Where to Start After Large Weight Loss

themotherboard

Hello fitness group. Not sure if this is the correct forum to post my question, so apologies in advance if it isn't.

Since April of 2013, I've lost 173 pounds using MyFitnessPal and 30 minutes of exercise bike or walking every morning. I'm in my 50s. I have under 20 pounds to go to meet my goal weight.

Is it time to join a gym, or start at-home strength training to help with the saggy parts of my body that the weight loss has left behind? I think it may be a good idea anyway, but will it help at all with toning or am I just stuck with the left behind reminders of my accomplishment?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

DancingMoosie

The time to start strength training was yesterday, lol. There is no perfect time to start, but sooner is usually better. As for the saggy parts, the skin will shrink up to a point. There is no way to know for sure how much it will tighten up. Age, genetics, and amount of skin/weight loss are all factors. Strength training is for strength or building muscle, not for tightening skin. In order to see the muscle, you have to lose the fat covering it.

Cherimoose

Yes, you will look better from strength training. Plus it gives other health benefits too, which is kind of important. It's best to follow a professionally-designed strength program, instead of doing your own thing. A good program for your age bracket is New Rules of Lifting for Life. Or work with a good personal trainer.

Congrats on losing all that weight!

PAtinCO

Congrats on the great job of losing all that weight!

I was in a similar position as you about a year ago. I had lost 70 lbs and was about 20-25 from my goal and I did it all by diet and walking. I then started more intense workouts as I lost the rest of the weight for a total of 95 lbs. Honestly, I wish I had started sooner. While I look and feel a lot better, I'm now fighting a bit of an uphill battle to gain more muscle and strength. If I had started earlier I could have preserved more of it along the way.

btsinmd

Congratulations on the weight loss! Yes, strength training will help with the saggy parts, but don't just focus on them. Strength training will also help with bone strength and density, and it's important for you (and me) right now to work on that. It will also help with your mobility and what you'll be able to do as you age. You want to make sure that you are strengthening your whole body and staying in balance. There are tons of good programs to do, so choose one and go for it. I'm just advising you not to just focus on one part, like a leg program or and arm program or whatever, but go for a whole body program. That could mean a program where most of the exercises use your whole body or one where you circle through exercises hitting all of your body over the course of a week.

yoovie

YES.