Should I begin heavy lifting?

flash2009

Hi all,

I'm about 25lbs (after a slow but steady 80lbs loss) from my goal and wondering if I should continue on with the calorie deficit and cardio or begin some heavy lifting. I'm blown away with some of the ladies' results on mfp and eager to start, but I'm not quite pleased with my body fat levels at the moment. And if I did begin weights, how would I need to change my eating? I'm a vegetarian and prefer not to take supplements (not bc I'm a vege, but bc I like food/cooking). Thanks for the tips!

krhn

You can begin heavy lifting right from the get go as long as you have got the form right and in a safe environment ... You don't want to be doing a max bench press with no one around cause if you fail at it, that weight is going one direction!
Your eating is only changed slightly in my opinion since you are just burning a bit more calories than usual through physical exertion... More protein would be a great start for quick recovery, dairy and soya products has a lot of protein for veges .

bumblebums

There shouldn't be any changes to your diet if you have been eating the right amounts of protein for someone on a caloric restriction. That is, your protein should already be high, in the range of 1 g per pound of lean body mass. Your diary is locked so I cannot tell if that is the case for you.

flash2009

Thanks! So I can build muscle whilst also having a caloric deficit so long as I keep my protein high? My preset protein goal is ~ 60 g daily. Would that need to be higher?

MsEndomorph

I'm about 17lbs away from my goal and almost all I do is weight lifting. My body fat % is atrocious, but between my diet, lifting, and occasional forced cardio it's slowly but surely coming down.

I don't know if I'm actually gaining muscle (since I'm shrinking, which would happen if I was gaining or just losing fat) but at the very least I know I'm not losing a ton of it. I wasn't super large when I started, but my high bf% made me look super flabby and almost...deflated. I look better after just over 30 days

flash2009

Deflated is exactly the term I'd use for myself. I'm 5'7 and 150, so my bmi isn't unhealthy these days. Guess I'll be looking into a gym membership then. Thanks!

Lady_Bane

Always

Pomidorka

Right away!

Achrya

Yes. Yesterday.