Question: How to lose weight and NOT gain muscle!

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,668 Member
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    Yep just eat at calorie deficit and don't work out. You won't gain any muscle at all. Of course you'll be really soft, but if your goal isn't to gain muscle, this works.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • LindaCWy
    LindaCWy Posts: 463 Member
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    Yep just eat at calorie deficit and don't work out. You won't gain any muscle at all. Of course you'll be really soft, but if your goal isn't to gain muscle, this works.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Bobble head with loose skin comes to mind...
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    Don't change a thing. You can't do both at the same time...
  • Wendysworld13
    Wendysworld13 Posts: 225 Member
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    I feel like nobody has totally answered your question. The answer is yes you can lose weight without becoming cut or having standout defined muscles. The answers that you have gotten are good - don't take steriods, don't eat too little, keep your water intake up, etc.
    But do lift weights - lower weight amounts and more reps increase your tone and therefore help you lose more weight and don't build the muscle up - they tone what you have. When you lift heavy weights you actually tear muscle fibers and as they repair they build up. Therefore smaller weights, more reps, no damage just tone and you will see the resulting feminine form you are looking for!
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
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    I'm sorry but that makes so sense. Muscle on women is lean, not bulky.
  • timmymon
    timmymon Posts: 304 Member
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    Check out the thread about burning calories by cleaning and chores. I think this will be a good way to lose weight without gaining dreaded muscle
  • WonderKP
    WonderKP Posts: 146 Member
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    you wont gain bulky muscle. and if your calves look big, they probably just still have some fat that needs to be lost. Keep up the strength training, keep a small calorie deficit, maybe cardio if you like to do that, and you will not bulk up....unless you are taking steroids or something.
  • Swissmiss
    Swissmiss Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Not sure why you'd want to be slim but flabby...?

    I don't find size 8 (UK) girls attractive when their legs are all wobbly and gross.

    You don't have to be seriously muscly to be 'toned'. To be 'toned', you have to gain some muscle.

    :noway:


    Agree^^^ I use weights twice a week. Without doing that I would look horrible. It doesn't matter what you weigh...if you are not toned you will look bad.
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    If you want to avoid gaining muscle, don't take steroids. When you're eating at a caloric deficit, putting on appreciable amounts of muscle is nearly impossible. The muscular women you see have made a conscious, dedicated effort to building that muscle and have fought hard for every ounce of it...eating at a caloric surplus to "bulk up", then "cutting" (losing fat while making every effort to sustain lean muscle mass through very precise eating and supplementation) to get that "ripped" look. The female bodybuilders with massive amounts of muscle have (in many cases) done all the above plus 'supplemented' with anabolic/androgenic steroids. It's not easy and won't happen "accidentally", even if you lift heavy weights as part of your weight/fat loss regimen.

    This.
  • Swissmiss
    Swissmiss Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Check out the thread about burning calories by cleaning and chores. I think this will be a good way to lose weight without gaining dreaded muscle

    Some male sarcasm. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • ZipperJJ
    ZipperJJ Posts: 209 Member
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    If you want to avoid gaining muscle, don't take steroids. When you're eating at a caloric deficit, putting on appreciable amounts of muscle is nearly impossible. The muscular women you see have made a conscious, dedicated effort to building that muscle and have fought hard for every ounce of it...eating at a caloric surplus to "bulk up", then "cutting" (losing fat while making every effort to sustain lean muscle mass through very precise eating and supplementation) to get that "ripped" look. The female bodybuilders with massive amounts of muscle have (in many cases) done all the above plus 'supplemented' with anabolic/androgenic steroids. It's not easy and won't happen "accidentally", even if you lift heavy weights as part of your weight/fat loss regimen.

    Precisely!
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    1. You can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit.
    2. All those women on TV and in magazines whose bodies you wish you had - I guarantee they all lift weights.
  • KaidaKantri
    KaidaKantri Posts: 401
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    I have always wondered how to do this!
    I have a lot of weight to lose,
    and I really don't want to gain muscle.
    It might sound weird, but I dont find a lot of muscle on girls attractive.
    I ESPECIALLY don't want my claves to bulk up anymore.

    Any suggestions?

    HAHA I totally agree! My calves also don't need to gain any more muscle, hell I wish I could lose the muscle a bit and not gain any fat so they can fit in boots >.> I don't find A LOT of muscle on guys attractive either.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I feel like nobody has totally answered your question. The answer is yes you can lose weight without becoming cut or having standout defined muscles. The answers that you have gotten are good - don't take steriods, don't eat too little, keep your water intake up, etc.
    But do lift weights - lower weight amounts and more reps increase your tone and therefore help you lose more weight and don't build the muscle up - they tone what you have. When you lift heavy weights you actually tear muscle fibers and as they repair they build up. Therefore smaller weights, more reps, no damage just tone and you will see the resulting feminine form you are looking for!

    Wrong, no such thing as "tone" and low weight high rep just increases endurance, it will not strengthen you muscles very much, for that heavy weight low reps.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    1. You can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit.
    2. All those women on TV and in magazines whose bodies you wish you had - I guarantee they all lift weights.

    Yep.

    I really hope that after a little while here you learn that you're not thinking right. You WANT to be lifting heavy weights. You just don't know it yet. Trust me.
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 Posts: 368 Member
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    It's pretty much impossible to lose weight without losing muscle. As you lose weight, you will see whatever muscle and bone you have more than when they are covered with fat , but eating a calorie deficit and not working out will have you shedding both fat and muscle.

    Eating at a deficit and doing intense cardio with not enough weights got me a soft/ skinny fat look. Heck, even now that I'm lifting weights, eating plenty of protein and trying to hang on to lean muscle mass I'm still losing more than I want.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Muscles are sexy. I lift weights every day and I lift as heavy as I can. I am not "bulky" because I don't take steroids which is the only way a woman can get a body builders physique.

    Skinny fat is not sexy.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    1. You can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit.
    2. All those women on TV and in magazines whose bodies you wish you had - I guarantee they all lift weights.

    Most of the women I see in the media don't look like they could lift a weight. They look starved. I think they're all doing the Gwyneth Paltrow/Tracey Anderson 'teeny tiny' diet/workout plan.

    I think we need one more person to say that "You can't gain muscle on a deficit." The OP probably doesn't get it yet. :laugh:
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
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    =/ When will people stop posting about this and finally realize the truth about women and muscle...
    Unless you do some serious training for a long time, you are not going to become some she-woman with big muscles.

    Besides...If your at a calorie deficit to lose weight, your not going to be gaining muscle. Losing muscle is what most people worry about when losing weight. Thats why it is so important to get adequate protein and keep up weight training to try and retain as much of your muscle as you can. People can't typically lose weight and gain muscle at the same time.

    Also if you have a good bit of weight to lose, weights is beneficial if you don't want to appear flabby in a lot of areas and want a tighter body in the end.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I don't understand why you don't want muscles. How to you expect to achieve locomotion?