Don't Know How to Move from Weight Loss to Muscle Building

I personally don't do cardio when in a muscle-building phase. You should take in 100-200 Calories above maintenance to build muscle. Some say you can't both lose fat and gain muscle but I'm giving this a shot. As far as rep ranges, I think the important thing is to stress out your muscles enough so that they grow, i.e. don't stop at 8 reps if you haven't even felt the burn yet.

At any rate, your mileage may vary since all of our bodies are different. Perhaps try bodybuilding.com and choose a plan that works for you. Here's a link:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/find-a-plan-muscle-building-over-40-female.html

Good luck!

Help! Any advice is appreciated! I am thinking about changing my focus from weight loss to building muscle definition. I have never done this before and I don't know how. There are so many different schools of thought, it seems, which has left me confused. Some say cardio, while others say no cardio. Some say increase calories to build, while I still have some weight to lose, so I don't really want to add calories. I've also read that the weights should be so heavy that I can do no more than 8 reps in a set and twice a week.

Where do I start?

I am 5'7", 46, female and about 10 pounds from my goal weight.

Pick a goal, fat loss or muscle building. If it's fat loss maintain a consistent caloric deficit, if it's muscle building maintain a consistent caloric surplus and lift heavy things. Either way, it'd prob be a good idea to incorporate a solid resistance training routine into your exercise.

This is great advice.

Personally, I focused on getting to my goal weight first. I had a small calorie deficit and still strength trained (heavy weights) but my main focus was maintaining muscle while losing fat.

Last year after I reached my goal weight I decided to add muscle. I ate in a surplus, continue lifting heavy and gained weight (fat and muscle) It's pretty much impossible to gain muscle without some fat as well, but then that's what cutting is for after: to cut body fat while maintaining muscle.

Cardio is a personal choice. It's not necessary but you might choose to do it either for fun, or to maintain cardiovascular health. I am quite active in daily life so fitness wasn't a problem. I also hated traditional cardio so I never did any. The main issue with doing cardio while adding muscle, is that people don't eat enough to account for the extra calorie burn, so they never end up gaining any.

Good luck!

You can't "build muscle" at the same time as losing fat per se, but you can start strength training while you are in a deficit (still losing) and still continue to look better. That is what I have done to lose 12 pounds so far. LIft heavy, eat near maintenance, some cardio when I feel like it. I have a lot more muscle definition but I haven't actually added muscle.