Binge eating and muscle growth

[manx]

Hi everyone.. I've done my share of lurking, but I could use your help. I hope I'm not asking stupid questions.

I'm currently 5'2", 105lbs.. I had my body fat tested with calipers at 19.5%

If I have approximately 85lbs of lean mass, how many calories should I be consuming? I would like to drop my fat % down to 17-18%


Secondly, I am a recovering bulimic and about one to two time a week engage in binge eating behavior. (usually downing 2500+cals of carbs.) I don't purge anymore, and while my weight
pretty much stays the same (the rest of the week I eat between 1000-1400cals) I am wondering how much this behavior is holding back muscle development and positive changes in my body and metabolism.

Lately when I go to the gym I will train 2-3 muscle groups with free-weights, and then do 30-40 minutes of intervals on the treadmill or eliptical machine. I don't use pretty pink dumbbells of or worry about "bulking up" but currently 8lbs for most exercises is pretty taxing for me.

Soo.. I'm not strong, I want to drop some of this fat.. and I feel out of control in my eating.

Any suggestions? Thanks for your time. I've learned a lot from this board already.

 

[MS]

If it's only 1-2x per week and it's mostly carbs, I personally wouldn't worry about it. In fact, by keeping those caloriesin you, you may be assisting muscle building while keeping your metabolism from stalling on an otherwise reduced calorie diet. The bingeing is only harmful if you feel guilty, bring it back up or do it too often. It's also harmful if it makes you feel like missing gym sessions from guilt or feelings of failure. Whatever you do, never miss a weights session because of a binge, and limit them as much as possible. Try to keep the fat calories really low on your binges.

 

[manx]

Thanks Spatts, I'm about to print your cutting diet out and study.

1150cals does sound really low! Eh, the burden of being a near-midget.

If I am burning, say, 300cals in a cardio session 4x a week, should I bump up the cals on those days?

And while I know there is no such thing as spot reduction.. I'm a pretty scrawny thing. Not much visible fat on me except in the saddlebag (ugh, it is ugly even to type) region. All of my fat seems to be glommed onto the outside of my thighs.. and it never goes away. IMO I look much more "even" ever since I started building up my shoulders, but I am still frustrated that nothing seems to touch the fat there.

Should I train legs hard (I don't want them getting too much bigger, just leaner. currently I do some lunges, squats, and then rely on running intervals to do the rest), look into a Yohimburn type topical fatburning product, or just resign myself to a little junk in the trunk?

I really appreciate your help. Thanks again for taking the time to welcome a newbie.

 

[MS]

There's also a thread here at the moment called "girls that dont train legs" which you should read if you're afraid of training legs harder for fear of them getting bigger. The saddlebags may not go away unless you get competition lean, and even then they won't stay lean. the best bet is to make them shapely with weight training and a good clean diet. Maybe save the yohimburn until you've dropped some more overall fat since it seems (in my experience) to work better the leaner you are. Also the compostition of your diet is just as important as the total calories consumed.

 

[manx]

There's also a thread here at the moment called "girls that dont train legs" which you should read if you're afraid of training legs harder for fear of them getting bigger. The saddlebags may not go away unless you get competition lean, and even then they won't stay lean. the best bet is to make them shapely with weight training and a good clean diet. Maybe save the yohimburn until you've dropped some more overall fat since it seems (in my experience) to work better the leaner you are. Also the compostition of your diet is just as important as the total calories consumed.

Thanks MS! Yes, I'm a late arrival to diet composition.,. seems I've been shoveling sugar-filled lowfat carbs into my mouth since the dawn of time and wondering why I wasn't losing weight.

I'm trying to keep my diet about 40-30-30, but still missing the mark a lot of the time.

If one didn't eat ANY protein and trained intensively, would the body be able to use carbohydrates for muscle repair, or is protein the only thing that will do the job?

Thanks again for your help. I'm still a little wary of leg training since I do a lot of other activities which keep my legs pretty muscular (running, dance.) but I don't want to train improperly.

On my body-fat testing sheet the notation for my thigh skinfold measurement is 21.. I assume that is the mm measurement that people are talking about in the leg thread? Does 21 mean my legs still are fatty?

Sorry for the rapid fire questions, and thanks again for your help!

 

[MS]

"If one didn't eat ANY protein and trained intensively, would the body be able to use carbohydrates for muscle repair, or is
protein the only thing that will do the job? "

You absolutely positively must eat protein to repair or build muscle. Failure to do this will result in a rapid loss of muscle. Carbs can be used to provide the energy to TRAIN the muscle, but they cannot build muscle.

 

[manx]

Don't worry, I'm not planning on going on a no-protein diet.

However, as a student with two internships and no money... it's often cheaper and quicker for me to eat carbs, and I really have to work at it to get adaquete protein in my diet. (I was also raised a vegan which is a whole other story...)

I hate to think that all my training is going to waste because of a protien deficient diet. Is .5g/per pound of body weight a good amount to shoot for, or should I be taking in even more?

 

[MS]

I would suggest you try cycling your protein intake. Something like 3 days of 0.5g per pound followed by 3 days of 1.5g per pound. Honestly I think you will not only find it easier to drop fat by having these higher protein days, but you will also gain muscle more easily and it should help control your binge cravings. FYI, most women that I have known that try to stick to a low fat AND low protein diet WILL end up with binge eating disorders. It will be really worthwhile to allocate that little bit extra money towards some protein.