Trying to lose weight AND Tone

ginneyrose

Hello I am 28 and a mommy of a 15month old. When I started MFP 15 months ago I was still trying to lose my baby weight. I started at 140 lbs and 15 months later I am down to 129.2. My GOAL weight is 120lbs. I just started tracking my measurements 4 weeks ago. I would LOVE advice on those of you who know how to workout, eat healhty, tone and lose weight at the same time. Sometimes I feel as if my weight fluctuates because of weights. Maybe I should focus on losing the pounds before toning? This is what my week normall looks like:

My profile: 5'3 , 129.2 lbs, hips started at 36.5 and now 35.5 inches, waist is 29 inches and thighs are 24 inches. I wear a size 6-8
My goal-120 lbs, size 2-4 and an overall toned body.
My workouts:
Monday-Friday is 45-60 minutes of cardio including jogging, elliptical or stair master, ab workout for 10-15 minutes.
Weight Lifting: Monday-Leg Circuit Training including lunges, single leg squats, step ups and hip thrusts for 25-30 mins
Wednesday-Leg Circuit Training..I do the circuit leg machines like the abductor and so forth for 25-35 minutes and lunges
Friday- I do heavier Legs...squat maching, leg press and lunges again

I dont lift heavy because i just started lifting a month ago and i dont want to be bulky but i do wanna see muscle definition. Im not able to do any muscle training on my upper body because of an arm surger I had back in November.

Monday through Friday I eat between 1000-1300...im losing lbs very slowly..like .2 here and .4 there...on the weekends i prolly eat between 1500-2000....and I believe my bmr is 1300 just to maintain. Should I realllllllly be eating more calories? Im soooooooooooooo scared!

I would love to lose a lb a week any tips?

NInaH83

My trainer said that when toning you will initially weigh heavier cuz ur muscle swells in reaction to training and it can take up to 5months to settle. I definitely found this to be the case with me I am almost 5months in and only now start to notice weight coming off on the scales but I did loose inches when i measured waist, hips, arms and legs. Also alternate cardio and toning (3days cardio and 3 days toning, with one day off).

yoovie

taken back

yoovie

nevermind I just saw your reasons for not wanting to lift heavy. I cant help you. Im sorry.

lovetobethin86

Hello I am 28 and a mommy of a 15month old. When I started MFP 15 months ago I was still trying to lose my baby weight. I started at 140 lbs and 15 months later I am down to 129.2. My GOAL weight is 120lbs. I just started tracking my measurements 4 weeks ago. I would LOVE advice on those of you who know how to workout, eat healhty, tone and lose weight at the same time. Sometimes I feel as if my weight fluctuates because of weights. Maybe I should focus on losing the pounds before toning? This is what my week normall looks like:

My profile: 5'3 , 129.2 lbs, hips started at 36.5 and now 35.5 inches, waist is 29 inches and thighs are 24 inches. I wear a size 6-8
My goal-120 lbs, size 2-4 and an overall toned body.
My workouts:
Monday-Friday is 45-60 minutes of cardio including jogging, elliptical or stair master, ab workout for 10-15 minutes.
Weight Lifting: Monday-Leg Circuit Training including lunges, single leg squats, step ups and hip thrusts for 25-30 mins
Wednesday-Leg Circuit Training..I do the circuit leg machines like the abductor and so forth for 25-35 minutes and lunges
Friday- I do heavier Legs...squat maching, leg press and lunges again

I dont lift heavy because i just started lifting a month ago and i dont want to be bulky but i do wanna see muscle definition. Im not able to do any muscle training on my upper body because of an arm surger I had back in November.

Monday through Friday I eat between 1000-1300...im losing lbs very slowly..like .2 here and .4 there...on the weekends i prolly eat between 1500-2000....and I believe my bmr is 1300 just to maintain. Should I realllllllly be eating more calories? Im soooooooooooooo scared!

I would love to lose a lb a week any tips?

When you say you don't lift heavy, how much do you lift, say for squat and lunges?

lovetobethin86

My trainer said that when toning you will initially weigh heavier cuz ur muscle swells in reaction to training and it can take up to 5months to settle. I definitely found this to be the case with me I am almost 5months in and only now start to notice weight coming off on the scales but I did loose inches when i measured waist, hips, arms and legs. Also alternate cardio and toning (3days cardio and 3 days toning, with one day off).

Also I notice that aftere a good weight lifting workout your muscles swell which makes the tape measure have a bigger measurement so make sure you dont measure right away after weight lifting:)

iWaffle

Read this discussion. I think everything you need to know was covered there.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/609596-layer-of-fat-over-my-muscle

ginneyrose

leg press-3 sets of 25lbs each side..20-22 reps
squat machine 3 sets of 15lbs each side-18-20 reps
lunges-3 sets..between 5-8lbs
I dont know the name of the other leg machines lol..but normally between 40-60 lbs..i think they are called the abductor,, extension?, and then there are two other ones that work the inner thigh and outer thigh (15-18 reps) its 4 machines total that i do with these....one works quads, one works hams..and the others like i said work the inner and one works the outer
abs-no weight ..150 normal crunches, 60 reps of obliques each side

lovetobethin86

Hello I am 28 and a mommy of a 15month old. When I started MFP 15 months ago I was still trying to lose my baby weight. I started at 140 lbs and 15 months later I am down to 129.2. My GOAL weight is 120lbs. I just started tracking my measurements 4 weeks ago. I would LOVE advice on those of you who know how to workout, eat healhty, tone and lose weight at the same time. Sometimes I feel as if my weight fluctuates because of weights. Maybe I should focus on losing the pounds before toning? This is what my week normall looks like:

My profile: 5'3 , 129.2 lbs, hips started at 36.5 and now 35.5 inches, waist is 29 inches and thighs are 24 inches. I wear a size 6-8
My goal-120 lbs, size 2-4 and an overall toned body.
My workouts:
Monday-Friday is 45-60 minutes of cardio including jogging, elliptical or stair master, ab workout for 10-15 minutes.
Weight Lifting: Monday-Leg Circuit Training including lunges, single leg squats, step ups and hip thrusts for 25-30 mins
Wednesday-Leg Circuit Training..I do the circuit leg machines like the abductor and so forth for 25-35 minutes and lunges
Friday- I do heavier Legs...squat maching, leg press and lunges again

I dont lift heavy because i just started lifting a month ago and i dont want to be bulky but i do wanna see muscle definition. Im not able to do any muscle training on my upper body because of an arm surger I had back in November.

Monday through Friday I eat between 1000-1300...im losing lbs very slowly..like .2 here and .4 there...on the weekends i prolly eat between 1500-2000....and I believe my bmr is 1300 just to maintain. Should I realllllllly be eating more calories? Im soooooooooooooo scared!

I would love to lose a lb a week any tips?

OK So I put in your inforation at fat 2 fit radio and the following is calculated to meet your goal weight (120 pounds) So basically pick your activity level and eat that many calories. Also if your not working out for a day or having a lighter workout you could eat the sedentary or lghtly active amount just to make sure its not too much...does tht make sense?

Your BMR is :1382

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job)

1610 cals

Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)

1845 cals

Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)

2080 cals

Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)

2315 cals

Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

2550 cals

lovetobethin86

leg press-3 sets of 25lbs each side..20-22 reps
squat machine 3 sets of 15lbs each side-18-20 reps
lunges-3 sets..between 5-8lbs
I dont know the name of the other leg machines lol..but normally between 40-60 lbs..i think they are called the abductor,, extension?, and then there are two other ones that work the inner thigh and outer thigh (15-18 reps) its 4 machines total that i do with these....one works quads, one works hams..and the others like i said work the inner and one works the outer
abs-no weight ..150 normal crunches, 60 reps of obliques each side

Hmm well I usually use the bar (mostly do classes) but for squats I use 45-50 pounds (including the 10 pound bar) inner/ outer thigh machine 60-70 pounds, quads and hamstrings I believe the setting is an 8 and I'm not bulking, I've noticed toning. I'm 5'6" and 122.6 pounds and have been eating a ton of calories so I would try lifting heavier. My itness instructor just said last night that we are going to start lifting heavier with less reps and that should definitely show muscle defintion....try soe things out and see what works for you. Plus its so awesome feeling so strong, pretty sure since we're women we can't bulk as easily as men.

aproc

You WILL NOT get bulky from lifting heavy. And why are you only working legs? Maybe I'm overlooking something.. Theres nothing to 'tone' if you haven't built up any muscle (Lifting heavy and eating).

iWaffle

You WILL NOT get bulky from lifting heavy.

THIS!! Can't be said enough. I wish I would magically grow excessive muscle. It just doesn't work that way.

And why are you only working legs? Maybe I'm overlooking something..

She said she had arm surgery last fall.

HeidiMightyRawr

You will not get bulky by lifting heavy! It's a common myth but completely untrue. Women's amount of testosterone (which causes muscle building) is around 70 (I don't know the unit measurement) at the MOST. Men's is around 200 at the LEAST. I hope that explains it.

Also this picture << was taken just 5 minutes ago. I've been lifting heavy for 2 years straight now (with some experience beforehand) and this is all the bulk I've acquired. I even "bulked" for 6 months eating 3000 calories a day and really pushing myself in the workouts. Yes, I put on visible muscle (that only shows when I flex) but I was training and eating specifically for that, there's no way you can get that on a deficit. I did however get a lot stronger.

To tone I would recommend compound lifts, squats, deadlifts, bench press... they work the whole body and are pretty awesome! You will see yourself get a lot stronger,especially when lifting heavy. 15+ reps is not heavy, ~6 is. Usually anywhere in the 4-10 is fine. Stay in a deficit and you will lose fat, but maintain all/most of the muscle you already have, instead of losing it (yes, people lose muscle as well as fat while on a deficit)

You may hold onto a little bit of water in the beginning, (possibly showing an increase in scale weight) it's just your body adapting to new exercise. It will go. It's not fat, don't panic. Take measurements as well as weighing yourself

ETA: Look into "New rules of lifting for women" I've heard it's a great beginners program for women looking to get in shape, that have maybe been a little afraid to lift heavy before because of the "bulking" myth. So many women on here I've seen had great success with it.

aproc

You WILL NOT get bulky from lifting heavy.

THIS!! Can't be said enough. I wish I would magically grow excessive muscle. It just doesn't work that way.

And why are you only working legs? Maybe I'm overlooking something..

She said she had arm surgery last fall.

Ah, I wasn't thinking with that. Ha, sorry OP.

aproc

You WILL NOT get bulky from lifting heavy.

THIS!! Can't be said enough. I wish I would magically grow excessive muscle. It just doesn't work that way.

And why are you only working legs? Maybe I'm overlooking something..

She said she had arm surgery last fall.

Ah, I wasn't thinking with that. Ha, sorry OP.