Confused about how to tone my body (diet help??)

lilypippili
lilypippili Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm a 5'6" female and I currently weigh 123 lbs. After about one and a half months I lost 3 lbs following the calorie goals MFP gave me (even though I went to Europe for two weeks and binge-ate the whole time, no idea how that worked out lol). I was planning to keep going until I reached somewhere between 115 and 120, but now I'm not so sure. I had my annual check up yesterday and my doctor told me I should be careful about losing more weight since I'm on the leaner side (???) Apparently my BMI is like 19.2 and the lowest you can go is 18, which is 120 for my height. Now I'm SUPER confused. Will 3 lbs really make a difference? I did see change with the 3 lbs I've lost so far; my arms and thighs got thinner and I lost some belly fat. But I don't want to push it until I'm nearly underweight. Should I be doing something different? Currently I run on the treadmill between 4-5 mph for 25 minutes about 5 times a week. I try to do a set of crunches, push ups, and dumbbells at least once a day (6 lbs). I pretty much sit around for the whole day besides that. I'm satisfied with my arms, but I really want to tone my stomach and legs (and it looks like a lot more than 3 lbs, which is why I'm confused... or maybe I'm just body dysmorphic -_-). Advice please?

Replies

  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    If you seriously were binge eating the whole time you were in Europe, then you need to get professional help.

    Even though doctors are usually terrible for nutritional advice, your doctor is right. Decreasing your body fat percentage to certain levels can be unhealthy if you maintain it for a prolonged period of time.

    I don't think you need to lose any more weight. Whats the point? What are you going to get out of it?

    You can't spot reduce fat. Your genetics dictate where fat comes off of. If you're at this weight, and don't have the toned look (low enough body fat percentage to see muscle) then you don't have enough muscle mass for there to see.

    You either need to recomp or bulk.

  • lilypippili
    lilypippili Posts: 6 Member
    No, I didn't really binge eat, it just felt like that since I'd been dieting like a month lol

    Okay, what is recomp and how do I go about doing it/bulking?
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited September 2015
    lilypippili wrote: »
    No, I didn't really binge eat, it just felt like that since I'd been dieting like a month lol

    Okay, what is recomp and how do I go about doing it/bulking?

    Click me to read about recomping.


    However, I can explain what bulking is.

    Bulking is where you intentionally eat in a caloric surplus (more calories than you need to maintain your weight) to gain muscle and fat (fat gain is inevitable, you can't escape it). This also means you're lifting heavy weights with a progressive overload to build muscle.
    • Find your TDEE
    • Add 250 or 500 to your TDEE

    A caloric surplus of 250 will mean you gain 0.5lb per week. You'll gain less fat per week.
    A caloric surplus of 500 will mean you gain 1lb per week. You'll gain more fat per week.

    Macro's;
    • 0.6-0.8g of protein per lb of body mass
    • 0.4-0.45g of fat per lb of body mass
    • fill rest of calories with carbs

    You will need to have a progressive overload (getting heavier) lifting regimen to build muscle too. These are some really good beginner programs which you should definitely choose from;
    • New Rules of Lifting For Women
    • Strong Curves
    • ICF 5x5
    • StrongLifts 5x5
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Isaack covered it very well, strength training will improve your body composition, whatever route you take.

    There are also body weight routines that you can follow.
    Nerdfitness
    Convict Conditioning
    You Are Your Own Gym.

    When you are reading and deciding which programme you wish to follow, if any, keep in mind that the weight that you start with is the weight that is heavy for you. Those Padded bars and hand weights are fine to start with and learn correct form. Just make sure you are always challenging yourself.

    Cheers, h.

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