I am 24 and weight 108lb. I am 5 foot 3.
Background: Up until 6 months ago I was around 93lb, I did hardly any exercise and y waist was 24 inches. I felt unhealthy. I had no muscle and a flat bum. My diet wasn't great but I ate quite small meals which filled me up fine and did enjoy puddings now and then.
6 months ago: I joined a gym and used it for classes. I did, and still do these two: bodypump and legs bums and tums. Each once a week. BP was 45 mins, LBT was 30 mins.
Since doing those classes I have felt my appetite increase, and noticed more muscle gains, particularly around the bum and thighs. I have for the last 3 months been going swimming once a week too. I weighed myself for the first time since doing all this the other day, and i am now 108lb. So thats a fairly big increase from where I was over 6 months ago. I don't mind, in fact, I was very happy to hear that as I felt very unhealthly and underweight before. My BMI is now 19.
However, I am now at a point where I feel I really need to change my body over all and be healthier. I have noticed since doing the classes I have more fat around the lower back and sides of my waist. I went from a size 24 inch waist to now a 26.5. Which is fine but all my clothes are now too small. I got my body fat measured via calipers and i came out as 19% which looking in the mirror doesn't seem right. I would have said 23% or thereabouts but anyway.
My goals:
Gain stomach definition, not necesarily a 6 pack, but to see abs for sure.
Slim down the size of my waist to 25 inches, and make it look smaller in general by increasing my hips size.
Get rid of my hip dips and make my hips more curved.
Work on building my glutes and legs all over, including calves
It would also be nice to gain some muscle in my back and arms but not a priority. I have noticed the bodypump has helped increase my arm muscle which was non existant before.
I am planning to do 5 sessions at the gym per week, including the two classes I already go to as the HIIT workouts, then do more focused solo training on my glutes one day, then abs and obliques another day, then legs another day. I will also maintain swimming for the cardio.
Diet: I have been trying to increase my protein to at least 100g per day and trying to get it to fill up 30% of my macros, although it tends to be 20%. I am also going to cut out the cakes and try and go for brown bread etc over white.
Concerns: I really want to bulk out a bit but grow my hips and slim my waist down (and get abs). I have no idea the right cutting and bulking cycle and don't want to put on more much more fat... is the process to bulk and accept you will get a bit more fat then when you cut it goes?
Questions: Do I bulk now or cut? Take my body fat % with a pinch of salt as I measured it myself using calipers from amazon. I would say bulk but I don;t want to gain a huge amount of fat in the stomach and lower back region, especially as I am going on holiday in 4 weeks. However, it will be easier to bulk rather than cut on holiday... or can I do a mini cut over the next 4 weeks to trim up before the holiday?
Also, while I was spending time doing the classes I noticed although my glutes grew, i got some red stretch marks on them and the inner thigh. I think it was because I went from doing no exercise to suddenly more plus eating more. Anyway, I want to try and minimise this if poss.
Pictures: The first was about 2 years ago when I was thin and did no exercise.
The second and third are as I am now but as you can see I have hip dips and my stomach isn't as toned as I want. Can you estimate my bodyfat from this? 18% just seems too low. I have read if your fat is above 23% you should start cutting first.
Any advice is appreciated. I don;t have a personal trainer.
