Weight Loss and Fitness

DanerTee

hi All,
I hope this is the right forum, but my head is spinning and I would really love some advice!

So, I am 32 years old, female and 259 lbs. I have lost weight before, lots of weight (like, 97 lbs once) but did it mostly with food, and frankly a lot of starving myself, which SURPRISE! didn't last.

I am the heaviest I have ever been, outside of one of my pregnancies.

So, I would like to do things right this time. Until I was in college, I spent my entire life a fit athlete. I remember having a fit and strong body, but I never purposely worked out, I just played every sport out there.

I want to be smaller, and I want to be fit and strong again. However, I am totally confused. I know how to cut calories to lose weight, but if I am going to incorporate strength training, do I eat more or do I eat at a deficit. AND, if I eat more in order to build muscle, will I lose fat at the same time? I would be OK with not losing as much weight, if I could lose inches.

Can you see I'm all over the place? TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

Thanks!

fitgamercatlady

Eat at a deficit, but watch your macros--more protein if you're building muscles (.8-1g per pound of body weight) and if you're having carbs, eat complex ones like starchy vegetables. What worked for me is focusing on weight loss first and adding in weight training as I lost more weight.

quiksylver296

You can eat at a deficit while strength training. I personally wouldn't want to aggressive of a deficit. Half-pound loss a week is 250 calorie deficit per day.

You will not lose weight if you aren't in some sort of deficit. So if you strength train and eat in surplus, you will still gain weight.

When you get closer to your weight goal, you can look into a recomp. But where you are right now, you should be fine to lift in a deficit.

malibu927

You won't build much muscle in a calorie deficit. However, strength training while losing weight is key to preserving as much muscle as possible so you don't look "skinny fat" when you reach your goal weight, and the loss of inches will come along with both the deficit and lifting.

SueInAz

I know that most people with a lot of weight to lose want to just focus on seeing the number on the scale get smaller, and I definitely get that, but it sounds to me like you know what you need to do and you want to do it, which is awesome. You just aren't sure yet how to get there. Start lifting weights now. Being significantly overweight actually has some advantages when it comes to strength training. I'll explain....

When we lose "weight" the pounds we lose are made up of a combination of water, fat and muscle. The faster you lose weight, the more of that lost weight will be from muscle because our bodies are looking to preserve as much stored energy (fat) as possible against a future starvation period and unused lean muscle mass is an easy target. As you shed pounds, you need less muscle to move your mass around so your body will break it down for energy and it'll be gone. That's a lost opportunity because it's much harder to build new muscle later than to maintain that muscle now. For starters, building new muscle usually involves gaining weight.

Strength training forces us to use our muscles in such a way as to signal to our body that we need them. This limits muscle breakdown for energy and helps to retain the muscle you already have. Here is where those advantages I mentioned come in. As I said earlier, when we lose weight it's a combination of muscle, fat and water. The opposite is true, too! Your current muscle mass is significantly greater than someone who is smaller because while you've been gaining weight over the years some of what you gained was extra muscle so that you could simply move around your extra weight. Why not capitalize on it?

Strength training now will allow you to keep more of that extra muscle rather than losing it along with the fat and water while you're losing weight. This means more of your weight loss will be from fat and that's what you really want to lose. It also means that when you reach the weight you want to be that your body fat percentage will be much lower and you'll be much firmer at that weight than you would have been if you simply "lost weight" to get there.

So, rather than reach your goal weight and then decide you want to "firm" or "tone" your body, start strength training now. Do it between cardio days and you'll maximize your efforts. Doing so will help to ensure that you will look, and feel, amazing when you've reached your goal and lost the fat that is covering all of that muscle hiding underneath.

Be sure to grab a measuring tape and track your measurements along with your weight. Often times, especially while strength training, the scale won't move as much but you'll be shrinking.

janettles

I have felt your confusion. There is a lot of conflicting advice out there. At my lowest point, I went to a bookstore, sat down on the carpet in front of the diet books, and looked through every interesting diet book I could find until I found a diet and exercise program I felt I could do. It turned out very well and helped me meet my goals. I hope you soon find some answers you can live with. Good luck!

SueInAz

danateschke wrote: »

I want to be smaller, and I want to be fit and strong again. However, I am totally confused. I know how to cut calories to lose weight, but if I am going to incorporate strength training, do I eat more or do I eat at a deficit. AND, if I eat more in order to build muscle, will I lose fat at the same time? I would be OK with not losing as much weight, if I could lose inches.

My post was already really long and I missed all of this stuff.

First of all, it's very difficult to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. You might do it a little at first because you'll be new to it and you have weight to spare but the goal here is to minimize your muscle loss not worry about building new muscle.

You don't burn a lot of calories lifting weights so don't change your calorie goal. You might want to be a little less aggressive with it but at your current weight you should have no problems losing 2 pounds per week while lifting for a couple of months. Gauge your progress then and adjust to 1.5 pounds per week.

Be sure you're eating plenty of protein. That will also help maintain muscle. MFP's default is something like 15%; you should aim for 30%. If you have a premium account you can set it to a specific number of grams but otherwise, the percentage will do.

DanerTee

Everyone, thank you so much!!! This was a huge help. I was worried that if I ate at a deficit that the strength training would be for naught, but the consensus seems to be that won't be the case. I will concentrate on maintaining current muscle and shedding fat. And I will continue to do both strength training and cardio.