a surplus. You can eat at maintenance and lift heavy to achieve that.

I suggest checking out NROL4W, Starting Strength or Stronglifts to check. Get those compound lifts down, and then you can add in more body part specific lifts.

Excuse my ignorance- i thought lowering BF requires building more lean muscles! So from what you are saying, i think what im aiming for is lowering BF and getting more definition but not necessarily increasing muscles.

Madholm

Agree with Jefe on this. If you are happy with your overall weight now, but just want to trim some fat it wouldn't hurt to gain a little more muscle mass. I certainly wouldn't recommend going heavy, until you are comfortable with the exercies.

No need stop what you've been doing; just replace a few of your workouts with strength training.

As for the food intake; Jefe was saying to keep your current calorie intake and lift heavy to build muscle mass. Lifting heavy builds muscle far quicker than going light; just make sure you get familiar with the exercises first.

qtiekiki

I just read that you are intimidated by lifting heavy as well. Sorry I missed it the first time. Here is a link to an awesome post here. These ladies have great suggestions.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/776081-interested-in-heavy-lifting

Also does your gym have trainers that you can ask to watch you perform strength/ weight exercises?

There are trainers but they are usually busy giving personal training sessions- i need to break out of my comfort zone and start, and i just want some guidance on some starting weights.

Also confused about whether my diet complements my goals

That is correct if you are trying to put on muscle quickly and eating 1000 calories over your maintenance calories. The problem with that is you will also put on excess fat. 8-10 reps is what body builders do during "Bulking cycles". Then they go into "cutting cycles" before competitions. In order to stay lean and achieve tone you need to make small adjustments. I'm talking 200-400 calories a day. Lifting weights heavy without eating over your calories is counter productive.
To me, what it sounds like she wants to do is stay petite and just tone up a bit. At 19% body fat if she stays on a calorie deficit and lifts light weight at 15-20 reps, the excess body fat she wants to get rid of will provide the fuel she needs to tone her muscle.
When you think about it, our muscles adapt to handle what we need them to. If a person is swinging an ax all day his/her muscles will adapt to that activity. If a person needs to move heavy objects all day their muscles will adapt to do that activity.
Does that make sense? Does that answer the question?

i see. Yes i do want to remain petite and want to tone up my body. I have another question- can i continue doing cardio, or will this sabotage my efforts to build muscle?

I am 5'3" and 108 lbs, so I am pretty petite. You can do light weight, high reps, but you are not building muscle with that. I am just sharing what's workin for me.

jefedesalto

I just read that you are intimidated by lifting heavy as well. Sorry I missed it the first time. Here is a link to an awesome post here. These ladies have great suggestions.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/776081-interested-in-heavy-lifting

Also does your gym have trainers that you can ask to watch you perform strength/ weight exercises?

There are trainers but they are usually busy giving personal training sessions- i need to break out of my comfort zone and start, and i just want some guidance on some starting weights.

Also confused about whether my diet complements my goals

That is correct if you are trying to put on muscle quickly and eating 1000 calories over your maintenance calories. The problem with that is you will also put on excess fat. 8-10 reps is what body builders do during "Bulking cycles". Then they go into "cutting cycles" before competitions. In order to stay lean and achieve tone you need to make small adjustments. I'm talking 200-400 calories a day. Lifting weights heavy without eating over your calories is counter productive.
To me, what it sounds like she wants to do is stay petite and just tone up a bit. At 19% body fat if she stays on a calorie deficit and lifts light weight at 15-20 reps, the excess body fat she wants to get rid of will provide the fuel she needs to tone her muscle.
When you think about it, our muscles adapt to handle what we need them to. If a person is swinging an ax all day his/her muscles will adapt to that activity. If a person needs to move heavy objects all day their muscles will adapt to do that activity.
Does that make sense? Does that answer the question?

i see. Yes i do want to remain petite and want to tone up my body. I have another question- can i continue doing cardio, or will this sabotage my efforts to build muscle?

In my opinion no, but only if you don't KILL the cardio all the time. Cardio is great and necessary and if you are like my wife you probably LOVE your spinning/zumba/step aerobics... whatever. There is no reason to stop doing them. Just cut back and allow some energy to go to lifting.

Also if you are intimidated by looking silly PLEASE DON'T BE!!! Find a girl in the gym who's body type you admire (no homo, lol) and ask her to watch you do an exercise and coach you. I promise that person will be complimented hugely. Just last Friday I had a 19 year old kid ask me if I would give him some pointers and I was soooo flattered I had to go home and brag to my wife. I've been there, I used to follow the big guys around the gym and copy what they did.

19% body fat for a girl is quite an achievement as well. Don't be ashamed of what you have already done so far. We are all in the gym to get better, look better, and feel better. STOP BEING SO SHY!!! :happy:

Angie__1MR

gotta open your diary!

radeema

gotta open your diary!

Ok ok..i do sneak a lot of treats in there though

jealous_loser

How much calories you eat will depend on your goal? do you want to gain muscle? or do you just want more definitions without muscle gain (losing BF%)? You want to gaining muscle will require a calorie surplus, and you will gain fat along with the muscle. That's why body builder goes through bulk and cut cycles. If you just want to lower BF% and have more definition, then you may not need to eat a surplus. You can eat at maintenance and lift heavy to achieve that.

I suggest checking out NROL4W, Starting Strength or Stronglifts to check. Get those compound lifts down, and then you can add in more body part specific lifts.

I also suggest NROL4W. You won't bulk up, I promise. Lift heavy and you will "tone".

chicadejmu

I'm sure lifting is important but what about pilates? That does some major core strengthening. Won't help with your body fat percentage, but it will give you some nice strong abs and core muscles. And I would bet that will go a long way to improving the "flab" on your midsection.

radeema

How much calories you eat will depend on your goal? do you want to gain muscle? or do you just want more definitions without muscle gain (losing BF%)? You want to gaining muscle will require a calorie surplus, and you will gain fat along with the muscle. That's why body builder goes through bulk and cut cycles. If you just want to lower BF% and have more definition, then you may not need to eat a surplus. You can eat at maintenance and lift heavy to achieve that.

I suggest checking out NROL4W, Starting Strength or Stronglifts to check. Get those compound lifts down, and then you can add in more body part specific lifts.

I also suggest NROL4W. You won't bulk up, I promise. Lift heavy and you will "tone".

Yeah im not afraid of bulking up I've seen people get amazing results from lifting heavy- i just dont know where to start.

jealous_loser

How much calories you eat will depend on your goal? do you want to gain muscle? or do you just want more definitions without muscle gain (losing BF%)? You want to gaining muscle will require a calorie surplus, and you will gain fat along with the muscle. That's why body builder goes through bulk and cut cycles. If you just want to lower BF% and have more definition, then you may not need to eat a surplus. You can eat at maintenance and lift heavy to achieve that.

I suggest checking out NROL4W, Starting Strength or Stronglifts to check. Get those compound lifts down, and then you can add in more body part specific lifts.

I also suggest NROL4W. You won't bulk up, I promise. Lift heavy and you will "tone".

Yeah im not afraid of bulking up I've seen people get amazing results from lifting heavy- i just dont know where to start.

There is so much information in that book! I started out not know what to do, and it answers a lot of questions.

radeema

How much calories you eat will depend on your goal? do you want to gain muscle? or do you just want more definitions without muscle gain (losing BF%)? You want to gaining muscle will require a calorie surplus, and you will gain fat along with the muscle. That's why body builder goes through bulk and cut cycles. If you just want to lower BF% and have more definition, then you may not need to eat a surplus. You can eat at maintenance and lift heavy to achieve that.

I suggest checking out NROL4W, Starting Strength or Stronglifts to check. Get those compound lifts down, and then you can add in more body part specific lifts.

I also suggest NROL4W. You won't bulk up, I promise. Lift heavy and you will "tone".

Yeah im not afraid of bulking up I've seen people get amazing results from lifting heavy- i just dont know where to start.

There is so much information in that book! I started out not know what to do, and it answers a lot of questions.

Will do. I need to look fab for my brother's wedding in January

radeema

I've opened up my diary- i dont have the "cleanest" diet but i do try to stay within 1500 calories on most days.

Any suggestions on changes i should make

kaervaak

Try a proven beginner program like Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5 or New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Also, 14% body fat is extremely low for women. That's like fitness models in competition season low.

xxthoroughbred

I've opened up my diary- i dont have the "cleanest" diet but i do try to stay within 1500 calories on most days.

Any suggestions on changes i should make

You're good on protein some days but slacking on others. Make sure you're getting enough for those muscles.

radeema

Try a proven beginner program like Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5 or New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Also, 14% body fat is extremely low for women. That's like fitness models in competition season low.

Nothing wrong in being fit One of my girlfriends is at 12% at the moment and she looks fabulous

Tyrone_S

Start lifting 2-3 times a week, 8-12 rep range is generally the most efficient for stimulating muscle growth, that should start to improve your lean body mass. Because you are just starting out you will probably get fairly good results from just about any basic lifting programme.

To remove the fat, I'd start with keeping your net calorie intake as is, remember that if you are swapping out some cardio for lifting you may need to eat a little less to net the same. Measure your weight and body fat so you can calculate lean body mass. Work for 2 weeks, re-measure. If body fat is down and/or lean body mass is up then keep doing what you are doing. If not then cut 100-200 calories and work at it for another 2 weeks. Try to cut calories from carbs and fat not from protein.

Basically just re-measure every 2 weeks and adjust your diet as required. You could measure weekly, but I find that too frequent to see measurable differences.

qtiekiki

How much calories you eat will depend on your goal? do you want to gain muscle? or do you just want more definitions without muscle gain (losing BF%)? You want to gaining muscle will require a calorie surplus, and you will gain fat along with the muscle. That's why body builder goes through bulk and cut cycles. If you just want to lower BF% and have more definition, then you may not need to eat a surplus. You can eat at maintenance and lift heavy to achieve that.

I suggest checking out NROL4W, Starting Strength or Stronglifts to check. Get those compound lifts down, and then you can add in more body part specific lifts.

Excuse my ignorance- i thought lowering BF requires building more lean muscles! So from what you are saying, i think what im aiming for is lowering BF and getting more definition but not necessarily increasing muscles.

BF% is a percentage. So if you maintain your lean mass and lose BF, then you BF % will be lower. It also works the other way, as in your BF% will also be lower if you gain muscle and not gain much BF. So you decide how to want to do it. Build more muscle and not gain as much BF requires calorie surplus. Maintain lean mass and losing BF requires a slight deficit. Make sure you get enough proteins.

radeema

I've opened up my diary- i dont have the "cleanest" diet but i do try to stay within 1500 calories on most days.

Any suggestions on changes i should make

You're good on protein some days but slacking on others. Make sure you're getting enough for those muscles.

How much is enough? i try to get 110 grams but i believe if your lifting heavy you need more?