Great workout, but is it for me?

by Sam
(Dallas, TX)

I have been doing this lose belly fat workout plan for a few weeks, and am currently at the end of week 4. So far I have consistently been losing 1 pound a week (measurements from a weight scale). The reason I started doing this workout plan is because I have a belly that I would like to flatten out. I have a little bit of fat around my waist (probably 10 pounds worth of fat I would guess), but the thing that I really want to improve is the appearance of my stomach sticking out.

Now the reason I ask if this plan is right for me is because I actually am not fat. Besides my waist area having a little bit of extra fat, the rest of my body is thin. In fact, I want my weight to grow through muscle mass growth, the opposite of what most people on this site are trying to accomplish. So, I'm wondering if maybe I am losing more muscle mass instead of fat by doing this workout. Should I maybe continue doing this workout as part of my cardio, while also doing weight lifting to increase my muscle mass? I really want to flatten out my stomach, but I don't want to lose muscle mass in the process and have to start all over again to gain that muscle mass back.

As of now, I am 5'4", 126 pounds. My goal is to put on about 20 pounds of muscles.

What are you thoughts on this?

Answer: If you are onto week four already I would not worry about losing muscle mass. If you are doing weight training your body will be very resistant to losing any muscle.

Your goal however is to put on a lot of muscle. Trying to figure out how to lose fat while bulking up muscle is one of the age old questions. Although I think its possible, to put on the amount of weight you want to, I think that will be difficult.

The secret to getting results with any kind of workout comes down to focus. If you are trying to gain that much weight my suggestion is to go on a muscle building program first, then when you have hit the weight you want trim down any excess fat you have with the lose belly fat workout. A lot of people have had good success with this workout.