underweight
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newbie444
Posts: 8
I was told to repost my message in this group:
Hi everyone!
I am new to this forum so I have a number of questions.
I am underweight (I am 5"3 and weigh 90 pounds). I am not exactly sure how I lost the weight (my normal weight was usually between 105-110 which was still on the low end) but I've been at this weight for 3 years or so now. I imagine too much cardio/bad eating habits was the likely culprit. My goal is to gain back the weight I lost and be at a healthy weight level.
I have been reading a lot on the internet about the "skinny fat" phenomenon and I am not sure if I fit that description. I certainly am very skinny everywhere except on my belly where it is soft and flabby. I have read that I need to eat more (and better) and work out to build muscle without doing too much cardio.
However, does anyone have any tips on what exactly I should be doing (what sort of workouts, what I should be eating etc.)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi everyone!
I am new to this forum so I have a number of questions.
I am underweight (I am 5"3 and weigh 90 pounds). I am not exactly sure how I lost the weight (my normal weight was usually between 105-110 which was still on the low end) but I've been at this weight for 3 years or so now. I imagine too much cardio/bad eating habits was the likely culprit. My goal is to gain back the weight I lost and be at a healthy weight level.
I have been reading a lot on the internet about the "skinny fat" phenomenon and I am not sure if I fit that description. I certainly am very skinny everywhere except on my belly where it is soft and flabby. I have read that I need to eat more (and better) and work out to build muscle without doing too much cardio.
However, does anyone have any tips on what exactly I should be doing (what sort of workouts, what I should be eating etc.)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Replies
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Hi! tagging - myself or SideSteel will respond shortly.0
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Hi! So that we can get a better understanding of your concerns, would you be amenable to PM'ing me pics showing your physique. It would be really helpful in recommending a course of action.0
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Thanks for the pics. You are not skinny fat, you are really just very slender and possibly a little underweight, but not significantly so.
Do you have access to a gym?
What is you average gross caloric intake currently?
What is your activity level like - both for exercise and day to day life?0 -
Sorry for the delay in responding. I was religiously checking my PM the last few days hoping you would respond and only today realized you said you would respond to my 'post' (as opposed to message).
1) I do have access to a gym (I just joined one)
2) MFP suggested I have 1650 calories/day and I am finding that hard to meet (I am usually 200 or so under). I have been drinking protein shakes in hopes of upping my caloric intake.
3) I joined a gym last week and have gone 6 times. I have avoided doing cardio (as I tend to lose weight quickly) and have been lifting weights (dumbbells, deadlifts etc) and using the weight machines instead. I have also been working on my core doing the standard situps/crunches but with the added challenge of a weighted ball.
My day to day life consists largely of sitting at my desk (9am to 7pm often) and commuting in my car (1 hour each way). When I do not go to the gym sometimes the only exercise I get is walking to my car (which albeit is a 8 minute or so walk).
Thanks!0 -
Sorry for the delay in responding.
Re intake: can you open your diary so we can help here (if you are uncomfortable making public, you can set to require a password/key to open and just PM me it)
Re gym: are you doing a specific routine? Are you comfortable with barbells?0 -
I've made it open though admittedly I haven't been keeping it updated. I think there are a few entries in there, however.
I am not doing a specific routine per se. I am with Goodlife (which I think is only in Canada so you may not be familiar with it) and they have weight machines which I do. I also use dumbbells (I'm now comfortable using 10 pounds for each hand and am hoping to up it to 15 soon) and do bi cep curls, lateral raises etc.
Re: barbells, thus far I have only used them to do dead lifts. I am a little afraid to do anything else with them as I no one has ever shown me.
Thanks! And sorry for the late reply.
P.S. I have been eating more frequently than I have before (which may still not be enough calories) but I weighed myself earlier this week and noticed that I lost 5 pounds since starting to work out which has left me pretty disappointed. Does this mean I am not eating enough to offset my workouts?
As well, I don't do any cardio as in the past I have found it leads me to lose weight (which I don't want). Is there anything wrong with skipping cardio?
Thanks again!0 -
Hi!
So a couple of things. I am going to ask you to start logging your food as accurately as possible. When we get a good idea of how much you are eating we can get a good calorie level set for you. If you can get back to us next week if possible, but no later than two weeks that would be great.
As you have lost more weight you do need to be eating more however. Try to get more calorie dense foods, like nit and seeds, nut and seed butters, avocado, eggs, full fat dairy. Put dressings on your salads and cook with oils and butters.
Due to your current weight and recent weight loss, you should not be doing any cardio.
Do not get too stressed about using barbells - you can make great progress without them, especially at first.
The following is a good lifting program which can be adapted for dumbbells:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843&page=1
"A Simple beginner's Routine
You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.
Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.
These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.
Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises
You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and
repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.
Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days."
You can use DBs for most - but for the ones that it is not really effective do the following swaps:
Squats = bulgarian split squats
Calf Raises= If you want to do calf raises you can do them on a step where your toe is on the step and you basically drop your heel low and then stand on tip toe. Hold a dumbbell while doing them to make it more challenging.0 -
Checking in to see how you are doing
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Tagging as I am 5'3 ~ 105-110lbs. So responses are interesting
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Locking so we can keep track of active threads. If you wish for the thread to be unlocked so you can respond to the questions posed, please feel free to PM either myself or SideSteel, including a link to this thread and we will unlock it so you can.0
This discussion has been closed.