Ladies who lifted and lost weight, help!
hlpatton
Posts: 34 Member
For those of you who lost weight and lifted weights, did you lose most of your weight first, then started lifting? I started NROLFW two months ago and my scale has not budged. I'm wondering if I should concentrate on weight loss more until I lose these last ten pounds, then restart lifting? Thoughts? Help!
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Replies
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2 months? How does your body feel? Do you feel stronger? Clothes getting bigger? Did you increase your calories according to the book?
I just finished reading the book. I do strength training but not as aggressive as the book suggests. Maybe I should wait until I lose 10 more lbs before I start the rules of the book.
I'm interested in the replys you get.0 -
Well, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.0 -
When I started lifting, I only lost 8 lbs scale weight (came off after lifting for weeks) however, my clothes went down four sizes. I lose inches when I lift vs scale weight.0
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My weight has stayed almost the same since I started lifting - 105 pounds, which is 10 pounds above my goal. I find that I am focusing on strength gains, so I eat more to recover faster for the next session.
Although my body fat has dropped a bit - and I've got more definition everywhere- the scale hasn't budged and I am still quite wobbly in certain areas.
I lost the first 45 pounds with minimal weight lifting, and looked like a smaller but soft version of my heavier self.
To be honest I'm going to concentrate on the weights but cut a slightly larger deficit on my rest days, provided I'm not sore. Hopefully I can get my weight to dip down gradually, about half a pound a week.0 -
Well, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
Actually muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. a pound is a pound is a pound....just fat takes up more room than muscle does. So the leaner and stronger you become and the more muscles you build you could just be losing fat cells and gaining muscles and the scale wont budge because you are replacing the pound of fat with a pound of lean muscle. make sense? if i dont make sense i do apologize.
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^^^^ ThisWell, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
Actually muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. a pound is a pound is a pound....just fat takes up more room than muscle does. So the leaner and stronger you become and the more muscles you build you could just be losing fat cells and gaining muscles and the scale wont budge because you are replacing the pound of fat with a pound of lean muscle. make sense? if i dont make sense i do apologize.0 -
Well, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
Actually muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. a pound is a pound is a pound....just fat takes up more room than muscle does. So the leaner and stronger you become and the more muscles you build you could just be losing fat cells and gaining muscles and the scale wont budge because you are replacing the pound of fat with a pound of lean muscle. make sense? if i dont make sense i do apologize.
*sigh* it's just a different way of saying the same thing. A cubic inch of muscle weighs more than a cubic inch of fat. A pound of muscle is smaller (volume-wise) than a pound of fat. Neither statement is wrong.0 -
I lost 14 lbs doing NROL4W. But I *thought* I had 45 lbs to lose. Now I am not sure. The inches come off much faster than the scale goes down. I've lost 4" from my waist, 2.5 from my hips, and 2 from each thigh. Personally that is fine with me. I know I am preserving as much muscle as possible while I am losing fat. (My results: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/909982-finished-nrol4w-my-results)
You don't look like you've got much left to lose, so you might want to shift your focus from the scale to inches at this point. Good luck!0 -
Sorry, I mis-spoke. What I meant was if you took a pound of fat and a pound of muscle and laid them out on the table. The lbs of fat would take quit a bit more space than the muscle. Sorry for any confusion0
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I started right off with weights. Lifting sensibly heavy and at first dropped 6-8 lbs. I stalled for a couple of weeks then just lost weekly. I feel much better and have shown definite changes in sizes. It did help kick my metabolism up - I would do it.
Not everybody is the same of course. Wish you the best in finding what works for you!0 -
Well, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
Actually muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. a pound is a pound is a pound....just fat takes up more room than muscle does. So the leaner and stronger you become and the more muscles you build you could just be losing fat cells and gaining muscles and the scale wont budge because you are replacing the pound of fat with a pound of lean muscle. make sense? if i dont make sense i do apologize.
*sigh* it's just a different way of saying the same thing. A cubic inch of muscle weighs more than a cubic inch of fat. A pound of muscle is smaller (volume-wise) than a pound of fat. Neither statement is wrong.
i wasn't trying to sound rude or anything and i apologize if i have offended or upset you or anyone in anyway. Just if we are going to educate on here, lets do it properly ya know? I don't like the old saying "muscle weighs more than fat" because it is inaccurate and this person is asking a question as to why her scale isn't budging.0 -
Ugh.
It is NOT muscle gain. A woman, lifting extremely heavy, and eating a large calorie surplus, would be lucky to gain half a pound of muscle in two months. Eating at a deficit, it will never happen.
It's water retention due to the lifting. It is an essential part of muscle repair and recovery. The water will eventually release, and weight will go down.0 -
The old saying "muscle weighs more than fat" is correct, assuming you're talking about it in relation to physical volume...
What this thread really needs to start talking about is actual body composition, and not just body weight. Get hydrostatically dunked/scanned/bodpodded and you will know exactly where you stand from a LBM/Fat perspective. Guessing by looking in the mirror or hopping on a scale isn't going to tell you what you really want to know.
Here is a good example of body composition change with weight gain and improvement in aesthetic appearance:
OP, what I'm trying to say is that your body composition can change for the better (lower fat, higher LBM) with no change, or even a small a weight gain. What is your ultimate goal? Aesthetics? Strength?
I hope this helps.0 -
i lost most of my weight with cardio, then plateaued pretty hard and i was very exhausted, so tired of doing cardio. so i decided i would stop doing cardio completely and just lift weights. weight started falling off after that.
edit: but keep in mind, i started eating less when i dropped the cardio. really got my diet in check.0 -
Honestly, I don't think you should focus on weight lost at all, period. Especially when strength training, you need to look at inches lost, not pounds. I'm 5lbs heavier now that I'm strength training than I was at my lowest weight, but I'm thinner and more toned.
The only real difference that it will make is that you do have to eat more to really build muscle, which can make it harder to lose fat as well. That being said, even eating a deficit and not building a lot of muscle, lifting is super beneficial to weight loss. I was eating 1300 a day and wasn't able to get below 130 until I started lifting.0 -
Well, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
Actually muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. a pound is a pound is a pound....just fat takes up more room than muscle does. So the leaner and stronger you become and the more muscles you build you could just be losing fat cells and gaining muscles and the scale wont budge because you are replacing the pound of fat with a pound of lean muscle. make sense? if i dont make sense i do apologize.
And a pound of bowling balls weighs the same as a pound of feathers, but I don't think anyone is going to argue bowling balls weigh more.0 -
How did you loose 70 lbs, i am not loosing any weight. did you do more cardio or weight lifting? any help would be great. do you eat cal burned?0
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Your analogy is funny, because one bowling ball weighs a minimum of 6 lbs. And they can weigh more. LOL! No such thing as a lb of bowling balls. But we get the gist.Well, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
Actually muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. a pound is a pound is a pound....just fat takes up more room than muscle does. So the leaner and stronger you become and the more muscles you build you could just be losing fat cells and gaining muscles and the scale wont budge because you are replacing the pound of fat with a pound of lean muscle. make sense? if i dont make sense i do apologize.
And a pound of bowling balls weighs the same as a pound of feathers, but I don't think anyone is going to argue bowling balls weigh more.
Muscle is much more dense than fat, so that, by volume, it seems to weigh more. That is, a pound of muscle occupies less space than a pound of fat. In addition, because a pound of muscle burns more fat than a pound of fat, even at rest, by increasing your lean muscle tissue mass, you're helping your body burn more calories.0 -
OMG! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS.The old saying "muscle weighs more than fat" is correct, assuming you're talking about it in relation to physical volume...
What this thread really needs to start talking about is actual body composition, and not just body weight. Get hydrostatically dunked/scanned/bodpodded and you will know exactly where you stand from a LBM/Fat perspective. Guessing by looking in the mirror or hopping on a scale isn't going to tell you what you really want to know.
Here is a good example of body composition change with weight gain and improvement in aesthetic appearance:
OP, what I'm trying to say is that your body composition can change for the better (lower fat, higher LBM) with no change, or even a small a weight gain. What is your ultimate goal? Aesthetics? Strength?
I hope this helps.0 -
Ugh.
It is NOT muscle gain. A woman, lifting extremely heavy, and eating a large calorie surplus, would be lucky to gain half a pound of muscle in two months. Eating at a deficit, it will never happen.
It's water retention due to the lifting. It is an essential part of muscle repair and recovery. The water will eventually release, and weight will go down.
Have to agree with this. Even if you factor in Newbie gains youre looking at maybe 1 lb or just over. It will almost be all water. That said if you're looking at the scale when you're lifting weight then a lot of the time you're going to be unhappy. Need to start taking measurements and progress pictures. That is where you will see the results.0 -
Thank you everyone for the fantastic replies. This was just the motivation I needed to stay on track with lifting! One more question, how long does the water retention usually last? I typically have DOMS for a day or two after lifting.0
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Thank you everyone for the fantastic replies. This was just the motivation I needed to stay on track with lifting! One more question, how long does the water retention usually last? I typically have DOMS for a day or two after lifting.
Mine is 24-48 hours, depending how well I re-hydrate and quite how much I challenged myself in the workout. So I usually lift in the evenings and weigh myself in the morning on the day after the day after I lifed (eg lift Weds eve, weight Fri am). YMMV.0 -
While watching some of the older episodes of The Biggest Loser some of the females who had sort of "meh" lbs lost had THE best inches lost on their frames. I'd say those contestants definitely do their share of work... more than probably what I could do unless I had about 10 cups of coffee every hour :P0
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The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
^ THIS ^
I lift 3 x a week but do cadrio as well and although the scale losses have slowed (about 0.5lbs per week) I have seen great losses inch wise: I'm fitting into smaller sizes and looking better and better in the buff :blushing: (if i do say so myself!
IMO if you mix up your strength and cardio (and stick to your macros!!!!) you should still see some lbs shift. Honestly though I'd rather look and feel stronger and leaner than worry about the last 5lbs on the scales.
Hope this helps :flowerforyou:0 -
The old saying "muscle weighs more than fat" is correct, assuming you're talking about it in relation to physical volume...
What this thread really needs to start talking about is actual body composition, and not just body weight. Get hydrostatically dunked/scanned/bodpodded and you will know exactly where you stand from a LBM/Fat perspective. Guessing by looking in the mirror or hopping on a scale isn't going to tell you what you really want to know.
Here is a good example of body composition change with weight gain and improvement in aesthetic appearance:
OP, what I'm trying to say is that your body composition can change for the better (lower fat, higher LBM) with no change, or even a small a weight gain. What is your ultimate goal? Aesthetics? Strength?
I hope this helps.
Amazing transformation. Is the image from a Success Story on here? Don't worry, I'm not a stalker, just curious as I want to show this to a friend.0 -
Here's a good body transformation example:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
She's 11 pounds heavier in the picture on the right.0 -
Well, I'm not a lady, but I can try to offer some insight as this seems to be a fairly common issue.
The basic concept to keep in mind is that muscle weighs for than fat. If you are replacing your fat stores with new muscle it is possible that the number on your scale won't budge, it might even go up a little. If your being diligent about your training and diet, than I recommend not giving the scale so much heed and instead focus on your body composition.
Actually muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. a pound is a pound is a pound....just fat takes up more room than muscle does. So the leaner and stronger you become and the more muscles you build you could just be losing fat cells and gaining muscles and the scale wont budge because you are replacing the pound of fat with a pound of lean muscle. make sense? if i dont make sense i do apologize.
And a square meter of fat is the same as a square meter of muscle - it's just semantics - don't be a ****0
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