Strong Lifts Newbie

Fiyahcrakah

I'm thinking about starting the Strong Lifts 5x5 program. I've been at a weight loss plateau for about 4 months now, but I really want to get cut. I would like to lose another 15 pounds, should I lose the weight first before starting the program? With me, I don't mind doing cardio, but with cardio I get soft and bored real quick. I enjoy weight lifting, but the downfall is I never see weight loss. I see strength and some change in my clothes. Anyone who was once in my boat- can you please provide a little advice for me?

Full0fWin

Lift. Eat less if you aren't losing weight.

AliceDark

You should start SL now and not wait until you lose more. Any time you lose weight, it's not 100% fat (it's fat, muscle, blood volume, etc.), so when you lift while losing weight, it helps you retain muscle mass.

There are a couple of reasons you might see a stall when you start lifting...
1. You're eating more, either because you're just hungrier or because you're eating too many calories back (MFP can tend to over-estimate burns), or because you replaced a higher calorie burn activity (cardio) with a lower calorie burn activity (lifting) without also adjusting your intake.
2. Adding new exercise, especially strenuous activities like lifting, causes water retention, which can mask weight loss in the short term. Lots of people see a stall or small bump on the scale when they start lifting, but they don't give it enough time to resolve itself. It can take up to 4-6 weeks for it to resolve, so if you stop the lifting before that point, you'll mistakenly think that lifting interferes with your weight loss.

hill8570

Start lifting to maintain muscle mass during your deficit phase. No reason you can't do cardio, too, but definitely start lifting. If you're plateaued, tighten up on your logging (i.e, weigh your food, no more unlogged "just one chip" or "lick the spoon" crap). It's not the lifting that's going to keep your from losing weight -- all it does is encourage your body to burn the fat instead of the muscle.

ew_david

I was once in your boat (still kind of am). I started lifting early on and I started with Stronglifts. Yes, it took longer to see a change on the scale, but it did eventually happen. Make sure your diet is on point, start lifting, and be consistent with it. After about 6 months of SL, I went to a split routine. I lost the bulk of my weight without a minute of cardio, but it took longer than average because, well, I like to eat.

CassieHiggin

You don't necessarily have to eat less, it may be WHAT you're eating. And definitely any change up to your workout routine will shock your body in a good way and continue the results.

Also don't pay so much attention to the number on the scales, if you're building muscle and losing fat you won't always see a change in your weight number. Remember muscle weighs more than fat so go by how your clothes fit or measurements