Cross Trainer - loosing weight or building muscle

What is your overall goal?
I see no issue with building a little bit of muscle definition.

in for the learning...

If you are in a deficit and just doing cardio you did not gain muscle, you may have lost fat revealing muscle. Or you may have water retention in your muscles due to a new routine or increased intensity, but that is water, not muscle, which your body will shed once you get used to the new routine.

Gaining muscle takes progressive overloading strength training, a caloric surplus, and testosterone. Unless you are taking performance enhancing drugs it is not muscle gain, its just water

If you are in a deficit and just doing cardio you did not gain muscle, you may have lost fat revealing muscle. Or you may have water retention in your muscles due to a new routine or increased intensity, but that is water, not muscle, which your body will shed once you get used to the new routine.

Gaining muscle takes progressive overloading strength training, a caloric surplus, and the testosterone. Unless you are taking performance enhancing drugs it is not muscle gain, its just water

This

I think it's more likely that you are losing fat & as the layer of insulation diminishes, your muscles beneath are more visible. I could be wrong, but erring on the side of not likely in terms of muscle building.

I don't ever hear of anyone who's accidentally built muscle while not on a program designed to do so. They are always purposefully eating at a surplus, emphasis on protein & adding weight to their lifts consistently.

However, if you say that you measured your thighs & they've gone up a couple of inches from before you started your low impact exercise, then I'd say maybe you should back off on that & do something like walking or swimming if you can.

You might also want to look into taking classes like pilates or yoga. :drinker:

If you are in a calorie deficit you are not gaining muscle. Especially if you are lifting the same weight every time you go to the gym.

When you lose fat you uncover existing muscle giving the appearance that there is more muscle there. Sometimes you can take measurements and you will see the area you are measuring is actually getting smaller but looks bigger because the muscle is more defined than it was when it was covered in a layer of fat.

If your goal is to lose fat I would say congratulations! Sounds like you are doing it right...

It's not a little bit of muscle, it's a lot of muscle, I just don't look very girly. It's not the end of the world but if I had a choice I would have less.

Thank your genetics to where you lose fat. And if its any consolation, a lot of men like the kind of thing and there is nothing ungirly about muscle.

But like others said, it's fat loss revealing muscle.

I wonder from OP what looking girly means?

Either your ex had very small calves or your perception of your own body is off. Generally, we are our own worst critic. I bet if you posted a photo we wouldnt see what you are.