This extreme approach is utterly ridiculous, which hopefully you've realized. Why set yourself up for failure? Would you be happy losing a bunch of weight simply to regain it all back, and probably some more? Be rational and logical and set up habits that you consistently adhere to for life that promote total health.

Read all the stickies on this forum.

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This is actually a very good question/point. I've never really tried to get buff - just want some nice muscle tone. Since the fat didn't melt away right off this time around I started hitting the gym harder then ever before. What I'm starting to see is a lot more muscle definition, but not losing the extra fat around my waist and stomach. My arms and legs however are looking sweet!

So if I were to increase calories - esp. proteins (continue eating healthy of course) and maintain my increased weight training - I would eventually lose the extra fat AND get a few muscles in the process? I probably sound retarded but believe it or not the idea of eating more to lose fat is a new concept to me!

Right.

But here is the heart of the matter; the distinction that many people don't take the time to understand and consider. What one does to 'get buff' is pretty much the same one does to get lean (toned) while dieting.

To get buff, you need to provide your body (muscles) with a reason to grow. Among other things, the primary ingredients is progressive weight training to force adaptation (muscle growth) and adequate energy (calories) to facilitate said growth.

When dieting, the same weight training (slightly modified to account for the reduced recoverability associated with dieting) is what causes muscle to remain in the face of a caloric deficit.

No, you won't get 'buff.' Women have a hard enough time getting buff when eating adequately, let alone in the face of a caloric deficit. But you will get tone.

Tone is a function of losing body fat while preserving as much muscle as possible.

Never will you lose all your muscle. But you very well could lose enough muscle along with the fat to wind up looking like a lighter, still soft version of your former self.

Hope this makes some sense.

That's great to hear.

May I ask your stats?

Hopefully my distinction above led to you thinking a bit differently with regards to this question. Chances of a woman adding any appreciable amounts of muscle while dieting are slim. Given the fact that you're new to weight training (or so it seems) there is a chance you'll realize some muscle growth. It's not something I would expect, however.

If you've been starving yourself for a time, I would suggest eating at maintenance for a 2-4 weeks. Let your body settle. Dieting is a stress. Starvation is a big stress. When stressed, the body will adapt positively or negatively depending on the stress. Remove the stress to let things regroup a bit. Sure, you might gain some weight during this time. Who cares though? Short term/sighted perspectives won't get you very far in this 'game.' You need to think long term.

Once you reset some things, start dieting using a sane caloric deficit this time around. That's my advice.


You see, when you starve yourself (and this tends to be true for dieting females more than any other group) your metabolism very well can downregulate to a point where losing anymore weight is next to impossible unless you follow the path of an anorexic. What seems like a caloric deficit really is a break even b/c of all the adaptations that have taken place in the face of the big stress you've placed on the system.

As noted above, best course of action is to reset and start over with sane/practical tactics.

It's not eating more to lose fat acutely.

It's eating more acutely to fix the things you've done so THEN you can start losing fat again.

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Not positive that this is what you're asking for so please clarify if it's not:

I'm 5'8", weigh 138, my waist is 28" & my hips are 38". My arms have always been slender, but for the first time ever I've had people ask me if I've been working out - you can see some definition - not muscular by any means. My thighs & calfs on the other hand have become somewhat fierce - I didn't measure before I started the weight training but my calfs are 14" and my thighs are 20" - and you can see the muscles.

Around my waist and hips is where I have the extra fat. I look great in clothing but I would actually prefer to still look great in a bikini if possible!

I've only been doing the 1300 calorie average for about 2 weeks. For about 3 weeks prior to that I was doing around 1500-1800. At 1300 calories I'm getting 50 - 60% from carbs, around 25% from proteins and the rest from fat. I really don't feel hungry very often at this level since I eat 5 or 6 times a day. But it would be nice to bump it back up by a few hundred calories

Here's the thing....

1300 calories for you isn't all that low at all. You have to remember, and I should always try and make sure we're speaking in context.... but for your size 1300 calories is ok. I've seen women have to go as low as 8 calories per pound of intake and a healthy dose of cardio to trigger fat loss. 1800 calories per pound definitely seems high for you.

I tend to start, for your average dieter, at 12 calories per pound and adjust accordingly from there.

I don't like to deal with percentages when it comes to macronutrients. I much prefer absolute numbers.

Start with protein. Something like 1 gram per pound of lbm.

.25 grams or thereabouts per pound of bodyweight for fat, which should be coming primarily from the good stuff.

Fill in the rest with carbs*

*If you have issues with carbs, add more fats and protein.

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That's good news! I really didn't feel like I was doing anything to harm my metabolism. I have tons of energy, my skin and hair are healthy - so I felt like I was doing the right things.

I will try increasing the protein and see what happens.

Thanks for the personalized advice!

Steve - I'm trying to figure my lbm to determine how much protein I should be getting and I want to make sure I'm doing it correctly. I know my body fat is about 21% and my weight is 138. So 21% X 138 = 28.98. 138 - 28.98 = 109.02. So my lbm = 109.02. Is this correct? So I should be consuming around 109 grams of protein per day?

Yup, I'd shoot for around 100 grams per day. A little over or a little under isn't going to hurt. How many would you say you've been taking in... any idea?

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Yes - I added protein to what I've been tracking about a week ago. I'm averaging about 50 grams per day - so about half what you are recommending. I've had people recommend protein shakes - usually guys with lots of muscles - but I'm not a big fan of drinking my food! I think it should be fairly easy to decrease my carbs a little and add more protein. I'll try it this week and let you know how it goes!

Protein shakes are convenient and affordable. They certainly aren't magic. And they don't create awesome muscle growth beyond what food gives you. It's just protein in powder form.

I take in close to 200 grams of protein per day. 20ish of those grams come from a shake on most days. Most of my protein comes from lean cuts of meat, dairy and nuts.

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I might have to try one. It was harder then I thought to get 100 grams of protein yesterday. I ended up going over my calories by about 300 trying to get more protein - and I still only had 65 grams!

Hmm, what all are you eating?

100 grams of protein = 400 calories.

You are taking in 1300, right? So you still have 900 to work with.

Suppose you take in 35 grams of fat, that would be 315 calories.

You're left with 585 calories to fill. If you fill this with all carbs, you are taking in 140-150 grams of carbs.

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Well - I didn't start with your suggestion of increasing protein until half way thru the day - so that was part of the problem. Here was my day yesterday:

Special K Cereal
1% Milk
Banana
Turkey Sandwich (lettuce, tomato, cheese, cucumber)
Avocado (1/2)
Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla Chips
Boiled Egg
Turkey Spaghetti
Chipolte Black Beans
Bread
Wine (6 oz)

Came to 1627 calories, 54 grams of fat, 22 grams of fiber, 230 carbs, and 65 grams of protein

As you can see, carbs and fat could stand coming down a bit. I'd start with carbs. Basically, whenever I 'build' a diet for myself or a client... I build it around or upon my foundation of protein. I find this to be the easiest way to make sure things fall into place.

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