Skinney upper and fat lower body? Weird?

Hi ladies,

I have been reading/studying this forum for weeks now and have learned so much invaluable information regarding diet and fitness.

I started this journey in April this year and have lost about 20 pounds by cutting down on calories and working out at the gym.

Current stats: height - 5f 7 1/2
weight - 132 pounds
body fat - 20%

Diet - I have cut out white bread (replace with brown), white pasta,sugar, snack food etc
Breakfast - 3 eggs (2 yolks) and 1 slice of brown bread, green tea
Lunch - banana, oatcakes etc
Dinner - Baked potato, slice of processed cheese, broccoli
Snacks throughout day - oranges, bananas, apples, melon

I think I'm eating about 1500 cal per day. Although my fear over counting every single calorie is that I become obsessed with the whole thing!

Workout - 3 times per week.
20-30 mins of HIIT (treadmill mostly, but starting the step and wave machine)
Then I move to the machines and do leg extension, leg curl, leg press, ab
cruncher, fitball (sit ups), row pull machine, free weights for arms.
Squats - I do 60 per night before bed.

I am also very active, as a mother to two young children, so spend alot of the day running around doing housework and childcare etc.

My upper body has come in amazingly! It is really toned, I have a flat stomach, starting to see the abs, arms are really toned and hardly any fat around upper body at all. Infact some people have commented that I am getting too thin or overdoing it on the muscles!

BUT - my lower body is holding on hard to that fat. It is starting to go but very slowly! My bum is starting to shrink, so too my thighs, but my lower legs and knees are just surrounded by stubborn fat! It is so fustrating!

The fitness instructors at my gym have commented that it will take time and these are genetically the last areas to shed the fat on my body and I know from experience that this is true, but I just wish my cankles would just shrink and lower leg fat would disappear so that I can at last expose my legs to the world!

Does anyone have any idea how fustrating this is? Does anyone know how long it will take for all this lower leg/knee fat to go away?!!! anyone any experience of this body weirdness???!!!

Also I retain water, my lower legs look and feel swollen at bed time (so Im starting the dandilion root tablets)!

GM xxxxx

You sound exactly how I got at the end of my first cut. Quite lean up top, to the point that I was boney in the chest. Delt striations, flat stomach, but butt/saddlebags/thighs/calves still holding much more fat in comparison (I am plagued with fat ankles and calves, too!). And I was close to you in stats (few pounds less, but I'm an inch shorter) and BF%. I am much, *much* happier after I bulked and put on some nice muscle mass - my bottom is much better looking in comparison now and it was easier to get to a lower BF% on my second cut.

The answer to your problem is not to continue cutting, but to put on muscle mass. A bulk will do you very well, and when you cut again you should have more muscle mass up top not to leave you looking too "skinny", and more muscle down below to fill out under the fat and give a better shape. Increase your cals over 2000 (probably 2400 or so at least), and most importantly, [b]get on a solid lifting program![/b] Starting Strength or NROLFW are good for newbies - your current program looks like you are just doing random stuff (and you should do weights before cardio), which won't get you much past the newbie stage.

Good luck! :D

[QUOTE=birdiefu;719545991]The answer to your problem is not to continue cutting, but to put on muscle mass. A bulk will do you very well, and when you cut again you should have more muscle mass up top not to leave you looking too "skinny", and more muscle down below to fill out under the fat and give a better shape. Increase your cals over 2000 (probably 2400 or so at least), and most importantly, [b]get on a solid lifting program![/b] Starting Strength or NROLFW are good for newbies - your current program looks like you are just doing random stuff (and you should do weights before cardio), which won't get you much past the newbie stage.

Good luck! :D[/QUOTE]

Thankyou for your reply birdiefu, I appreciate the time you took to help me!

We do have similar body shapes! I thought I was the only one out there!

Two questions:

1. I had no idea that you do weights before cardio, is this because the body is tired after the cardio?

2. I am a bit scared of 'bulking up'. I'm all for getting more muscles but will the fat in my lower body go, I'm scared I will be muscular and fat at the same time. Will my knee/ankle fat go??

Thanks in advance,

GM x

[QUOTE=gamesmaster1;719559821]Thankyou for your reply birdiefu, I appreciate the time you took to help me!

We do have similar body shapes! I thought I was the only one out there!

Two questions:

1. I had no idea that you do weights before cardio, is this because the body is tired after the cardio?

2. I am a bit scared of 'bulking up'. I'm all for getting more muscles but will the fat in my lower body go, I'm scared I will be muscular and fat at the same time. Will my knee/ankle fat go??

Thanks in advance,

GM x[/QUOTE]

1 - You want to be able to give your all for your weights session. This is where you will be pushing yourself to make the most dramatic body changes. If you are a bit tired for cardio, so what. Cardio just burns cals, doesn't give your body the stimulus to build muscle mass. You could just drop cardio altogether and adjust your cals to keep the same deficit.

2. Would you rather be skinny with fat or muscular with fat? Believe me, the latter looks much better! Muscle mass is what gives you a nice shape to your body, without it, your fat layer just hangs there. With it, your curves end up in the right places.

You have to let yourself be okay with gaining some fat, since the rewards of gaining muscle will be even better. It is difficult and takes a long time for women to gain muscle mass, fat is relatively easy to lose and you will be able to take it off easier on your next cut.

I just posted a thread in the nutrition section about my butt (LOL):
[url]http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=719430511#post719430511[/url]

The consensus is that it's improvements are likely due to a good training program and my previous bulk. When I started my bulk, my butt was saggy and flabby. As I bulked, it still had fat and I gained a little more, but I also gained some glute muscles that lifted it up a bit. My butt looked a bit better after my bulk than before (though saddlebags a bit more prominent) but still saggy and flabby. But let me tell you, after my second cut, it looked way better once I took off the fat that revealed what I had worked on during the bulk. I also have some calf definition now, which for my cankly self is a big accomplishment! :p Feel free to check out my progress pics to see the changes during my first cut, bulk, and second cut.