This is actually a very good question/point. I've never really tried to get buff - just want some nice muscle tone.
Right.
But here is the heart of the matter; the distinction that many people don't take the time to understand and consider. What one does to 'get buff' is pretty much the same one does to get lean (toned) while dieting.
To get buff, you need to provide your body (muscles) with a reason to grow. Among other things, the primary ingredients is progressive weight training to force adaptation (muscle growth) and adequate energy (calories) to facilitate said growth.
When dieting, the same weight training (slightly modified to account for the reduced recoverability associated with dieting) is what causes muscle to remain in the face of a caloric deficit.
No, you won't get 'buff.' Women have a hard enough time getting buff when eating adequately, let alone in the face of a caloric deficit. But you will get tone.
Tone is a function of losing body fat while preserving as much muscle as possible.
Never will you lose all your muscle. But you very well could lose enough muscle along with the fat to wind up looking like a lighter, still soft version of your former self.
Hope this makes some sense.
Since the fat didn't melt away right off this time around I started hitting the gym harder then ever before. What I'm starting to see is a lot more muscle definition, but not losing the extra fat around my waist and stomach. My arms and legs however are looking sweet!
That's great to hear.
May I ask your stats?
So if I were to increase calories - esp. proteins (continue eating healthy of course) and maintain my increased weight training - I would eventually lose the extra fat AND get a few muscles in the process?
Hopefully my distinction above led to you thinking a bit differently with regards to this question. Chances of a woman adding any appreciable amounts of muscle while dieting are slim. Given the fact that you're new to weight training (or so it seems) there is a chance you'll realize some muscle growth. It's not something I would expect, however.
If you've been starving yourself for a time, I would suggest eating at maintenance for a 2-4 weeks. Let your body settle. Dieting is a stress. Starvation is a big stress. When stressed, the body will adapt positively or negatively depending on the stress. Remove the stress to let things regroup a bit. Sure, you might gain some weight during this time. Who cares though? Short term/sighted perspectives won't get you very far in this 'game.' You need to think long term.
Once you reset some things, start dieting using a sane caloric deficit this time around. That's my advice.
I probably sound retarded but believe it or not the idea of eating more to lose fat is a new concept to me!
You see, when you starve yourself (and this tends to be true for dieting females more than any other group) your metabolism very well can downregulate to a point where losing anymore weight is next to impossible unless you follow the path of an anorexic. What seems like a caloric deficit really is a break even b/c of all the adaptations that have taken place in the face of the big stress you've placed on the system.
As noted above, best course of action is to reset and start over with sane/practical tactics.
It's not eating more to lose fat acutely.
It's eating more acutely to fix the things you've done so THEN you can start losing fat again.
) After reading everything, I'm still a little confused-don't hate me!
