How do I lose muscle & gain fat

[dianna]

I need to lose some of the muscle I've built and replace it with fat.

Now before you beat the crap out of me verbaly - here's my situation:

I got my body fat to 12% from cardio and weights. I was following the guides in Oxygen nd M&F Hers magazines and thought this is what I should achieve and this is how I should live year round. I was wrong and I found out I was damaging my health and my body was shutting down.

I went from 102 to 117 pounds (5'3") since September and gained some body fat, but mosstly muscle from changing my lifting routine.

I havent' had a period in 14 months and my doctor said I'm not producing enough hormones to menstruate. I need to gain more body fat.

I don't want to be huge, so I would like to lose muscle and replace it with fat so I don't change size too much.

I eat about 2500 - 3000 cal/day with mostly lean protein and fresh fruit & veggies. Nothing processed.

My current routine is:
Mon: lifting 1 hour -Chest/delt/tricep
Tues: cardio 30 mins
Wed: lifting 1 hour -Legs
Thurs: cardio 30 mins
Fri: lifting 1 hour -Back/biceps
Sat: cardio 1 hour
Sun: rest

[MsFit]

Maybe cut back on the cardio a bit........

[dianna]

I was thinking bout cutting down on everything - maybe switch from lifting 4x10 to 3x12 with lighter weights or maybe 3 light full body circuits.
I was stumped on what to do with the cardio, wouldn't it help to burn muscle?

I;m wondering how I should change my eating habits too.

[Emma-Leigh]

Originally posted by dianna
I need to lose some of the muscle I've built and replace it with fat. Now before you beat the crap out of me verbaly - here's my situation:

I got my body fat to 12% from cardio and weights. I was following the guides in Oxygen nd M&F Hers magazines and thought this is what I should achieve and this is how I should live year round. I was wrong and I found out I was damaging my health and my body was shutting down.

I went from 102 to 117 pounds (5'3") since September and gained some body fat, but mosstly muscle from changing my lifting routine.

I havent' had a period in 14 months and my doctor said I'm not producing enough hormones to menstruate. I need to gain more body fat.

I don't want to be huge, so I would like to lose muscle and replace it with fat so I don't change size too much.

I eat about 2500 - 3000 cal/day with mostly lean protein and fresh fruit & veggies. Nothing processed.

My current routine is:
Mon: lifting 1 hour -Chest/delt/tricep
Tues: cardio 30 mins
Wed: lifting 1 hour -Legs
Thurs: cardio 30 mins
Fri: lifting 1 hour -Back/biceps
Sat: cardio 1 hour
Sun: rest

Yeah- you should definately cut back on your exercise. Less cardio for sure, as well as a lower intensity lifting routine. Maybe consider cutting it down to 5 days a week instead of six, giving yourself a break in the middle of the week as well. You have to let your body 'relax' and get from survival mode, back into maintainence mode - and this will not happen when you are training like an athlete.

You should probably change your diet a little for a few reasons:
1. Your hormones are made from fats/cholesterol. If you do not get enough fats in your diet you will not make the hormones. This means you should probably include a fair amount of 'good fats' and a little cholesterol (I know it seems like it is horrible - but you need a little bit of this in your diet to be healthy). Try adding a little olive oil, flaxseed oil. Some nuts (walnuts, almonds), avacado, whole eggs, shellfish and fatty fish like salmon are also good.

2. Make sure you are getting enough energy in the form of complex carbohydrates. If your body is struggling to make the glucose it needs because your diet is too low in carbohydrates, then it is not likely to waste any of that glucose on preparing your body for a pregnancy. Plus, you are likely to burn through your body fat to form energy if you don't get enough raw energy (that is, the stuff that can directly be used as glucose), in your diet.

3. As you are not producing oestrogen your bones are going to be in big trouble. I would be chowing down on the calcium containing products like no tommorrow - calcium inriched milk, yoghurt, cheese, green leafy vegetables, almonds, fortified cereals and breads... basically, anything that is low in calcium that you can replace with a high calcium substitute - I would.
Make sure you are taking a good calcium suppliment, one that has a high proportion of calcium citrate as this is the form of calcium that is absorbed the most.


Have you considered any herbal suppliments? There are a few which are ment to be good for stimulating mensturation - things like dong quio, black cohosh, yarrow, licorice, vitex..??

[dianna]

Great suggestions!

I do take EFA and calcium suppliments. I also eat loads of salmon, yogurt and leafy greens, especially kale.

I've been taking Dong Quai for about a month too.

I think taking a break mid week sounds good too. I was thinking of replacing the 3 lifting days with 2 light full body circuits one day of yoga.

[Emma-Leigh]

Originally posted by dianna
Great suggestions!

I do take EFA and calcium suppliments. I also eat loads of salmon, yogurt and leafy greens, especially kale.

I've been taking Dong Quai for about a month too.

I think taking a break mid week sounds good too. I was thinking of replacing the 3 lifting days with 2 light full body circuits one day of yoga.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things

Yoga would be an excellent idea. It helps you keep strong and flexable, but gives you that needed relaxation time as well. I do both ashtanga and hatha yoga and I love it - I highly recommend it (just find yourself a good teacher).

Replacing your heavy lifting with light lifting is also a good idea. You will keep your body lean, but not push your muscles into hypertrophy like you do with hard core strength training. Keeping a little bit of cardio in their is a good idea too - just don't go overboard and knock the intensity down a little if you are into HIIT.

And then you just play the waiting game and hope that it all kicks back in. Don't get your hopes up too high, in some cases it can take 18 months for things to start working again, especially if your body is really churning away like a steam train - you have to give it time to slow down and catch up. Also, in some other cases, it does not happen again at all - so keep your fingers crossed... But, as you are taking all these measures and your BMI is in the healthy range, you should be ok.

[Ukrainetrain]

I would just cut down to 2-3 sessions of cardio for 20 mins a week....this should help you...Good luck to you

[MDC]

I wouldn't concentrate on losing muscle, just eat more calories. You are not going to be "fat" if your BF% goes up to a healthy level.

[dianna]

I also want to have a lower maintenance routine. I want a normal life again! I want to be able too go to the gym or not - go for a run or not. I wnt to be bored to tears with what foods I have to eat nd be able to eat a normal ammount - right now I already have to eat more than my husbnd does! I'm tired of being obsessed and I want to be healthy and fit, but not by having to go to the gym every day for the rest of my life.
I want to lose the muscle primarily and have a normal ammount of body fat

[Emma-Leigh]

Originally posted by dianna
I also want to have a lower maintenance routine. I want a normal life again! I want to be able too go to the gym or not - go for a run or not. I wnt to be bored to tears with what foods I have to eat nd be able to eat a normal ammount - right now I already have to eat more than my husbnd does! I'm tired of being obsessed and I want to be healthy and fit, but not by having to go to the gym every day for the rest of my life.
I want to lose the muscle primarily and have a normal ammount of body fat

If you want a lower maintainence routine then I would definately recommend cutting it back to 5 days a week - what you were suggesting with two full body workouts (plus 3 cardio a week) and yoga, was good. If you are healthy and active then there is no reason to do more than this if you are not an athlete or body builder in training.

[MDC]

Dianna,
I'm sure you'll find a good balance. When you do a full body workout, there's no reason to lift light weights. Just find enough exercises and do one set of 10-12 reps of each. Twice a week lifting, and twice a week cardio should keep you fit without taking so much of your time. A full body workout can be done in well under an hour.

I disagree with your goal of trying to lose muscle. You're already very thin, and it's not worth the effort to maintain "very thin" with less muscle(not healthy IMO).

[dianna]

Originally posted by MDC

I disagree with your goal of trying to lose muscle. You're already very thin, and it's not worth the effort to maintain "very thin" with less muscle(not healthy IMO).

MDC, I've gained almost 20 pounds since the pictures you had seen. I want to be slim, but not thin. Healthy. I found that I was focusing on adding bulk through muscle, instead of fat, which is what I should have been focusing on. Now I just want to be the same size as I am now, but with more body fat and less muscle.

[MDC]

Cut back on your exercise, same advice as before. You'll probably also have to cut back on your calories too.

[madsen]

I get the feeling that your problem is not just about the missing period (are you on the pill?) but also about finding a balance between being obsessed with your body and being just plain fit and healthy. Tell me if I'm wrong but the things you write seem very familiar to me.

[Emma-Leigh]

I think what you are doing is fine. You just have to wait.

You have already come to the conclussion that you needs to 'chill out' and let your body recover. This is the most important thing. You have decreased the intensity and number of your workouts to an acceptable level so this is all fine.

You are 5'3 and 117 pounds already. This means you are at a perfectly acceptable BMI. If your diet is good, with adequate levels of fatty acids, complex carbs and protien and you are eating a well balanced, nutritious diet with lots natural vitamins and minerals then this is all ok too.

So that leaves the only issue as a high muscle to fat ratio, which means that you are not producing enough oestrogen to stimulate your reproductive cycle. This is because fat is partially responsible for the production of oestrogen. Therefore, if this is too low your oestrogen levels drop. Without this oestrogen your brain is not stimulated to release a hormone known as Follicular Stimulating Hormone which causes eggs in your ovaries to mature. Once these eggs mature to a given level they stimulate another hormone from your brain - lutinising hormone. This causes ovulation of one of the eggs. Once this occurs your body starts to get ready for pregnancy by producing progesterone. If, after about 2 weeks, your body does not get pregnant, your progesterone levels decrease again and you get your period. Then the whole cycle starts again.

So - to increase the amount of oestrogen your body is producing you needs to increase your fat percentage. This will occur over time if you take on the more liberal diet and exercise regime that you were talking about before.

One other thing - you might want to go talk to your doctor and get a blood test for oestrodiol, FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), LH (lutenising hormone) and maybe progesterone. These will give you an idea of how far away your body is from 'kicking' back in. If they are miles away from normal you may have to put on a couple more pounds (some people have to go up to a few pounds higher than what is thought the be needed before things are triggered to start again).