building muscle..time wise page 2

[Ghâshûl]

My weight has remained the same (except it went up over the holidays, but back again afterwards) since August or September, and my body has changed a lot in the meantime. So primal diet + heavy lifting with no weight change can be a good thing
If you have continual progress in your workouts, I wouldn't worry.

[Philosopher Dan]

Yes and damn near identical to your stats...i only lift 10 lbs cause I have bad neck and shoulders. In fact after snow shovelling 4 times yesterday, its out of whack again Funny thing is that even with what I have done physically. I don't feel any aches or pains. I even do 1 min on 9 resistance on my bike (second highest) Haven't had any leg pain at all. This is just so weird for me. I almost want to stop being active to lose the numbers on the scale

Are your numbers closer to our colleague's beginning stats or current stats?

If you are only lifting 10lb weights, you aren't going to put on any appreciable muscle mass - certainly not enough to make your clothes tighter or to create a gain on the scale! What's more likely the case is that you have some general inflammation - and the increased appetite led to the other kind of weight gain...

That being said, sticking to the routine is still a good idea - just be careful about the diet. Unless you are going to start doing big lifts, you won't increase actual muscle size. Your muscles will just appear bigger as you lose weight. In reality, though, if you go from a BMI of about 30 to one of about 25, your muscles will likely get smaller, since they don't have as much weight to carry around any more! They will be more functional and look better, but their mass will decrease as well.

On a side note, could you send some of that snow down here - we haven't had a real winter in 3 years!

[goinggrok]

Are your numbers closer to our colleague's beginning stats or current stats?

If you are only lifting 10lb weights, you aren't going to put on any appreciable muscle mass - certainly not enough to make your clothes tighter or to create a gain on the scale! What's more likely the case is that you have some general inflammation - and the increased appetite led to the other kind of weight gain...

That being said, sticking to the routine is still a good idea - just be careful about the diet. Unless you are going to start doing big lifts, you won't increase actual muscle size. Your muscles will just appear bigger as you lose weight. In reality, though, if you go from a BMI of about 30 to one of about 25, your muscles will likely get smaller, since they don't have as much weight to carry around any more! They will be more functional and look better, but their mass will decrease as well.

On a side note, could you send some of that snow down here - we haven't had a real winter in 3 years!

5'3" 47 yo F 170 ish now...was 165. I do 10 lbs upper body and bike ride at 5 tension then 6 5 min each then 7&8 for 2 min each then 9 for 1 min. My legs are not sore considering I do walking and once in awhile x country skiing ( snow permitting) I will gladly send you snow...but you have to take the cold with it

[sbhikes]

Yes and damn near identical to your stats...i only lift 10 lbs cause I have bad neck and shoulders. In fact after snow shovelling 4 times yesterday, its out of whack again Funny thing is that even with what I have done physically. I don't feel any aches or pains. I even do 1 min on 9 resistance on my bike (second highest) Haven't had any leg pain at all. This is just so weird for me. I almost want to stop being active to lose the numbers on the scale

If you are shoveling snow, the shovel plus the snow probably weighs much more than 10lbs. Toss those dumbells or use them for something other than what you are doing, like dumbbell squat presses.

I lost most of my weight without doing much exercise. I don't think exercise really makes you lose weight. I walked from Mexico to Canada and toward the end I was gaining weight.

I only lift weights because it's supposed to be healthy, makes your body think it is growing, not deteriorating. I think it does improve my health but only if I don't do it too much, which is frighteningly easy to do. I like to exercise. After I lost weight and got all the nutrients from this way of eating I had more energy and wanted to do more.

One really great benefit to the weights I have had is at first my shoulder joints killed me and made all kinds of noise. Now they don't hurt anymore or make noise, and I even had frozen shoulder a few years ago. I squat around 100lbs, bench 67.5, press 50, deadlift 140lbs so far. Never thought I could do this much, that's for sure.

Maybe there are some therapeutic exercises you could do for your neck and shoulders. Perhaps hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to develop a reasonable program for you. There's nothing wrong with losing the weight first and then doing an exercise program later, either. Just take walks. That's the easiest thing to do.

[reallygravity]

I would agree with some of other replies that a lot has to with diet--and that you can hire a trainer after you have lost all the weight.

I had 35 pounds to lose after having my daughter. I lost the 35 pounds by keeping my diet in check and walking for about half hour/45 mins (pushing the stroller) 7 days a week. I just didnt have the time or energy or brain-cells to do anything more. At the time, just keeping my diet in check (and not reaching for that cake after an exhausting day with baby) was work enough!

After I got back to my pregnancy weight, I added strength training (and some cardio--like power-walking and elliptical) to start toning my body. I have lost another 10 pounds since then. Of course, I have had to keep an eye on my diet as well.

I have big plans to lose some more pounds this year. I want to lose my love-handles, tone up my stomach, and lose some thigh-jiggle. It is getting harder and harder, but I am trying!

[Ripped]

I almost want to stop being active to lose the numbers on the scale

It kind of makes sense what you're saying. Because exercise makes you hungry. So you have to work it out for yourself and know that you've got your diet straight first, and that your exercise isn't making you too hungry. The key as I see it is, don't exercise to the point where you're feeling too stressed.

A good thing to note is that weight training has been shown in studies to have a positive affect on fat loss. Because it increases your metabolism. Aerobics on the other hand decrease your metabolism if you do it while in a calorie deficit. So for that reason, it's best to let weight training be your first choice of exercise when you're cutting. Since the weights preserve the metabolism while in a calorie deficit, you can also include aerobics in addition. 2 weight sessions per week is plenty.

Also note that as a woman you shouldn't be able to put on too much muscle anyways. Look up pictures of 5 lbs of fat vs 5 lbs of muscle models and you'll see the difference. Muscle weighs more than fat and therefore takes up less volume. And for that reason, comparing lb per lb, given the same weight you'd be better off having more muscle percentage wise.

This is not to say that a lot of muscle looks good on a woman. I my opinion, I don't think so. But again, in most cases more muscle will be better, and the chances of you gaining too much muscle is actually slim.