Getting Toned/Gaining Fat (Not Muscle)

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Sarah Joseph

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I'm getting pretty discouraged. I'm 21, not too overweight but a little bit for sure and try to lose it. I dance ballet and tap for 5 hours a week in my university's dance department (I'm a musical theatre major). I've just started interval training 3 weeks ago where I alternate between walking and intermediate-paced jogging on the treadmill for 30 min, at least 3x a week. I also use arm equipment at the gym that works out my back and chest too. Not to mention I probably walk around 2 miles everyday to get around campus. I try to eat gluten-free and dairy-free for health reasons. My immediate family has a history of thyroid disease so I'm afraid maybe it could be that, but I don't think it could because I tend to tone up
rapidly. But I'm not losing fat, if anything t looks like I'm gaining fat (not muscle). I am toning up but that's all and I don't like that I'm gaining fat. I also cannot go get tested for a thyroid test because I can't spend that money right now. Thyroid aside though (because I don't think it's that since I tone up relatively quickly.) What am I doing wrong?
 
Firstly, what is your diet like, no matter what exercise you do, you cannot exercise away a bad diet.

What is the intensity of your intervals, intermediate jogging is probably lacking the intensity you need for interval training.

Strength training combines with good diet is needed so what level of intensity is your strength training (reps, sets % of 1 rm)

Finally, you need to be having your bodyfat % tested this will tell you exactly what your body composition is doing and can be used to better adjust exercise and diet for the desired results.

just as a reminder when asking for help, information is needed before anybody can give you the answers your looking for

https://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/information-needed-when-asking-for-help.89399/
 
Hello Trusylver,

As stated, I eat a gluten-free dairy-free diet which consists mostly of vegetables, fruits, chicken, fish, oats, and soups. Most everything I eat I make myself.


As far as the interval training I am still in the beginning part of of building up to a 5k. I am alternating running 1 1/2 min at 4.5 mph and walking 2 minutes at 3.0 mph. For 25 min with a 5 min warm up of walking and a cool down. I also am doing 2 min planks.


As far as the strength training goes, I'm not too familiar with the terminology of the equipment names but I use about 3 different pieces of equipment with 30-50 lbs (depending on the machine) with 12-15 reps of 3 sets. I was in a car accident a few years ago that screwed up my left shoulder so I have to be careful easing my shoulder into this. I also shadowed at a rehab facility in the past and saw first hand when a patient tries to do too much too fast and ends up injuring themself. As someone who myself has gone trough ACL reconstruction and months of therapy following, I also know what it means to do too much too fast. One of the reasons I'm discouraged is because my knee was really starting to bother me a few days ago and I had to stop my run and resort to walking. As far a knee therapy exercises, I know what to do to help this. I haven't had this knee pain in a couple years though.


My point is this: I'm working out more consistently and with more diversity in exercise than I have in years at one time. I have a good diet and am toning but am not losing fat. I don't have scale that measures fat/muscle but I know that I am also jogging faster than is recommended in the plan I'm following because I enjoy jogging a little faster and am eager to see results.


Hope this info helps.
 
@Sarah Joseph you can use a tailor meter to measure your waist and a scale to measure weight. If you don't do that, you won't know if you lost/ gained fat or muscles.

Write down the measurements from the tailor meter and the scale once a week, and if next week the results are different that might mean you lost fat/&weight or not. For example, last week measurements: weight 190 lbs, waist: 40 in. These week measurements: weight 189 39.5 in. It means you lost weight and possible fat. Use the mirror, stay naked in front of the mirror and analyze yourself, sometimes you can see if you lost fat even if one of the measurements might say no.

Also, always compare your diet journal, exercise journal with the results you get from measurements. If you don't have a diet journal, I highly recommend you start one today. Write down everything you eat&drink and the time you do it. It can answer many why questions. And don't forget to sleep enough.

Then after a period you can come with precise details and say: ''Over this period, Here are my measurements, this is what I eat, and this is how I trained. Why I'm not losing weight, what's wrong?''

No matter what, never give up.
 
The c25k program is not what would normally be considered interval training, each stage is designed to be easy to adjust to, while HIIT is much higher in intensity and is shorter in duration, designed for fat loss not to teach you how to run.

while it is important to take old injuries into account, building up strength in the surrounding muscles is important to maintain the health of the joint. Old injuries should not be used as an excuse not to exercise just in case they may get hurt again. If you are only doing 3 exercises then the strength training you are doing is most likely unbalanced which often leads to injury.

you can still over eat with a good diet, what method are you using to track your food intake ?
 
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