How to help start toning without gaining muscle weight?
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sexymamadraeger
Posts: 239 Member
I lost 135 lbs and I have 15 to go. I want it so bad I can taste it. Until this week I have only done light exercise every day. This week I started walking/jogging 45 min a day. I realized I was eating almost 2,000 calories a day so I cut out 500. Now I am starting to lose again. I want to tone also. But I really really don't want to gain weight because I am gaining muscle. I know it sounds stupid. But when you change your routine sometimes it changes your weight. I've come so far and I just really don't want that initial weight gain that comes with strength training. So.... will jogging be enough to burn calories and tone some so I am still losing? When I get to goal I am totally willing to muscle build. I just want to get there first.
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Replies
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Unless you are eating in a surplus, you won't gain actual weight.
Unfortunately, you may not be able to avoid the initial water weight gain strength training can bring. Adding more exercise can even make it worse. If it bothers you that much, then keep doing what you are doing. Or (what I would recommend) it's time to think outside the scale.14 -
Yah maybe. I know. Just worried about losing momentum and I really want to make it to my goal which is 135. Right now I am 148 and 5.6.0
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The thing is, it is a lot easier to maintain muscle than it is to build it. Once you hit maintenance and want to work on body composition, it is slow long and can be very hard. Up to you in the end. You have to decide how you want to do things.5
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People always say muscle burns more calories. Is that true? Building muscle will pay off in the end because the weight will come off faster? I dunno. I know being toned makes you look better.3
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Don't be stuck on a number. Be stuck on how you look, what your measurements are, how you feel. A scale number means squat.6
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sexymamadraeger wrote: »People always say muscle burns more calories. Is that true? Building muscle will pay off in the end because the weight will come off faster? I dunno. I know being toned makes you look better.
I wouldn't say it very substantial unless you build significant mass. Having muscle is so important in so many ways.. strength, health, body function, aesthetics, etc. At this point you will mostly retain what you have with proper strength training, maybe build a little since you are new to it. But try not to get hung up on losing fast... Fast is not necessarily better.3 -
I strength trained the entire time I was losing and it did not hinder my loss. I have strength trained throughout maintenance and it has not hindered being able to maintain. Strength training the whole time helped me look better when I reached my goal.2
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If you start running, there is the risk of your weight going up a few lbs as your body requires the water to pack out the muscle you have just used.
If you start to lift, it will more than likely do this
Accept it, it’s only a couple of lbs, it’s only water it might go in a couple of weeks OR you might find you body holds that extra as glycogen stores in plumped up muscle instead of the flat empty look
Trust me though the sooner you start the better it is. Start lifting now and in six months time you will see results you like ! ... wait 6 months and you won’t see results for a year from now .... short term pain ???4 -
sexymamadraeger wrote: »I lost 135 lbs and I have 15 to go. I want it so bad I can taste it. Until this week I have only done light exercise every day. This week I started walking/jogging 45 min a day. I realized I was eating almost 2,000 calories a day so I cut out 500. Now I am starting to lose again. I want to tone also. But I really really don't want to gain weight because I am gaining muscle. I know it sounds stupid. But when you change your routine sometimes it changes your weight. I've come so far and I just really don't want that initial weight gain that comes with strength training. So.... will jogging be enough to burn calories and tone some so I am still losing? When I get to goal I am totally willing to muscle build. I just want to get there first.
Ya, you think and many wish they could gain muscle that fast and easy - hardly.
Curious what you think is going to show up exactly when the fat is gone though?
Also curious who you are inviting in to see you weigh naked in the mornings that the scale matters so much?
What if you were 2 lbs heavier than now but looked like you weighed 130 actually, and could arm wrestle many of your male peers and beat them?
Oh - jogging is going to ask your body to increase blood volume for cooling and to support more vessels to the muscles that will be used - more water weight.
Jogging is going to ask your body to store more glucose with attached water in those muscles for use only during jogging - more water weight.
Jogging initially is going to make you sore and body is going to inflame parts of it for protection and healing - more water weight.
Probably why you increased eating correctly to support doing more, but stopped losing weight (and body probably stressed out too, that should happen again)
The way to counteract that is to either do some good old fashioned bloodletting (sounds foolish uh), or accept the fact that there is a major difference in what the weight is.
Or don't exercise more. (which should sound as foolish as bloodletting hopefully)
Good job with what you've accomplished - don't ruin the end result with the goal being the wrong thing.7 -
Gotcha. I am realizing I have to do something. Because I am thin now but I am flabby thin. I don't like it. But when you spend months and months losing weight and setting goals it's extremely hard not to be focused on the scale anymore. It's not that I have someone to impress on the scale. It's that for sooooo long I have reset goals and gotten such a high from achieving. It's hard when your weight loss slows way down or stops and you know you need to switch gears because you need to work on your now thin body. How do you set goals now? Measurements? Endurance? I feel like I need something tangible to help the day in/day out.0
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sexymamadraeger wrote: »People always say muscle burns more calories. Is that true? Building muscle will pay off in the end because the weight will come off faster? I dunno. I know being toned makes you look better.
A pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day. A pound of fat burns about 2 calories per day. So if you lost 10 pounds of fat and put on 10 pounds of muscle (which would be a very significant accomplishment), you'd be burning 40 more calories per day.
So yes, it's true. But it's hardly significant.5 -
Strength training is a must. As we age (especially women) we lose muscle mass and bone density. Both of which directly contributes to a slowing metabolism. Gaining muscle helps to prevent injuries, gets rid of the "flabby thin" look, etc. I suggest instead of just running, you try interval training. (Low and high...whatever you are comfortable with). Also....you are what you eat...have a healthy diet.2
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I do intervals walking/jogging. It keeps me interested. I have never been a runner. But I am so happy with how much easier it is to jog now. I used to walk hills but I live in a flat area now. Treadmill incline might work.0
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I'm listening you guys. Thank you! It makes a lot of sense. I eat clean and organic but I have food allergies which make it difficult to get all the fruits/veggies I need. So I need to work on expanding my diet as well. I appreciate your thoughts.0
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Keep at it! Sounds like you are doing great. Don't stress too much about the numbers. Maintenance is just as important.
This is what I mean by interval training (I hate running...so I do stuff like this...but be careful of injury if you never done stuff like this)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/greatist.com/fitness/interval-training-beginners/amp0 -
Oh ok. Thanks for the link. It looks pretty hard but maybe something I could try. It would keep things interesting and challenging.0
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sexymamadraeger wrote: »Gotcha. I am realizing I have to do something. Because I am thin now but I am flabby thin. I don't like it. But when you spend months and months losing weight and setting goals it's extremely hard not to be focused on the scale anymore. It's not that I have someone to impress on the scale. It's that for sooooo long I have reset goals and gotten such a high from achieving. It's hard when your weight loss slows way down or stops and you know you need to switch gears because you need to work on your now thin body. How do you set goals now? Measurements? Endurance? I feel like I need something tangible to help the day in/day out.
Yes to all of the above. You may have a goal to decrease your waist size to X inches, or decrease your body fat by X% (usually a much better measure than weight), to lift X amount, run X miles, etc.
As so many pointed out, I highly recommend you start a strength training program now. It's so important for us as females for our bone health and to preserve muscle mass. And don't forget, this is for a lifetime. I know it's hard to switch from the short term weight loss mindset with quick wins, but think of it as a continuous upkeep of your body so you can enjoy a long, healthy life.0 -
sexymamadraeger wrote: »People always say muscle burns more calories. Is that true? Building muscle will pay off in the end because the weight will come off faster? I dunno. I know being toned makes you look better.
A pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day. A pound of fat burns about 2 calories per day. So if you lost 10 pounds of fat and put on 10 pounds of muscle (which would be a very significant accomplishment), you'd be burning 40 more calories per day.
So yes, it's true. But it's hardly significant.
Just a question @AnvilHead ... is this at rest or including exercise? Just wondering if actually using my muscles will make a difference.1 -
sexymamadraeger wrote: »People always say muscle burns more calories. Is that true? Building muscle will pay off in the end because the weight will come off faster? I dunno. I know being toned makes you look better.
A pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day. A pound of fat burns about 2 calories per day. So if you lost 10 pounds of fat and put on 10 pounds of muscle (which would be a very significant accomplishment), you'd be burning 40 more calories per day.
So yes, it's true. But it's hardly significant.
Just a question @AnvilHead ... is this at rest or including exercise? Just wondering if actually using my muscles will make a difference.
This is increases your RMR. Using your muscles will increase your caloric burn yes.1
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