Hi- I am 5'7, 140 lbs, 14% body fat, which I should be thrilled about I know, but as my body is getting fitter, my clothes are getting tighter. My trainer once told me that the more muscle you build, the denser your body gets and you should actually shrink. ( I have gianed 10 lbs in the past year and a half, but dropped from 24 to 14% in body fat.)
How do I drop a clothes size (or stay inthe same one) while not affecting my body fat percentage by losing muscle? I do alot of cardio and only weight train once or twice a week. Lots of yoga, too.
The whole incentive for me to work out was to whittle down to the smallest dress size possible. I am now having to buy bigger clothes!
To lose weight and not fat, you'd have to lose muscle. It's not very healthy, but you pretty much need to "starve" it off. not literally starve yourself, but you'd need to keep a consistent calorie deficit and decrease the weights you do. If you're not stressing the muscle so hard, it will realize that it doesn't need to maintain so much mass and it will cannibalize whet it doesn't need.
Have all your measurements gone up, or just certain places? Sometimes, being fit makes clothes shopping tough. Anything that fits me in the waist is way too small in the arms and shoulders because of the general population, a body with a smaller waist is also small everywhere else. It's a pain, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
__________________
Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins
Naxis, thanks for the reply- It is only certian areas. My legs are much denser than they used to be, so I should probably use a lower resistance on the elliptical.
My waist is very small as well, so my jeans typically fall off of my hips only to be held up by my thighs! I have size 6 thighs and a size 4 waist- very unproportional.
By cutting protein, will that help me to starve the muscle? How do I do that without starving me?
What isthe healthiest way to shrink myself? (that sounds really unhealthy in itself, doesn't it?)
Jeans are a hassle for me, too. Years of biking, skateboarding, and rollerblading (no, not that spandex wearing sissy crap they show it as on tv!) my thighs are very large compared to my waist side (several years off of working out and getting fat helped fix that, but that's not really a recommended solution). I've found going with the loosest straight leg cut possible, like the old levi's silver tab or levi's l2 which I can no longer find anywhere, and a belt are what worked best for me. That may not be the look you're going for, though, as it really fits us male slacker sorts the best.
Jimmy- Thanks but I believe the fashon industry has stopped making any jeans that are not stretchy for women!
Anyway, I would really like to get back down to my 130 lb weight and not reduce my body fat percentage. That;'s the look I'm going for. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Dropping protein some (maybe to around .4g per pound of bodyweight?), using lighter weight during training, keeping calories slightly lower - not REALLY low, but just below maintenance - , and keep up the cardio. You should see a drop in weight without necessarily getting leaner in probably just a couple weeks. Check weight and bodyfat % every 2-3 weeks to see how your body compisition is shifting.
__________________
Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins
Thanks again for the advice. It just gets so frustrating when you work out to slim down and accidentally bulk up! I know it is a very subtle shift in my body, but at the same time, it isn't quite the look I wa going for.
Thanks again- I'll let you know how I do!
Sammy- I am friends with some of the trainers at the gym who test my body fat % with a machine thingie, other than that I'm not really sure how to do it.
