I am a 27 year old female trying to lose body fat & gain muscle. My question is - Do I do strictly do cardio for awhile to lose fat (my goal is around 10%), then lift weights to have my abs/muscles grow/show?

I am 5'8 & weight 128lbs. I look fit & my muscles pop in my arms but I don't have too much upper body strength, but very strong legs. Out of a six pack, my top 2 are showing & the sides are starting to pop.

I have read other posts but cannot find the answers that I'm looking for. I workout everyday & have for the past 3 months. I lift weights everyday (I know its bad to do everyday) & was doing cardio 3 times a week for about 3 weeks & stopped about 3 weeks ago. I just started up again yesterday. I have always been skinny. I used to eat really unhealthy foods but completely changed all my habits. I measured my body fat with a caliper & about 3 months ago I had a little over 21%, weighed 140 lbs, now have 14.6% (if its correct) & weigh 128 lbs. I have the usual spots women have of fat that is hard to lose - love handles & lower abdomen. When I don't do cardio, my muscles start to look bigger, then just plateau. I increased the weights I lift by 10 lbs., (bench 30lbs.) & my muscles popped right away.

I lose fat quickly with cardio but then I also lose muscle. When I lift weights, my muscles pop, if I do cardio then I lose a little fat but also muscle. I do 25mg protein shakes after lifting.

My goal is to have alot of muscle & around 10% fat. Think of the chicks on Workout (show on Bravo)

Can't seem to find a happy medium. Please help!

what is you diet like aside from not eating completely unhealthy foods? That's going to play a big part.

I just moved within the past week so my eating habits have been a little screwy.

My eating habits consist of usually eating something small in the morning like a granola bar or sometimes just coffee. Then 1 peanut butter (1tbsp) sandwich on 2 pieces of whole wheat bread for lunch. A power bar or granola bar, about 1 hour before working out, protein shake afterworking out & at night it varies. I'm so used to eating more at night, than in the daytime. I'm A.D.D. & on Concerta which suppresses my appetite so after it wears off I get really hungry.

For dinner/snacks I eat a few bowls of cereal (Total, Special K, Cheerios), and/or a cheese (1/2 cup shredded) sandwich on 2 pieces whole wheat bread or a 1/2 can of tuna with organic pretzels.

Or I'll have a small piece of steak with broccolli. As of a few days ago, I'm back in the habit of eating veggies before bed. Since increasing the weight for my weight training about 5 days ago, I have been eating more tuna sandwiches, using 2 instead of 1 scoops of protein powder, etc. I've read on here before that in order to gain muscle you have to gain some fat too. I just am stuck on how women / men (know its much easier for guys) to gain muscle & have little fat on their bodies. How do I get to that point?

I'm no expert, but im sure one of the many experts out there will chime in soon, but do you use FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal

I have a problem eating enough myself, so I started tracking it in there. I found out i was severly undereating - no wonder i couldnt get out of bed in the am. anyway.. you could start there, tracking what you eat and make sure you have a good fat - carb - protien breakdown. (20% - 40% - 40% is what I keep seeing so it's what I strive for)

Thanks alot I will definetely check it out. When I wasn't eating enough (just wasn't ever really hungry) I had a REAL hard time getting out of bed in the morning. Actually, I haven't been sleeping on a real bed for the past few months, just a chaise lounge. I think the lack of quality sleep is really just catching up to me.

to lose fat, do both weights AND cardio.

to gain muscle, eat more food. cardio should be more geared towards working your heart, then long drawn out fat burning cardio sessions (which steal the calories you need to put on muscle)