Losing Weight Before Toning?

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bellesmom84
bellesmom84 Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I went from being fit and at my goal weight to being 65 lbs overweight. Now I have lost a total of 43 lbs in the past 18 months. I am very pleased with the results of my hard work but I'm wondering if it would be best for me to also begin working out again, i.e. body weight exercises and light weight toning? I have been so engrossed with the number on the scale going down that I haven't wanted to work out for fear of seeing the number on the scale go up or not change at all. My plan has been to get back to my goal weight and THEN begin toning. I don't want to bulk, I just want to firm up. What are your thoughts on this? Would it be just as easy to lose weight working out? I know that people always say not to worry over the number on the scale and focus on inches lost but I feel as if I NEED the number on the scale to go down, but I'm struggling with this idea. Any help and encouragement would be very much appreciated.

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  • bellesmom84
    bellesmom84 Posts: 15 Member
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    "At that point to build muscle up again is very difficult, much easier to maintain it!"
    Thank you for your input but I have one question, why is it more difficult to build after losing the weight? Is it because I have potentially lost muscle or is there some other factor that I am not aware of?
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,492 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    I would highly recommend doing some type of resistance training while you lose to help preserve muscle (and maybe build a bit).. this will give you a more toned/defined apperance when you get to goal as well as build strength and other health benefits.
    If you are in a deficit you will not bulk up, however sometimes people retain water which gives a more pumped up apperance and can cause the scale to stall a bit.

    So many people are so concerned with the scale and make the mistake of not retaining that muscle and are very unhappy when they get to goal. At that point to build muscle up again is very difficult, much easier to maintain it!

    this.

    my first thought was: hit the weights!

    best of luck
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    bellesmom84 wrote: »
    "At that point to build muscle up again is very difficult, much easier to maintain it!"
    Thank you for your input but I have one question, why is it more difficult to build after losing the weight? Is it because I have potentially lost muscle or is there some other factor that I am not aware of?

    Just to add, it's not that it's more difficult after losing weight. Building muscle is always difficult (unless your a young man!) and especially for women.

    When you lose weight, you will generally lose a little muscle along with the fat. But eating adequate protein, losing at a reasonable pace, and doing strength training can help maintain the muscle you currently have, so you lose as little as possible. This way when you get to the point that you are no longer eating in a deficit, you are starting to build muscle from a better starting point, rather than wasting time rebuilding muscle you could've just held onto in the first place :smile:
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    bellesmom84 wrote: »
    "At that point to build muscle up again is very difficult, much easier to maintain it!"
    Thank you for your input but I have one question, why is it more difficult to build after losing the weight? Is it because I have potentially lost muscle or is there some other factor that I am not aware of?

    When we are overweight, we usually actually have a pretty high level of muscle as well as fat. When we lose weight, we lose some combination of fat, water, and muscle. Ideally, we would want the first two to be as much of the percentage as possible, with the least muscle loss as possible. How much fat vs. muscle depends on a few things, but the three main things you can do to reduce it is choose a reasonable rate of loss (your body burns more muscle during rapid weight loss), getting adequate protein intake, and stimulating your muscles through strength training. Doing those three things will give you the best change of maintaining the most muscle.

    If you don't do them, you will lose more muscle along the journey. Not that that is necessarily a terrible thing, but it takes a lot more work to build that muscle back up. It's much easier to keep what you already have than to build up new muscle. So I strongly recommend strength training for pretty much everyone who is physically able to do it during weight loss.
  • bellesmom84
    bellesmom84 Posts: 15 Member
    edited August 2019
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    Thank you so much! This was very helpful!

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