want to loose fat but not necessarily weight

Question
Hi!  I am a 45 yr old female.  I am 5'3" and weight 119 pounds.  I have a lot of fat over my stomach, hips and thighs.  I would like to loose this fat but not weight.  When I have been under 115 pounds, my face looks gaunt. Three weeks ago I increased my exercise routine from once-in-a-while to five days a week.  I do a class called Yogathletics for an hour twice a week. I do Pilates for an hour (with a reformer machine) once a week and I get on the treadmill for 30 minutes twice a week and do close to 3 miles.  I haven't changed my eating habits.  My question is... will this change in the exercise routine help me achieve my goal of loosing some of this fat and looking more fit?  If so...When will I notice changes?  If this is not the right approach, what should I do?  Thank you!!

Answer
Michelle-

Its great you upped your training but. you are doing two things wrong. You are basing it on al cardio activity when in reality you should have resistance training as you foundation to preserve and even gain some muscle mass as you lose fat. Cardio in in of itself especially in the longer low intensity format is catabolic in nature and can eat up the precious muscle mas you need to burn fat and build the fit athletic physique you want. The consistent long distance cardio wil slowly wear you down, weaken you where the resistance training will help strengthen both bones and muscle tissue which we really need to target as we age.

The other problem I see is you have greatly increased your activity and not your eating. You ARE going to lose scale weight. You need to increase your eating to maintain that weight build some lean mass as you recover from your training and burn fat.

You as well as everyone should base your training on heavy resistance training, heavy of course being a relative term to the individual. Based in BIG compound moves with free weights not machines in order to build muscle and burn some body fat. The moves that make men large make women tight and HOT.

Base your training on squats, Deadlift, bench press, over head press, chins and rows, and power cleans these are the moves that use the most muscle at once, burn the most energy (fat) and have the potential to give you that nice tight rear end, toned legs are and core.

I would do one press, one pull and one leg move a day really giving the moves the attention they deserve. Start with three days a week and then add on 2-3 low steady state cardio sessions during the week it can be the same day after the training or separate days, just walking or your yoga etc but do them separate days or After the much more important resistance training. That and eat to maintain or even gain a small bit. The more you do the more you must eat just to maintain. So limited cardio can be a benefit


For more info you should join our free discussion forum, you will get lots of great advice and discussion there www.teamstaley.com start a training log. We can help with training, diet and then give advice on supplementation

Phil
www.staleytraining.com

I also ask you to take a look at my charity strength event with proceeds going to support Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Look at the online raffle make a donation no matter how small they all help the cause and give you a chance of winning some great prizes at the same time
http://www.lift4hope.org  

Follow my Blog
http://phil-stevens.blogspot.com/

Follow me on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/Phil.T.Stevens?ref=profile

1. Prev:protien drinks
2. Next:Kick starting my work out