Muscular but need to lose a few pounds...help!

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JDitano
JDitano Posts: 1
in Getting Started
Hello!

I am looking for some advice concerning losing just a small amount of weight off of a muscular frame.

I'm 23, 5'3", and do a good amount of strength training each week. I have always, since childhood, felt a decent layer of fat over my muscles. I've attempted to lose 5-10lbs in the past, but have found it very hard to maintain the 1,500 or so calorie diet... I would lose a few pounds, but always plateau and eventually gain it back. I do do cardio - I need to step it up lately, but in the past I've done at least 30 mins a session, 4-5 times per week.

I don't really weigh myself because I'm more concerned with how my body feels than the actual number... that said, I did weigh myself this week and I've gone from 135 to 142 over the past year. I don't feel like I've gained 12lbs of fat... maybe muscle mass? In any case, I really want to trim down (even if the scale doesn't change) because it seems like my muscles are just getting more toned UNDER the fat.

Does anyone have a similar body type? Do you find that you need to eat more, or less than 1500 (and workout) to lose weight? Has anyone succeeded in trimming down an already muscular body? I'm starting to feel like it is impossible to change my body composition.

Notes: I have a fairly healthy diet of mostly unprocessed food. I do not drink soda. However, I do bake a lot and tend to eat too much of that when I do cook. Also, I'm not sure that I eat enough during the day... often I am not hungry at all for a day or two, then very hungry for the next couple days, which leads to a lot of snacking. Also tend to be very tired midday. Not sure if this is diet related.

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  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Answering mostly to bump this for you :wink:

    Sorry if you don't need this advice, but you didn't mention it in your post: Are you logging your food daily? If not, you may be eating way more cals than you think you are. I know it was a shock to me, when I started!

    And if you haven't already, use a TDEE calculator to see if 1500 cals is the right goal for you at this point. I am around your size, and my goal is between 1500-1600, but I'm older and don't work out nearly as much as you do!
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    Focus on eating enough protein to support your muscle mass while eating at a slight deficit (10-15% deficit is likely enough, with about 120g of protein probably being a good number to start with). Try calculating your TDEE (maintenance needs) with a few calculators to get an average idea of where you'd need to be eating to maintain. I like these two:

    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
    http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

    Mostly because they a) let you input hours/minutes spent on specific intensity levels of activity, and b) they give a pretty wide range between each other. I have seen people post about their maintenance being a range of a few hundred, so you could either go wtih the lower (exrx.net) and eat 15% below that, or use the 2nd calculator at 15% below, or average them out and subtract 15%. I put in your info for the 2nd calculator, and just using the cardio info with 8.5 hours reclining/sleeping and 1.5 hours walking/standing, it estimates about 2080 calories to maintain; more than 2200 if you average about 40 minutse of moderate exercise a day (30 mins cardio 5x a week + 40 minutes strength training 3x a week). It will be lower on exrx.net by a few hundred cals. Since you don't have much to lose, a smaller deficit is going to work better, likely closer to 1600-1800 calories.

    In my experience, energy is related to a) dehydration, b) not eating enough food overall, c) not eating enough carbs. So maybe try eating more food while at a deficit, and see how you feel. How much have you been eating at your current weight to be maintaining/gaining? Take that number and remove 15% from it, although if you maintain on a low calorie number then you might need to "reverse diet" to help raise your metabolism to a range that's more appropriate for your frame and activity levels.
  • isebastianl
    isebastianl Posts: 2
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    Are you trying to lose muscle weight or fat?
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    You're just going to have to eat at a calorie deficit for an extended period of time (I suck at this too). For someone who's 5'3" the 1500 doesn't sound like a bad place to start. Find a way to make it sustainable. Maybe higher protein and fat, maybe do calorie cycling (1000 2 days a week, more the rest so you average 1500) or something. Maybe do IF where you skip breakfast and only eat 2 meals a day. Or maybe 5-6 small meals a day will work better for you. You've to to experiment with it.
  • FitFitzy331
    FitFitzy331 Posts: 308 Member
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    Hey! I have a similar body type to you, I'm 5'4" and 143 right now, I'm trying to lose body fat and look awesome in anything i want to wear :blushing:

    I'm still playing around with my calorie intake and work out schedule, currently im doing yoga and cardio one day, lifting 3 days then doing HIIT and my shoulder weight training one day then a separate day of cardio, then my rest day. Right now I'm aiming to eat around 1725 per day. I'd definitely recommend checking out the links below:

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ - to calculate your TDEE and set up a goal from there

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cc18wLJW3k another way to determine your calories and protein/fat goals

    I did a combination of the two for my goals for my current plan, I chose my calorie intake from IIFYM and my goal protein/fat from Feeding Fitness. Feel free to friend me if you like :flowerforyou:

    Whatever you decide to do, I definitely recommend testing somethings out for at least a couple weeks, if you don't see any progress then try something else. Also take your measurements! I haven't noticed a change on the scale in a couple weeks but I've lost a good inch or so which I prefer to see anyway :) Good luck!
  • mandez19
    mandez19 Posts: 179
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    I don't see anything about doing any cardio in your post. Also maybe your snacking should focus on less fatty foods. I don't know what you are eating though.

    EDIT: Sorry I mean I read it too fast and maybe discounted the cardio because it didn't seem like you are really into cardio the way you explained it other than you do do it (no computer I don't want to delete the repeated word...). Even though you say at least 30 minutes 4-5 times a week, what is the intensity level?
  • ecjim
    ecjim Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Are you doing steady state cardio? It doesn't work so good for weight loss - Do short duration, high intensity- something like short sprints , 20 - 50 yards but all out for that distance - rest and do some more, rest as needed, you will need the rest if your intensity is there, uphill sprints are great if you have a convenient hill, If you have any doubts look at an Olympic sprinter compared to a distance runner. Barbell / dumbbell complexes are great too. Eastcoast Jim

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