Skinny- fat and muscular- fat bodies

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Celestia
Celestia Posts: 106 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have heard about people that are "skinny" but still have a high body fat % or people that are muscular but also have a high body fat %.

How do you avoid these situations?

I think that I'm falling into the becoming-muscular- fat category, because I feel muscles getting bigger and strength increasing(like in my arms and legs) but I'm not dropping weight, on the scale anyway. Does this mean the culprit lies in my nutrition? What could be contributing to slow weight loss? I need help! I'm becoming frustrated at stagnant weight loss and need advice. I've changed my calorie goals (from 1550 to 1250 based on MFP's guided suggestions) because I thought I was eating too much and nothing has improved. I lowered my exercise intensity, because I thought I was over training. And yes, I eat my exercise calories :smile:

I need your help MFP'ers!

Replies

  • haileyco
    haileyco Posts: 68
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    Most likely, if you can feel your muscles firming up, you are not losing weight because you are burning fat but building muscle at the same time. Also, the lean muscle burns fat for fuel. I would recommend doing measurements, I bet you are losing inches as you are toning and losing fat, it is just not showing on the scale. Are your clothes fitting better??
  • DizzieLittleLifter
    DizzieLittleLifter Posts: 1,020 Member
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    I agree with the PP. It's has taken me a while to stop relying solely on the scale. On a side note what are you doing for cardio? :smile:
  • katie30
    katie30 Posts: 55
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    Have to agree with the above posters. Volume for volume fat weighs more muscle. If you are building muscle you aren't going necessarily going to see a change on the scale. From your original post it sounds like you are noticing some changes outside the scale. Remember, it isn't all about the number on the scale, it is about how you feel and how baggy your old jeans are.
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
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    Ive gained 3 pounds this week. I can now see the start of my six pack. My clothes are looser. My arms are becoming more defined. I'd say you need to swap up on the workouts. I swapped this week and hope to destroy some fat this and upcoming weeks! Keep it up!!! Your doing great!!!
  • natspoiledbrat
    natspoiledbrat Posts: 133
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    The only thing that I can think of is maybe you are not doing enough cardio and therefore not burning fat. I kinda feel like I'm in the same boat.........only just with my arms...........I am so hesitant to use weights for arm exercises because I feel like I am just making my arms bigger by building muscle under the fat. It could just be my imagination................so anyway, look into how much cardio you are doing, maybe you need to increase it.
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
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    It is your imagination. Toning is what you want. Use less weight for more reps.
  • Celestia
    Celestia Posts: 106 Member
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    I do a spin class 1x or 2x a week, 45 steady state cardio, and 25 minute HIIT sessions per week. Sometimes I do a kick boxing class or play tennis for extra cardio.
  • Laurirev
    Laurirev Posts: 5
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    I think you're on the right track, doing great things with your workouts. Get off the scale and feel how your clothes fit, it's not all about the scale. You want lean muscle mass and it only comes with weight training. Muscle weighs more than fat but takes up lees space, sort of like how much space a pound of feathers takes up versus how much space a pound of rocks takes up. Also if you keep dropping your calories your body will think it's starving and hang on to every calorie. You have to eat to lose weight. I lost only 4 pounds at my last physcial but I was down a size in my jeans. Good Luck!
  • danhjkim
    danhjkim Posts: 6
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    Have to agree with the above posters. Volume for volume fat weighs more muscle. If you are building muscle you aren't going necessarily going to see a change on the scale. From your original post it sounds like you are noticing some changes outside the scale. Remember, it isn't all about the number on the scale, it is about how you feel and how baggy your old jeans are.

    "Volume for volume fat weighs more than muscle." Perhaps you made a mistake? Did you mean to say something along the lines of 1kg of fat displaces more volume than 1kg of muscle?

    1 cm3 of fat weighs less than 1cm3 of muscle.

    @OP: I wouldn't worry about "bulking" up as long as you do high reps 12-15 and then reach failure. You want to build more lean muscle mass which is more metabolically active than fat.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    As said,you'll be losing body fat and building muscle, and this means you wont lose "lbs" as such. In four weeks I lost 4lbs, but dropped 8% body fat as I was doing alot of weight bearing exercise. Just means you may be heavier, but you'll be much more toned and look just as slim as if you were lighter,

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