Slim Thick (160-190 lbs) Transformation Guide: Lose Fat, Keep Your Curves

A woman at 160 to 190 pounds keeps her curves while losing fat by lifting weights five days a week, eating 1,800 to 2,200 calories, and getting 130 to 155 grams of protein daily. The deficit is small on purpose. Lift heavy enough to keep your glutes, legs and shoulders while the fat comes off.

Who is the Slim Thick archetype?

This guide is for women between 160 and 190 pounds. Most are pear, hourglass or rectangle shaped, with a mesomorph or meso-endomorph build. In plain terms, you build muscle well and you also gain fat easily when food gets loose.

That is a good position to be in. Your legs and glutes are already strong. You do not need to “lose weight first.” You need to cut fat while protecting the shape you already have.

Why does dieting make you look smaller but softer?

Because most plans in this range are big calorie cuts plus lots of cardio. You lose weight, but a chunk of it is muscle. The scale goes down and the shape goes flat.

Two things fix that. A small deficit, about 200 calories under maintenance, and real lifting with progressive overload. Resistance training raises resting metabolic rate and reduces body fat (Westcott, 2012), and higher protein during a deficit helps you hold muscle (Wycherley et al., 2012).

Lifting will not make you bulky. Women build muscle slowly, and at a calorie deficit you are not going to add size you did not plan for. What you get is a tighter waist and firmer legs. If that worry is holding you back, read should women lift weights if they don’t want to get bulky.

How many calories and how much protein?

• Calories: 1,800 to 2,200 a day, about 200 under maintenance
• Protein: 130 to 155 grams a day
• Fat: about 25 to 30 percent of calories
• Carbs: the rest, with most of them before and after training

Split protein over four meals, about 30 to 40 grams each. Spreading protein across at least four meals is a practical way to get the most muscle building out of it (Schoenfeld and Aragon, 2018).

What does a week of training look like?

Five days, alternating upper and lower body, about 50 minutes each.

• Monday: lower body, glute focus
• Tuesday: upper body, back and shoulders
• Wednesday: lower body, quad and hamstring focus
• Thursday: rest or a 30 minute walk
• Friday: upper body, chest and arms
• Saturday: lower body, glutes and conditioning
• Sunday: rest

What are the main lifts?

• Barbell hip thrust: 4 sets of 8 to 10, rest 90 seconds. Add 10 pounds when you hit 10 reps on all sets.
• Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 10. Start around 65 pounds and add 5 pounds a week.
• Goblet squat or leg press: 3 sets of 10 to 12.
• Lat pulldown: 3 sets of 10.
• Seated dumbbell shoulder press: 3 sets of 10.
• Cable row: 3 sets of 12.
• Cable abduction or banded side walk: 3 sets of 15 per side.

If you are a pear shape, push upper body volume a little higher so your shoulders balance your hips. Hourglass shapes can train evenly. Rectangle shapes get the most from glute and side delt work, which builds curves where there are few.

What if you only have three days?

Run three full body sessions instead: hip thrust, row, squat and press each day. Two focused 45 minute sessions a week still beat none. Five is better for this archetype if you can fit it.

What should a normal day of eating look like?

• Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 cup egg whites, toast, fruit
• Lunch: 6 ounces chicken, rice, vegetables
• Pre-workout: Greek yogurt with granola
• Dinner: 6 ounces salmon or lean beef, potatoes, salad
• Evening if needed: cottage cheese or a protein shake

That comes in around 2,000 calories and 150 grams of protein.

What should you expect at week 1, week 4 and week 12?

Week 1: Sore legs. Scale may drop 2 to 3 pounds, mostly water from fewer processed carbs.

Week 4: Your hip thrust and Romanian deadlift numbers should be up. Waist is down about an inch for most women. The scale might only show 2 to 4 pounds. Trust the tape and the lifts.

Week 12: At a 200 calorie deficit, most women are 5 to 8 pounds down, and the photos show more change than the scale does. If you are losing more than 1.5 pounds a week and your lifts are dropping, add 100 to 200 calories.

Change something if your lifts stall for three weeks straight, if your waist has not moved in four weeks, or if you are starving every evening. Usually the fix is sleep or protein first.

Is this plan right for you?

Three questions. Do you want to keep your glutes and legs while getting leaner? Can you train at least three days a week? Have past diets made you smaller but softer? If you said yes to two of these, this plan fits.

Two real clients started in this range. Tanya went from 165 to 135 pounds. Sierra went from 175 to 140. If you weigh 190 to 230, use the Thick guide. Men in this range should read the Swole guide.

What is the next step?

Take the XPL quiz to confirm your archetype, check coaching options and pricing, or see what I offer on the services page.

Written by Zavier King, personal trainer in Houston and founder of XPL. ISSA Certified Personal Trainer and NASM Nutrition Coach. More about me.