Looking to lose fat, not muscle

[FITLATINA]

I'm a 46 year old female, 5'5', 175.6 lbs. (32 % BF). Most of the fat thighs, butt, and belly. I used to weigh a healthy 131 lbs about 20 years ago. I've been the typical yo-yo dieter. The last time was about a year ago, I lost 15 lbs and gained back 13. I've been reading the VPX MELTDOWN fat burner threads on here and I'm sold. I'm planning to do one cycle of MD plus cardio.

Quest#1 - How much protein, carbs, & fat should I consume in order to lose fat, not muscle? My concern is that whenever I lose weight, the first thing that I lose is by boobs and my butt.

Question#2 - Can I incorporate some muscle toning exercises right away or wait until I lose weight? Especially booty exercises....lol

Fitlatina

(I need calorie advice too)

 

[FITLATINA]

Thank you very much for the tips, Mr. Jesus..lol Greatly appreciated

 

[Cindy007]

Being a woman myself, I feel your struggle. That's why I wouldn't go crazy with cardio. When I first got back into the weights, I felt I was getting "too big." However, I noticed I just looked better in general, so I based my future with that, stuck with it, and after a month (we're talking hardcore here...no cheating, gym 6 days a week, and fairly low carb), I definately looked leaner.

Jesus knows what he talking about, btw. (Personally, I'm doing well with around 1,200 cals, very spread out throughout the day). Take his advice mama!

 

[NJ-Surfer]

The most important aspect of your program will be your diet. Since you've been out of the gym for 20 years you should proceed slowly with exercise. The good news is you can lose weight (fat) with diet alone. Excercise is important but you want to avoid injuries and go slow.

Please read this link first:
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/new-members-begin-here/97077-read-me-first-homework-1-newbies.html

It will answer all your diet questions and help you begin your daily meal plan. Once you get a daily meal plan sketched out post it in the Diet section of this forum and you'll get additional help to tweek it into a fat burning machine.

 

[FITLATINA]

Thanks guys for all your advise. I haven't been out of the gym for 20 yrs. I would workout on and off. Not getting into a regular routine and not really eating the right foods. I would either do one of those diet plans like weight watchers or nutrisystem. Whenever I did go to the gym, I only concentrated more on cardio, not too much weight training because I was afraid to bulk up. But now that I'm getting older, I don't want gravity to kick in..lol So I want to concentrate on how to keep muscle tone while losing weight.

Thanks again

 

[FITLATINA]

What's considered low carb?

 

[NJ-Surfer]

What's considered low carb?

That all depends on your weight, %BF, and your goals. Based on your stats and assuming you were running a 500 calorie/day deficit I would say <120g/day would be low carb.

 

[FITLATINA]

Thanks...That's about how much I've been consuming from fruits, vegetables, brown rice, almonds, whole wheat bread, peanut butter