HALP! Heavy Lifting Made Me SUPAH Bulky!!!

DontStopB_Leakin

Heavy Lifting

or not.

DontStopB_Leakin

Fixed it! Yay!


You look FABULOUS!

3dogsrunning

Awesome pic (I can't get the other to work )

Brookesworld104

Heavy Lifting

or not.

Yep I am hopeless... haha thanks all who tried to help. I will stop trying!

sleekchick

Wow, you women look so fab, congrats! Real motivation for many of us

cw822

How did I miss this thread yesterday . . . oh, work got in the way. *kitten*.

I lost my first 30 pounds or so by eating at a deficit and doing cardio. I ran. A lot. I went from a size 18 to a size 14 in about 8 months.

I hurt my foot last summer and had to come up with something else to keep me from going crazy(ier). Some of my awesome guy friends (and ladies) here convinced me to start lifting heavy.

I don't eat at much of a deficit anymore, if at all. I've only lost about 5 additional pounds since I started lifting but I've gone from a size 14 (last summer) to a size 10.

Here's a before pic and a some pics I've taken over the last couple months.









I still have a long way to go. Hopefully one day I'll find my f#cking abs and I'll be able to post a pic of that :happy:

WOW...what a great inspiration you are!

Topsking2010

Awesome results ladies!!!

sassyrayofsunshine

Bump - My hubby does not undertand why I want to start lifting.

CorvusCorax77

I debated sharing these (I've posted before) because my after pics were at competition so I didn't want to get into the whole "bulky" thing. I've spent forever looking for another after picture to show that isn't how I look all the time. I wish I had taken pics to show at different body fat levels.



The best after pic I could find at a higher body fat.

HOLY SH!!!T!!!!

You did that in FIVE MONTHS?!?!?! Please tell me everything!

karllundy

Here is me about mid-way into losing weight. I was still very fluffy but willing to put on a bikini. I think I was somewhere close to 160, size 12.



Then, same swimsuit and 125 pounds and a size 6-8, lost weight dieting and doing only cardio. My bf% was in the mid-30s.



March, 2013, 129 pounds (4 pounds heavier than the photo above) and a size 4. My bf dropped to the low 20s, right around 22% here.



Now, late April 2013, 126 pounds, size 2-4, and bf% right around 19%.



And these last 2 were taken within a day of each other. The first one is flexing and trying to look all bulky (HA!) and the second is what I look like when I'm not flexing.





I'm 40 years old and I've had kids. My body looks better now than it has looked since I was a teen. I wasn't at all kind to my body in my 20s and 30s, but it bounced back with heavy lifting.

Wow!! You look absolutely fantastic! With your results, not sure how anyone can argue about lifting heavy making you look masculine...

MudRunLvr

I debated sharing these (I've posted before) because my after pics were at competition so I didn't want to get into the whole "bulky" thing. I've spent forever looking for another after picture to show that isn't how I look all the time. I wish I had taken pics to show at different body fat levels.



The best after pic I could find at a higher body fat.

This is one of the most impressive results posts I've ever seen here, and that is saying A LOT.

You should be insanely proud of yourself. And DAMN you look good!

3dogsrunning

You did that in FIVE MONTHS?!?!?! Please tell me everything!

I don't exactly recommend my way. It was a learning process.

To be fair, I had always lifted weights, since I was 18 so I had muscle to start with. I did take a couple years off the gym, doing just cardio and in that time was in an accident and gained weight. I started back with just cardio, then got back into weights. So it was more of leaning out process for me, which involved lifting heavy and a strict typical bodybuilding diet. I had a coach who did my meal plan and workouts. In the end I was doing tons of cardio as well.
Basically, my life was eating, sleeping, working out and prepping food, not necessarily in that order. I actually loved it, hated the stage, but loved the prep. But it was pretty drastic.

DalekBrittany

Most likely, no one will read this or care about it, but I am going to say it anyway!!!

You ladies looks absolutely amazing. I wanted to say that you all are truly inspirational. This is not to say that women who DON'T pick things up and put them down are not inspirational, but I would prefer to look more muscular one day. I am 298 pounds (under 300 finally!!! :bigsmile:) and I have started to incorporate some form of resistance/strength (not sure which to call it) training because I would rather start now and work my way up so that by the time I am at goal weight, I can have a decent amount of muscle mass. Luckily, being so big my legs are pretty muscular under all those layers of fat, so my squats and lunges and kettlebelling (good Lord those things are trying to kill me!) are already making my calves, thighs and butt firmer. The KB also helps my arms a bit.

I am a bit apprehensive to actually go to the free weights and use them, because there are constantly people there and I think I would feel really lame comparatively. But I think after seeing all these amazing results I may start incorporating free weights along with my cardio/KB routines. Hopefully one day I will have awesome abs, arms, legs, and an *kitten* like all of you ladies do! Any tips, pieces of advice, favorite workouts to do that come my way will be much appreciated. Again, I really hope to look like you ladies one day!

TL;DR You guys looks sexy as hell, I want to look that way too.

iulia_maddie

@ Dizzle
Your legs are out of this world and I am insanely jealous. Now I'm off to do some squats dammit!

3dogsrunning

Most likely, no one will read this or care about it, but I am going to say it anyway!!!

You ladies looks absolutely amazing. I wanted to say that you all are truly inspirational. This is not to say that women who DON'T pick things up and put them down are not inspirational, but I would prefer to look more muscular one day. I am 298 pounds (under 300 finally!!! :bigsmile:) and I have started to incorporate some form of resistance/strength (not sure which to call it) training because I would rather start now and work my way up so that by the time I am at goal weight, I can have a decent amount of muscle mass. Luckily, being so big my legs are pretty muscular under all those layers of fat, so my squats and lunges and kettlebelling (good Lord those things are trying to kill me!) are already making my calves, thighs and butt firmer. The KB also helps my arms a bit.

I am a bit apprehensive to actually go to the free weights and use them, because there are constantly people there and I think I would feel really lame comparatively. But I think after seeing all these amazing results I may start incorporating free weights along with my cardio/KB routines. Hopefully one day I will have awesome abs, arms, legs, and an *kitten* like all of you ladies do! Any tips, pieces of advice, favorite workouts to do that come my way will be much appreciated. Again, I really hope to look like you ladies one day!

TL;DR You guys looks sexy as hell, I want to look that way too.

Read every word. Congrats on your weight loss! Its fantastic what you are already doing but don't be intimidated at the gym. Its hard not to be at first but once you get in there, you realize its not bad at all. Most people aren't comparing, we all started somewhere.

My advice is don't be afraid to challenge yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to.

I think this topic has a lot of great advice
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/844040-raspberry-ketones-for-the-rest-of-us

And this one struck home about motivation for me. It pretty much summed up how I would describe my training for 5 months. I did it because I made a decision to, there were a lot of days I didn't feel motivated. I know not everyone agrees with this article, but it struck me.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818701-the-myth-of-motivation-and-what-you-need-instead

GlassslippersAndFairyDust

Now this should work!!!

PHOTO BOMB ALERT! Not wanting to be a total attention *kitten* so please excuse all the pics but I think they tell a story pretty well. I posted in the first part with a before/during picture...but I had a little more time on my hands this morning. Again, I want to reiterate - I didn't follow a huge caloric deficit during this period, I started too (eating around 1500-1600) but quickly fell off track (lifting makes me hangry!). Since December I've pretty much averaged maintenance calories or maybe even higher (~2000-2200+) as I've been battling depression and funky meds. So my progress is slower than others but I want my point to be that heavy lifting has allowed me to maintain my weight while still working on body recomposition (and eating junk food, nomz!). I would have lost more fat had I ate less.
Also note - I do not do cardio unless walking my dog for .5 - one mile at a leisurely pace counts, haha!


My legs are thicker than some women would like - heck, they are thicker than I would like - but they are what I have to work with (genetics and all, as to their shape). As the fat comes off (by eating in a deficit, if I ever get that nailed into my head) they will lean out more...but for now I'm enjoying all my womanly curves but with lots more strength, power, and confidence. (These pics are the most recent - so about a year's worth of lifting.)

so inspirational! thank you :flowerforyou:

DontStopB_Leakin

IT'S BACK! YAY!


Alright ladies, I know there's more of you out there who haven't shared yet.


I WANT ALL TEH PICTURES.

oregonzoo

I've not lifted in a while so I have no photos to share. However, I want to say how much all of you inspire me. How awesome I think you all are.

Barbellerella

IT'S BACK! YAY!


Alright ladies, I know there's more of you out there who haven't shared yet.


I WANT ALL TEH PICTURES.

jofjltncb6

In...

...again...

...because this thread is back.

Yay.