Quote Originally Posted by kiwi girl View Post
After about a year of bad nutritian and virtually no conscious exercise I have been eating better and working out for about 4 weeks (cycling, a walk/jog program and a group fitness class that has very high reps of light weights - bodypump for those familiar with Les Mills program.)

The scales have not budged at all.

I am feeling heaps better, I think my clothes are a bit loser and I am feeling better about how I look so at this stage I'm not complaining (although I do need to drop a bit to get into the healthy bmi range) ...but my question is - how much muscle can/would a woman realistically gain though a moderate exercise program (ie not one that includes heavy weights with a specific aim of bulidng muscle size).

I don't have a car so walk and cycle everywhere - so I wasn't completely sedentary even when I wasn't working out as such.
Weight does not equal fat.

BMI does not tell you what your body fat percentage is.

Muscle weighs more than fat.

If your clothes are fitting differently, you are most likely gaining muscle and losing fat. If you feel heaps better, that's endorsement enough. That's really what it's all about.

How much muscle can a woman realistically gain without shooting for big guns? That really depends on the woman. You won't look like Ahhnold. But it sounds to me as if, in only a month, your body composition has changed enough to be noticeable. That's awesome.

Some indicators that always make me feel good --

Flexing my thighs (or whatever muscle) and watching them significantly change shape when I do it.
Walking up the stairs and noticing that I'm doing it differently, less shuffling, more of an active movement (hard to understand, but I notice it).
Yes, clothes, the same clothes fitting, but looking much better
Arms slimming

You may have some of the same, or different, indicators, but I bet there are a few things that you can notice slowly shifting.

Visible muscle striations are only possible with extremely low body fat -- low enough to be uncommon for women. It's not really about strength but leanness. So we typically have stealth muscle.