muscle vs. fat & a size 6

[teawithsunshine]

Hi--

I don't know if this is the right area of the forum to ask this question (moderators, feel free to move this questionaire to another section if you think it'd help):

If a person reached her weight-loss goal, but wanted to be a size six instead of a size 8 for example, would she have to gain more muscle and lose a certain percentage of body fat to do so (and not go under her target weight number)?

How would one go about doing that?

what exercises (be it cardio or weights) would a girl have to do to achieve that and not look like Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2 lol.

Thanks!

[Meg]

Hi Tea!

Yes, you're right -- if you want to reshape your body without changing your weight, you need to change your body composition (body fat percentage).

You do this through a combination of adding muscle and losing fat. Muscle is added by weight training and fat is lost with a combination of restricting calories, cardio, and increasing metabolism by adding muscle (muscle is the calorie burner in our bodies ). When you gain muscle and lose fat at the same rate, your scale weight won't change but your body fat percent will. And so will your measurements because muscle takes up about 1/3 the space of fat.

Don't worry about bulking up or looking too muscular! That's a look that's very hard for a woman to achieve and it requires extremely low body fat and very specific, hardcore training. It's not going to happen for you or me unless we work very hard for that look as a specific goal. What matters is that lifting weights will make you smaller and tighter and you'll burn more calories every day, awake or asleep. So weightlifting should be a key part of everyone's exercise program.

What kind of food and exercise plans are you following now? If you can tell us a bit about it, we can offer some suggestions that will help you lower your BF% so you can be smaller without dropping pounds.

[AnneWonders]

Tea,

You might also want to rethink your goal weight. It is very hard to set the right one, especially if you were far from it when you started losing weight, and as they close in on the initial goal, it seems like lots of people find good results adjusting it either up or down. I don't know where you are in that process, but it may be something to think about.

Personally, I think Linda Hamilton in T2 looked fabulous! But reading about how she achieved that look, you understand that it was very hard to get there, and she doesn't look like that today (or last time I checked anyway). Listen to the experts here and lift with confidence.

Anne

[PhotoChick]

Oooh ... Linda Hamilton in T2 is one of my idols.

What Meg said. Lifting weights will help reshape your body. One thing to keep in mind is that if you do begin seriously lifting weights, you will most likely gain weight - even as your body becomes smaller. Muscle is more dense than fat, so gaining muscle will make you gain weight to a degree. Don't freak out if that happens. The important part at that point is bodyfat percentage and inches.

Also your diet is EXTREMELY important here - not so much calorie restriction (although some of that, yeah) but the amount of protein and carbs you get and when. When you're lifting hard to build muscle, you need more protein than you might normally be eating and you should try to get in a good wallop of it within an hour of lifting.

I personally aim for about 35% or more of my calories from protein (which equates to about 120 g of protein a day for me) and I make sure to drink a protein shake w/in 30 mins of my workout on the days that I lift.

Good luck to you!

.

[Shannon in ATL]

Tea - I'm trying to do the same thing. I don't specifically care if my size goes down, but I do want to shape myself up some. I know I don't need to weigh any less than I do, because some parts look almost too skinny!

I started resistance training three days per week with HIIT as my main cardio on the other days rather than longer steadier cardio. I'm seeing a difference already.

Definitely eat the protein if you do that though, like Photo Chick says. i feel run down now on the days that I don't get enough.

Good luck!

[WaterRat]

Definitely eat the protein if you do that though, like Photo Chick says. i feel run down now on the days that I don't get enough.

Duh! I need to go check my % - I'm sure I've not been getting enough lately, and I keep feeling like I'm about to get a cold but I never develop any symptoms beyond the fatigue. Off to Fitday....

[teawithsunshine]

Hi!

I'm responding from my sidekick instead of my laptop lol so I apologize in advance if my msg looks screwy here.

What happened was I lost 101 lbs, then gained quite a bit of it back following some minor (but necessary) elective surgery.

Anyhoo, like many others on 3fatchicks, I've yo-yo dieted with fad diets quite a bit in my teen/college yrs. I finally recently came to the conclusion that I was a starchy carb & sugar addict and began to follow a eating plan that gives u the option of eating starches & sugars in small amount & in moderation or not at all (the rosedale diet). *I get my carbs from veggies and eat lean poultry, nuts, olives, and fruit.*

If I was a merely 40 lbs overweight, I'd happily subscribe to The French Women Don't Get Fat lifestyle. But when I've gained over 175lbs as a compulsive overeater since childhood, its a clue I need to evalute why I go crazy over bread products & junk. (FYI: There's a heavy trend of addictions on both sides of my family.)

Anyhoo, I was asking the question since even though I'm 24lbs away from my original weight loss goal of 101lbs, I can already fit into my pants I'd wear at that weight (I've been gaining muscle lately with my walking program, etc).

*Even by losing 101lbs I'd still have over 60lbs to go before reaching my target weight*

I understand I'll have no idea what I'll look like or what size I'll be as I reach my target weight. I just wanted to pop out the question anyway!

[SunshineRunner]

Tea - I reached my goal weight a couple months back...kept my diet and exercise pretty much the same ....well, increased my exercise...and I get comments every day of how I'm losing weight...but I just tell people the scale hasn't moved...I just work out and it's moving my body around I did drop a pant size recently and still have not lost another pound...which is fine for me...so...yes, bottomline, you don't have to lose weight to change pant size.