HELP: building muscle under fat? - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

Carey11 · 05-06-2005, 01:17 PM

Hey
after reading a post about building muscle and not burning fat i started to get concerned that it may apply to me. I am interested in not just in building muscle but more in converting what i have on me from fat to muscle, however, i am recovering from anorexia so i can't actually lose any weight. Is this possible to do? I really don't want to start building extra muscle under the fat that i already have and i am afraid that that is what i am going to do.
I am presently working out 5-6 days a week, i run a minimum of 7 miles or do an hour-hour and 15 mins of spinning and then i switch off days legs one day, arms the next with resistance training. I eat 1800 calories a day and i am 19 years old.
Any one know if doing this is going to help me become more muscular or is going to make me just build under the fat i have?
thanks for the help!

bluehen94 · 05-06-2005, 01:41 PM

I think that is all diet related, if you are eating a clean diet and weight training and doing cardio that is the key to replacing the fat with muscle. People fall short on that because there diet is not in check.

Carey11 · 05-06-2005, 01:47 PM

thanks for the response, when you say a clean diet, what do you mean? high in protein? low fat? cutting calories? i am really only used to the whole calorie cutting idea because i have been obsessed with counting them for so many years. in general, what kind of diet should i aim for?
thanks for the help!

bluehen94 · 05-06-2005, 04:08 PM

Basically I mean a healthy diet. lean meats (turkey, chix, fish, egg whites, tuna, etc), veggies, low GI fruits earlier in the day (berries, canatloupe, etc), fats from nuts such as almonds or walnuts, or maybe olive oil if your cooking with it. Whole grains (wild rice, brown rice, oatmeal occasionally), no bread or cracker type foods. A low carb diet in general, about 40%. 5-6 small meals a day, and good timing of your pre and post work out foods. Calories really depends on how active you are in relation to your fitness goals. It seems from your post your goal is fat loss, but not necessarily losing weight, so the other part of the equation is what is your work out schedule like?

Carey11 · 05-07-2005, 08:38 AM

thanks so much for the all the help!
here is a typical day for me in terms of diet/exercise:
Breakfast
1 packet instant oatmeal (made with water)
1 Fat Free TOtal Greek Yogurt with 1 TBSP ground flax seeds
1 orange

Snack
1/4 cup toasted almonds

Lunch
salad with 3oz turkey or plain tuna
apple
4oz fat free cottage cheese

snack
banana
1 tbsp all natural crunchy peanut butter

workout:
1 hour to 1hour and 15 mins cardio
45 mins - 1 hour of either arms or legs training
25min-30min abs
1 hour 15 min to 1 hour 30 min ashatanga yoga class

snack
any 200 calorie protein bar (i like balance bars usually but sometimes i try something a little different)

Dinner
6oz fish/ chicken or turkey breast
1 cup veggies

Snack
meduim tasti di lite (i know this is the worst possible thing i could have but i just love it, so i let myself live a little)
1 apple or pear

that is pretty much my day! any in put? thanks again for the all help!