Body type vs. Body fat?

[addycoot]

Hello ladies and happy workout to everyone

My hopes is to keep my body looking good as I age. I workout everyday at home, can't go to the gym, can't afford it, so I make use of watever I have. I have a question and I hope you experience with working out can help shed the light on an issue that is confusing me.

As we all know, a woman's body is shaped differently from one to another. For example, no matter how hard "J Lo" works out she will never be able to melt that booty away, but she can however shape and tone.

My question is about arms, in my whole life I have never been over weight, yet I have always had big arms (elbow & up) in proportion with the rest of my body that is. Now I work on my arms, my goal is to shape them. To be able to reveal a nicely lean shaped deltoid, bicep and tricep muscles, but witout bulking up my arm and make it look huge. Problem is, I feel like I'm not losing ant fat in my arms and I'm gaining muscle and they are really getting bigger, to the point were my husband noticed. We were hugging and he said:"Wow, your arms are getting bigger, they are firm, but bigger." I was like :" I know, I have no idea if I'm doing something wrong." I tried to attach two pictures I hope they worked out. The first one, shows arms that are thin and defined, the second one shows "B" her body seems ripped yet her arms are big but not defined. So is it body fat? or body shape? Thanks.

[sonti]

Well, this is a bodybuilding site so I don't think any of us would consider Beyonce to be ripped lol (she is beautiful but she is hardly ripped). Bethany Frankel just looks ill.

The difference is bodyfat levels. Frankel (A) is a celebrity health food chef (ie low calorie and low protein usually) and probably undereats, she's also been on quite a weight loss regime lately after having her baby. So she has little muscle, but also lower body fat. Beyonce carries a higher body fat percentage. Both of those girls probably have the same amount of muscle.

Your problem is diet. You are eating too much food.

[addycoot]

Here is my diet, please let me know if I'm over eating and what to avoid:

Breakfast:

- Coffee, with a spoon of sugar and some cream.
An hour or two later:

- Two eggs, either scrambbled or over medium cooked with pam spray, I might have a whole grain piece of toast /or Oatmeal cooked with a cup of 2% milk (I don't like it with water) might add walnut and/or a sprinkle of dried cranberreis and cinnamon with 2 packs of Truvia.

Lunch:

- A can of tuna, with salt & pepper and a squeeze of lemon, and a piece of whole grain toast /or a sandwich (five pieces of the meat with tomato, lettuce and mustard.) either on whole grain or rye.

Snack:

Carrots or cucumber or laughing cow cheese with whole grain crackers.

Dinner:

Whatever I cooked that day.

Dessert:
Cereal with milk or a cookie if I had any or a scoop of ice cream. (I try not to buy desserts to fatty stuff to eliminate temptations.)

[addycoot]

I forgot to add that sometimes after workout, I drink a blend that contains a banana, a tablespoon of peanutbutter and a cup of milk. And during the day, other than the cup of coffee and this shake I only drink water about 70 oz

[sonti]

Wouldn't be able to know until you told us exactly how many calories that is, and how tall you are/what you weigh. Your food choices are just fine but it really is just calories in/calories out. If you aren't getting the results you want in a reasonable time frame (ie. 4-6 weeks starting to see a trend) then it's still too much food.

[addycoot]

Wouldn't be able to know until you told us exactly how many calories that is, and how tall you are/what you weigh. Your food choices are just fine but it really is just calories in/calories out. If you aren't getting the results you want in a reasonable time frame (ie. 4-6 weeks starting to see a trend) then it's still too much food.

Between 1200-1500 cals a day. I'm 29 years old, 5'3 tall and according to publix scale I weigh between 116-118 lbs. I don't buy a scale because I get obsessed with weighing myself. :-s

[sonti]

Can you post a picture of yourself? And perhaps a picture of what sort of look you are going for? (or is it one of the ones you posted?)

Remember this is a bodybuilding site, so I'm suspecting that your idea of 'big arms' are not what we would think are big arms. If you are 5'3, 116ish then it's hard for me to imagine exactly what we're looking at because if Frankel and Beyonce are your ideals, I might be getting a different impression of what your particular goals are (because they aren't what I would think of).

[justinluck]

Based on your stats compared to the BMI scale, you are on the low side of normal (20.5 in a range of 18.5-24.9). Lose any more pounds, and you will be considered medically uinderweight. I wouldn't worry about your arms. Focus on gaining whole body strength and your proportions will improve. Just eat clean, and eat enough to support muscle repair.

[kfisherx]

Between 1200-1500 cals a day. I'm 29 years old, 5'3 tall and according to publix scale I weigh between 116-118 lbs. I don't buy a scale because I get obsessed with weighing myself. :-s

Yeah so you are on the light side already for your height. I want to see pictures of these disproportionate arms that you claim to have. (just curious)

You are probably what we know as "skinny fat" and you get that way by not eating enough and doing lots and lots of cardio and by being obsessed with the scale. Could I possibly be right?

[addycoot]

Yeah so you are on the light side already for your height. I want to see pictures of these disproportionate arms that you claim to have. (just curious)

You are probably what we know as "skinny fat" and you get that way by not eating enough and doing lots and lots of cardio and by being obsessed with the scale. Could I possibly be right?

"Skinny fat" OMG! these two words totally explains what I'm trying to say! About cardio, I only do a little before working out just to warm up (I guess guilty as charged :s) I'll take pics soon, thanks for the reply all of you!

[julysray]

Between 1200-1500 cals a day. I'm 29 years old, 5'3 tall and according to publix scale I weigh between 116-118 lbs. I don't buy a scale because I get obsessed with weighing myself. :-s

lol im sorry i think my leg weighs 115lbs um honey eat and lift and the publix scale if its like the one they had when i was younger then its an old type scale? which is probably weighing you more than you actually are...which isnt very much anyway.

[fitinidaho]

wow, im 5'3" and about your weight. I eat around 2900 cals a day to maintain. you have to eat more if you are skinny fat! I'm starving looking at your menu.

[nakedbabytoes]

I must say that I'm hungry just looking at your daily menu too!
I eat about 2300 cals daily to maintain my 115lb 5'4" frame on my current workout routine.

Other than having alot of dairy in your daily, I don't see anything else that strikes me as terribly odd or disproportionate. You can't "spot loose" fat though, so to loose overall, you gotta have a calorie deficit daily(if you're wanting to loose lbs overall). And to gain lean muscle % while loosing muscle %(recomping at same weight), it will:
#1. take some time.
#2. you gotta workout the whole body equally.
#3. loose the cardio & do more weight training.

Here's an example of what I eat. Specifics change(like cuts of meat might be chicken one day and pork the next, different veggies, different fruits, etc) but amounts & frequency does not.

B-fast
Oats/grains & protein shake.

am snack
fresh fruit bowl

lunch
cut of meat(not processed lunchmeats), steamed veggie, & fresh fruit.

pm snack
protein shake, cube cheese, peanut butter, & dried fruit.

dinner
cut of meat, pasta or grain, veggie, & fruit.

evening snack
veggie sticks or plain popcorn.

before bed
protein shake.

[varukers]

Bethany Frankel appears to not have much muscle and has low body fat. From that pic she looks like she does cardio and doesn't eat much. Keep in mind that pictures make people look larger so she probably looks much smaller and fragile in real life.

Beyonce... I think her arms match the rest of her body. Fat and flabby lol.

Anyway if you're arms are getting larger and harder but you're not seeing any definition, it means you need to change your diet.