Frustrated!! 30yo 5’3" 115#.
7 years ago I was able to maintain 104# by riding my horse and not dieting.
during graduate school I was able to go to gym classes for free, I gained some weight (108#).
During my last year while doing rotations, I didn’t have a gym and was hooked by now, so I started training for a half marathon. Got hooked on running. for the past 3 years, I have been an addicted runner. 6 days a week,on average 6 miles per day. During the past 3 years (I just turned 30) I have gone up to my current weight.
Okay, throw a fall from my horse in the mix that caused broken ribs and a frustration and bore with running in the mix this year…
I am now 6 weeks in to Christians hard body training for women.
Previously, I have done 4 half marathons, trained daily with riding on top, and have an active outdoor job.
I’ve tried paleo, keto,low calorie diets. (HANGRY, anyone???)
Ultimately, I’m in a constant state of ‘how do I get back down to 104#’. Okay, so is that realistic? Maybe not.
I am constantly unhappy with my body. Guilty.
So, 6 weeks into Christian’s program - hey, might as well just do a 180 and try something else.
I have serious gains. My squat has gone from 70# to 135#. My arms look like I could kick some ass. When I jog (no often)
I feel like I’m carrying two solid leg pillars.
My boyfriend thinks I look awesome. I have been blessed? with the glutes every girl strives for and I’ve always hated them (yes, I want a pancake ass.)
Okay, so here is the thing - everything says that when you start resistance training your clothes should fit better even if the scale is going up. Well - My sleeves are tighter (guns, for real) and dat ass, though - my pants are HUGGING the booty/theighs
My stomach pooch that I got from running is nearly gone (heck yes!!) but WTF, Do I need all new pants??
Shouldn’t I be losing inches? Girls don’t bulk…
I eat a high protein diet, meal prepping with chicken, salmon, veggies. I could certainly improve my diet, but I eat healthy.
Honestly if I were you (which i am no where near being a 6’4 250+ lb male but still) I would simply re read EVERYTHING you just wrote.
It sounds like you are absolutely kicking ass and taking names. “Girl’s don’t bulk” is just a mind set that people have told you. It sounds like you are working hard and putting on serious muscle and all in good ways!! Muscle weighs more than fat, and it sounds like you are def putting on a quality amount of it. You even said your self the belly you had before is GONE! thats an amazing accomplishment. Don’t let your jeans getting tighter because you have more MUSCLE distract you.
With all due respect, fck your pants size and fck the scale. You sound like you probably look killer to me!!
Unless you are VERY fine boned, I see no problem here. A general guideline for women is 5’ is 100 pounds, then add 5 pounds per inch. That has you right where you’d expect to be. Athletic women who have more muscle, or women with a larger bone structure are very often going to be heavier than that guideline.
No. Let this go. You were only 23. Don’t spend another moment thinking about how to get back to 104 pounds. You now have a more athletic build. Starvation is likely the only way to try to unring that bell.
I’m guessing that your new curves actually look better, make you less likely to be injured, and make you more capable of doing athletic things. You mentioned that you lost the extra weight around your waist/tummy pooch. That’s really a great measurement of progress.
FWIW, I gained about 10 pounds in the first year of training. I’m 5’2" and currently weigh between 112-115 lbs. Most of my measurements actually did go down when I started lifting. I still wear the smallest sizes in most clothing, always a 0P or 2P. Only in the past year have I had issues buying a tailored blazer because the arms were tight. I have small/ high insertion lats so I don’t have a lot of problems with jacket width.
Not all pants work, so that’s a matter of finding the brands and cut that fits you. I like Ann Taylor Loft because they make petite chinos and trousers in two different fits (one curvier for women who need more room through the seat and thigh, and for me the calves), but I’ve had luck finding pants at Banana Republic and JCrew as well.
As you know, height and weight don’t really tell us much about how someone looks. Even if you found 100 women who were all 5’3" and 115, they would all have very different builds, so this may or may not be helpful to you.
Puff, you rock!! Thank you it is so nice to talk to someone with similar stats.
I do think I need to up the ante with fat loss on top of gains to help the pants fit but where they aren’t fitting is just straight in the butt whereas before it was just all lower body
If I get brave I’ll post pictures one day.
Thank you!!
Thanks, Carly. And Hey, back at ya. It’s nice to see other women lifting here, especially another fun-sized version.
If you now have a smaller waist and thighs, but your booty is your “last fat stand” that’s great, IMO. So many people would love to have that “problem” as opposed to the last fat stand being around their middle. So much is genetic with regards to where we put fat, or where we gain muscle easily. Try to embrace the genes you have. That booty is probably in the plus column.
I don’t think there’s anything to be worrying about. I’m 2 1/2 inches shorter than you, and I weigh 167. And looking at my profile picture you can see that I’m very dense. Not fat at all. Don’t be afraid if you have to go up pants sizes. Don’t freak out if your shirt sleeves are a bit tighter. It’s certainly a good thing. As others above have mentioned you’re older now so your body may be changing its composition to better suit your health, which means in your case gaining some more muscle mass. Every chart I come across says I’m approaching obesity, but that just goes to show how everyone is different. Me and my Doc always laugh at the charts anyways.
