Posted in: Workouts / Goal Setting

HIIT that won't make me gain muscle ?

Hi everyone,

I don't know if you remember me ; I vented LENGTHILY about my eating disorders last year and you were amazing, thank you again.

:)

So, what's my problem now ? Haha, fasten your seatbelts.

After last summer, I had a big burnout at work (I hate my job). Financially speaking, I couldn't take any time off or get a new job (still can't), so my GP put me on antidepressants (Seroplex). They seemed to work after a while, BUT they made me gain 12 kilos / 26 lbs, while eating super healthily.

I was devastated. After six months, I stopped the meds overnight hoping my weight would come down naturally.

… It didn't.

It even continued climbing :'(

My eating habits were impeccable so I didn't have a lot of flexibility diet-wise. And I gained a LOT of muscle because I continued working out with you guys, while my body was in bulk-mode apparently.

Summer was looming and I was still gaining weight. So, out of despair, I tried… the Dukan diet.

I KNOW. (And I hate meat.)

It was horrible. I did lose 5 kilos during the first month, but nothing after that. Needless to say, I had the worst summer ever. I stopped exercising (except for daily walks) because I was afraid to gain even more muscle.

After 6 months of Dukan (I'm quite tenacious), my liver started to suffer and I had to stop the diet immediately.

I was so fed up with proteins and chemically processed foods that I went on a whole food plant based diet, quite intuitively.

So yes, I guess I'm an accidental vegan now (it's been 2 months).

I feel a lot better, concerning my health, BUT my weight still won't come down. I'm eating as little as I can (not counting calories) so at least it's not going up, but I can't stay like this any longer and I really need to go back to my former shape.

SO I was thinking : maybe it's time to jump back onto the Fitness Blender wagon.

But I'm so afraid to bulk even more !

Do you happen to know HIIT routines that won't make me gain muscle (especially in the lower body) ? Even better, that could make me lose muscle ?

(I really can't do long cardio. I hate it, and I don't have time for it. And I used to love how HIIT made me feel ^^)

Thanks beforehand :)

Edit : I think I forgot to add some context here ; some of you seem to think I'm anorexic and that the weight gain was a good thing, that I should accept my body as it is now... Well, I weighed 63-64 kilos for 164cm (141 lbs for 5.4 ft) before the antidepressants. That was pretty heavy already, although it was mostly muscle. And my thighs already looked quite muscular, I had to squeeze them into those size 36 jeans (I think that's 26 in the US).

Thank you for all your answers :) still not sure what to do, though. As I have an endomorphic body type, I'm afraid my thighs are just waiting for one HIIT session to bulk up from all the jumping.

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