Newbie female - Lose weight or start toning (pictures)

[getinshape56]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to this site and very much new to anything other than cardio at this point. Over the last year or so I have been losing weight than I gained while I was at college (roughly a stone). I am now about 9 stone 9lbs and 5 ft 7 in height. To lose this weight I basically ate around 1200 calories a day and tried to jog 4/5 evenings a week as well as other cardio equipment at the gym. I'm now at the stage where I am wondering if I need to lose any more weight in order to have a more toned looking stomach/abs. I have started doing a bit of ab work but ribs naturally stick out a bit like that.
Really what I am asking is, should I be smaller (flatter stomach) in order for muscle gain to show or would it be worth starting now? Sorry if I have posted this in the wrong place!




Hopefully the images attached, I think I look a bit slimmer in these than I am because of the sizing of the images.. but anyway

Thanks

[Boss Man]

Hi there Getinshape56, nice to talk to you.

Firstly 1,200 calories a day was under eating and the body can go into what is known as a starvation mode, where it clings onto fat as it believes it is being starved.

Secondly you need to eat more to gain muscle and give yourself a healthier metabolism, as your under eating might have possibly affected your metabolism, if you were eating below your BMR, Basal Metabolic Rate; the amount of calories needed as a minimum every day to keep your metabolism healthy.

What times do you eat at and what foods do you eat at those times?

[getinshape56]

Hi thanks for your reply

I should clear up firstly, I meant after exercise I would have been on 1200 calories. So I may have eaten say 1800, but with exercise it would cut down to 1200. This was recommended by an App MyFitnessPal. But I guess that would explain why I haven't been able to change body much since then.

When I was dieting, I would have ate a piece of fruit for breakfast (9am), then a chicken salad for lunch (12/1pm) then for dinner usually more chicken with brown rice or baby potatoes and veg. (5/6pm) I usually had a few snacks so maybe more fruit or a cereal bar in between. However sometimes it will change to soup for lunch or maybe mince for dinner. I wasn't entirely great with meal planning so I tried to follow a protein based diet.

Now, as I am not really dieting anymore I would eat similar foods but larger portions. I'm also eating bread and things that I would have tried to cut beforehand. I am still eating around the same times too.

Thank you so much for a reply, I look forward to becoming healthier and having a better understanding of how to become fit.

[Boss Man]

Hopefully things work out for you than. GOOD LUCK and if you need anything else just please feel free to ask, or feel free to update us on how you are doing sometime .