Question for those who went from overweight/obese to toned/muscular

EliseTK1

If you are someone who was previously overweight/obese, and now you have achieved
a toned/muscular physique:

Did you lose to a certain weight and then maintain for a slow recomp? Or did you lose enough weight to get to a low % body fat, then bulk? Or did you do a combination of things? How long did it take you? And why did you choose that route?

Bonus if you're a woman, but of course I am happy to hear from everyone.

My understanding is that it's faster to "overshoot" your weight goal and then bulk because a recomp takes a very long time for someone who is not a lifting noob, however I wonder about that as I've noticed how difficult it is to cut both psychologically and physiologically the closer I get to my "goal" weight. (That goal is malleable based on how I look and feel.)

sijomial

EliseTK1 wrote: »

My understanding is that it's faster to "overshoot" your weight goal and then bulk because a recomp takes a very long time for someone who is not a lifting noob, however I wonder about that as I've noticed how difficult it is to cut both psychologically and physiologically the closer I get to my "goal" weight. (That goal is malleable based on how I look and feel.)

Very, very few people need to cut and bulk. Maybe those with many years solid lifting behind them AND lofty physique goals.

Adding muscle is slow (after first couple of years of proper training) whichever route you take.
Most of the pop culture beliefs around cut and bulk cycles has very shaky science behind it and is more a fashionable belief plus wannabee bodybuilders that aren't actually seriously bodybuilding....
From misunderstandings of what "catabolic" and "anabolic" states actually mean (clue - they aren't modes!). Plus silliness around "you can't add muscle in a deficit" or alternatively "you need a surplus to gain muscle" (not true at all).

Most of the assumed speed advantage is dependent on a person actually cutting well (retaining muscle) and bulking well (not adding too much fat along with muscle plus the unfounded belief that recomp is always slow - it simply isn't universal that way at all.

Personally, I've never felt the need to deliberately bulk and most of my recomp periods have been incidental results of training well but I did do one deliberate recomp (in a small deficit) in first year of maintenance and got really good results despite being in my 50's at the time with plenty of training years behind me but starting at a level below my peak.

EliseTK1

sijomial wrote: »

EliseTK1 wrote: »

My understanding is that it's faster to "overshoot" your weight goal and then bulk because a recomp takes a very long time for someone who is not a lifting noob, however I wonder about that as I've noticed how difficult it is to cut both psychologically and physiologically the closer I get to my "goal" weight. (That goal is malleable based on how I look and feel.)

Personally, I've never felt the need to deliberately bulk and most of my recomp periods have been incidental results of training well but I did do one deliberate recomp (in a small deficit) in first year of maintenance and got really good results despite being in my 50's at the time with plenty of training years behind me but starting at a level below my peak.

Thank you for the response. I could see this being a more realistic plan for me. I’m spending the majority of 2022 losing weight while fighting like crazy to keep the muscle I do have, and it would be a great relief to be able to spend most of 2023 eating at maintenance and putting the focus on advancing my training.

Chef_Barbell

I lifted weights from the start of my weight loss journey. I didn't care much about the scale, I only cared about getting stronger. Now fast forward almost 10 years later, I have no loose skin, muscles are fire, and having 6 kids, no belly apron. I advocate lifting from the start for these reasons. 🤷‍♀️

EliseTK1

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

I lifted weights from the start of my weight loss journey. I didn't care much about the scale, I only cared about getting stronger. Now fast forward almost 10 years later, I have no loose skin, muscles are fire, and having 6 kids, no belly apron. I advocate lifting from the start for these reasons. 🤷‍♀️

That is fantastic! Huge kudos to you. 💪 To clarify, I have been lifting the entire time I’ve been losing weight since January. I have seen only a slight increase in muscle mass and strength, likely because I have been at a calorie deficit and also went into all this with decent muscle conditioning already. (Been lifting off and on for years plus tons of cardio exercises, proof that you can’t out-train a bad diet.) I had a significant enough amount to lose that ignoring the scale wasn’t something I was willing to do in the beginning. I hope to get to that point soon.

Chef_Barbell

EliseTK1 wrote: »

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

I lifted weights from the start of my weight loss journey. I didn't care much about the scale, I only cared about getting stronger. Now fast forward almost 10 years later, I have no loose skin, muscles are fire, and having 6 kids, no belly apron. I advocate lifting from the start for these reasons. 🤷‍♀️

That is fantastic! Huge kudos to you. 💪 To clarify, I have been lifting the entire time I’ve been losing weight since January. I have seen only a slight increase in muscle mass and strength, likely because I have been at a calorie deficit and also went into all this with decent muscle conditioning already. (Been lifting off and on for years plus tons of cardio exercises, proof that you can’t out-train a bad diet.) I had a significant enough amount to lose that ignoring the scale wasn’t something I was willing to do in the beginning. I hope to get to that point soon.

Thanks 😊 I also had a decent fitness base from being a former semi pro tennis player and a semi pro bowler. When I started I went straight into the weight room and started lifting heavy and did Stronglifts 5×5 as my first program.

I had over 60 lbs to lose from the beginning and had high blood pressure. I still ignored the scale. I trusted the process and got great advice from some of the banned people of MFP 10 years ago... my weight loss was slower than someone who did 1200 calories and cardio but I didn't care and my end results speak for themselves.

AnnPT77

If you still have some meaningful amount of fat to lose - especially as a woman, since we tend to have more of an overall fat layer than men - you may be surprised when you get to goal weight by how toned/muscular you actually are.

I was, for sure . . . and I hardly even lift. I'm not saying I'm anything remotely like a bodybuilder physique, never will be (no interest), but it turned out I had some small but visible li'l ol' lady muscles hiding in there under the fat layer, once I lost enough fat for them to show a bit.

Just a thought. Always possible to add more, of course, and the folks above have given better advice on that than I could.

MikePfirrman

I lost all of my weight, then slowly added muscle. Not sure it that helped or not to do it that way, just the way it happened. I was around 260 at my biggest and then 170 after losing the weight.

I'm around 200 right now (I'm 5 foot 10 inches) -- the 200 right now looks a LOT different than it did on the way down. I could stand to only lose around 5 to 7 pounds right now. I'm fairly solid and have a lot of muscle. Now, it's been over 10 years since I lost the weight and I lift 2X a week (down from 3X a week for years) and have done cardio for six days a week throughout -- or at least shortly after losing the weight.

Regardless of how you do it, it's difficult to lose those last few pounds that really show off the added muscle development and it's hard to develop muscle eating in a deficit. For me, it's all about just buttoning up the diet.

tigrig

I got muscular while overweight. I had a crap diet and just really enjoyed eating. Alot.
Then I had kids and realized it wasn't sustainable if I wanted to keep up with them and have been slowly dropping weight over the course of a few years