Muscle v. Fat

J

jerry

Member
I am 5 4 and used to weigh 114 and now weigh 121. my clothes are getting really tight. how can i tell if i am gaining fat or muscle. i dont notice eating much more but i suppose i could be but work out really hard. i do a lot of circuit training of cathes and her step. i notice its all my pants that are really snug. please any advice?

jerry
 
You can indeed put on pounds from muscle, but muscle in itself will overall lean you out. Pound for pound, muscle is more dense but takes up less space. Your clothes could conceivably get tighter in some areas if you are gaining a lot of muscle, but generally it should not be getting tighter. Can you give us more details on your eating, routine, how long you have been at your routine, etc?


Debbie


“My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is.”
--Ellen DeGeneres
 
Generally I eat fairly clean. I rarely eat anything fried. I typically would have an apple in the am salad lunch and at night is where i have the majority of calories :( i know how bad that is but for dinner would probably be around 600 calories.

working out i have been active my whole entire life. my routine now is generally in the am cardio for an hour and at night either more cardio for 45 min or strength training. on fridays nothing in the evening on the am i w/o. sundays and wed are free days but always do something, lately on wed i do yoga
 
Okay, first thoughts that cross my mind is maybe you aren't eating enough during the day and maybe attacking food more in the evening? If you are only eating an apple or something similar and a salad for lunch, you will be hungry! Not only this, but you are setting yourself up for your body to hold on to what it is getting (if you aren't eating enough) and giving it the wrong kind of nutrients (during evening time when more hungry) thus stalling or even possibly adding weight gain.

Try to evenly space out your ratio of proteins to complex carbs to good fats during the day. For instance, have a piece of whole grain bread w/ 2 T natural PB and a piece of fruit for breakfast. Or maybe cottage cheese w/ fruit mixed in or steel cut oats and egg whites. Tuna, fish, lean meats, brown rice, legumes, veggies...try to space out these foods during the day so you are staying full and not feeling a need to binge later on.

With workouts - try to balance your amount of cardio and weight training. Lifting is critical for the metabolism as well as healthy bones and providing good definition. You could even do 3 days cardio, 3 days weights, maybe a day or 2 of yoga. You really don't need more than 30-45 min cardio per session, remembering to keep it varied.

I really believe diet in order of importance, it is diet, lifting, and then cardio. You need all of the components for sure, but this tells you how to shift your focus. Women are historically in the category of "I must do cardio or I'll get fat" Not true. I used to do hours of cardio w/o lifting and I was still 20 pounds over. I am now 20 lbs pre PG and 2 years post Cathe.

If you have any other comments/questions I will try to help!


Debbie


“My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is.”
--Ellen DeGeneres
 
Could be a change in metabolism. Supposedly this happens every 7 years or so. I don't know how old you are but I can tell you after I turned 30 I gained weight even though my lifestyle didn't change at all. All told about 30 lbs in two years.

Also remember, muscle only weighs .01% more than fat. It makes me nuts when I hear trainers tell new clients who complain about gaining a few lbs that they gained weight b/c they're putting on muscle. That's a heckuva lot of muscle to put on in a week! :eek:

Sometimes to make weight changes you really have to shake things up. I went from a low fat, low cal diet to a low carb diet b/c it was the only way I could lose my post-30 lbs. Maybe revisiting your diet could help?
 
I agree with you on the eating at night which I think is because I am in somewhat of a rut and when get stressed also do the same which I know is ridiculous. I definitely strength train too but for some reason can't find the motivation to stop the late night eating but i do train a lot too so wasn't sure if i was training too much. i really appreciate to you responded. i know i need to do that with the nighttime eating!! to hear that i could have more time too i dont know why its so difficult to accomplish :)

i know i am in the normal bmi range but when my clothes dont fit right does not make me feel so comfortable!!
 
Not sure what your body type is but for me I tend to build muscle very easy in my lower body. When I started doing more step & high step I noticed my lower half getting bigger, granted it was more muscle but still not what I wanted. I rarely do high step anymore and don't do full step workouts very often either... I do use Drill Max all the time though but only 1 riser is used in it. I am starting to see my thigs slim more since changing my workouts. I am doing a lot of kickboxing for my cardio and I love it-it tones abs, arms, and legs all at once. Anyway, not sure that helps but thought I'd post in case it does.
 
Jen,
Do you use weighted gloves with the kickboxing workouts? I have the same problem with the lower half and am trying to change up what I do to see if it helps. Thanks!
Beth
 
All of the posts definitely do help. I am small framed. I generally would do like

today lo max and maybe taebo but missed the am :(, so prob the lo max
tuesday always drill max and lift a little more in the evening
wed yoga
thurs scrambled ages or cardio fushion
friday mic and maybe a spin class
sat taebo and a body pump class
sun depends either bmax 2 or spin and lift

do you think its from the stepping? and i know the eating is somewhat effecting
fyi never use a 6 inch step always the 8 inch to get the extra burn of calories
 
Beth- Actually no I don't use weighted gloves right now but am considering getting some. I have found kickboxing to be the best cardio workout for me to avoid gaining too much muscle. Some of my favs are: Powerstrike 1 & 2, KPC, & Kick Max- but I do the blast challenge first, then the kicking/punching combos, then the leg drills. I find I like that much better, it gets your heart rate up right away and then slowly comes back down during the drills and by the time you move on to the legs drills I am pretty much back to my normal heartrate.

Jerry- Well if you are small framed I am not sure... when did you notice the increase in size and what did you change around that time? I would say if you started doing more step around the time you started seeing an increase then that could be the reason. Low Max, Cardio Fusion, and BM2 I believe are all pretty much all step w/o. I have CF & BM2 but don't do them often for that reason. See above in post to Beth for some of my favorite kickboxing w/o...maybe try changing it up & see what happens! :)
 
Nope - I think it's from the cardio. Just my opinion, but I'm in the same boat that said I hung on to all my extra 20 pounds until I dropped my calories and really dropped my cardio. I went from about 60-90 minutes a day 5-6 days a week to 30-45 minutes about 3 days a week. That's a lot of cardio you've got going on. JMO

Lorrie

I NEED a Cathe Roadtrip - BAD!!!!
 
i think its a lot too but go through that guilty feeling. i had done a body fat % at my local gym by holding on to the machine and at that time weighed 117 and it said my body ratio was 14% which i thought was good but since then i have gained a couple more. i fit into a size 2-4 so i dont really understand. im thinking i need to cut out some of the eating at night which i feel is an emotional issue which obviously will take some time and maybe try doing some more kickboxing. i dont really enjoy the kick max that much and havent tried any other dvds besides billy blanks taebo advanced
 
Thank you everyone! I think maybe I will use all of that feedback just need the motivation not to do the cardio but not to do the late night eating! My body could be really used to a lot of work because most of the time i sweat but dont get that wow rush feeling except when i do the cf mix and match or scrambled eggs bmax2 :)
 
I'm going to add one more thing on the eating element. For me, starvation mode is not a concept that applies - but I know it is for many people. 1. If all you're eating during the day is an apple and a salad, how the he!! can you maintain that much cardio on only that nutrition/, and 2. You said you eat large dinners later, around 600 calories. If your example is accurate, you can't even be doing 1000 calores. I would think that starvation mode might be quite real for you. Good luck!

Lorrie

I NEED a Cathe Roadtrip - BAD!!!!
 
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