Fatter At A Lower Weight

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Replies

  • riceflourde
    riceflourde Posts: 58 Member
    edited December 2016
    I've been a size 8 at 150 pounds and years later after gaining and losing with childbirth I was a size 12/14 at 150 pounds. I was in my early twenties.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    as others have said, you certainly are not putting on much muscle mass/size doing what you are doing...instead of using the same 12lbs for everything, you should really look at a structured lifting program. while 12lbs may be appropriate for some exercises, it certainly isn't for others (not to mention you need to move up in weights as you go). look at a program like 5x5.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Loose skin makes a huge impact too. I weigh the same than I did when I was 17, but I have a bunch of loose skin, and fat LOVES nesting in there... so it definitely looks very different now. And cellulite etc definitely come with age.

    Also... 12 lb weights really isn't much, and you seem to focus on upper body, which isn't going to help your lower body, obviously.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    trudie_b wrote: »
    Hi everyone. This is the original poster, I have a new MFP account.

    I took everyone's advice on board, joined a gym, and started really lifting. To my amazement, I discovered I LOVED it, to the point that cardio now seems painfully dull and I have to force myself to do it. I lift four times a week, and I'm getting much stronger. I can deadlift & squat my own body weight now (my upper body strength needs a lot more work - my goal is to be able to do pull-ups). I use kettlebells a lot too, it feels awesome to be swinging a 35lb kettlebell around.

    My weight has only gone down a few lbs, but my body fat is definitely less, and my muscle mass a lot higher. I still look fatter at the current weight than I did when I was in my early 20s, but I'm not so worried about that now. I can see that a lot of it is loose skin, especially on my belly. But my focus has shifted - I want to be strong, not skinny.

    Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction.

    Well done, OP, that is good news for sure. And squatting your bodyweight is amazing.

    You were comparing your body to the one you had in your early 20s? How old are you? Yes body fat increases some with age, but also we have kids, bones may get lighter, skin is less resilient, I think all these may look like "fatter" to you. It may just be that you look like someone who isn't in their early 20s. I can't look good at the same lowest weight that looked good when I was that young, body looks better about 10lb up from that; so I think you are on the right track going for more muscle mass.

    Thank you for updating!
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    The difference might be due to the leg muscles. If a runner with defined leg muscles before, that could be a much larger difference in muscle mass than what you've gained in your arms.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Oh yeah. I lost weight before and dropped clothing sizes like crazy. This time around I lost more weight but not a single clothing size - was so much smaller before. Now I've gained some of the weight back - so I expect to be even larger for longer. I know at my goal weight this time I will still be a whale - but it will still be healthier to weigh less. I also work out more now than I ever have in the past and it has zero impact on my size.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,052 Member
    Don't panic. In the long run, things may be fine (and you may not have lost appreciable muscle).

    Take an analytical look at your fat. Some of us find that as we lose weight, the fatty areas at first become "squishier" rather than literally smaller. This can leave fat areas that were once kind of dense and (more) firm formerly, temporarily looking more flabby.

    Also, there can be a "bumps and divots" appearance in some places - maybe like cellulite, but maybe even kind of bigger bumps/divots than usual cellulite.

    If you keep losing weight, eventually the squishy areas subside more. Sometimes, the fat seems to redistribute over time, even without losing more. I'm not (NOT!) urging you to diet down to an unhealthily low weight. I'm just sharing my experience with what can happen (did happen to me) en route to a healthy weight.

    I speculate (don't know for sure) that these effects could have to do with your body not neatly emptying out fat cells starting on the outer layer & working its way inward, but by kind of randomly emptying out fat cells here & there throughout the mass. (???)

    Along with this stuff, some loose skin can add to a visually flabby effect. (The loose skin should slowly improve, too - it has for me, even at age 60).

    All that said, I'm definitely adding a +1 to making sure you're getting enough protein, and continuing with strength-building as the best route to improvement. It sounds like you're mostly doing upper-body resistance exercises now, so maybe consider adding exercises that target your big lower-body muscles - legs, glutes, etc.

    You're not "too old" to see improvement. If @middlehaitch didn't convince you, I'll add that at 61, my loose skin continued to shrink after I went into maintenance (still seems to be doing so, almost a year later, slowly), and some of the oddly fat/flabby looking remaining areas shrank back to a firmer consistency (top/side of my booty for sure).

    (P.S. Oops - looks like OP has deleted her MFP account. Still going to post this in case others are reading/interested.)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    @AnnPT77 op is resurrected as @trudie_b. See her update up a few posts

    Re the skin (and body reshaping). After 6 years of maintenance I am still seeing small improvements.

    Cheers, h.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,052 Member
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    @AnnPT77 op is resurrected as @trudie_b. See her update up a few posts

    Re the skin (and body reshaping). After 6 years of maintenance I am still seeing small improvements.

    Cheers, h.

    Yeahbut . . . you're working for your improvements. That muddies the waters. ;)

    I'm just hanging out and getting improvements anyway. (Yes, I'm quite active. I was quite active while I was obese. Exercise load hasn't changed dramatically then vs. now.)

    Thanks for the update about the OP's ID - I missed that on my read-through (OK, skim-through! ;) .)

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