Overweight women with very high LBM?

Yes and yes, I am 5' 7" and I am 176lbs I am very strong and I can out eat most body builder men and I love cake.


I lifted heavy in college and now I run a lot up hill and Bike, I mostly have a huge *kitten* and legs, I call the my horsey legs but I am not a race horsey I am a work Horsey LOL

Ok, so I don't know how much help I can be as of right now but... I'm 5'8 and have LBM of about 140lbs but also a high body fat percentage (for now). I've never been athletic in my life, and only recently started exercising regularly so I guess it's my natural build. I am definitely interested in getting started with lifting within the month or two but I still have a lot of fat to lose and don't know how that will (if at all) affect the process? I'm not even sure if there's even a point to lifting at this stage for me since I'm eating at a pretty large deficit... I do resistance along with cardio 4-5 times a week at the moment... I don't even know where I'm going with this, I guess I had sort of a question but also wanted to say that hopefully one day I'll have some useful input to add to this thread? haha...

hmm...Years ago, I was working really hard physically. I ate freely in mostly group settings where we were all really comfortable - I'm sure I took in a lot of calories (didn't care how many, so I don't know). I was 5'9" and between 170-180 depending on which recreational activities (ahem) we were partaking of and I was not fat. I wouldn't say I was bulky for my size (although I'm a pretty big girl to begin with), but I was very strong and muscular and I could work those boys into the ground!

All of this did not serve me well in terms of eating or purposeful exercise habits once my work changed, I became a mom, etc. I have always been strong, but now it's because I was carrying around about 350 pounds everywhere I went!

But even now, thinking of long-term goals, I have recently said that if I could get below 199 and was strong and fit, I'd be pretty darned close! No 125 (my daughter's goal - which she is super close to) for me....and that's okay.

Also, there was a gorgeous member who posted the other day in Success Stories (jinjin8) and she is at goal at 176, having lost 101 pounds. She looks great!

I don't know if any of this answers your question at all! lol

I think I fit the bill.

When I was maybe 20 or so I got a fitness test done at a gym and was found to have 133 lbs LBM at 5'7". Basically, I was a chubby teen who went to the gym and ate whatever teenager food I wanted but lifted weights on whatever program the "gym people" gave me. I was inconsistent, but managed to put on a lot of muscle by the time I stopped lifting weights around the age of 22.

In the best shape of my youth I was about 19 yrs old, 175 lbs and about 24% BF at 5'7". Following that I gained up to a high of 218 lbs at about 24 yrs old and then in my late 20's I lost 60 lbs and was left with 120 lbs LBM at 158 lbs.

After 2 pregnancies and the need to lose another 30+ lbs my LBM dropped to about 116 lbs. I think I've managed to put a little back on in the last year since through body recomposition. So I figure I'm back to about 120 lbs LBM at 160 lbs. I can maintain my weight eating about 2700 calories daily but I'm pretty active and not trying to lose right now.

Your question about what did I eat? I don't know... whatever. Cookies, pizza, pop... pasta. Never been a big fruit or meat eater. I actually want to try and put back some of that muscle I lost over the time I dieted, but I don't really need to be able to eat more so I wonder why I would bother :laugh:

I am 5'2" with 33% body fat which puts my lbm at around 117lb (I weigh 175lb). Now, my goal weight was 119lb, so I think I am going to have to reassess that! Also my BMI is in the obese range but my body fat is in the healthy range for a woman of my age.

I'm 5'6 with a LBM of 141. It's not unheard of.. I've always been able to put on muscle quickly, I was a dancer for 6 years and my legs were like tree trunks. Not exactly the most flattering for a dancer, but oh well.. they carried me wonderfully.

Ok, so I don't know how much help I can be as of right now but... I'm 5'8 and have LBM of about 140lbs but also a high body fat percentage (for now). I've never been athletic in my life, and only recently started exercising regularly so I guess it's my natural build. I am definitely interested in getting started with lifting within the month or two but I still have a lot of fat to lose and don't know how that will (if at all) affect the process? I'm not even sure if there's even a point to lifting at this stage for me since I'm eating at a pretty large deficit... I do resistance along with cardio 4-5 times a week at the moment... I don't even know where I'm going with this, I guess I had sort of a question but also wanted to say that hopefully one day I'll have some useful input to add to this thread? haha...

START LIFTING NOW! I'm also 5'8 and started lifting 3 months into my 50 lb weight loss, and I'm so glad I did.

Sweet. I was hoping to hear that, thanks!

Hmmmm, to answer your question..... I was a lacrosse player through college. At the time I was 5'8" usually between 150 and 165 pounds, was benching around 120 and leg pressing around 300. I just always liked lifting weights and would always try to lift heavier than every other girl in the room, just competitive that way. I had always been very strong growing up and liked to show off....

I never officially had my LBM calculated, but I do know that while I was on a semester abroad in Australia I confused the hell out of the physical trainer trying to run a fitness test on me because my body fat % was only in the 50% range for the "average" Australian and I clearly could stand to lose a little weight, but my strength, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness were all in the top 2% of the nation.....for Australia.

At the time, I was eating anything and everything I wanted. A late night snack at McDonalds for me was 20 chicken nuggets a big mac and 2 cheese burgers. If we got pizzas for the evening to eat while watching a movie marathon, there was a big new yorker with pepperoni for me, and then what everyone else was having, you get the idea.

Today, yea that eating got me in to trouble. I'm about 185 now down from my highest at 196. My ideal weight today will probably be in the low 160's. I'm not even sure I CAN safely drop below 160 any more and I know even when I was in college, my rib cage etc expanded ALOT in my early 20's so by JR SR year, my athlete in training weight was several pounds higher then it was when I was a freshman.

So, at least for me, yes during the early 20's if you are extremely active, you can just cram whatever you want down your gullet and as long as you use it, you'll make muscle/weight gains. And it does seem to keep up with you as you get older, my weight has gone up over the years, but my muscle tone and strength comes back very quickly once I start working on it again...

Sometimes I wonder if these women have a high LBM because of carrying extra weight all the time. I know if I carried an extra fifty pounds everywhere I would increase my muscle pretty quickly....just an idea.

I do see a lot of women at my gym who are clearly overweight but perhaps don't realize that they have way more muscle under there than what they think. Then I wonder why I am lifting more than them. They should embrace their bodies strength and use it as a way to lose more weight (muscle burning more calories than fat ect.)

Overweight doesn't mean weak. My bestie is 260, and according to her husband she hits harder than any man he has ever met.

Valid point...though I think for a lot of people it depends on build, body type and how much extra weight they are carrying. I was 28% body fat at 180 which basically means that if I had absolutely NO fat whatsoever I would still but 130. I had gotten down to the mid 140's in high school just dieting and without exercise and I actually started to look TOO thin, like visible ribs and spine. Even my doctor was concerned, though my weight was still "overweight" for my height.

That's cz BMI is a crock of bull...

I find that I look and feel best 155-160.

I'm 5 feet tall with a lean body mass of 108.3 pounds, according to the military calculator. (The "meanest" calculator for us short girls, the kindest one says I have 117.8 pounds of lean body mass.) That is fairly massive for a person my height, as many women my height weigh less than 108 pounds, total.

I'm still at 28-32% body fat and 160 pounds. But when I was younger and this weight I was much bigger around and vastly less fit. I have this funny chubby girl six pack, you can see my abs even though there is still some jiggle over them.

I lost quite a bit of weight 10 years ago, and had a regular lifting routine, between then and now I gained a bunch of weight back and put on quite a bit of lean mass, which is making things look much better as the weight comes off this time. I'm not interested in looking competition lean but 19-21% body fat would be awesome. 22 more pounds to go! At my goal weight I will still be "overweight" according to BMI.