Losing Fat, Gaining Muscle!!

Hi just curious on how everyone has been doing with this? I know this is old but it spiked my interest and it is what i have been striving for...

I think you can do both, but the weight comes off easier (if we follow our diet plans), but muscle takes more time than the loosing does. Right now, I need to do both and my eating habits are not the best. I am low on protein many days and high on fat. Must change that!!!

Hmm... maybe I'm one of the weirdos that can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. I think that is what happened. A couple of years ago, chronically underweight, I reoriented my workouts to ST and away from cardio. I also shifted my plant-based nutrition into not only nutrient-dense but calorie dense foods. In July '11 my LBM was 97.5 lbs. My BF was 15%. Today I weigh almost 10 lbs more and I am no longer underweight. My LBM is 107 lbs. and my BF is between 10 and 11%. All I know is that I feel a lot healthier and stronger than I did before. I gained almost 10 lbs and most of it was muscle. Not only that, but my overall BF% dropped. Maybe it's different to try to gain and not lose. Well, I wanted to gain muscle and I wanted to lose fat. I don't know. I don't really understand all this stuff. But, this is what I experienced.

Addendum: I workout quite a bit.

Edited by: PETALIA at: 6/9/2013 (21:01)

Fairly useful article about this very subject. Author feels you can't easily do BOTH at the same time!
www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-to-build
-m
uscle-and-lose-fat/

Good luck!

I'm posting this in 2 places with hopes that it will benefit those who are interested!

Here's a fairly LONG article about building muscle and recovery...

www.peertrainer.com/fitness/muscle-r
ec
overy.aspx

There are several things in this article that I will experiment with, particularly with re. to timing of nutrition before and after training. I will try it for a month and check my results!

what are some of the BESt ways to BULK up?

Meeting with a P.T. once each week + working out on my own 1-2 other times has assisted me in a degree of both muscle challenge and variety. She has been guiding me to correct imbalances (muscle) as well as building strength & core stablity.

The good news is that my caliper measurements on Sat. compared w/ those taken (by same person) in July show a 4-5# muscle increase! I was definitely jazzed. -- So the pounds on the scale ARE showing the muscle increase, because my smaller clothes ARE fitting well.

Now to hold on to and keep building over the winter months--when I struggle the most with being indoors more and around more food and baking, ETC.

Hello ;)

Hello, it sounds like you are gaining weight despite exercising regularly and cutting back on your food intake. What is your energy level like throughout the day? Does it dip just before you eat, and gets better just after eating? If so, then changingsyour current plan by slightly increasing your total caloric intake might do the trick.

Just stay focused. One of the things you can try is to reframe your mental picture/idea of snacks or eating at night. Instead of looking at the food as good or delicious instead picture it as it really is. Picture the snacks and things laying around as unhealthy making you feel bad, sluggish, depressed and fighting your goal Reframing them as negative will help you avoid them and avoid too much food and the nasty foods. Picture the right snacks in the right size as something small you can do to fight off hunger and keep lean, happy and fit. The mental picture counts for so much. Picture it, hear it and feel it, all or whatever suits you best. Knowing the real value of the food you are consuming make you enjoy the foods that help you lose weight, feel better, look better and perform better.

I'm glad that this thread was revived! This is my dilemna....I've been working at losing weight since January 2009, I had gotten down to 155, size 6 but last summer & the holidays killed me. Now I'm at 183 and trying deperately to get this weight off. I walk 3-5 miles a day, Turbo at lunch on Monday/Wednesday, chest/back - Tues, arms - Thurs, Legs - Fri, Shoulders - Sat. Evenings I do 30-60 minutes of cardio on the eliptical at least 5 days a week and on weekends when I have the time I like to add in a hike or bike ride. I'll be honest, night time is the hardest for me to stay on track eating and I've been fumbling, however, I do try to keep it clean food. All in all I'm averaging between 1300-1600 calories (intake) a day and according to the Bodymedia FIT I use (like BodyBugg) I'm burning an average of 3400 calories a day. What gives????? Any suggestions I would welcome!

Thanks

I am on this path of losing fat and gaining muscle as well.
I have had some success, but not where I want to be yet. I am at about 28%bf using the circumference measurement conversion. I am pushing my self hard to get where I need to be because I am studying to become a certified personal trainer and only have a couple of months to get to where I think I need to be.

I have lost 40 lbs since last august, and over 100 lbs over all since about 6 years ago.
I am 8-9 pounds away from leaving the "overweight" BMI section, and the last few pounds have been hell. No matter what I eat, or how much I exercise I have been stuck.......for about a month now.

I am seeing more muscle mass in my arms, chest and lower legs, but all of my fat is hanging in between my stomach and upper legs.

If anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated!

welcome to SP. thanks for reviving this thread.

Hope I'm not a jerk for bumping a zombie thread, but I just joined sparkpeople.

I've been lifting weights since high school, much of that time as an athlete (swimming and water polo). I never worried about my diet much during college, as I was swimming 8 miles a day and lifting weights. I also didn't think much about it years after college, when I was hovering around 18% bf for a long time. Then, last year, my Dr. pointed out that my cholesterol numbers were killing me. Out the window went my constant cheeseburger and pizza diet (that is how swimmers eat--even many of the world class ones...), so I decided to get lean again as a consolation prize. I've been stuck at around 10-11% bf for a while now, losing those last few abdominal pounds to have abs looking they they were sculpted from stone rather than modeled from clay is taking a long time.

Anyway, I'm not here to advertise for them, but the real reason I joined sparkpeople is because I bought this cookbook called "The Anabolic Cookbook." The recipes seem good, but it has also caused me to start counting calories for the first time in my life. That's what drew me to SP. My wife had been on the site for some time, but with my heavy workouts and muscle mass, I always figured the right amount of food for me was simply "a lot." When she mentioned coutning calories I just laughed. I've been using the cookbook for only about two weeks now, and it seems to have gotten me out of that plateau. And for once, I don't seem to be getting weaker during my cutting cycle. Not sure when I'll be able to report 8% bf, but I'm on the way much more than I was a month ago.

So, hello everyone, and good luck with losing fat and gaining muscle.

Today was my monthly weigh-in and it was a mixed bag. My chest-to-waist ratio increased while my %body fat and resting heart rate decreased. That is the good news. The bad news is that my lean body mass also trended down together with my total weight.

That's good news overall though because I went closer to my target BMI and I like how I look in the mirror hehe

Looks like this thread died hehe. I realized sleeping 8 hours/day IS one of my fastbreak goals. I did not get that amount of sleep during the weekend because of an out of town workshop. Have to learn to say NO to late nights next time.

My weekly weigh in was today. I have to declare my 3month experiment a bust and will change goals from increasing lean mass to increasing chest waist ratio (related to Adonix index).

I am learning that it is easier for me to form a good habit of making right food choices but need lots of coaxing with exercising regularly and sleeping at least 7 hours a night. I probably should make a FastStreak goal of keeping workout sessions.

Thank you so much for this info. I didn't know about this website http://www.lockonfitness.com/BodyComp until I read your post.
I think putting in my measurements and weight will be quite helpful. I know I've been really firming up even while the scale hasn't moved alot, as everything fits much nicer than it was. This should be able to show my progess more now with the numbers.
Thanks again!


Edited by: LORIAPO at: 11/20/2009 (12:51)

thanks so much for these tips!

I've only recently started focusing on my diet. I too want to build muscle and lose body fat. I understand that the most effective way might be to spend periods of time taking in calories and protein to bulk and periods of time dropping calories to lose fat, but does it matter which you start out with? I've decided to spend my first month on SparkPeople balanced between the two, but after that I want to be focused. Any recommendations?

If you are trying to gain or maintain your muscle mass you need to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of either body weight or lean muscle weight. I consume around 108-180 grams per day. I am trying to maintain what I have while lower my bodyfat.

Wendy

Looking for some advice please. I'm not quite sure how much protein I should be consuming daily. I've read posts about judging it by what you weigh but then I've read a couple books where it sounds like that holds true UNLESS you are obese...which happens to be the category I fall into presently. When I've done the calculations in the books, it comes out that I should have almost 5 oz/day based on my lean body mass but then I keep thinking "Man, that doesn't sound like much!"

Anyone else ever been in this boat?

Also the best way to burn calories is not your traditional 30 min cardio workout. Instead interval training is the best way to burn calories. You burn the same amount of calories in half the time and you continue to lose the calories after you've stopped working out. Use google to find High Intensity Interval training. Two I do are using the Elliptical and/or the Spinning bike for 15min going as fast as I can for a minute with high resistance than going slow with no resistance for a min and keeping this up for 15 min.

A great thing me and my girlfriend have done to build the muslce in our Quads and Hamstrings is doing supersets. First you start off with doing squats with dumbells in each hand 10 of them and than you switch to jumping squats with no weights 10 of them. After you finish that you grab the weights again and do lunges 10 with each leg, put the weights down and do jumping lunges alternating legs 10 with each leg than take a 1-2min rest before doing the next set. 3 sets of that really works out your quads, hamstrings and butt.

Edited by: DAMASTA5 at: 7/3/2009 (15:14)

Ooooh, patience with the belly fat is what I have to learn to deal with. I know that it is a process like everything else. I am doing totally body training and circuits all the time. I know there is a six pack under there when all the fat is gone. My daughter is sickening. She has a body like Jillian. You can see her ripped abs and waist structure, uuuugh. I love her.

Have a great weight lifting and cardio weekend.

Peace and Love.

Thanks for the advice, some good ideas here. I am working a lot on the nutrition, but haven't gotten to 1 grm or protein to 1 lb.

Actually, after 3 weeks of my more frequent and intense workouts I am starting to see a difference. Still moving too slowly for me, but at least moving.


AN

The common theory is that belly fat is easier to lose...ha! Mine hangs on tenaciously.

Hey Andrew!

If you think losing belly fat is bad, you should try losing Mama Booty, LOL! Just kidding.

You'll have to lose more fat, and simply build more muscle. Even if your abs are rock hard, nobody will see them hidden in the fluff. This is exactly where I am, as well. Time and patience!

How is your nutrition? Are you tracking? Are you taking in 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight to encourage that muscle growth? Eating too many carbs?

The bottom line is that you will have to lose more fat if you want nice abs. If you think you will look too skinny with more fat loss, hit the weights and up the protein. You will look ripped if you have low body fat!



Edited by: CTCLOUGH at: 5/21/2009 (10:33)

Andrew, congratulations on all your hard work and accomplishments so far! As for your current problem you may have to give up a little weight to rid yourself of the belly fat. I would reduce the calorie intake 200-400 calories for a period of time and see if you start to get results. An alternative may be carb cycling, but I have not completely gotten a handle on this, so asking Mr. Nitro would be helpful if you are interested in info on carb cycling.
Are you using weights on your ab workouts? If not add some weights to them to build up more muscle. Nothing heavy, just enough so you get a real good burn and struggle at the end. How many times in a week would you say you are working out your abs? I did it around 4-5 days and only saw results when I went down to a 2-3 days a week schedule. Just food for thought.

Andrew, Since you are also doing some floor work, I am assuming you are doing a lot of crunches. I know this sounds silly, but isometrics really works for me in helping with my posture and strengthening my stomach. It's a lifelong thing I have done since I was a child. Since you have a trainer, I thought I'd tell you something that you could try that you haven't already tried...somthing that other men wouldn't suggest to you. After that.....just keep on trac with your lifting and don't give up. Takes time and patience....good hard work! Good luck to you. Mary Ann

Edited by: DREMARGRL at: 5/20/2009 (22:44)

Question for the team.

I made some major changes in my life 3 years ago, and without any specific goals, I lost about 20 lbs, and started a 'fairly' regular workout schedule. Nothing really challenging, but pretty regular.

About two months ago, I decided to get really serious, because despite a big difference in my body, I am still not making any progress on my belly. Which is (because of some unlucky genes) where my body has decided to store fat.

Anyway, I am trying to stay at a maintenance calorie range because I really don't want to loose any more weight (6' and 169 lbs). I am being careful to keep my total fat, and saturated fats under their limit (I have no trouble with the total fats, but the saturated is a struggle). I have increased my protein intake substantially, and I am trying to avoid processed food and especially processed sugars.

On the gym side, I have increased my time to 5 days a week, with up to two days where I am doing 50 minutes in the morning and 1 hr in the evening. I am doing palates 2 times per week with a trainer for core strength. Cardio every time, where I was doing 50 minutes at a medium intensity but now 35 with interval training.

For weights I use mostly machines, but have added in free weights for my chest. I do 10, 8, and 6 reps for each, and am doing a full body workout every second day. I try to keep rests between sets at a minimum by mixing the exercises and alternating.

On the alternating days, I am focusing on stretching and abdomen.

What do you think, am I missing something, or should this be pretty decent approach? At 40 y.o., I don't want to get huge, I just want to lose the belly, and have the rest of the body parts in the right place. At the same time, I have never carried a lot of muscle, so if I do bulk up (especially on chest, legs and arms) that's ok.

Anyway, I know there is no perfectly right way, but I would appreciate your advice or opinions.

Thanks

Andrew

GREAT ANSWER, CT. Since I've been fit for most of my life, at my age I find that many just get "stuck". I have always been open to new ideas, old ideas......just always open to learn more. Right now I have a compression fracture in my Lumbar#1 from an auto accident two wks. ago that is keeping me from exercising at all. When I start back, I'll have to go slow & light, but then I'll try your suggestion and load up a bit. Might be just what I'm looking for. Have to work twice as hard to get the half the results as when I was your age. I just can hardly stand not being able to work out and can't wait to be released to do just that in a couple more weeks. You look great, CT, and have accomplished so much in such a short time.

Edited by: DREMARGRL at: 5/13/2009 (09:22)

I think 20 reps is way too many, and I would double your weight and see how many reps you can squeeze out.

No matter is you lift lighter with higher reps or heavier with lower reps, the key is to push yourself beyond what you think you can do. People get results with a variety of philosophies (lifting heavy, lifting light, etc), but what sets people with great results apart from people who have little to show despite years of training is the fact that they PUSH THEMSELVES and work harder and harder every time.

My body doesn't know or care about reps or numbers. What it understands is being challenged to the absolute limit. I'm the girl at the gym straining, sweating, and pushing and the other ladies kinda look at me funny! Like, "What's your problem?" Most people just do their set number of reps in their light weights and never break a sweat or struggle. They might as well be having a tea party. I notice that they look the same week after week.

If you are groaning to get that last rep up, pushing yourself to the absolute limit on EVERY set, and eating clean, you're gonna have great results no matter what your age.

Edited by: CTCLOUGH at: 5/13/2009 (08:46)

I start at 15 lb for curls. I began at 8 & 10 lb wts and did 25 reps, 20, and then 15. Just an example. Are you all talking way heavier than that to start? I'm not really a novice, but I have never had a trainer or worked out in any other gym except my own fitness business years ago.

DREMARGRL - good point! I find that most people find it very hard to judge what a suitable weight would be that would result in muscle failure after eight/ten/twelve reps. For most experienced resistance trainers, this is a fairly basic skill, but befuddles most beginners.

Most people do this - if you ask them to pick a weight they can do eight reps with, they pick a weight - usually much lighter than they can actually lift for eight reps. They'll count from one to eight and then firmly believe that eighth rep is the last, even though it's not.

The correct way to do it, is pick a heavier weight - count backwards from your target rep, and if you really can't do another one, then pick one slightly lighter and try again after a rest.

As you get stronger, this weight will and should increase.

DREMARGRL - to me personally, this means making the weight heavy enough that I hit absolute muscle failure at 6-8 reps.

Oh...by the way....love your input C. Charles. I always learn something new when I come to this thread. Thank you!

Edited by: DREMARGRL at: 5/12/2009 (18:00)

And so like for curls...what size weights do you use? I'm 5'6" tall and 37 28 37 and 61 years old. I'm just curious. Hope you don't mind. You look awesome and I remember when I looked like that, too. I was in the best shape of my life at 45. Anyway, I always did light weights, still do and was just wondering. Keep it up.....It's a lifelong lifestyle and your body will thank you later!

DREMARGRL - to me personally, this means making the weight heavy enough that I hit absolute muscle failure at 6-8 reps.

It's pretty amazing how much more you can get done by just working more efficiently. When I breeze through my 12 to 15 set workout, I'm usually done in 45 mins or less - I often get asked - "Done already?"

I want to respond - if you exercised all the time you were:-

Chatting on the phone
+ Texting your friends
+ Skipping to the perfect song on your iPod
+ Chatting up people in the gym
+ Sitting down for 5 mins resting
+ Waiting for a particular piece of equipment instead of doing something else

You'd be done too! Sorry if this sounds harsh - but it's true!

So....TCLOUGH....what is "lifting heavy" for you, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks, everyone! Resting a minute between sets was a great way to switch up my workout. I did 4 sets of 4 exercises in what seemed like NO time. I alternated an exercise with low reps/heavier weight with an exercise on the same muscle with higher reps/lighter weights.

My body was shocked, and I loved it. It's great to ditch the 'same old, same old.'

Edited by: CTCLOUGH at: 5/12/2009 (10:20)

My rest time is generally 30 sec. I monitor this with my stop watch. The heart rate is secondary to the fact that I just want to see sweat rolling down my face as I work out. This week I begin my new exercise regimen of 20 sec sets and 10 sec rests. In all each workout should only take about 15 or maybe 20 min excluding cardio.

I've found that reducing the set to set time makes an incredible difference to the amount of calories you burn. I tend to do a circuit of two different muscle groups so while one recovers, I do something different.

You finish your workouts quicker and you can feel the intensity. I think most people over-estimate how much rest they need between sets. I see so many people just sitting around at the gym who say they are "resting" - but their breath is not labored or anything. I wear a heart rate monitor while working out and start my next set when it drops below a predefined number.

Can we talk about rest between sets?

If my goal is fat loss right now, over muscle gains, I was thinking about upping my reps to about 15, and only resting a minute or so between sets. I'd have to lighten the weights a bit. I'd like to cut fat while maintaining the muscle I have.

Normally I lift heavy, 6-8 reps with about 3 minutes between sets, so this would be a change.

What do you guys think?

Woo hoo for you!!

Well, yesterday was a relief. Got on the scale and found I had gained weight, but my inches are down all around. I triple checked everything and I lost about .3% bodyfat from last week. I'll take it!

Wow, thanks for posting that! I'll have to check back here when I measure on Thursday.

Part of me thinks I should take a permanent marker and see if I can maintain the marking of one spot so I'm measuring the same spot each time!

I get frustrated measuring with callipers too of late - I seem to be getting different readings. Here's what Tom Venuto's article in BFFM Inner Circle says:-

Suprailiac
The usual description of this site is "a diagonal fold just above the iliac crest." When I first read that, I nearly blew a fuse. The iliac crest or, "hip bone," can be felt starting a few inches away from the navel and sweeping in a long arc out to the side of the body and around back to the sacrum. Just where did these jokers mean? If I measure closer to my navel, I get a small number. If I measure out at the very fattest part of the love handles, I get a big number. So, where? And if you look at pictures on
the web or in articles, they differ from each other and, in some cases, the text differs from the photo.
Well, take a calming breath. Here's how to do it. The method presented here has the advantage of being very repeatable.
You're going to measure directly above a bump on the front of your hip bone: The iliac crest is a ridge of bone along the top of your pelvis. In the photo, the dashed line marks the top of the hip bone as it sweeps up and over the side of the body and then descends downwards. The cross marks the location of a raised bump where the hip bone seems to disappear (because it curves inwards).

(Suprailiac Measurement Site)
There are three ways to find this spot. The first is to just feel for the bump. Once you've experienced locating it accurately once, you can find it easily but, how do you confirm you have the right place? Here are two methods.
Method 1:
• Standing, put your right leg up on a chair with your knee bent and your right thigh roughly parallel to the floor. Place your hand on top of your right thigh and follow the mid-line back to your hip bone.
• Feel the hip bone along the crease between your thigh and torso with your finger tips and discover the following features: As you move your fingertips towards your groin you will feel a place where your fingers fall off of the hip bone and sink into soft tissue. Okay, now move back, away from the groin, along the crease, and you'll feel your fingers come back up onto the hip bone. As you come up onto the hip bone and move just a bit further away from the groin, you'll feel your fingers fall into a valley, but still be feeling bone. Thus, you've just found a ridge of bone along your hip and located where it crosses the crease between leg and torso. Place your index finger on the peak of that ridge right at the crease between your thigh and your torso. Without moving your hand, put your foot down on the floor.
• Your index finger is now sitting on the landmark for taking the measurement. With your thumb, reach up and grab a roll of skin. Play a bit and you'll see that the fold of skin naturally wants to fall along a diagonal rather than parallel to the floor. That's the skinfold you want. Your index finger will move up off of the landmark about an inch when taking the fold, but it will start vertically above the landmark.

Method 2:
This method is fast but first you need to do a little experiment: Sit in a chair, feet flat on the floor.
Place your fingertips in the crease between your right leg and your torso in the vicinity of your hip bone. Move as if you are crossing your legs, putting your right foot on your left knee. This is a twisting movement rather than simply lifting the knee.
If you have trouble, it may be helpful to think of your leg below the knee as a golf club and you are moving as if you were putting a golf ball with your foot. The moment you start to move, you will feel a muscle pop up under your fingertips. Keeping the tension on in the muscle, follow the muscle all the way up to where it meets the hip.
Keep going up, following the tendon all the way to the very crest of the hip. If you go even a little further, your fingertip will leave the hip bone and sink into soft tissue. You have just found the origin of the sartorius muscle along the iliac crest. This is your landmark.
Now that you've learned where the sartorius originates on the iliac crest, here is the method:
• Standing, place your fingertips on your hip bone in the crease between your right thigh and torso.
• Pretend your right foot is a golf club and putt an imaginary ball away from you, 45 degrees off to the left. You will feel the sartorius pop up just as you did in the experiment.
• Locate the origin of the sartorius on the iliac crest with your pointer finger. This is your landmark.
• With your thumb, reach up grab a roll of skin. Play a bit and you'll see that the fold of skin naturally wants to fall along a diagonal rather than parallel to the floor. That's the skinfold you want. Your index finger will move up off of the landmark about an inch when taking the fold, but it will start vertically above the landmark.

Edited by: C.CHARLES at: 4/27/2009 (12:52)

In the past I've always found BFFM's progress chart really helpful for trouble shooting. By the way, I'm back at working out after a year of being lazy, and it shows....argh.

I have yet to pull out my accu-measure because I often got various readings in one session. I know I need to refine my skills at doing it though.

I've been weighing myself once a week, but I suppose I should take it to the next level and get back to figuring out my BF%, or at least attempt to get good at doing it!

Heidi

The important thing to know is that you need BOTH. You can't really have one without the other. Track both of these and see that they are proceeding according to plan.

BF (lbs) = BF% x Scale Weight

LBM (lbs) = Scale Weight x (1 - BF%)

BF% is expressed in decimals, so if you have 20% body fat, subsitute 0.20 in the formulas.

----------------------------------------
-------
From Tom Venuto's BFFM:-

Interpreting your progress chart

The following section lists every possible outcome you may encounter and the actions you should take when each occurs.

Lean mass stays the same and body fat decreases

Fantastic! Your diet and exercise program is working as planned and youre on your way to reaching your goal. Dont change anything. Keep up the good work!

Lean mass remains same and body fat remains same

Nothing is happening either way; youre at a standstill and you need to make some adjustments to get yourself moving again. First, increase your cardiovascular activity level. You can increase the number of days per week as well as how long you are exercising at each session. If you dont lose body fat within the next week, then you can reduce your caloric intake systematically by 100-200 calories at a time, provided you do not drop below your maximum allowable calorie deficit. Keep your nutrient ratios the same unless youve been stuck for more than two weeks. If youve been stuck more than two weeks, you might want to experiment with a moderate or low carbohydrate diet and or zig-zag carbohydrate cycling (see chapter 12 for details).

Lean mass stays the same and body fat increases

Youre in a calorie surplus. Youre eating more calories than youre burning and storing it as fat. First increase the frequency and duration of cardiovascular exercise. Then recheck your body fat in one week. If it hasnt decreased, reduce your caloric intake by 100-200 calories at a time, provided you do not drop below your maximum allowable calorie deficit. Keep your nutrient ratios the same.

Lean mass decreases and body fat decreases

You are losing body fat which is good, but youve also lost some lean mass, which is not good. A small loss in lean mass (a few tenths of a pound) is nothing to worry about. If this is the first time youve lost LBM, dont panic because some of the LBM is water weight. If this is a recurring pattern and youve been losing LBM every week for more than two weeks straight, youre losing muscle tissue. You need to eat more, at least temporarily. Increase your caloric intake by 100-200 calories to stimulate your metabolism, while continuing with your current exercise program. Keep your nutrient ratios the same.

Lean mass decreases and body fat stays the same or increases

When you lose LBM and your body fat does not decrease at all, this usually means your metabolism has slowed down and you are burning up muscle for energy; you are not in fat burning mode. This often occurs when you skip meals. Losing lean mass means that you need to eat more to stimulate your metabolism. Dont be afraid to eat, and keep up your meal frequency to five or six times per day. Remember that its better to burn the fat off rather than starve it off. Keep your calories as high as possible while using exercise to burn off the fat. Severely restricting your calories below the recommended levels will always result in a loss of muscle mass. Increase your caloric intake by 100-200 calories and maintain or slightly increase the amount of cardiovascular exercise you are doing. Make sure youre consistent with your weight training as well.

Lean mass increases and body fat decreases

This is very unlikely to happen, except for genetically gifted individuals (the pure mesomorph) and sometimes for ectomorphs who have highly efficient metabolisms. If it does happen, terrific! You are leaner and more muscular! Dont change anything. Keep up the good work, youre on your way to reaching your goal.

Lean mass increases and body fat stays the same

Good job, youve gained muscle without gaining fat! This is the ideal outcome for a muscle-gaining program. If you also want to reduce your body fat percentage, youll need a greater calorie deficit, which you can accomplish by increasing your cardio while remaining at your current caloric intake.

Lean mass increases and body fat increases

You gained muscle, which is good, but you also gained fat, which is not good. You are in a substantial calorie surplus. Some bodybuilders do this habitually in their off season its called bulking up, If you want to stay lean and avoid the bulked up look, you need to increase the amount of cardiovascular exercise you are doing. You should also make sure youre being strict enough on your diet. Keep your diet clean and free of high fat or high sugar junk foods. Recheck your body fat in one week. If you still continue to gain fat, then you need to decrease your caloric intake.

Conclusion: Let your results dictate your approach.

Edited by: C.CHARLES at: 4/25/2009 (13:38)

I wish I could just throw the scale out. At least this means maybe my BF is lower than I thought from my scale.

Thanks, Charles, for spreading the word about body fat measurement. Many people are so obsessed with the scale and I thought it was astute of you to bring it into the light. Have a great day and keep on doing your good work! Have a glorious day!! Mary Ann (dremargrl)

In my experience, nothing is more deceptive than scale weight. Your clothes could be fitting better but your scale weight may not drop that significantly especially if you are on a weight-training program.

Some of you may have bought a body fat scale that claims to measure your body fat. You might be surprised to learn how the scale works. What it does is shoot a small electric current from the sole of your left foot through your body and completes the circuit with your right foot (don't worry you won't light up like a bulb - the current is tiny).

The strength of the current is proportional to both the fat content but also proportional to your hydration level at that point in time. So attempting to measure your body fat percentage with one of these scales is sort of like measuring your waist circumference with your clothes on - it would vary with what you are wearing. So your displayed body fat percentage can vary wildly with your hydration level and because muscles store more water, it can make an extremely muscular person (with a low body fat percentage) appear to be in its obese range. This can be disappointing to the best of us!

My advice would be to buy a pair of fat callipers like the one made by Accu-measure. They are much more accurate than the electronic body fat meters and at under 10 bucks, it's a great addition to your fitness tools.

Accumeasure caliper : tinyurl.com/ccntne

Read my other posts:-
Tracking the Effects of Your Training and Nutrition : tinyurl.com/d6lmd3

Read more : tinyurl.com/dmjbqm

TTP, you are right and I am being patient, I just want to see a little less cellulite. LOL

you also have to remember you can't spot reduce. The harder you work, the more fat comes off, and it's not gonna come off with spot reduction. And your body may decided it wants to melt the fat off your belly or arms first. I'm dying for the fat to come off my belly, and it has a little, but it's mainly dropped off my thighs and arms.

You just have to be patient with it. That's all.

I am exhausted after my strength training and may not have the stamina. Mornings don't look so well because I will be sweated out before I go to work. When I train to jog on the treadmill, within 16 min I am drenched and my hair is wet. I only air dry my hair so the mornings won't work. I have to think about how I am going to do it.

BMore you will start to see a difference by that time, but is important to remember that in order to burn the fat with cardio like jogging you should do it in the morning before eating a full breakfast or after strength training. Otherwise you are just burning what you eat and it has no real impact.

Yes, I am currently doing them with my ladder workout twice a week.
30/25/20/15/5=95 squats
Squats w/calf raises and overhead dumbell press using 5lb weights on each hand.

I am also training to jog which I was hoping would melt some of that fat. By the way I don't go to the gym, every workout is homebased.

So I should see a big difference in May?

Edited by: BMORE73 at: 4/1/2009 (15:56)

i agree with cwummel. In just matter of 4-6 weeks of doing squats with the squat rack, my thighs are a lot less flabby than they used to be, and they are almost completely rock solid now. That's actually where my fat started coming off when I started working out in january. Deadlifts are great for the hamstrings as well. Just remember if u want to lose the fat, you need to lift heavy.

I went from doing squats with just 45 lbs, to doing them with 105 lbs in just a few weeks.

BMore are you doing squats or deadlifts of any kind? These are two great exercises that can really help with your legs. If you are not able to do them a sitting or lying leg extension machine is good as well.

I want to lose this fat on my thighs and have more muscle and a toned look..Help this cellulite is not firming up or going away like it suppose to..

Got the scale moving again and brought it down another 2 pounds! Pants are all the looser and I found my weight lifting gloves!!

Glad to see the scale is back on your side of seeing things! Keep up the good work!!!!

.....last week.......this week
weight..166.4 ...163.4
body fat..35.6...34.1%
bmi.. 26.9 ......26.3




hope you all doing well :)

Edited by: MARSHA74 at: 3/9/2009 (04:35)

As if I were put in a blender and pressed pulp. I feel great because I worked so hard and actually have soreness to prove it.

wow well done casey!...... how you been feeling?

From Thursday to yesterday I performed a full on blitz on my muscles. You can read a little about it in my blog on my sparkpage. However I have lost 3.7 pounds as of this morning!! I have lost 1.5 inches in the waist, which is where I want to see a loss. Hopefully I can keep producing results!

well, not alot happening again this week im afraid..

..last week .. today..
....167.6.........167.4.

BMI and BF is exactly the same... it is 'that time of the month' for me, thats my excuse and im sticking to it!!..lol

hope everyone else is doing good

well done casey

I had an alright week by scale means as I managed to shed another two pounds.

Marsha off-weeks happen, but just come back strong for the next.

Not a happy bunny this morning......not much has changed this week, but i must admit, i have had a couple of bad days, so my fault..

lastweek......today
167.8......167.6 Weight
35.7%......35.6% Body fat
26.9.......26.9 BMI

Awesome Casey! So glad to hear that the scale is finally showing you some love. Keep it up!

well done casey!...... its hard to keep going when you cant see the changes on the scales, but its will probably all start clicking into place for you now, keep it up!!

Well, I have some suprisingly good news of my own to report! Got on the scale this morning and showed a loss of 4 pounds. After weeks of nothing, weight or inch wise, I finally am seeing something for the hard work and effort I am putting into losing fat and gaining muscle.

thanks casey
your encouragement is appreciated

Way to go Marsha! Keep up the good work you are an inspiration with your accomplishments.

here we go again.....monday......

last week ... this week
169.4 LBS ... 167.8 LBS
36.1% BF ... 35.7% BF
27.3 BMI ... 26.9 BMI


hope everyone doing well

Edited by: MARSHA74 at: 2/9/2009 (04:43)

thanks casey...hope you're doing well

thanks mama! well done on your achievements too!!!

Grerat job!

well, its monday and i've weighed in again, and measured...
lost 5 lbs....

body fat was 36.6%..now 36.1%...
so not a gr8 loss, but still a loss
bmi was 28, now 27.3
lost 1 inch from waist and 1.5 inch of hips
im starting to like mondays...lol

hi casey
my scales are not made from a famous brand. i live in the UK and one of our pharmacy's manufactures their own make of scales, they do all kinds of other things too...
sorry about that..hope you find a good pair soon!!..

Just out of curiousity what brand did you buy Marsha? My scale just went out on me and I am looking into a new one.