Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I read skinsguy37's post and I don't see where he made that statement.
It was right there in the quote you posted...
"It was also said for her to eat clean, healthy meals. Which means to keep her fat intake at or below her daily allowance so as to not gain fat while she's gaining muscle."
I'm sure I don't have to tell you what is wrong with that statement. He also said this, though at least he included calories at this point.
To simply say you gain fat when you gain muscle is incorrect. Fat and muscle are two separate things. One might gain fat while gaining muscle because they are consuming too much fat or too many calories for what is needed to build muscle, therefore, it's stored as fat. But they don't have anything to do with each other.
That clear implication aside, he's still wrong about the body's ability to add muscle without retaining fat.
Hi everybody,
I'm having a bit of a problem and some advice would be nice. I've always been a pretty skinny girl, except in my stomach. I've recently lost more than 10 pound from my new job. I walk about 6 miles a night and I didn't realize I wasn't eating enough calories. I weight about 111, I don't want to loose anymore. But I want a flatter stomach. I'm really frustrated and I don't know what to do. im sorry, this post might sound really dumb. But does anyone have any advice? I've attached some photos to show what my stomach looks like.
It's a new job casscass09. 6 miles of exercise will build healthy muscle mass but will require enough calories and vitamins to build them and to raise your weight as you said you want to do.
It wouldn't hurt to consult a dietician. You can find one at your community health center usually free of charge. Also refer to national food guide .
I simply don't even know where to start with this post. I'm frankly a little surprised that you're under the belief that one has to eat fat to gain fat...which is erroneous.
What? I never made such a claim.
Quote:
Originally Posted by McBain II
It was right there in the quote you posted...
"It was also said for her to eat clean, healthy meals. Which means to keep her fat intake at or below her daily allowance so as to not gain fat while she's gaining muscle."
I'm sure I don't have to tell you what is wrong with that statement. He also said this, though at least he included calories at this point.
To simply say you gain fat when you gain muscle is incorrect. Fat and muscle are two separate things. One might gain fat while gaining muscle because they are consuming too much fat or too many calories for what is needed to build muscle, therefore, it's stored as fat. But they don't have anything to do with each other.
That clear implication aside, he's still wrong about the body's ability to add muscle without retaining fat.
Oh for the love of everything holy! This will probably be my last post to you, because I'm going to hit the ignore button. I just no longer have time to argue with people who just don't get it. The first bold statement says to keep fat intake at or below her daily allowance so as to not gain fat while she's gaining muscle. You can obviously see in the quote above I suggested clean, healthy meals. Which means meals that are not fatty and consume a high amount of sugar and sodium. If she's consuming just enough calories for her workouts, she's not going to store anything as fat. She's going to gain muscle (assuming she's working out with enough intensity to gain muscle) and she's going to look great.
The second quote is directed at those who do the loading the cutting phase. A lot of guys just don't know how to do this correctly and wind up getting fatter during their loading phase. Then they're frantically trying to cut the fat by going on a severe diet during the cutting phase. I am just not a big fan of this. I've seen great results in the past by simply keeping things healthy and building muscle a little more slowly. There is no race that he OP is in to get into great shape.
Please don't reply to me anymore. You're now on ignore.
Oh for the love of everything holy! This will probably be my last post to you, because I'm going to hit the ignore button. I just no longer have time to argue with people who just don't get it. The first bold statement says to keep fat intake at or below her daily allowance so as to not gain fat while she's gaining muscle.
And that's why I reached the conclusion I did. Certainly you would agree that a caloric surplus is required for either fat or muscle gain, right? Well, when you specifically say fat instead of calories, it leads me to the conclusion that you are suggesting that her fat intake will be the determining factor rather than overall caloric intake.
To be clear, someone could theoretically (it is practically near impossible)be consuming 100% of their calories from lean protein and still add fat.
Quote:
You can obviously see in the quote above I suggested clean, healthy meals. Which means meals that are not fatty and consume a high amount of sugar and sodium.
See above. It makes no difference where the calories come from.
Quote:
If she's consuming just enough calories for her workouts, she's not going to store anything as fat. She's going to gain muscle (assuming she's working out with enough intensity to gain muscle) and she's going to look great.
That's great...except it can't be done. Sure, it's theoretically possible, but in a practical sense there is really no way to do it.
Quote:
Since I’m talking about body fat, I might as well address another very common cause of poor muscle gain and that’s trainees who fear putting on even an ounce of body fat. They’ll deliberately keep their calories low all the time and then wonder why they aren’t magically synthesizing muscle mass out of thin air. At this point, I’m not even including the folks who want to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.
The simple physiological fact is that, to gain muscle, you have to provide not only the proper training stimulus, but also the building blocks for the new tissue. This means not only sufficient protein (see below) but also sufficient calories and energy. While it’s wonderful to hope that the energy to build new muscle will be pulled out of fat cells, the reality is that this rarely happens (there are some odd exceptions such as folks beginning a program, and those returning from a layoff).
And while there are extremes (such as my Ultimate Diet 2.0 or some of the intermittent fasting schemes) that allow people to put on muscle while remaining lean, they always invariably alternate periods of low and high calories. With the high calorie part of the diet (e.g. the weekend on the UD2) providing sufficient protein and energy to drive muscle mass gains.
The second quote is directed at those who do the loading the cutting phase. A lot of guys just don't know how to do this correctly and wind up getting fatter during their loading phase. Then they're frantically trying to cut the fat by going on a severe diet during the cutting phase. I am just not a big fan of this. I've seen great results in the past by simply keeping things healthy and building muscle a little more slowly. There is no race that he OP is in to get into great shape.
Please don't reply to me anymore. You're now on ignore.
This is the one part I agree with. Anyone doing this needs to know how to do it properly, which is why I always point people who ask about it to scientifically sound information.
As far as gaining muscle, a healthy male lifter without the assistance of anabolics is going to get at best ~0.5lb of muscle gain per week. Cut that in half for a woman.
If she's consuming just enough calories for her workouts, she's not going to store anything as fat. She's going to gain muscle (assuming she's working out with enough intensity to gain muscle) and she's going to look great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by McBain II
That's great...except it can't be done. Sure, it's theoretically possible, but in a practical sense there is really no way to do it.
McBain, can you elaborate on your statement here? Or can someone else go into the issue gaining muscle without gaining fat. I have a decent knowledge of the basics where fitness is concerned, but I know little beyond the rudiments when it comes to the effect of exercise on the processes in the body. With just my basic knowledge, it seems possible to gain only muscle and not fat, but I'm wondering what complexities in the body's chemistry might interfere with this.
Basic knowledge: Consume more calories than you burn, and new tissue forms. The kind of tissue depends on what you're doing in the way of exercise.
With those basics, it would seem to me that Skinsguy is correct in the post quoted above. Eat a little extra. If you're doing muscle-building workouts, the extra calories will go toward forming muscle.
What's wrong with this plan? I can see how a lot of people might just find it more simple to eat a lot and accept that they'll gain some fat along with the new muscle mass, but it would seem possible to gain only muscle if you're careful to consume only enough calories to support muscle growth. Is it that difficult to avoid going overboard with the excess calories?
Basic knowledge: Fat is essentially just stored energy, and it's energy the body will draw from if you burn more calories than you consume. When this happens, the amount of fat decreases.
Based on this, it seems possible to gain muscle while losing fat. I'm going to take a somewhat educated guess that the body resists the loss of fat once fat stores get fairly low. This would protect you against falling below the essential level of fat. However, it would seem that if you have excess fat, any processes meant to protect essential fat stores would not kick in.
It follows from this that if you have excess fat--not just if you're truly obese, but if you have just some noticeable excess--then it should be possible to do muscle-building workouts while consuming slightly fewer calories than it takes to fully support muscle growth, and to make up the difference in calories needed by drawing from your excess fat stores. In that way it would seem possible to gain muscle while losing fat at the same time.
What am I missing here? Or what is it that I'm just not well versed in, regarding the body's complex chemical processes?
You still look good. If you were my girl I would not have any complaints. I'd be happy you are focusing on your health at all and not just letting yourself get big like many wives (and husbands for that matter) do. Not sure what the answer is on this one, might just be genetic. My best guess is increase choline intake to make sure your liver is defatted and don't drink a lot of alcohol or eat a really high fructose diet which can put on body fat in that belly region. Basically cut out excessive carbs, especially fruit juices, and sweets, and any other carbs you might lack impulse control on and overeat at one sitting, such as MSG laden crackers like Triscuits, Sun Chips, or whatever.
Simply doing crunches does not get rid of belly fat. It might build ab definition, but it won't be seen unless you get rid of the fat there.
You can try gaining muscle, but that requires a calorie surplus, that will put some fat back on as you build the muscle. You can try to lose a bit more fat, maybe 5 lbs, which is probably what I could recommend if you are going to do anything. You say that you're underweight but looking at the rest of your body, I've seen really athletic people with less bodyfat than yourself... I'm not saying your overweight.. I think you're great at the weight your at, but you could go lower without danger. A lot of people think too skinny is dangerous but it's really not unless you see ribs and are anorexic. Actually extended fasting, restricting calories, and being underweight have been shown time and time again in studies to extend lifespan. More food equals more body oxidation and aging. Your BMI is calculated at 20.3 which is great, but there's room to go lower if you want to go lower.. it's all about how you feel about yourself... don't worry about others, any good guy will accept you at that weight.
Women don't need a lot of muscle.. you don't have to put undue effort into looking like a supermodel....
McBain, can you elaborate on your statement here? Or can someone else go into the issue gaining muscle without gaining fat. I have a decent knowledge of the basics where fitness is concerned, but I know little beyond the rudiments when it comes to the effect of exercise on the processes in the body. With just my basic knowledge, it seems possible to gain only muscle and not fat, but I'm wondering what complexities in the body's chemistry might interfere with this.
Basic knowledge: Consume more calories than you burn, and new tissue forms. The kind of tissue depends on what you're doing in the way of exercise.
With those basics, it would seem to me that Skinsguy is correct in the post quoted above. Eat a little extra. If you're doing muscle-building workouts, the extra calories will go toward forming muscle.
What's wrong with this plan? I can see how a lot of people might just find it more simple to eat a lot and accept that they'll gain some fat along with the new muscle mass, but it would seem possible to gain only muscle if you're careful to consume only enough calories to support muscle growth. Is it that difficult to avoid going overboard with the excess calories?
Basic knowledge: Fat is essentially just stored energy, and it's energy the body will draw from if you burn more calories than you consume. When this happens, the amount of fat decreases.
Based on this, it seems possible to gain muscle while losing fat. I'm going to take a somewhat educated guess that the body resists the loss of fat once fat stores get fairly low. This would protect you against falling below the essential level of fat. However, it would seem that if you have excess fat, any processes meant to protect essential fat stores would not kick in.
It follows from this that if you have excess fat--not just if you're truly obese, but if you have just some noticeable excess--then it should be possible to do muscle-building workouts while consuming slightly fewer calories than it takes to fully support muscle growth, and to make up the difference in calories needed by drawing from your excess fat stores. In that way it would seem possible to gain muscle while losing fat at the same time.
What am I missing here? Or what is it that I'm just not well versed in, regarding the body's complex chemical processes?
This two part series covers it better than I ever could. The long and short of it is that a variety of hormones control calorie partitioning and it's essentially impossible for 100% of excess calories to be used exclusively for muscle gain.
This two part series covers it better than I ever could. The long and short of it is that a variety of hormones control calorie partitioning and it's essentially impossible for 100% of excess calories to be used exclusively for muscle gain.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'd be happy you are focusing on your health at all and not just letting yourself get big like many wives (and husbands for that matter) do. Not sure what the answer is on this one, might just be genetic. My best guess is increase choline intake to make sure your liver is defatted and don't drink a lot of alcohol or eat a really high fructose diet which can put on body fat in that belly region. Basically cut out excessive carbs, especially fruit juices, and sweets, and any other carbs you might lack impulse control on and overeat at one sitting, such as MSG laden crackers like Triscuits, Sun Chips, or whatever. 
