weight loss and toning at the same time

I wish I had taken starting measurements of myself. I do heavy lifting with a trainer 3 times a week (just benched 105 the other day, woot!). He also has me combine it with HIIT for a few minutes (half mile or so) to warm up, then an uphill walk to cool down. I have only lost 9 pounds in 9 months. I am getting really discouraged with the lack of weight loss, because unlike Staci in that article (who looks incredible!), I still have a lot of body fat to lose at 169 pounds and only 5 feet 4.5 inches.

For those of you who lift heavy, how much weight have you lost and in how long?

Yes, lift heavy weights!

this.

by doing cardio and dieting alone you risk losing some of the lean muscle you already have. Lifting heavy weights and getting adequate protein will help ensure that you retain most of your lean muscle as you lose the fat. This means that at your goal weight you will have a lower BF% and be more fit and stronger then if you did cardio and diet only.

Doing both helps you avoid being the dreaded skinny fat (thin with a high body fat %)

So what exactly do you guys mean by HEAVY lifting? How heavy are you talking about?

What weight machines at the gym would you recommend?? I wanna get toned

have you heard about staci??

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

on the left she's 131 lbs. on the right she's 142, 11lbs heavier.

I squat also and my butt is ok. I am not liking it as much and it looks like it has fallen a bit What squats do you do? I do a variety but am just curious if I am missing something. The sad thing is I used to squat 95-100 on the Smith machine and can't do it anymore (maybe because I was 25 at the time ha!) My knees also are hurting more even though I make sure my knee is not over my foot.

The Smith Machine doesn't let your stabilizer muscles kick it to help balance, and it traps you in what may be an unnatural range of motion. Lou Schuler discusses this in New Rules of Lifting and New Rules of Lifting for Women. The machines just don't give you the same bang for your buck, and in some cases, can be just plain dangerous.

I started out with dumbbells held down at my sides, but quickly progressed to an olympic bar on my shoulders. I watched form over and over on youtube to get it right. The real trick is to go deep. I have been managing thighs parallel to the floor. Then I asked earlier on another thread "how deep is deep enough?" and the answer, for the best booty, is ATG (*kitten* to grass!). I plan to drop back the weight and go for a deeper squat. I don't know if I can do it, but 2 months ago, I didn't know I could do any of this!

I mostly use weights or an ezbar. There was a time when I always used the olypic bar and was squatiing off of a stepper but there is no room in the gym I go to now plus they got rid of alot of things I used I go pretty deep and watch my posture but my back still hurts. I will have to watch youtube to see if I am doing things properly. Thank you for the advice!! I want to get back to the tough b*tch I used to be haha

Ladies do not get bulky unless they are using steroids. Check out this video of Olympic level weight lifters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mRkfaG38t7Y

As for specific exercises:

Squat - http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-with-proper-technique-fix-common-problems/
Bench Press - http://stronglifts.com/how-to-bench-press-with-proper-technique-avoid-shoulder-injuries/
Overhead Press - http://stronglifts.com/how-to-overhead-press-with-correct-technique/
Barbell Row - http://stronglifts.com/how-to-master-barbell-row-technique/
Deadlift - http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadlift-with-proper-technique/

5 sets of 5, as heavy as you can without hurting yourself.