Losing the weight then building some muscle

JDRGirl
JDRGirl Posts: 21 Member
edited August 2017 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all!! I am back on an off and on again relationship with mfp! My goal is to lose 40lbs then gain and tone some muscle and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Ultimately my goal is to be able to keep up with my 3 very active kiddos and with three kids 6 and under i need help lol. Tips, encouragement and friends are welcome, thanks guys!!!

Replies

  • MommaGem2017
    MommaGem2017 Posts: 405 Member
    Welcome back!!
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    As said ^^^^^start lifting weights or doing whatever strength training you plan to do now. You will be better off and much farther ahead and have more muscle mass.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    If not already, start lifting weights now (I would recommend following an established program for best results) to help keep the muscle you have so you have less work to do when you get to goal.

    Good luck!

    Yep, I need to echo this. Why lose muscle to do 2x the work to put some of it back on?
  • busyPK
    busyPK Posts: 3,788 Member
    Hi there! I'm also a mom to 3 active kids, ages 7, 5 and 4. I'll send a friend request. :smile:
  • ChargeNutrition
    ChargeNutrition Posts: 1 Member
    Hey! :) I'm new to the forums and looking to help out people!

    With a goal of 40lbs to lose there's a lot of avenues you can take it. The biggest changes will come from getting your nutrition down but I also 100% agree with the guys above, a reputable strength program will definitely help build muscle.

    A great resource I use often is https://bodybuilding.com/fun/find-a-plan.html for plans. They have workout plans for every level but I wouldn'[t follow the nutrition just yet as that may not be suitable for you without further assessment!

    https://bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html is a good program with a great muscle building emphasis.

    With regards to your nutrition, use trial and error. What I coach every one of my clients! Monitor your calories daily and try and hit a specific number ie. 2000 calories a day. If you're hungry you're most likely in a deficit which is good for weight loss. If not, reduce your calories! Keep assessing your hunger and workout performance and monitor progress, if progress is happening great, if not adjust your caloric intake by a small amount like 100 calories and see if progress has happened the next week with weight... It's that simple :) This way does require you to hit a specific number every day for 7 days to ensure as accurate as possible.

    I'd say this way it's more important to keep an eye on hunger too as running around after 3 kiddos will definitely require lots of energy! Key is not to starve yourself, but keep yourself in a small calorie deficit (as dictated by small, often weight loss) and that way you'll give yourself enough energy to chase the kids, as well as sustain a healthy weight loss level.

    Keep smashing it though, we all have unmotivated days, sure you're doing great!

    Dan
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    tommy7421 wrote: »
    The quickest way to burn fat is to build muscle
    No it isn't. It isn't at all. Building muscle efficiently usually requires a caloric surplus which is the opposite of what is needed to burn fat. The quickest way to burn fat is to eat in a caloric deficit. Sure the OP should do resistance trainer in order to preserve lean mass, and if she is new to training she might even gain small amounts of muscle but her main goal should be to eat less calories per day than she consumes if fat loss is her desire.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    JDRGirl wrote: »
    Hey all!! I am back on an off and on again relationship with mfp! My goal is to lose 40lbs then gain and tone some muscle and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Ultimately my goal is to be able to keep up with my 3 very active kiddos and with three kids 6 and under i need help lol. Tips, encouragement and friends are welcome, thanks guys!!!

    My tip is to start lifting now. In all the posts I've read since I started participating in the forums, not one person has regretted starting to lift while they had weight to lose, and plenty have expressed regret at not starting earlier.

    We tend to lose lean muscle while losing weight, and it's much better to work to preserve it now than to try to build it back later.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    vismal wrote: »
    Hey! :) I'm new to the forums and looking to help out people!

    With a goal of 40lbs to lose there's a lot of avenues you can take it. The biggest changes will come from getting your nutrition down but I also 100% agree with the guys above, a reputable strength program will definitely help build muscle.

    A great resource I use often is https://bodybuilding.com/fun/find-a-plan.html for plans. They have workout plans for every level but I wouldn'[t follow the nutrition just yet as that may not be suitable for you without further assessment!

    https://bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html is a good program with a great muscle building emphasis.

    With regards to your nutrition, use trial and error. What I coach every one of my clients! Monitor your calories daily and try and hit a specific number ie. 2000 calories a day. If you're hungry you're most likely in a deficit which is good for weight loss. If not, reduce your calories! Keep assessing your hunger and workout performance and monitor progress, if progress is happening great, if not adjust your caloric intake by a small amount like 100 calories and see if progress has happened the next week with weight... It's that simple :) This way does require you to hit a specific number every day for 7 days to ensure as accurate as possible.

    I'd say this way it's more important to keep an eye on hunger too as running around after 3 kiddos will definitely require lots of energy! Key is not to starve yourself, but keep yourself in a small calorie deficit (as dictated by small, often weight loss) and that way you'll give yourself enough energy to chase the kids, as well as sustain a healthy weight loss level.

    Keep smashing it though, we all have unmotivated days, sure you're doing great!

    Dan
    I'd caution against using bodybuidling.com for workouts. Most of them are garbage. The Jamie Eason one for example is wildly inefficient for someone who is new. There exists TONS of evidence to show that for people not taking steroids, exercising all body parts 2-3 times a week is superior to once per week as her plan would have you do. The OP would be much better served with something like starting strength, stronglifts, Greyskull, or any other beginners program that focuses on progression, compound movements, and hits everything 2-3 times weekly.

    Also, using hunger as a guide is often not good advice either. Hunger doesn't necessarily mean you are in a deficit or not. I am often hungry when not in a deficit. It's much better to hit a certain number of calories per day, track progress, and adjust based on actual results rather than how hungry you are. Hunger can be manipulated by how satiating the food choices you make are.

    Vismal knows what's up. 2-3 fullbody workouts/week, utilizing efficient compound lifts is king. Greyskull is a very well-rounded program that doesn't foster some of the bad habits that can be attributed to using Stronglifts over a long period.

    Fantastic resource for all: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/getting_started
    There's a downloadable TDEE spreadsheet in Step 1 that calculates TDEE based on daily weight and calorie intake; eliminates the age-old MFP debates of "how many exercise calories to eat back?", "How do I pick my calorie limit?". Notes on using the sheet: It back calculates your total calorie burn based on your weight change. It doesn't care what your elliptical or FitBit says you burned, it uses math and math always wins. It's not well specified, but put the calories you consumed on the day prior in for each day's weight. (i.e. log what you ate Sunday, weigh Monday morning, put both numbers in the spreadsheet). Works on a 4-week rolling average so you'll need to accrue some data but I think the initial estimate is decent and won't change a whole lot if your diet is consistent. Log and weigh precisely, treat it as data collection and don't get worked up about daily weight fluctuations if you're unaccustomed to weighing yourself everyday.
  • JDRGirl
    JDRGirl Posts: 21 Member
    edited August 2017
    Wow some awesome feedback guys thanks!! I do lift weights already, I do yoga, Pilates, hike, cardio videos..my problem is I don't get out to gyms much so essentially I'm doing my workout with 8lb and 10lb weights. I incorporate a lot of calisthenics as well, but sometimes I do feel all over the place
  • DeniseWilson43
    DeniseWilson43 Posts: 87 Member
    Iam in the same boat as a mother of 2 boys, wife, runner, LPN. I do push up. Sit ups, run 19 to 26 miles a wk. I have lost 25 pds since January very faithful logging in my calories. But as shape of my body, an tone is not there. I do work out. Idea with Wt some times but I do t see results want to see . Looking connect with other females, that encourage each other ThanksDenise
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    JDRGirl wrote: »
    Hey all!! I am back on an off and on again relationship with mfp! My goal is to lose 40lbs then gain and tone some muscle and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Ultimately my goal is to be able to keep up with my 3 very active kiddos and with three kids 6 and under i need help lol. Tips, encouragement and friends are welcome, thanks guys!!!

    My tip is to start lifting now. In all the posts I've read since I started participating in the forums, not one person has regretted starting to lift while they had weight to lose, and plenty have expressed regret at not starting earlier.

    We tend to lose lean muscle while losing weight, and it's much better to work to preserve it now than to try to build it back later.

    You can count me in on the no regrets! I started lifting almost a year ago and am about halfway to goal. I am loving what I am uncovering as well as just generally feeling like a super strong bad-kitten all the time. Start strength training ASAP. Schedule it in your day like it's your second job. When is somebody posting the "Which program is right for me thread"? I have no idea where we keep it.
  • HarlemNY17
    HarlemNY17 Posts: 135 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    JDRGirl wrote: »
    Hey all!! I am back on an off and on again relationship with mfp! My goal is to lose 40lbs then gain and tone some muscle and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Ultimately my goal is to be able to keep up with my 3 very active kiddos and with three kids 6 and under i need help lol. Tips, encouragement and friends are welcome, thanks guys!!!

    My tip is to start lifting now. In all the posts I've read since I started participating in the forums, not one person has regretted starting to lift while they had weight to lose, and plenty have expressed regret at not starting earlier.

    We tend to lose lean muscle while losing weight, and it's much better to work to preserve it now than to try to build it back later.
    You tend to lose muscle when you're not getting proper (nutrition). I've been losing weight and toning at the same time n it's going great I'm gettin more then enough nutrition to not lose muscle mass and it's the same for others . If your eating junk you will lose muscle because it's not packed with the nutrition you need