Dilemma!

[jfour]

Hi everyone, I've been training for about 2 years now but only recently have started lifting weights properly. I'm 5"7 and weigh around 120lbs. Over the past 2 years I've put on about 10lbs and actually have a little bit of muscle now (was really just skin and bone before that!)

My question is - all my fat seems to go to my bum. I do have quite a bit of muscle there (for my size) but I also have a lot of fat there too. I want to continue to put on weight and I know some of it will be fat but I don't want it all going to my bum!

I'm not sure if it's my diet or what, which is why I'm posting.
This would be a typical day:

8am - 1/2 cup of oats, 1 cup of soy milk, 1 scoop of protein powder, few raisins

12pm - 2 kruskits with jam, half protein bar (10g protein), fat free low sugar yoghurt

3pm - veges, 100g chicken, slice of bread

6pm - scoop of shotgun, 2 slices of chicken, piece of chocolate

6.30-7.30 WORKOUT

7.30/8pm - veges, 200g chicken, either a slice of bread or a mountain bread wrap with a slice of cheese

9.30pm - usually about 2 pieces of chocolate

////ALSO, I think the protein powder and bar are making me bloat so am stopping eating them for a few days just to see if it is them thats doing it///

It usually works out to be about 2000 calories a day

I'm also now worried that if I try and continue to lift heavier (on exercises using the butt) it'll get even bigger but I'll still have all the fat.

Does anyone have a solution? Changes I should make to my diet?
Any help would be appreciated

Thankyou very much in advance!!

[nunu713]

I'm certainly no expert at this stuff, so I'm not really in a position to tell you what you should and shouldn't do. That said, here are a few of my observations:

1) I don't see any healthy fats in your diet. Maybe you try to keep things low fat so it won't all go to your bum, but you need healthy fats in your diet for a whole host of reasons.

2) The only protein I see in your diet is from chicken and supplements. Any rhyme or reason to that?

3) It looks like you measure some things, but not other things. Like you say 200g of chicken, but you don't weigh the chocolate, the bread, the veggies, etc. Are you sure you're eating 2000 calories?

4) What's up with the chocolate? Not that it's bad - I'm all about chocolate! But if you're doing it to indulge a sweet tooth, you may want to try some fruit - you'll get all the sweetness of the sugar (sometimes even more than chocolate!), plus some vitamins, fiber and antioxidents.

5) What do your workouts look like? Are you lifting heavy on all body parts, or just your bum because that's where you want to focus? If you're working out heavy all over, then you should see muscle gains all over (ledies, please correct me if I'm wrong). Yes, your butt may get bigger with the underlying muscle gains, but when you decide to do a body fat cut, you should see that fall away.

[jfour]

Thankyou for your reply!

To answer your questions
1) Yes, that's a good point. I don't try to keep it low fat but I'm not really in to peanut butter or nuts too much. I do use a bit of oil to cook veges in but not much.

2) I do eat other types of meat but most of the time it ends up being chicken. I don't like eggs or fish so it cuts my options down a bit

3) Oh, I do know the amount of the other things I have (apart from veggies), I don't usually weigh stuff..just work it out by what it says on the pack

4) Chocolate.. haha. I guess it's just out of habit! And I tend to just think they both have sugar so why not have the one I like more :P

5) Yes I lift heavy on all body parts and have seen gains in other areas.. they just don't seem to get the fat aswell.

I'm certainly no expert at this stuff, so I'm not really in a position to tell you what you should and shouldn't do. That said, here are a few of my observations:

1) I don't see any healthy fats in your diet. Maybe you try to keep things low fat so it won't all go to your bum, but you need healthy fats in your diet for a whole host of reasons.

2) The only protein I see in your diet is from chicken and supplements. Any rhyme or reason to that?

3) It looks like you measure some things, but not other things. Like you say 200g of chicken, but you don't weigh the chocolate, the bread, the veggies, etc. Are you sure you're eating 2000 calories?

4) What's up with the chocolate? Not that it's bad - I'm all about chocolate! But if you're doing it to indulge a sweet tooth, you may want to try some fruit - you'll get all the sweetness of the sugar (sometimes even more than chocolate!), plus some vitamins, fiber and antioxidents.

5) What do your workouts look like? Are you lifting heavy on all body parts, or just your bum because that's where you want to focus? If you're working out heavy all over, then you should see muscle gains all over (ledies, please correct me if I'm wrong). Yes, your butt may get bigger with the underlying muscle gains, but when you decide to do a body fat cut, you should see that fall away.

[ErinB1218]

Lol @ the chocolate, too!
I sometimes indulge in a square of 85% dark chocolate if I can fit it into my macro allowance for the day-- but I usually prefer getting my fats in by way of my peanut butter..... I'm a PB girl at heart!

[jfour]

Anybody else ??

[KaraPhoto]

Anybody else ??

Really what it boils down to is this: If you're eating enough to gain muscle, you're GOING to gain some fat. There's no way to prevent it. If your genetics/body type determine that fat goes to your ass first, then that's where you're going to gain it. No way to prevent that either.

Your only option is to alternate bulking and cutting, and cut long enough that the fat on your butt is affected as well.

There is no way to control WHERE fat is lost or gained. It's all determined by genetics/body type. It sucks, but it's true.

[equestrian]

I only glanced at your posts and didn't see any calorie totals except for the 2000. I didn't really see a defined macros listed. Thinking you know vs. really KNOWING what you eat is a make or break here.

So, if you listed this, my apologies but did you read the nutrition stickies? Read those, and then put some numbers to what you are doing.

I do know enough to say, where you put weight on and where you lose it from is simply genetics. There is no such thing as spot reduction. So if the fat goes to your bum...that's where it's going to go - blame mom and dad (and a whole host of others in your family tree) for that.

Now, if you crunch the numbers after reading the stickies, then you can target your diet with good fats, carbs and protein and get a better handle on what you're doing.

EDIT: lol! Kara beat me to it!