Just tell me what to do

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  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
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    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    If your aim is to lose 40 lbs quickly, I would suggest : skip weight lifting for now and focus on cardio as cardio burns a lot more calories and to lose weight , you need to burn more calories :)

    that's bad advice IMO, as resistance/strength training help retain muscle, meaning you look better as you lose weight, instead of just smaller and still squishy.

    She can start resistance training after she looses the 40 lbsa

    of course, but as i said, if you do resistance training as you lose weight, you are more likely to retain muscle, and not look squishy at a lower weight. i don't know many women who don't want to look 'toned' when they have lost weight?

    Well yeah , but she implied that her aim is to lose 40 lbs QUICKLY so i think that her primary concern should be burning more calories to lose the weight faster

    which shouldn't be encouraged as its generally not sustainable!

    Why not?

    Because it doesn't make sense to lose muscle just to lose weight quickly and then have to eat at a surplus to gain the muscle back.
    Better to lift now & do cardio (could be walking with 2 yr old in stroller) & preserve the muscle she has.
    The goal should be to lose FAT not weight. Appropriate deficit, accurate logging & consistent exercise will get you there, OP. Body weight work can be a good start.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    hope516 wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    If your aim is to lose 40 lbs quickly, I would suggest : skip weight lifting for now and focus on cardio as cardio burns a lot more calories and to lose weight , you need to burn more calories :)

    that's bad advice IMO, as resistance/strength training help retain muscle, meaning you look better as you lose weight, instead of just smaller and still squishy.

    She can start resistance training after she looses the 40 lbsa

    of course, but as i said, if you do resistance training as you lose weight, you are more likely to retain muscle, and not look squishy at a lower weight. i don't know many women who don't want to look 'toned' when they have lost weight?

    Well yeah , but she implied that her aim is to lose 40 lbs QUICKLY so i think that her primary concern should be burning more calories to lose the weight faster

    which shouldn't be encouraged as its generally not sustainable!

    Why not?

    When you lose weight quickly and don't do any resistance training/have adequate protein, you increase the chances of more muscle loss. Since muscle is lean, you are actually making it harder to get a lean body, you are decreasing metabolic functions and your body fat level is reducing at a slower pace. People actually want fat loss the majority of the time (exception might be those morbidly obese). Fat loss is where you tend to notice the sweeping changes in the look of your body. Heck, I can show you women have had gained weight that are more lean than at their low weight.


    OP, have a moderate deficit like 20% less than maintenance calories, lift some weight, throw in some cadio and eat adequate protein. There are some at home body and/or dumbbell routines in the link below. I would suggest getting on one of the structured programs to give you a solid path. You can also consider some of the books that are linked in there.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    thanks for the link! Such great info.

    Can you elaborate on the bit about "exception might be those morbidly obese"?

    Is this to say that strength training is not the best "start" for losing weight for someone like me, over a hundred pounds?

    I have already lost over 50 (not the right way always) and would like to do strength training. With the amount I have to lose would it be best to stick to cardio and then turn to strength training later on?

    Any advice is appreciated and taken with a grain of salt! :D

    People that are morbidly obese can often have more health concerns related to their health. So aggressively cutting calories, to reduce the impacts of obesity, may be seen as a priority to them and their doctors. So short term, they may be ok with losing muscle and fat just to see improvements in metabolic markers.

    Even so, I would always recommend weight training and adequate protein (~.8 to 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass) to encourage muscle retention (which helps maintain metabolic functions) and focus on fat loss, even with those who have 100+ lbs to lose.

    Also, quite often, people complain and wish they would have started weight/resistance training sooner than they did because it's a lot easier to maintain muscle than it is to gain muscle. And people really start seeing visual changes much faster doing resistance based training than they ever do with just cardio.
  • mgalovic01
    mgalovic01 Posts: 388 Member
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    Put some music on and dance with your baby. Nursing will suck the weight right out of you. If you have access to a tractor tire, you may have an ax or hatchet, and stumps or wood lying around. I've been chopping up stumps from bushes I cut down with a hatchet. It's a great upper body, upper back and bicep workout. Wear eye protection. Put a scarf over your mouth if the air is too cold.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    mgalovic01 wrote: »
    Put some music on and dance with your baby. Nursing will suck the weight right out of you. If you have access to a tractor tire, you may have an ax or hatchet, and stumps or wood lying around. I've been chopping up stumps from bushes I cut down with a hatchet. It's a great upper body, upper back and bicep workout. Wear eye protection. Put a scarf over your mouth if the air is too cold.

    i've seen you posting this about breastfeeding and how good it is for losing weight a few times, but please remember that not all women can breast feed, and not everyone automatically loses weight just because they are breast feeding.
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    edited November 2016
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    psulemon wrote: »
    hope516 wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    If your aim is to lose 40 lbs quickly, I would suggest : skip weight lifting for now and focus on cardio as cardio burns a lot more calories and to lose weight , you need to burn more calories :)

    that's bad advice IMO, as resistance/strength training help retain muscle, meaning you look better as you lose weight, instead of just smaller and still squishy.

    She can start resistance training after she looses the 40 lbsa

    of course, but as i said, if you do resistance training as you lose weight, you are more likely to retain muscle, and not look squishy at a lower weight. i don't know many women who don't want to look 'toned' when they have lost weight?

    Well yeah , but she implied that her aim is to lose 40 lbs QUICKLY so i think that her primary concern should be burning more calories to lose the weight faster

    which shouldn't be encouraged as its generally not sustainable!

    Why not?

    When you lose weight quickly and don't do any resistance training/have adequate protein, you increase the chances of more muscle loss. Since muscle is lean, you are actually making it harder to get a lean body, you are decreasing metabolic functions and your body fat level is reducing at a slower pace. People actually want fat loss the majority of the time (exception might be those morbidly obese). Fat loss is where you tend to notice the sweeping changes in the look of your body. Heck, I can show you women have had gained weight that are more lean than at their low weight.


    OP, have a moderate deficit like 20% less than maintenance calories, lift some weight, throw in some cadio and eat adequate protein. There are some at home body and/or dumbbell routines in the link below. I would suggest getting on one of the structured programs to give you a solid path. You can also consider some of the books that are linked in there.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    thanks for the link! Such great info.

    Can you elaborate on the bit about "exception might be those morbidly obese"?

    Is this to say that strength training is not the best "start" for losing weight for someone like me, over a hundred pounds?

    I have already lost over 50 (not the right way always) and would like to do strength training. With the amount I have to lose would it be best to stick to cardio and then turn to strength training later on?

    Any advice is appreciated and taken with a grain of salt! :D

    People that are morbidly obese can often have more health concerns related to their health. So aggressively cutting calories, to reduce the impacts of obesity, may be seen as a priority to them and their doctors. So short term, they may be ok with losing muscle and fat just to see improvements in metabolic markers.

    Even so, I would always recommend weight training and adequate protein (~.8 to 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass) to encourage muscle retention (which helps maintain metabolic functions) and focus on fat loss, even with those who have 100+ lbs to lose.

    Also, quite often, people complain and wish they would have started weight/resistance training sooner than they did because it's a lot easier to maintain muscle than it is to gain muscle. And people really start seeing visual changes much faster doing resistance based training than they ever do with just cardio.

    thanks! once again I love the link it is so helpful!!
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
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    ^^^true. I breast fed my daughter for 17 months. The weight did not come off from breastfeeding. I wasn't tracking my calories at the time and even after I went back to the gym (sporadically) the weight did not magically fall off. I started walking a lot with my kid in a stroller and I did get back to pre-pregnancy weight/size. But I didn't like my body composition until I started lifting consistently.
  • mcraw75
    mcraw75 Posts: 99 Member
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    Eat to lose weight. Exercise to look good.

    Get yourself into a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day. With younguns you probably need to set your activity level one notch above sedentary. That will have you losing about 1 lb per week, with the caveat that women's weight is maddeningly fluctuatious what with ovulation and menstruation and stress and salt and muscle injury from crazy workouts.

    Be patient and persistent.

    This, 100%. Weight loss starts in the kitchen, not the gym.
  • tahxirez
    tahxirez Posts: 270 Member
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    Body weight training will work too if you don't have access to variable weights for progression. Start working on that pushup! Theres your first goal :)
  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
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    Did someone say tractor tire!?! :) You can create a couple 10-minute tractor tire circuits. Use it for box jumps, dips, sledge hammer, push-ups, flips, step-ups, frontal jumps...