How Can I Explain How Lifting Helps?

For sure, and I'm not disagreeing with you, only with what always seems to be incomplete advice. Exercise and you'll lose weight. No, it's not that simply. You can't talk about exercise in a vacuum.

You might be able to if you had a really big vacuum. My Kirby is too small. I checked.

Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.

Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.

Seems lately I've seen a lot of your posts, they always say the same thing "Exercising doesn't make you lose weight, diet does". Kudos :-) My line is usually "You can't exercise away a bad diet" but no one listens to me, they just go about eating what they want and say it's ok I'll exercise it off.

Agreed.

Personally, the whole "I'll eat this now then burn it off later" attitude sounds like the the start of an ED to me... or at least a very unhealthy relationship with both food and exercise.

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I'm a big proponent of setting fitness goals that have absolutely nothing to do with calorie burns or calorie goals or weight-loss, etc. When I finally figured out diet for weight control (loss/maintain/gain) and exercise for fitness, it opened up a whole world of fitness to me. When you have a healthy, balanced diet and you live a "fitness lifestyle" things just tend to fall into place over the long haul.

werd yo!

On a cold Friday afternoon, I had come home from school. I had been thinking of the gym all day. I was hungry, didn't have any lunch. In fact, I didn't eat because I spent the money. For the past month I was saving up for something. Something special which I bought at GNC. I was surprised they didn't ask for ID; I was pretty sure the cashier noticed how nervous I was. Anyways, my mom asked my how my day was when I got home, but I ignored her. I have more important things to do. I run to the bathroom and unpack my bag. In my school bag is a white plastic bag from GNC. I open the bag, first removing the receipt and flushing it down the toilet to get rid of the evidence. My heart was racing now. I unpack the creatine monster from the bag.

I wonder what people will be asking me when they see that I will be 50lbs heavier. Should I say I was just eating a lot? I remove the label from the tub and tear it into a thousand small pieces. I flush that down the toilet, too. It is time now. I run up to my room when my mom ask me what I am holding. I panic, sweat drips down my forehead and my teeth chatter. "Mom, it's just for a school project". "What project?" "I don't know mom I just started it!". A tear runs down my cheek. I run upstairs and open the creatine, scooping upservings into a clear water bottle. What have I gotten myself into? I fill it with water and drink it. There is no turning back now. The creatine monster is inside me now, it will control me. What should I do if I die? I cant let my family know about this.

I open the creatine tub and throw it all out the window; a white cloud of mysterious dust sparkles into the wind so graciously. I feel the substance taking control of me; I am now the monster. I walk downstairs, its time to work out; time to get big. Now I worry, I don't want to get too big; people will think I use steroids. I do use steroids. No I don't. Creatine. All I see is the weights now, I am almost downstairs when I hear "Do you want a cookie I just baked". I know I do not have time for this **** now. "No mom I do not want a cookie" I walk in the basement and drop to my knees before the weights, tears running down my cheeks. I turn to the right and look at myself in the mirror. Oh god, what have I done?

I'm a terrible example, there are so many people on this site who look leaps and bounds better and have had a much greater transformation. Oh, and I wouldn't consider myself bulky.

OMG What ARE those adorable creatures??!?!!!

I hope the strength training and weight stuff I'm adding helps me as much as it helped you!

Sorry I took the pic down because it didn't really show much leg haha, they're coaties (a type of aardvark)! I just came back from Mexico, they were all over the resort. Those pictures were from this recording:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FMHHKRh5-4
You can see the rest of me there. Ignore bf yelling at me at me to stay away from the wild creatures haha.

Someone else said this and I second it, loudly: show her the article about Staci on the Nerd Fitness website.

*fist bump*
Thank you

That is a pretty awesome article.
not as helpful for chicks who want to lose 100lbs since she lost her fat doing cardio BUT it's a great example for how lifting *IS* actually good for women and how it isn't going to make us look like radioactive muscle monsters.

I'm sure she could have gone from her 179 to 143 by lifting and eating her (deliciously awesome looking) diet.

It shows (to me at least) how lifting can eating proper can help you get healthy :)

And if she lost her fat with strength training she would have been looking better, firmer, and smaller a lot quicker.

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My point was that the weight loss part comes from diet. Retaining muscle and thus increasing fat loss is where lifting comes in... but it does nothing if you're diet isn't in check.

This and other bits seemed to be focusing on 'calories in' and ignoring that it's calories in minus calories out that matters and thus that affecting either side can change the equation.

So with a bad diet which you don't alter when doing weights, it will still 'help'.

My point was that the weight loss part comes from diet. Retaining muscle and thus increasing fat loss is where lifting comes in... but it does nothing if you're diet isn't in check.

This and other bits seemed to be focusing on 'calories in' and ignoring that it's calories in minus calories out that matters and thus that affecting either side can change the equation.

So with a bad diet which you don't alter when doing weights, it will still 'help'.

I'll agree with that, but in the context that exercise cals is a much smaller piece to weight loss than is managing your diet.

I wonder if sometimes, we get so caught up in the semantics of what is "best" that we just don't do anything.

For the person who doesn't like gyms, and can do cardio, then do cardio. Add in some circuit training every other day to cross train (body weight exercises + cardio thrown in).

From there, add some weighted circuit training (weighted core, lunges, swings, & squats)

From there, add a kettlebell.

From there, add some household weight...sandbags or whatever.

As you start losing the fat layer and want to see more muscle, you realize what helps the most with that part is lifting...so you want to do more of it. But, you have to start somewhere. You don't have to start at "what's best"...you just have to start, and keep learning and growing to meet your goals. There are great benefits to good cardio--ait supports all the other steps. My VO2 Max is considerably higher since Christmas just from building in this way. I added a little more circuits, a little more treadmill, always a little more, and in a balanced way. Don't overdo anything, just look for balance, respect your limits, and keep moving forward. You'll see results. It will all come as you adjust goals along the way. I was not ready to begin with "lifting heavy"...but now that I have lost some weight, and in better shape, and can get through my 5K...I'm ready.

I couldn't agree with you more. As soon as I started using weights 3x a week I've lost 10 pounds just like that! You keep up the work.
And I no this is an old cliché "Remember you can only change yourself and no won else"