don't want to lose more weight but....

I reached my goal weight today of 145 pounds.  I am female and 5'10".  During my weight loss, I walked/cycled and did body weight exercises plus some lunges, squats and deadlifts with the weights I have at home.  When I hit a plateau, I incorporated HIIT.

I am currently at a BMI of 20.8.  Being small boned, this seems normal. However, I still have some fat on my body that I want to get rid of.  However, I don't think I should be losing any more weight.  So, my question is this: 

Should I first concentrate on building muscle and then maybe go back and do some fat loss afterwards? 

I look forward to hearing the answers to this, as I have none, and I'm in a similar situation.  I'm getting close to what I thought was my goal weight (170 pounds, 6' guy), but I've still got some fat around my belly.  As best I can tell, my body fat percentage is around 14%, based on a hand-held bio-electric analyzer (on-line calculators are between 10 and 12%).  My BMI (which would be the last thing I use to determine if I still need to lose weight) is 23.2.

My weight is still dropping, and it's coming off almost entirely around my waist, which is why I'm tempted to stay on my current calorie level for another couple weeks at least.  Last week was a big drop for me (just over 3 pounds), so I'm thinking about just trying to bump it up closer to my maintenance level.  Maybe bump up my daily calories by 250 every week for the next 4 weeks.  I don't know if that will have any effect on building muscle as well, though.  From what I've seen, I doubt it.  But if nothing else, I have a feeling it might be a better way to get up to my maintenance levels (and maybe a little bit more for muscle growth), rather than a big step of 1000 calories.

Clint

No one?  I think you and I might be alone pbear....

I think building muscle would be a good goal for you at this point, and then you can work on reducing body fat - kind of a bulk and cut.

Just remember that to build muscle, you'll need to eat enough (above maintenance, although someone else will have to give you a better idea of how much above), get enough protein, and of course, lift heavy.

If you can get your bf% analyzed, that would help give you a starting point, to measure progress, since the scale probably won't be as helpful.

Thanks again amethystgirl!  That's the second thread of mine today that you answered! 

I am planning on buying some protein powder for the days I don't get enough protein naturally, so that should help. 

And anyone who can tell me how many extra calories I should eat, I would be grateful!

As for the bf%, that is a really good idea.  I will have to look into that!

*grabbing popcorn, awaiting more replies* 

Oh, wait, I don't eat popcorn anymore!

Original Post by kaetlynm:

... I am planning on buying some protein powder for the days I don't get enough protein naturally, so that should help. 

And anyone who can tell me how many extra calories I should eat, I would be grateful!

As for the bf%, that is a really good idea.  I will have to look into that!

 Whey protein in the morning w/water upon waking and about 20-30 minutes after workout also...

Try taking in about 400-500 calories per day above the 'maintain' number to gain about 1... maybe 2 pounds per week if the diet is good and clean.  Try that for a few weeks and see how you do.

There are several sites that can give you an estimate of bady fat % based on some measurements, etc. Do a search and at least you will have a decent idea of what it is to start.

I hope this helps a bit... Good luck and congrats on your achievements.

I have nothing but congratulations for you both!

I have heard from some that gaining the right kinda weight is harder than losing fat :S

Maybe concentrate more on weights than cardio and eat at maintenance with added protien? I would try that (if I was in your scenario) for a couple of weeks and see how it goes...

Original Post by goodform:

Original Post by kaetlynm:

... I am planning on buying some protein powder for the days I don't get enough protein naturally, so that should help. 

And anyone who can tell me how many extra calories I should eat, I would be grateful!

As for the bf%, that is a really good idea.  I will have to look into that!

 Whey protein in the morning w/water upon waking and about 20-30 minutes after workout also...

Try taking in about 400-500 calories per day above the 'maintain' number to gain about 1... maybe 2 pounds per week if the diet is good and clean.  Try that for a few weeks and see how you do.

There are several sites that can give you an estimate of bady fat % based on some measurements, etc. Do a search and at least you will have a decent idea of what it is to start.

I hope this helps a bit... Good luck and congrats on your achievements.

 My concern would be that you can't put on 4 to 8 pounds of muscle a month, realistically.  So you'll be putting on gobs of fat that you've just struggled with the last however months to get rid of. 

How much muscle can you put on in a month, doing weight training for 60 minutes per session, 2 or 3 times per week?  I'm thinking 1 or 2 pounds per month.  So what's the point to eating more than that number of calories?  And I'm asking these questions not to argue, but to learn. :)

As far as my exercise/training goes, I expect that I'll be heavy on cardio till fall hits, and the weather cools off.  At that point, I'll probably start doing weights 3x per week, rather than the 2 I'm doing now.  At that time, I'd expect to switch to a upper/lower body split, as well as incorporating free weights rather than machines.

Clint

As a female, I doubt I can really put on that much muscle every week, so I will definitely shoot for a lower goal.  Hopefully I will find a way to measure my body fat percentage so that I can track my changes. 

Any recommendations for how much protein I should be getting to gain muscle?

If you are new to weight training you should experience some newbie gains without having to eat very much above maintenance. When I started I ate a little above maintenance, probably around 200 to 300 calories, and actually lost fat. The muscle itself causes your metabolism to rise, and helps you burn fat. At the end of four months of eating just a little above maintenance and weight training three days a week, I had gained five pounds but lost at least an inch.

If you're staying very active, doing cardio as well as weight training, I don't think you'll gain "gobs of fat". And if you do start to see an increase in bf%, you can always tweak your diet.

I guess that's my question/concern.  The studies I was reading said that for "average" people, you can only gain 1 or 2 pounds per month of muscle.  So anything more than that will be fat.  So if you're eating enough to put on 8 pounds of weight, that's 6 pounds of fat.  Multiple that by 4 months, and you're talking 24 pounds. 

I guess you could always alternate... One month of gaining, one month of losing (or whatevers required to lose the fat you gained).  I found some articles that suggested that as an alternative.  So rather than trying to lose 24 pounds, you're only trying to lose the 6.

Clint

The alternating sounds like it makes sense to me, but I'm thiking maybe alternating between a surplus and maintenance rather that a surplus and a defitic, might be a better plan. I could totally be wrong, I'm just thinking that on month of losing (deficit) you're bound to lose at least some muscle mass along with fat.

As far as I know, when you're trying to lose weight, you'll likely lose some muscle as well.  You can try to minimize that muscle loss by eating lots of protein even during your weight dropping phase, as well as continuing your lifting, and trying to keep your weight drop slow.

Clint

if you continue to lift weights while you're dieting, and eat enough protein, the amount of muscle you lose will be minimal.

I thought the whole point was she isn't trying to lose anymore weight?

you should try eating only about 200 above maintenance for slow muscle gains whilst ensuring 1g protein for each 1lb of lean body mass and undertaking 3-5 weight lifting sessions a week.

whilst doing this undertake minimum cardio post the lifting (perhaps only 20 minutes to merely maintain cardio health as excess cardio will only lead to the same body shape at merely a smaller size lol). whilst many may suggest 500 over maintenance to build muscle to ensure you do not undo your hard work with loosing the weight you would probably benefit through attempting a slower bulk to ensure the mass gained is muscle rather than fat. slow and steadily building that underlying muscle for a more defined look.

Original Post by trikki:

I thought the whole point was she isn't trying to lose anymore weight?

 She doesn't, but she wants to change her body composition. Which means adding muscle and losing fat.