Not convinced (Give me proof)-Women & Weights

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

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Hopefully these pics show up. This are people that I have worked with they compete in Natural shows. www.daveliberman.com is the website that you can see more photos like this. During these shows I work back stage and see the testing done and prepare the contestants to go on stage.

I cannot view any of these: You don't have permission to view this page.

Guamybear

I started at over 230 lbs this picture in white was taken in Aug and the one in black this morning.. I started lifting mid Oct and have lost a total off 22lbs since around July or Aug.

Personally, I think it looks like I lost more than 20lbs and that is due to lifting.

tameko2

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

I actually want to be a Staci at 170lbs- that is more of my preference and body type. My goal weight is 168lbs.

Then lift

No, it looks to me like she prefers the look of a "softer" woman at a healthy body weight with NO muscle tone. Right?

Yes, I most defiently want a soft, curvy physic. I'm satisfied with my shape and curves, I just want to be a smaller more toned-me. (not sure if tone is the correct terminology or not). My start weight was 247.6 and I probably looked about 215-220. I would say I carry my weight well and I'm solid. Since dieting I have noticed a difference already. My target areas are my arms, stomach/back and face (which I know will shrink in time). The smallest I have been as a adult is 176 and I was a 9/10 then.

I so appreciate the advice/tips, feel free to add me it you can offer anymore support.

Most recent stats below just to give you more detail:

formula= start/current/goal

1 Month
11/22/2012
235.8lbs
**************************11.8lbs lost
Neck: 16/15/13
Body Fat: 94.43/93.08/N/A
Shoulder to Shoulder: 18/18/N/A
Bust: 44/44/42
Rib: 37/37/26
Waist: 41/40/28
Waist line: 49/45/30
Hips/Butt: 51/51/42-45
Arms:18/15/8-10
Cabs: 18/17.5/10-12

If you keep your body fat a little higher you can keep more 'curves' but still lift. Its basically about how low your BF% is as to how much muscle you will show.

I lift really heavy weights - still got my badonkadonk and it has actually made me look curvier as I am not at a very low BF% (its about 20% in my avi).

Slightly higher BF% than I am now (sorry for the graininess of the pics):



whoa - taken the second one out - image is too big

Sorry for the massive quoting but ... What Sara said. If you want to stay 'soft' looking, you want to build muscle but keep your bodyfat higher.

I'm 5'6" 165 so pretty close to your "goal" and I suppose I fit your definition of curvy, where curvy means soft (but not MY definition of curvy which to me means having a build with wider hips and a smaller waist) I've just got a layer of fat over everything. Really, it makes me look MORE curvy than I actually am. Take 10 pounds of fat, spread it all over Sara and give her my smaller butt and extra belly and that's what I'm talking about. (*sigh* Sara, you look so hawtsome.)

But the thing is, if you don't lift, at 168 and 5'5.5" you will probably just still just look overweight, not curvy. Maintaining strong muscle on UNDER the fat makes everything look smoother. Losing weight without keeping up your muscle will just make everything sag and flab proportionately. So you NEED to do resistance training and eat enough protein if you want to get the body you like at 168. And in terms of bulking, you won't. At most in a deficit, as a beginner training consistently and who has a lot of fat to lose and assuming you're genetically advantaged towards muscle gain, you're looking at maybe adding a few pounds of muscle over 4-6 months of consistent training, and you won't add any more after that.

There's kind of 2 aspects to getting bulky. Or well. 3 where one is drugs. Stay away from performance enhancing drugs and that's like 90% of of the battle right there. The second one is how much you eat. Eat maintenance or a deficit and your body isn't going to want to build metabolically EXPENSIVE (in terms of calories needed to create and maintain it) muscle. The third one is programming. Do a full body program 3x a week with compound movements (no isolation/single joint movements) and you are leaning more towards strengthening the existing muscle than building new muscle fiber.

Ask any genuinely bulky body builder, male or female, what they do to build those physiques. I assure you the answer is not "45 minutes to an hour of compound lifts 3x a week at the gym" and that is the answer that most of us would give you if you asked us what you should do right now.

sarahrbraun

Sooo, I've heard weight lifting/training DOES NOT bulk women up (cause we don't have testosterone, etc.,) and I can believe this- to an extent, but I'm still not totally convinced. I see alot of women on here lifting, but it always seems that their already at the goal weight or within 10-15lbs. I never see any transformations from someone who HAS lost +65lbs or needs to lose +65lbs.

I'm very scared to utilize weights at such a large size, how would it NOT bulk me up? I just need some solid information on how to go about this, and some pics would really help!

I have no desire to be bulky, or even muscular, at all- I just want to be toned and defined at my goal weight.

SW: 247
GW: 168
HT: 5'5 1/2
Frame: Curvy

Thanks in advance (no negativity, please)

The picture on the left is 2009. Not 100% sure what I weighed, but I know it was somewhere in the 188-199 pound range.
I went on to gain another 29 pounds, and started here in february at 228.4 pounds. I started strength training in mid-february. The picture on the right is from last month. I am wearing the same shirt in both pictures...but the pants started falling off me in March.


gray top pics by crochetmom2010, on Flickr

I can squat 90 pounds, and I can leg press 233 pounds. Do I look bulky?

ETA : I have only lost 32 pounds, and I have about 50 pounds left to lose...

theologynerd

ETA: Lifting HEAVY

mandypooh2103

Bump

ladyraven68

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/812464-show-me-ur-heavy-lifting-results-please

domgirl85

Women who are "bulky" do way more work than you'll ever plan to do.That requires way more than just using weights. That requires reducing your body fat percentage AND THEN doing super intense, extreme amounts of weight lifting.

As a curvy woman, weight lifting will help A LOT! I've always had a butt, however, my strength routine is tailored to my shape. Check my avi. That deep arch is my back is from weight lifting which makes my butt look bigger despite the fact that is it 4 inches smaller than when I started. See how high my butt sits? How flat my waist appears and the curve in my sides (prob not visible)? How my legs look way smaller than they used to? That's all because of weights.

Also check out Buffie the Body, Ki Toy Johnson, and The Nigerian Powerhouse. Those three are thick "dennamug", healthy, AND all advocate weight lifting.

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

Women who are "bulky" do way more work than you'll ever plan to do.That requires way more than just using weights. That requires reducing your body fat percentage AND THEN doing super intense, extreme amounts of weight lifting.

As a curvy woman, weight lifting will help A LOT! I've always had a butt, however, my strength routine is tailored to my shape. Check my avi. That deep arch is my back is from weight lifting which makes my butt look bigger despite the fact that is it 4 inches smaller than when I started. See how high my butt sits? How flat my waist appears and the curve in my sides (prob not visible)? How my legs look way smaller than they used to? That's all because of weights.

Also check out Buffie the Body, Ki Toy Johnson, and The Nigerian Powerhouse. Those three are thick "dennamug", healthy, AND all advocate weight lifting.

Wow, all three look great to me. And, Powerhouse, just phenomenal! I will be supporting her and purchasing her DVD soon.

Thanks girly!

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

Thanks everyone!!! And, everyone's photos are just amazing! I learned a little something from you all! So inspired and I can't wait to share my success story with you guys soon!!

Gratitude.

shorty35565

Sooo, I've heard weight lifting/training DOES NOT bulk women up (cause we don't have testosterone, etc.,) and I can believe this- to an extent, but I'm still not totally convinced. I see alot of women on here lifting, but it always seems that their already at the goal weight or within 10-15lbs. I never see any transformations from someone who HAS lost +65lbs or needs to lose +65lbs.

I'm very scared to utilize weights at such a large size, how would it NOT bulk me up? I just need some solid information on how to go about this, and some pics would really help!

I have no desire to be bulky, or even muscular, at all- I just want to be lean and defined at my goal weight.

Thanks in advance (no negativity, please)

That can't happen without lifting some serious weights (and I mean real weights, not those tiny girly dumbbells). You really think those women you mentioned didn't lift while they were still heavy? How would you know? Please never ever judge people just because of what you see. FYI, I was obese just 3 years ago and I lift heavy while dieting & cardio. If all I did was cardio & diet then I would end up thin but with a saggy skin no matter if I'm at a goal weight or not.

Before this thread goes toward a negative direction, I'm not judging or accussing anyone of anything- all I said was: I never see any transformations from someone who HAS lost +65lbs or needs to lose +65lbs.


With that being said, thank everyone for their input thus far, I appreciate it.

I've lost 65lbs & now I'm lifting heavy. Hopefully I will turn out as great as some that i've saw, but I know it will take lots of time.

dhiammarath

Im sorry if there any oddly placed words in there as im trying to type this in the rain on the street corner cause I heard someone was worried to try and that breaks my heart. If it hadn't been for lifting, id have given up on ever having a body id love naked.

Now I have it

Please join the club ...

You pretty much look a lot like I did in the beginning! (except maybe taller) I don't know what "heavy" means really (I go to the gym with the husband, do all sorts of machines, lifting as much as I can safely hold -- he directs me lol -- and then intersperse that with cardio! I'm hoping that by the end I can have those types of results. ) I even graduated into some free weights until we had to stop going to the gym for the husband's surgery. I'm hoping to pick things back up after the holidays -- especially since I've hit a plateau with just diet control.

As to the OP -- Many folks here have already given way better advice than I could. I like using the machines and working my muscles because they feel good. And cardio's as awesome as scraping my face off with a rusty cheesegrater when you gotta do it like a rat in a cage. (I am NOT fond of the elliptical, treadmill, etc). That being said, I think it's important to do both (so I do the danged cardio, even if it sucks), so I would definitely recommend working them muscles out!

Although, if you don't have someone directing you, doing some research on how to do it safely, etc, is a must!

susanmc31

I have been lifting heavy since Aug this year and even though I have not lost weight (I actually GAINED a couple pounds), I am in a smaller size pants now (16 to 14) and feel great. I have so much strength that I do not have to ask my husband to help me with things anymore because I can do them on my own. The confidence I have gotten from weight lifting is amazing! Try and and you will feel amazing when you can move 100 pounds with somewhat ease. I love lifting!

kr1stadee

I'm enjoying this thread!!
I'd like to lose more weight before I start lifting. I'm sitting at 188 right now (coming from 220).
My husband is convinced I'll look like a man if I start lifting weights. I'm out to prove him wrong.

Thanks for the inspiration - keep it coming!!

zombilishious

I'm 42, 5'4"

SW 186
CW 153
Starting size - 14
current size - 8

I don't have "before" pictures posted, because I'm totally mortified by them, but I have lost so many inches, my legs look amazing, and my butt is perky and heart-shaped

OH, and I'm eating nearly 2,000 calories a day ... which is the BEST part of weight training :bigsmile:

osualex

I wish the myth of women bulking up would die a miserable death! Even my friends seem convinced of it and never join me when I do weights, just cardio.

Here's the reason you won't bulk up - if you are at a deficit, you literally cannot. It's not possible to create something out of nothing. Your body cannot create new muscle tissue (what makes them bigger) if you do not give it the materials to.

So lift away! You'll love the results!

mtiheartmuscle

<

---

I was 180 pounds in 2009. I lift and do the stair climber 4x per week. My profile picture will show you I am not bulky, but lean and defined.

mominwi419

I lifted weights while I was losing. I started tracking calories on January 30th this year and the first time I tried weightlifting was February 22nd, although I didn't take it as seriously for the first couple months. I still left my exercise cardio heavy until I dropped more weight.
I did lose the last 20-25 pounds with the majority of my exercise focused on weightlifting and kept cardio to sports only. I stopped getting on the treadmill, elliptical, etc and spent the entire time I was at the gym lifting. I got calorie burns from running around on the softball field.
I liked what lifting was doing for my body. Please remember it doesn't happen overnight. You really have to stick with it.

Me in December last year:


12311 by JenniferSPalmer, on Flickr

Me in March, I had lost about 15 pounds already, notice the amount of fat on my legs:


Image03182012180601 by JenniferSPalmer, on Flickr

Me in June after a total weight loss of around 35 pounds and more focus on lifting:


62012 012 by JenniferSPalmer, on Flickr

Notice how much less fat was on my legs.

A pic of me after I had lost about 5 pounds:


16473868_7658 by JenniferSPalmer, on Flickr

A pic of me from a couple days ago, maintaining weight loss of 50 pounds since July, then lost 5 pounds while trying to figure out the right calories, have been able to remain steady since October.


12412 010 by JenniferSPalmer, on Flickr


I am 5'6" tall and went from 190 pounds to 135 pounds.

I am in love with your arms! :flowerforyou:

WendyTerry420

Here is the advice a long time friend and personal trainer gave me the other day:

"You aint gonna bulk, you need testosterone and hours of dedication to lifting to bulk. High reps low weight is better to start with for stabilizing the muscles and is also good for toning. After 4-6 weeks change it up to avoid a plateau."

What I have done in the past is lift enough weight so that at around 12-15 reps I can barely lift the weight. Then take a break before another set (3 sets in all). Like she said though, it takes a lot of time, dedication, testosterone and 3500 calorie days to bulk up.

**And she wasn't talking about low weight in terms of tiny 5 lb dumbells, just light enough to be able to get a good amount of reps in!

your friend doesnt no what he is talking about there is no such thing as toning... before you argue just look it up on your own.

What do you mean, there's no such thing as toning?

Some people equate "toning" with spot-reducing fat. You can not spot-reduce. In the common vernacular, toned means definition of muscles without being "ripped." But then, "ripped" seems to vary in definition as well. Don't worry too much about people who get offended by that word. Most people know what you mean and don't assume you mean spot-reducing. But it seems a lot of people on MFP hate the word. Toned muscles are basically muscles that show definition when you aren't flexing.

kbitzonefour

Switched from a womens gym (with no deadlift/squat rack) to a real gym; acquire muscles. I do cardio maybe 2-3 times a week for 10 mins. Lift 4x a week for 1 hr. Bottom pic is a day before start at new gym..



All I have is a during and a during.. Starting weight was 200lbs, now am 148.

sweetpotatofry

Sorry for the massive quoting but ... What Sara said. If you want to stay 'soft' looking, you want to build muscle but keep your bodyfat higher.

I'm 5'6" 165 so pretty close to your "goal" and I suppose I fit your definition of curvy, where curvy means soft (but not MY definition of curvy which to me means having a build with wider hips and a smaller waist) I've just got a layer of fat over everything. Really, it makes me look MORE curvy than I actually am. Take 10 pounds of fat, spread it all over Sara and give her my smaller butt and extra belly and that's what I'm talking about. (*sigh* Sara, you look so hawtsome.)

But the thing is, if you don't lift, at 168 and 5'5.5" you will probably just still just look overweight, not curvy. Maintaining strong muscle on UNDER the fat makes everything look smoother. Losing weight without keeping up your muscle will just make everything sag and flab proportionately. So you NEED to do resistance training and eat enough protein if you want to get the body you like at 168. And in terms of bulking, you won't. At most in a deficit, as a beginner training consistently and who has a lot of fat to lose and assuming you're genetically advantaged towards muscle gain, you're looking at maybe adding a few pounds of muscle over 4-6 months of consistent training, and you won't add any more after that.

There's kind of 2 aspects to getting bulky. Or well. 3 where one is drugs. Stay away from performance enhancing drugs and that's like 90% of of the battle right there. The second one is how much you eat. Eat maintenance or a deficit and your body isn't going to want to build metabolically EXPENSIVE (in terms of calories needed to create and maintain it) muscle. The third one is programming. Do a full body program 3x a week with compound movements (no isolation/single joint movements) and you are leaning more towards strengthening the existing muscle than building new muscle fiber.

Ask any genuinely bulky body builder, male or female, what they do to build those physiques. I assure you the answer is not "45 minutes to an hour of compound lifts 3x a week at the gym" and that is the answer that most of us would give you if you asked us what you should do right now.

This was very informative and helpful!

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

Great advice and pictures guys!!!!

tschaff04

Im sorry if there any oddly placed words in there as im trying to type this in the rain on the street corner cause I heard someone was worried to try and that breaks my heart. If it hadn't been for lifting, id have given up on ever having a body id love naked.

Now I have it

Please join the club ...

please tell me you are 6ft tall!! Because you only weigh 4 pounds less than me and I look nothing like that! :sad:

mfpcopine

If I were going to guess if I could get the results posted by another woman, I'd ask myself things like:

Do I have the same body type?
Am I about the same age?
What was the other woman's weight and body fat percentage when she started and what are they now?
If she's at her goal weight, how is her body fat distributed? Am I similar?

It's like what I heard someone once say about The Ballerina Body Workout: The best way to get a ballerina body is to be born with the kind of body that professional ballerinas have.

Genetics does play a role. In America, the ability to transform oneself through exercise tends to be exaggerated. Don't get me wrong: fitness is important. But don't believe the hype.

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

If I were going to guess if I could get the results posted by another woman, I'd ask myself things like:

Do I have the same body type?
Am I about the same age?
What was the other woman's weight and body fat percentage when she started and what are they now?
If she's at her goal weight, how is her body fat distributed? Am I similar?

It's like what I heard someone once say about The Ballerina Body Workout: The best way to get a ballerina body is to be born with the kind of body that professional ballerinas have.

Genetics does play a role. In America, the ability to transform oneself through exercise tends to be exaggerated. Don't get me wrong: fitness is important. But don't believe the hype.

I totally agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

armonson63

Sooo, I've heard weight lifting/training DOES NOT bulk women up (cause we don't have testosterone, etc.,) and I can believe this- to an extent, but I'm still not totally convinced. I see alot of women on here lifting, but it always seems that their already at the goal weight or within 10-15lbs. I never see any transformations from someone who HAS lost +65lbs or needs to lose +65lbs.

I'm very scared to utilize weights at such a large size, how would it NOT bulk me up? I just need some solid information on how to go about this, and some pics would really help!

I have no desire to be bulky, or even muscular, at all- I just want to be lean and defined at my goal weight.

Thanks in advance (no negativity, please)

That can't happen without lifting some serious weights (and I mean real weights, not those tiny girly dumbbells). You really think those women you mentioned didn't lift while they were still heavy? How would you know? Please never ever judge people just because of what you see. FYI, I was obese just 3 years ago and I lift heavy while dieting & cardio. If all I did was cardio & diet then I would end up thin but with a saggy skin no matter if I'm at a goal weight or not.

Before this thread goes toward a negative direction, I'm not judging or accussing anyone of anything- all I said was: I never see any transformations from someone who HAS lost +65lbs or needs to lose +65lbs.


With that being said, thank everyone for their input thus far, I appreciate it.

I get what you're saying....you just want to know can you lose a significant amount of weight, and by significant I mean a whole lot of weight...40lbs, 50lbs..whatever, lifting weights...heavy weights. I had that same question when I purchased "The New Rules of Lifting for Women". So I've decided to experiment on myself and see what happens. I'm setting up a home gym and working on managing my eating (a big issue with me). If you want to friend me and we can try this together (and anyone else), contact me.

LorinaLynn

If I were going to guess if I could get the results posted by another woman, I'd ask myself things like:

Do I have the same body type?
Am I about the same age?
What was the other woman's weight and body fat percentage when she started and what are they now?
If she's at her goal weight, how is her body fat distributed? Am I similar?

It's like what I heard someone once say about The Ballerina Body Workout: The best way to get a ballerina body is to be born with the kind of body that professional ballerinas have.

Genetics does play a role. In America, the ability to transform oneself through exercise tends to be exaggerated. Don't get me wrong: fitness is important. But don't believe the hype.

But that's what's so wonderful about a topic like this on a forum like this. You CAN find other women with similar body shapes, similar lifestyles, etc.

I'm not the least bit inspired by Jamie Eason or Jillian Michaels or other famous fitness gurus. They look great, but that's their job. I don't know what they looked like before, and I know it's taken them years and years and years of focusing only on their fitness and bodies to look the way they do.

But seeing the transformations from real women on here... that's amazing! And inspiring. I've found other women with similar body types and followed their progress. I never expected to look just like them, or like a fitness model, or ... I just never really had any expectations about what my body would look like. I just wanted to be fit and strong.

But seeing someone who had a bum like my bum used to look turn it into a cute perky bum sure as hell made me want to do what they were doing. Seeing someone with a torso like mine nip in their waist as if they were wearing an invisible corset sure as hell made me want to do what they were doing. Seeing someone with cellulite like I had greatly reduce the appearance of it sure as hell made me want to do what they were doing.

You see diet ads all the time with the disclaimer "results not typical," but in my experience... these ARE the typical results of weight training.

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

If I were going to guess if I could get the results posted by another woman, I'd ask myself things like:

Do I have the same body type?
Am I about the same age?
What was the other woman's weight and body fat percentage when she started and what are they now?
If she's at her goal weight, how is her body fat distributed? Am I similar?

It's like what I heard someone once say about The Ballerina Body Workout: The best way to get a ballerina body is to be born with the kind of body that professional ballerinas have.

Genetics does play a role. In America, the ability to transform oneself through exercise tends to be exaggerated. Don't get me wrong: fitness is important. But don't believe the hype.

But that's what's so wonderful about a topic like this on a forum like this. You CAN find other women with similar body shapes, similar lifestyles, etc.

I'm not the least bit inspired by Jamie Eason or Jillian Michaels or other famous fitness gurus. They look great, but that's their job. I don't know what they looked like before, and I know it's taken them years and years and years of focusing only on their fitness and bodies to look the way they do.

But seeing the transformations from real women on here... that's amazing! And inspiring. I've found other women with similar body types and followed their progress. I never expected to look just like them, or like a fitness model, or ... I just never really had any expectations about what my body would look like. I just wanted to be fit and strong.

But seeing someone who had a bum like my bum used to look turn it into a cute perky bum sure as hell made me want to do what they were doing. Seeing someone with a torso like mine nip in their waist as if they were wearing an invisible corset sure as hell made me want to do what they were doing. Seeing someone with cellulite like I had greatly reduce the appearance of it sure as hell made me want to do what they were doing.

You see diet ads all the time with the disclaimer "results not typical," but in my experience... these ARE the typical results of weight training.

I agree with you too Lynn! To me, you both said the same things in different ways and tones
I have gotten some good information from people with similar body frames. I love and appreciate MFP so!

GetDemGainz

That's showing them

Congrats on the new you and thanks for sharing!

yoovie

Im sorry if there any oddly placed words in there as im trying to type this in the rain on the street corner cause I heard someone was worried to try and that breaks my heart. If it hadn't been for lifting, id have given up on ever having a body id love naked.

Now I have it

Please join the club ...

please tell me you are 6ft tall!! Because you only weigh 4 pounds less than me and I look nothing like that! :sad:

:-/ sorry

if it makes you feel any better, I looked fat AND fit at 170... I was both a 12 and an 8 at that weight - dont worry about the scale babe. When you switch to lifting, you can just throw it away and get a big beautiful mirror and a measuring tape.