25, Female and Skinny Fat

odonne99
odonne99 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a 5' 2" female who recently turned 25. Growing up I've almost always been involved in track and field. I love to run and the rush that comes with it. In high school I weighed about 110 to 115 lbs. When I went off to college, as you can imagine, that spiked to 125 lbs. In the years to follow, that number has slowly increased as I meet my now husband. It my highest I was 136 lbs. For some that may not seem like a lot, but for a 5' 2" women that means that my once lean muscle in now covered with a nice layer of fat. I'm not a junk food eat or a big partier. I did enjoy my weekly date night with a glass a wine. Recently I've been weight training with 15 -30 minutes of cardio and cutting out wine. I'm was going back and forth between 132 and 129 lbs and haven't seen any movement in the scale. I'm firmly stuck at 132 lbs with restricting sugar and carbs. Initially I was feeling a difference in my hips. Any suggestions? I keep hearing things reverse dieting? I've eatten pretty restrictive all my life.

Replies

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    How's your logging?
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    edited October 2017
    --
  • odonne99
    odonne99 Posts: 7 Member
    As far as food intake?
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Yes--that's always the bottom line. You have to know what your intake is.
  • odonne99
    odonne99 Posts: 7 Member
    I'm trying to get better at recording so I can track my macros to see if that would make difference.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    You have to track everything accurately. Use a digital food scale. There are several threads that explain how to do it correctly and why it's necessary to create a deficit--at least in the beginning. People that have 100lbs to lose have more leeway. When you have 30lbs or less you have to be accurate.
  • odonne99
    odonne99 Posts: 7 Member
    Based on my logs I've had a deficiency of 100-300 calories of my 1200 calorie per day goal.
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    Get an exact idea of your Intake by weighing everything you eat or drink and choosing correct entries. That's all there is. When you don't weigh food, you risk eating 100-400kcal more than what you think.

    What's the net calorie goal given to you by mfp and what's the activity level that you set?
  • rickiimarieee
    rickiimarieee Posts: 2,212 Member
    Are you weighing your food with a kitchen scale?
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,916 Member
    odonne99 wrote: »
    I'm a 5' 2" female who recently turned 25. Growing up I've almost always been involved in track and field. I love to run and the rush that comes with it. In high school I weighed about 110 to 115 lbs. When I went off to college, as you can imagine, that spiked to 125 lbs. In the years to follow, that number has slowly increased as I meet my now husband. It my highest I was 136 lbs. For some that may not seem like a lot, but for a 5' 2" women that means that my once lean muscle in now covered with a nice layer of fat. I'm not a junk food eat or a big partier. I did enjoy my weekly date night with a glass a wine. Recently I've been weight training with 15 -30 minutes of cardio and cutting out wine. I'm was going back and forth between 132 and 129 lbs and haven't seen any movement in the scale. I'm firmly stuck at 132 lbs with restricting sugar and carbs. Initially I was feeling a difference in my hips. Any suggestions? I keep hearing things reverse dieting? I've eatten pretty restrictive all my life.

    restricting sugar and carbs has nothing to do with weight loss...sounds like you have no idea what your intake of calories is (based on your responses above)...a calorie deficit is all that is required for weight loss, but you need to weigh your food to know how much of everything you are eating..
  • rickiimarieee
    rickiimarieee Posts: 2,212 Member
    Each pound of fat equals to 3,500 calories so you have to create a calorie deficit to get rid of those
  • bribucks
    bribucks Posts: 431 Member
    I started at a similar size to you, although one inch taller. I lose about 0.5lbs/week on 1300cal (I am sedentary outside of exercise) which should be on track for you as well.

    Do you eat back the “extra” calories My Fitness Pal gives you for exercising? Unfortunately exercise calories are notoriously hard to estimate accurately, so for that reason only eat back 50-75% of those calories, instead of all of them.

    Since you are short and therefore aren’t allotted many calories, you really have to be extra accurate. For example, 4oz of chicken looks a LOT smaller than what most people think. A food scale is your best bet, but you can also take other small steps toward accuracy, like using measuring cups. Learn what serving sizes really look like, instead of what you think they look like on your plate. Just a warning, you’ll be sorely disappointed when you see a true half cup of rice on your plate.
  • odonne99
    odonne99 Posts: 7 Member
    Anyone have a recomendation on a food scale type/brand?
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I have been having luck gaining muscle with leangains - not sure if that would be a good fit for you or not, but here's the calculator I used if you want to check it out:

    https://rippedbody.com/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    odonne99 wrote: »
    Anyone have a recomendation on a food scale type/brand?

    You can get one for 10-20$ from Walmart or amazon
  • odonne99
    odonne99 Posts: 7 Member
    Purchased the Ozeri ii on amazon and estimate high on all my calculations in the meantime. I know it is just superficial but the scale shows that I lost 1 lb today!
  • odonne99
    odonne99 Posts: 7 Member
    brianneangell08 wrote: »
    I started at a similar size to you, although one inch taller. I lose about 0.5lbs/week on 1300cal (I am sedentary outside of exercise) which should be on track for you as well.

    Do you eat back the “extra” calories My Fitness Pal gives you for exercising? Unfortunately exercise calories are notoriously hard to estimate accurately, so for that reason only eat back 50-75% of those calories, instead of all of them.

    Since you are short and therefore aren’t allotted many calories, you really have to be extra accurate. For example, 4oz of chicken looks a LOT smaller than what most people think. A food scale is your best bet, but you can also take other small steps toward accuracy, like using measuring cups. Learn what serving sizes really look like, instead of what you think they look like on your plate. Just a warning, you’ll be sorely disappointed when you see a true half cup of rice on your plate.

    What were your macro/micros? I'm having an extremely hard time reaching the 1 gram of protein per pound you have mark.
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