want to lose weight but increase muscle mass healthly

millymolly79
millymolly79 Posts: 8
edited November 11 in Health and Weight Loss
hi
I want to lose weight currently (100kg) 5ft 4 female. I do lots of weights, body pump, running, yoga, hiit that I know my limits and im slowly increasing the weight to around 10kg dumbells. I do 5:2 and one meal a day is a smoothie with lots of greens, veg and flaxseed. I try to eat more protein and healthy carbs - BUT im not losing weight. Anyone any ideas???

Replies

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    edited February 2015
    You are not eating at a deficit. Or you are being too impatient.

    You cannot lose while also building muscle at the same time.
  • mindful2012
    mindful2012 Posts: 21 Member
    How are your clothes fitting? Often the scale won't budget when you are trying to change to composition of your body - losing fat, gaining muscle, but you'll see/feel the improvements in your clothing first. Protein is really important - I often hear 40/30/30 as a good mix of carb/fat/protein percentages of daily calorie intake, but I'm sure that is just one opinion. Be sure you are weighing and measuring and logging your food accurately - that way you know if you are creating a calorie deficit. And when you want to add muscle often you need to eat more than you think in order to maintain quality muscle and lose fat.
  • millymolly79
    millymolly79 Posts: 8
    thanks ladies, probably am being too impatient. my clothes do feel looser and I don't own a set of scales at the moment. lol! my ratios are not far of the 40/30/30 ratio. I am going to be strict this week and note everything on mfp. ana3067 I read your profile, you really are into macronutrients. that's good.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    millymolly79 wrote: »
    thanks ladies, probably am being too impatient. my clothes do feel looser and I don't own a set of scales at the moment. lol! my ratios are not far of the 40/30/30 ratio. I am going to be strict this week and note everything on mfp. ana3067 I read your profile, you really are into macronutrients. that's good.

    I'm really into tracking protein specifically, and ideally meeting my fat minimum. But it's all about calories at the end of the day, I just track macros for body composition purposes!
  • millymolly79
    millymolly79 Posts: 8
    yes I track more protein than I do carbs but I try to limit to low gi carbs.
  • mindful2012
    mindful2012 Posts: 21 Member
    Another thing I did which may or may not be helpful is I listed the top 25 foods I eat on a regular basis. I looked at them from the standpoint of sugar and made 4 changes:

    yogurt - I went to a lower sugar, higher protein option
    salad dressing - I went to a lower sugar option, but avoided one with fake sugar
    I added cottage cheese for more protein
    I reduced the amount of agave syrup (although low GI it is still a simple carb sugar) I took in on a daily basis - I usually added 2 tsp to each cup of tea, sometimes having 3-4 cups of tea a day.

    7 months later I don't use any agave at all now and have completely adjusted to the low sugar, plain greek yogurt, often with fresh fruit.

    Small changes, and only a few changes at a time plus patience.....slow and steady wins the race!

    Good luck and keep us posted.

  • millymolly79
    millymolly79 Posts: 8
    thanks, that's a good idea of the top 25 items. we cant buy cottage cheese here in Saudi Arabia (were here for 3 years) no pork either. lol the yoghurt is very strange but I will look into that.

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    You need a caloric deficit to lose.
  • Spocky
    Spocky Posts: 62 Member
    Hi
    I came to tell you that I disagree with the idea that you can't lose weight while building muscles. Only if you starve yourself can that happen. So you need, cal deficit, enough protein, cutting back on carbs. I would advise more lifting and less cardio. 10kg dumbbells? That's heavy.
  • millymolly79
    millymolly79 Posts: 8
    hmm ok, will up the protein, I already do cut back on carbs, and on the days I don't train I try not to have carbs except those that are in veg. I will try cutting down the weight and do more reps to see if that helps. 10 is the heaviest but some exercises I use only 5kg
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    Don't be afraid to lift heavy. It's good for you. Excellent for bone health too.
  • tracie999
    tracie999 Posts: 84 Member
    I do a lot of weight training and lost weight 66lbs so far. At times i did feel nothing was happening as my weight stayed the same and even went up but my clothes got bigger on me so i knew my body was changing.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Spocky wrote: »
    10kg dumbbells? That's heavy.
    That depends on the exercise and how long she's been doing each exercise at that weight. If she just progressed to curling 10kgs from 5kgs, that's awesome! If she's doing sets of a zillion goblet squats with one 10kg dumbbell, that's not "heavy."

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    water retention or you are eating more than you think you are. Do you weigh you food with a scale and measure liquids?
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Spocky wrote: »
    Hi
    I came to tell you that I disagree with the idea that you can't lose weight while building muscles. Only if you starve yourself can that happen. So you need, cal deficit, enough protein, cutting back on carbs. I would advise more lifting and less cardio. 10kg dumbbells? That's heavy.
    No. At most she will gain an insignificant amount of newbie gains
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Is 5:2 going to help your cause? I'd have thought very low days would increase muscle breakdown?
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    millymolly79 wrote: »
    hmm ok, will up the protein, I already do cut back on carbs, and on the days I don't train I try not to have carbs except those that are in veg. I will try cutting down the weight and do more reps to see if that helps. 10 is the heaviest but some exercises I use only 5kg

    No you should be using heavy weights at lower rep ranges while losing weight. High rep isn't usually sustainable while cutting. So 3-6 reps is usually ideal. What is your weight and protein goal?
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    Spocky wrote: »
    Hi
    I came to tell you that I disagree with the idea that you can't lose weight while building muscles. Only if you starve yourself can that happen. So you need, cal deficit, enough protein, cutting back on carbs. I would advise more lifting and less cardio. 10kg dumbbells? That's heavy.

    Yeah that is just flat out incorrect. Don't listen to this OP.

    You might have "newb" gains for the first month you workout, where you can build muscle and lose fat, but your body catches on pretty quick and you will need to pick between losing weight by being in a calorie deficit, or building muscle being in a calorie surplus (with some fat being added too).

    If you are just trying to lose weight, honestly, your macros don't matter as long as you are in a deficit and getting at least a little bit of protein.

    If you are cutting (fat loss, without muscle loss), that is a bit more complicated. But this doesn't sound like the case for you.
  • millymolly79
    millymolly79 Posts: 8
    thank you for all your points of views.

    ideally id like to lose 30lbs and aim to have the right amount of protein for my weight currently.

    I train on my 5:2 days and I do this to make a defecit in calories, but no I don't weigh any foods at the moment. I just try to not eat white bread, pasta and potaotes. I have pcos and have always found it hard to lose weight.

    but now I have mfp I will stick to entering all my information, and start weighing foods.
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