Weight loss fat loss, lifting cardio confusion

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7aneena
7aneena Posts: 146 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, I will try and keep this short and concise
I'm 34 years old, 153.5cm (that's around 5'1) and I weigh 73.5 kg (162 lbs).
I had my BF% measured a month ago and it was 29.3%, my lean body mass was 53 kg (~117lbs) which is more than some people weigh total!
My issue is I want to look better and drop down in dress size, I don't really care how much I weigh if I am happy with what I see and healthy. Unfortunately, plastic surgeons do, my Dr wants me to be at least 64 kg (140lbs) to perform skin removal surgery. According to my calculations 53kg LBS at 64kg total weight is 17% BF and that's too lean for my personal taste
Question is, how do I lose fat without gaining more LBS or with losing some LBM?

I need some advise, this is causing me a lot of headaches. My current exercise regimen consists of both cardio and weight lifting
some people tell me what I am doing is wrong, to lift weight at my current size won't help with weight loss

Replies

  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    Do 5 days of cardio and 2 days of weight training.

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  • MikeLAdams
    MikeLAdams Posts: 40
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    Cardio with no lifting to lose both fat and some lean mass. Try an elliptical machine. Start slow and on low setting for 20 - 30 minutes until your legs get used to it. Then over time ramp up the amount of time, difficulty level, and intensity. Walking is the cheaper alternative, and it is all around fantastically healthy for you. Same thing, start with 20-30 minutes, then ramp up duration and speed.

    Get a heart rate monitor (I have one from Polar) and make sure you're in the "fat burning zone" for your age and gender, if you want to efficiently lose fat.

    I would still suggest you do some light dumbbell exercises for your arms to tone up and improve the health of your upper body joints and connective tissues. Get on YouTube and search for light dumbbell routines that you can work into a cardio activity like with a step. Start with 1-5 pounds.

    The "Big Gun" is to hire a personal trainer for a couple months. Some will be able to guide your nutrition as well, which is very important. Tell them your goals and they will lay out a comprehensive plan for you. Once you get into a groove, you can probably save money and drop them after a while, as long as you are self motivated.

    Hope that helps.
  • MikeLAdams
    MikeLAdams Posts: 40
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    Follow up: lifting heavy weights will build lean mass. Heavy is anything you can barely do 6-10 repetitions of. If you're lifting really light weights with a lot of repetitions (e.g. 20+ per set), it will mostly just tone you up.
  • adamitri
    adamitri Posts: 614 Member
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    Follow up: lifting heavy weights will build lean mass. Heavy is anything you can barely do 6-10 repetitions of. If you're lifting really light weights with a lot of repetitions (e.g. 20+ per set), it will mostly just tone you up.

    Si I'm just starting out and I can barely lift ten lbs on each side. But what I'm doing is light but okay for me because I'm just starting?
  • MikeLAdams
    MikeLAdams Posts: 40
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    So I'm just starting out and I can barely lift ten lbs on each side. But what I'm doing is light but okay for me because I'm just starting?

    Go with a weight you can lift comfortably 20+ times if you just want to tone up. No need to really stress your muscles with things you can barely lift.
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
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    Hello, I will try and keep this short and concise
    I'm 34 years old, 153.5cm (that's around 5'1) and I weigh 73.5 kg (162 lbs).
    I had my BF% measured a month ago and it was 29.3%, my lean body mass was 53 kg (~117lbs) which is more than some people weigh total!
    My issue is I want to look better and drop down in dress size, I don't really care how much I weigh if I am happy with what I see and healthy. Unfortunately, plastic surgeons do, my Dr wants me to be at least 64 kg (140lbs) to perform skin removal surgery. According to my calculations 53kg LBS at 64kg total weight is 17% BF and that's too lean for my personal taste
    Question is, how do I lose fat without gaining more LBS or with losing some LBM?

    I need some advise, this is causing me a lot of headaches. My current exercise regimen consists of both cardio and weight lifting
    some people tell me what I am doing is wrong, to lift weight at my current size won't help with weight loss

    Eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight.
    Eat enough protein (I believe .8-1 g per lb) to maintain current muscle mass.
    Lift weights 2-3 times a week to help preserve current muscle mass.
    Do cardio to help burn more calories.

    ETA: Light dumbbells?! Ummm no....Lift heavy. Heavy depends on you. If you can go more than 12 reps, the the weight is too light. If you can't even get to 5 reps then the weight is too heavy.

    There are many full body dumbbell routines online. I like All Pros routine on bodybuilding.com.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
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    Hello, I will try and keep this short and concise
    I'm 34 years old, 153.5cm (that's around 5'1) and I weigh 73.5 kg (162 lbs).
    I had my BF% measured a month ago and it was 29.3%, my lean body mass was 53 kg (~117lbs) which is more than some people weigh total!
    My issue is I want to look better and drop down in dress size, I don't really care how much I weigh if I am happy with what I see and healthy. Unfortunately, plastic surgeons do, my Dr wants me to be at least 64 kg (140lbs) to perform skin removal surgery. According to my calculations 53kg LBS at 64kg total weight is 17% BF and that's too lean for my personal taste
    Question is, how do I lose fat without gaining more LBS or with losing some LBM?

    I need some advise, this is causing me a lot of headaches. My current exercise regimen consists of both cardio and weight lifting
    some people tell me what I am doing is wrong, to lift weight at my current size won't help with weight loss

    Eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight.
    Eat enough protein (I believe .8-1 g per lb) to maintain current muscle mass.
    Lift weights 2-3 times a week to help preserve current muscle mass.
    Do cardio to help burn more calories.

    ETA: Light dumbbells?! Ummm no....Lift heavy. Heavy depends on you. If you can go more than 12 reps, the the weight is too light. If you can't even get to 5 reps then the weight is too heavy.

    There are many full body dumbbell routines online. I like All Pros routine on bodybuilding.com.

    ^^This. My thoughts on the matter also. You make the statement of "My issue is I want to look better and drop down in dress size, I don't really care how much I weigh if I am happy with what I see and healthy." Taking steps to ensure you maintain existing muscle will cause you to look and be more healthy in the long run. When you are on deficit, your body does not discriminate where it gets the energy it needs, it can utilize muscle if you are not providing it a stimulus to keep that muscle. So this is by progressive overload of weight (a weight that challenges you for say 5-12 reps for a certain volume of work and you incremental add weight over time...many good strength programs mentioned in these forums) and adequate protein intake. This does not mean you will not still lose some, but the loss will be kept to a minimal while the majority of energy use will come from fat stores. Even with the heavy lifting and since you are a woman, for simplicity's sake, you will not build appreciable muscle as that's even a tough proposal for a woman in a caloric surplus without "medical assistance". Your diet is the best way to create the deficit, exercise will help increase that deficit some (and keep you healthy), but nothing to the degree of less food. All of this said, lose weight conservatively (.5-1% of bodyweight weekly max) as this will also be a healthier approach than trying to lose too aggressive with your caloric deficit and/or exercise.
  • adamitri
    adamitri Posts: 614 Member
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    So I'm just starting out and I can barely lift ten lbs on each side. But what I'm doing is light but okay for me because I'm just starting?

    Go with a weight you can lift comfortably 20+ times if you just want to tone up. No need to really stress your muscles with things you can barely lift.

    I would like to eventually lift heavy, with a program like strong lift. It's just a little overwhelming lol.
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
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    So I'm just starting out and I can barely lift ten lbs on each side. But what I'm doing is light but okay for me because I'm just starting?

    Go with a weight you can lift comfortably 20+ times if you just want to tone up. No need to really stress your muscles with things you can barely lift.

    I would like to eventually lift heavy, with a program like strong lift. It's just a little overwhelming lol.


    Start with the main compound lifts.
    Rows
    Military press
    Chest press
    Squats
    Deadlifts

    As a beginner (such as myself) this will get you started. I finally just progressed to 20 lb dumbbells in each hand. You can do it.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,400 MFP Moderator
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    Get a heart rate monitor (I have one from Polar) and make sure you're in the "fat burning zone" for your age and gender, if you want to efficiently lose fat.

    I would still suggest you do some light dumbbell exercises for your arms to tone up and improve the health of your upper body joints and connective tissues. Get on YouTube and search for light dumbbell routines that you can work into a cardio activity like with a step. Start with 1-5 pounds.

    Fat burning zones are myths - http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-the-fat-burning-zone-fasted-cardio.html

    You burn fat based on the deficit. Weight training serves multiple purpose - to get stronger and to help with muscle retention. Heavier you lift, the stronger you will come. If you want some endurance, then lighter weight higher reps works. Both work for muscle retention. Honestly, I have seen much more body composition changes when my program has been WT based. Cardio is great for burning calories but does not provide the same impacts as weight training (in terms of muscle retention). But one should do both for both heart healthy and fitness.
  • 7aneena
    7aneena Posts: 146 Member
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    Thank you all for the responses. From what I read so far, my understanding is to :
    Keep combining weight lifting and cardio
    Eating in a deficit while lifting will not add muscle mass, I may actually lose some but mostly loss will be fat
    Am I correct?

    Then we're left with lifting heavy vs light, in my case what's the impact of doing one or the other?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,618 Member
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    Thank you all for the responses. From what I read so far, my understanding is to :
    Keep combining weight lifting and cardio
    Eating in a deficit while lifting will not add muscle mass, I may actually lose some but mostly loss will be fat
    Am I correct?

    Then we're left with lifting heavy vs light, in my case what's the impact of doing one or the other?
    Lifting light weights with higher repetitions works on muscular endurance. Lifting heavy weights with low reps works on muscular strength.

    But whatever you do, learn how to do it correctly. Nothing worse than going into a weight lifting regimen with no real instruction but from a video because you personally can't tell if your form is really correct or not. Finding someone, like a trainer for a few sessions, will help to guide you to correct form with exercise.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • adamitri
    adamitri Posts: 614 Member
    Options

    So I'm just starting out and I can barely lift ten lbs on each side. But what I'm doing is light but okay for me because I'm just starting?

    Go with a weight you can lift comfortably 20+ times if you just want to tone up. No need to really stress your muscles with things you can barely lift.

    I would like to eventually lift heavy, with a program like strong lift. It's just a little overwhelming lol.


    Start with the main compound lifts.
    Rows
    Military press
    Chest press
    Squats
    Deadlifts

    As a beginner (such as myself) this will get you started. I finally just progressed to 20 lb dumbbells in each hand. You can do it.

    Thank you so much for your input, this helps me immensely.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,400 MFP Moderator
    Options
    Thank you all for the responses. From what I read so far, my understanding is to :
    Keep combining weight lifting and cardio
    Eating in a deficit while lifting will not add muscle mass, I may actually lose some but mostly loss will be fat
    Am I correct?

    Then we're left with lifting heavy vs light, in my case what's the impact of doing one or the other?
    Lifting light weights with higher repetitions works on muscular endurance. Lifting heavy weights with low reps works on muscular strength.

    But whatever you do, learn how to do it correctly. Nothing worse than going into a weight lifting regimen with no real instruction but from a video because you personally can't tell if your form is really correct or not. Finding someone, like a trainer for a few sessions, will help to guide you to correct form with exercise.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    This..

    For reps, if you want, you can do a combination of both.
  • MikeLAdams
    MikeLAdams Posts: 40
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    You've mostly gotten poor advice so far.

    Lift heavy. Very heavy. 5 reps maximum, but less is ok.

    I don't know about that. I followed my own advice when I got started, and so far I have lost 80+ since August of 2013. I added weight lifting later in the program and started with a low-weight high-rep program that included body weight exercises to get my muscles, joints, and tendons used to it. My sets are currently 8-10 reps with "medium" weights, and I'm putting on a decent amount of muscle mass without hurting myself in the process. After another 6 months of that, I might, MIGHT, consider going with low-rep high-weight sets. To be completely honest, going heavy right off the bat, like you suggest, is a plan which will cause her to learn poor technique, injure herself, and then be forced to stop working out.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    Options
    You've mostly gotten poor advice so far.

    Lift heavy. Very heavy. 5 reps maximum, but less is ok.

    I don't know about that. I followed my own advice when I got started, and so far I have lost 80+ since August of 2013. I added weight lifting later in the program and started with a low-weight high-rep program that included body weight exercises to get my muscles, joints, and tendons used to it. My sets are currently 8-10 reps with "medium" weights, and I'm putting on a decent amount of muscle mass without hurting myself in the process. After another 6 months of that, I might, MIGHT, consider going with low-rep high-weight sets. To be completely honest, going heavy right off the bat, like you suggest, is a plan which will cause her to learn poor technique, injure herself, and then be forced to stop working out.

    Thus why programs were mentioned as these structured programs will not arbitrarily have someone start at their maximum 5 rep lift for their first couple of workouts. In fact, one popular program mentioned on these forums is StrongLifts 5x5 which has you start off with a 45lbs bar (even less weight for a woman as a 45lbs bar for bench and OHP might be too much for some women to start off with)...but for guy, its a humbling experience as its so light, you will not feel you are doing a work out for the first couple of weeks. But the goal is to practice form and slowly increase weight incrementally and properly structured. It will get heavy enough over time and you will become accustomed to handling progressively heavier loads.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Also, you should lose some LBM, even while you could maintain all muscle mass.

    Lean Body Mass includes muscle mass.

    Lean muscle mass as I saw in several posts is a cut of beef, you can't control that in your body except for endurance cardio adding some fat within the muscles.

    Anyway, you lose fat, you need less blood, there goes some LBM.
    You move around less mass daily, need less carbs in muscles for what started out as potentially weight lifting almost for endurance. Carbs store with water, there goes some LBM.

    And you may have muscle that is no longer needed carrying around less mass, like bigger calves, that muscle may indeed go as more is built elsewhere based on new lifting routine.

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