So I have been doing intense cardio every day for almost 5 weeks now, and while I can tell that I've gained muscle and toned in some areas, I'm noticing that in places where I was slimmer I am gaining FAT and not muscle. For example, my arms were slim but as soon as I upped my cal intake and used the elliptical for 40-60 minutes a day, I've slowly gotten some flab on my under-arms that was never there before. It's really frustrating actually...

It's like my body is displacing fat. I also haven't gained or lost any weight at all, even though I burn between 500-800 extra calories in exercise every day. My legs are toned and the muscle is hard, but they didn't slim out like I thought they would after 5 weeks of this. I'm wondering if this is normal or if it might have to do with the fact that I had an eating disorder for about 10 months up until mid June? Maybe my metabolism is still doing weird things and doesn't want to let go of fat?

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Age: 20 - H: 5'1 - CW: 105

~In Recovery~

Define intense please?

How do you know you gained muscle?

Were you completely sedentary beforehand?


Have you been taking measurements?

If not, why?

Are you tracking your nutrition precisely? If so, how?

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My Blog -- My Journal -- My Photos

Well, it is intense for me at least. I went from a month of being pretty much sedentary to going using the elliptical daily any where from 30-80 minutes straight, averaging 7mph. I burn anywhere between 300 minimum to 900 calories in one work out. I just go until I can't go anymore. I've only missed 2 days since August 1st. Earlier this summer in June I was away for three weeks touring Europe and got into really good shape from walking 12 hours a day, hiking, etc. I went down to 102 pounds (I'm 5'1"), even though I was eating about 2000 calories per day. But once I got home, I went up about 8 lbs in about 10 days and it pretty much devastated me because my body changed dramatically in a short amount of time.

I guess I don't know for sure if I've gained muscle. It just seems like my legs are very muscular now. My calves have gotten bigger instead of smaller, and they are just much stronger than ever before.

Unfortunately I have not been taking measurements much in the past month. I suppose you could say I've been too afraid of the posibility that the numbers are going up. I know it's ridiculous, and I need to get over that... it's the old mindset I used to have about having to be as small as possible stopping me from thinking rationally. But I'm going to start measuring now, because I know it's the only way to chart my progress.

Nutrition wise hasn't been perfect. Now that you've posted I feel rather silly because I know that if I could stick to a nutrition plan that I probably would be more successful. So far I've just been sticking to a 1200-1600 calorie per day plan... which is probably too low. But generaly I will eat anything as long as I stay in that range of calories. Some days I will eat almost only vegetables and fish, and another day I'll eat more unhealthy things in small amounts. Bad, I know. I eat a LOT of energy and protein bars. 2-3 every day actually... but most of the time I do try to stay away from saturated fats etc.

I just looked up my BMR and it says I need about 1700 a day, but I think my body is still recovering from the eating disorder I had so I assume it's lower now, but I don't KNOW and I'm too afraid to find out through trial and error and chance ruining what I've already accomplished (which I'm not too sure WHAT I've accomplished so far tbh).

I suppose I need to start doing some weight training and less of the elliptical. Maybe my body is starting to adapt to the routine, despite the fact that it is a LOT of exercise at once.

EDIT: I thought I'd add I'm not specifically trying to hit a goal weight because I think I am thin enough, I just want to get rid of body fat, and be well toned. I want to be in great athletic shape, and look it.

__________________
Age: 20 - H: 5'1 - CW: 105

~In Recovery~

IMO, given your small size and considering the fact you aren't carrying a lot of fat to begin with, relatively speaking, you're making a big mistake by not lifting weights.

You have to give your body a reason to hold onto the muscle while dieting, especially as you near your ideal weight. If you don't provide that reason (through adequate protein intake and lifting weights) chances are pretty high that you aren't going to be pleased with what tons of cardio gets ya.

In addition, beating your body into submission generally doesn't work. You're running until you can't anymore pretty much every single day. I don't know about you, but the people (men and women) at my gym who do nothing but pound away on the treadmills don't look the way I'd want to look.

Many gym goers overlook this obvious fact.

Well looking more muscular and being stronger does not mean you gained muscle.

When you lose fat, there tends to be a huge optical illusion relating to your muscle size. Losing fat exposes, more clearly, the muscles you carry now.

For instance, many times I look bigger at 185 then I do at 200+.

Also, muscles can get stronger without getting bigger.

If you're a smaller female and dieting, in addition with all the cardio you are doing, I doubt very seriously that you gained any appreciable amount of muscle.

Well I'm glad to hear you are going to stop being silly. You can't fix what you don't identify. Charting progress is the only means we have to base necessary adjustments of our programs to ensure we meet our goals.

Without charting, success is hard.

What exactly are your stats?

Also, how are you tracking your calories? Do you weigh your food using a scale?

Why not use something like fitday.com. It seems to help people.

Like I said above, protein intake is important at this stage in the game.

It's pretty obvious that you have a lot of mental barriers and hurdles that you need to breakdown yet before you can have a healthy outlook on this lifestyle. There's nothing wrong with this. But you need to accept it and work toward fixing it.

It's not about switching things up.

It's about matching your programming to your goals. You want to be at your ideal weight while looking good.

Crappy nutrition and tons of cardio = fail!

Point proven.

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My Blog -- My Journal -- My Photos

Thank you Steve. I greatly appreciate all the advice you can give me!!! I'm definitely going to start measurements today, up my cal intake, clean up my eating, and reduce the cardio to maybe 30 minutes and add in time with free weights and work my way up from there. I may look into one work out tape program as well, maybe. They are expensive but I think I need that guildeline right now so I'm not slacking on the workouts that don't involve machinery.

It's going to happen this time. I'm making the choice and I hope to be posting in the before/after section within a few months time. Or less, who knows!

And your question about stats. Do you mean body wise? I do have them listed in my signature. I'm 5'1" and currently weigh about 107lbs. My scale measures between 11-15% in body fat even though I know they aren't a consistent or reliable source. But because I already have fairly ideal stats I can't rely on them to confirm my progress, so I will have to go by measurements and pictures.

If you mean stats nutrition wise I'm not sure what you mean.

__________________
Age: 20 - H: 5'1 - CW: 105

~In Recovery~

Just a question, how did you work out yoru body fat % to be 11-14%. That is dangerously low and almost unatainable without doing strength training.

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Starting Weight: 62kg - Current Weight: 57.4kg - Goal Weight: 52kg

Well I use a more spendy scale, which I know is not very reliable any way... but it can't be THAT far off. Am I being completely unreasonable thinking this?

I know that it at least was that low. How could it get that low? Last year I made a huge mistake by severely restricting calories, and lost 20 pounds in 45 days. And I was only at a 22.9BMI to begin with, and went down to 18.7 without doing any exercise. I went on restricting for months up until this spring. It was a mess and I'm aware of how stupid it was to do. I didn't lose much more weight after those first 45 days because my metabolism obviously died. But I was obviously very unhealthy during this time.

The trip I took this summer is what turned me around and here is a picture of me during that trip still at my lowest weight. So my bf% was very low here. Just by looking I think it's obvious. And it was even more obvious to me because I was downright bony... my ribs stuck out. It just wasn't good but I couldn't see it.

Obviously it's only been a few months since I've recovered and since I've only gone up about 6 pounds since then my bf% can't be too much higher. But maybe I'm wrong... and I very well could be. Six pounds on my frame made a noticeable difference from that picture. In fact, you're right I'm sure it's higher now since I have chicken wings now despite still being thinner which is very frustrating.

I think while I'm trying to become healthy and fit again I'm also at the same time doing it because of the fear of the unknown... will I gain more weight on 1200-1600 calories if I don't continue to exercise every day? I know that the only way to find out is to take a chance..

__________________
Age: 20 - H: 5'1 - CW: 105

~In Recovery~