I get bulky from weights...

Not to beat a dead horse, but it is most likely your diet. It actually isn't easy to put on muscle. Your bulk is coming from you eating more calories. Being on a paleo diet doesnt mean you will lose weight. Your "diet" is irrelevant. Unfortunately, a lot of people think when they work out it gives them a license to eat much more. They mistake hunger as a sign that they need to continue to eat. Many people also over estimate how many calories they burn when weight training. My advice: track your calories better. Figure out your maintenance calories and stick there for a few weeks. Track your results. Tweak them when needed. Don't eat your calories back. I never understood this anyway. To lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit, yet people will eat back the calories they think they burned during a workout and then wonder why they aren't losing weight! If you aren't seeing results, you either need to eat less or train much harder.

I'm pear-shaped and don't use direct weight resistance on the lower part of my body except for my calves. When I use weights I do get bigger.

I'm pear-shaped and don't use direct weight resistance on the lower part of my body except for my calves. When I use weights I do get bigger.

Tell that to my pear-shaped body that has dropped almost 3" from each thigh due to heavy lifting and a moderate calorie deficit.

What you ate isn't the issue. It's how much. You can gain weight eating perfectly clean and you can lose weight eating Twinkies or other junk. CrossFit is intense and it will increase your appetite so if you are not carefully tracking your calories I can imagine you could have gained weight simply because of the hunger.

That said, you can gain muscle mass and lose fat while eating around maintenance if you're new to training. If you think you look bulky then again, the answer is not to blame your training regime, but to eat at a deficit to strip off the excess fat.

I agree!

This is about the best answer possible without opening up your diary and sharing your stats with us (weight and body fat percentage before and after changing gyms, TDEE, caloric intake, etc).

Not to beat a dead horse, but it is most likely your diet. It actually isn't easy to put on muscle. Your bulk is coming from you eating more calories. Being on a paleo diet doesnt mean you will lose weight. Your "diet" is irrelevant. Unfortunately, a lot of people think when they work out it gives them a license to eat much more. They mistake hunger as a sign that they need to continue to eat. Many people also over estimate how many calories they burn when weight training. My advice: track your calories better. Figure out your maintenance calories and stick there for a few weeks. Track your results. Tweak them when needed. Don't eat your calories back. I never understood this anyway. To lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit, yet people will eat back the calories they think they burned during a workout and then wonder why they aren't losing weight! If you aren't seeing results, you either need to eat less or train much harder.

For a person who is used to being sedentary, it makes sense to incentivize the building of new muscle that would boost metabolism the rest of the time. It's not just about the calories burned during the session, it's making new muscles that burns more calories.

I'm pear-shaped and don't use direct weight resistance on the lower part of my body except for my calves. When I use weights I do get bigger.

Tell that to my pear-shaped body that has dropped almost 3" from each thigh due to heavy lifting and a moderate calorie deficit.

Clearly you need more crossfit, its the secret to bulking. It even works at a deficit!

I'm signing up first thing tomorrow morning.

I knew three times a week wasn't enough...

Come at me, bulk!

When did you start?

How accurately are you logging your food? Are you weighing and measuring everything?

What has your weight done?

You do get bulky from lifting.
Lifting the fork to your mouth, that is.

I'm pear-shaped and don't use direct weight resistance on the lower part of my body except for my calves. When I use weights I do get bigger.

Tell that to my pear-shaped body that has dropped almost 3" from each thigh due to heavy lifting and a moderate calorie deficit.

Clearly you need more crossfit, its the secret to bulking. It even works at a deficit!

I'm signing up first thing tomorrow morning.

I knew three times a week wasn't enough...

Come at me, bulk!

Sigh...how I wish it was that easy! I am pear-shaped too, and I keep losing inches while lifting on a deficit. I would kill to be able to add muscle or "bulk", if you prefer, at the same time. If only I could be a special snowflake!

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- pilates does not lengthen muscles.

- Pilates DOES claim to strengthen AND lengthen muscles.

Both of those statements are true. (Pilates does not lengthen muscles, that is just a sales pitch.)

BTW your muscles will only get as big as they need to be to meet the challenges they've faced. If you limit the amount of weight you are using, your muscles will only get big enough to do that much. In other words if you press up to 75 lbs and never progress past that point (even though you are capable of doing so) then you would not get as big as you would if you had kept progressing to say 150 lbs.

So find the point in your lifts where your body is what you desire, and just continue doing those amounts for your lifts and be happy.

The way bodybuilders and other bulk up is to eat in calorie surplus. Sounds like that's what's happening.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I just wish it was as easy for guys (who, incidentally, have more muscle mass and somewhere between 6x-10x the testosterone women do) to "accidentally" get bulky...even when eating at a surplus, lifting heavy and TRYING to get big. I'm amazed at how many women claim to get hyoooge from doing cardio and picking up a few dumbbells.

....then again, the women who have responded to this thread who truly DO lift heavy realize that it doesn't really happen and they haven't turned into hulking monsters overnight.

I am actually trying to bulk..I must be doing something wrong!

I just wish it was as easy for guys (who, incidentally, have more muscle mass and somewhere between 6x-10x the testosterone women do) to "accidentally" get bulky...even when eating at a surplus, lifting heavy and TRYING to get big. I'm amazed at how many women claim to get hyoooge from doing cardio and picking up a few dumbbells.

....then again, the women who have responded to this thread who truly DO lift heavy realize that it doesn't really happen and they haven't turned into hulking monsters overnight.

well, look. even the lower bf% muscled look takes getting used to, when all your life you've been fed bunk about being lean and long and whatever, which involves softer lines, no muscle definition, etc. it's a million times healthier than what was before, but it's not a stereotypically feminine look. it isn't. and then muscles go and do strange things, like temporarily fill up with water, and it's all very confusing, ok?

it's a real paradigm shift. strange things happen to your body and you don't really know how to interpret them, so you fall back on old ideas that you grew up with.

also: i think more muscle, low bf is a beautiful look, a youthful, healthy, strong, beautiful look that also does great things for health.

but, outside of the minimum strength work typically recommended, transforming a body takes a lot of commitment, time, money, etc, as you know. it is, literally, forcing your body into a particular kind of growth that probably wouldn't happen in most situations we'd encounter now or at most times in history. it's a beautiful art, but it's an art - it's not more natural or (necessarily) better than other kinds of body modification - which, strictly speaking, it is. you're deliberately changing your body composition. think about that - read that sentence out loud. you are changing your body composition. which, in case I'm misinterpreted, is of course fine!

i don't agree with insisting someone adopt those same ideals, though. if OP prefers herself one way and is healthy, why push it?