I hear time and time again that if you build muscle, it helps burn away fat, so along with cardio, i've been doing resistance/weight training, and building some nice muscles in my arms and legs, though its just muscle in addition to fat, and not in place of it. Thus, i've gained a bit of weight, when it was initially recommended I lose weight. Obviously, not going well in that direction. I've been working out about 5 hrs a week for 3 mos and I'm just getting frustrated. How long does it take to start losing fat?

Having more muscle helps you burn more calories, so eventually you lose fat. I would say that how much fat you lose depends on a bunch of factors, like your body composition, your workout routine, and your diet. Cardio increases your metabolism and burns fat, so make sure you're doing enough. I would probably concentrate on that more than the weight training, though both are important.

Just a couple of thoughts, rabid:

If you're weight-training is skewing towards mass-building (low reps/high weight) and not tone (more reps/less weight) you'll be building muscle faster than you want to.

If you do cardio early in the AM before eating, you stand to burn more fat. If you do high-intensity (http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/HIITvsET.html) cardio, you'll burn more fat. How much aerobic exercise are you doing? Are those 5 hours spread out through the week? You need to do aerobic every day or close to it. If it's not high-intensity it ought to be around 45 minutes at a decent heart-rate.

Lots of good info here: http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss.html

Trent: My weight training is skewed toward tone. I use almost all the machines at the lowest weight possible (either 10 or 15 lbs). I've been working on increasing reps, though as of now, I generally do 3 sets of 10 on almost everything. (I could do more on some, but if I lose energy too soon I can't make it that far on others, if that makes sense) There's one or two machines i can only do two sets before my arms give up.
I can ONLY exercise on an empty stomach, otherwise I can't finish my work out cause I feel too sick. (My mother is critical of this and says you're not supposed to, but there is no choice) Thus, I can only work out on days I don't have to be at work in the morning first thing, otherwise I can't just NOT eat for an entire work day to go to the gym in the evening y'know? My gym schedule is gonna change now cause my work schedule did, but I was doing an hour S/S/T/W/Th (M/F i work 8:30-5:30). Its gonna be much more difficult to get that much in now cause I work earlier on Wednesday now. I can't go in before work M/F because I have enough trouble staying awake through a work day on 8-10 hrs sleep without getting up at 6:30 and exercising.
I typically do half aerobic and half weight. It took the entire month of June, but I weaned myself off the treadmill and onto the elliptical machine which I hate but it does keep my heartrate around 165-170 (i'm a week shy of 25) and burns tons more calories. I was also doing yoga instead of two days of the above described, but cut it out since it didn't seem as effective.

I'm exhausted and sore costantly. My BMI is at 25 - right on the line for being overweight. Its like, the last 10-15 lbs are the hardest and all I have to lose are the last 10-15 lbs. I feel like if this isn't doing anything and it isn't going to start cause I can't commit enough hours to it then why I don't I just stay fat/lazy/stupid?

I don't see why having 10-15 pounds to lose and needing slepp would make you "fat/lazy/stupid". I think it makes you *human*. Building muscle is good- it helps you burn more fat, just by doing nothing at all and working with weights helps build bone density too! I say, good job for being consistent for the last 3 months. Good job for switching it up with yoga, weights and cardio work. You are (like most women) too hard on yourself, sweetie! BE beautiful, be okay in your own skin, be you!

when i first started weight training..i gained alot of weight..but within a month or two after gaining it..i pretty much lost it all...but was really toned..
..
try mixing in some kind of cardiovascular exercise twice (or more..if u like) a week...cardio tends to burn more fat..whereas resistance training builds muscle..
..
ive heard somewhere that muscles burn on average 50 + calories a day at rest...im gonna try to find a link to verify that tho...
..i really hope u dont stop doin the weight lifting thing...its kind of hard to get into at first...but after a while..its usually great..

I'm exhausted and sore costantly. My BMI is at 25 - right on the line for being overweight. Its like, the last 10-15 lbs are the hardest and all I have to lose are the last 10-15 lbs.
Being exhausted and sore constantly may be more of a concern than the BMI score. I'm not sure what to tell you about that, because it could be many things or nothing at all. The BMI is kinda crap, I think. I'm 195 at 6'2" (BMI:25) and although I'm not in shape right now, I will barely dip below 190 when I do work out regularly. So if you're working out and eating well, f*ck the BMI. As for the exhaustion-thing, perhaps you could get with a trainer for one hour/month? That can be a huge help.

I need to start working out. I weigh the most I have ever weighed, which still isn't too bad but I feel out of shape. Some things may just take time. You don't want to exaust yourself, that won't make you feel any better. Plus then I would have to come and yell at you :P If you still feel like you need do be doing more how about old fashioned walking. Sometimes I find outdoor exercise makes me feel much better and less tired than indoor work on machines. Sex is also supposed to be good exercise, if you do it right. :D ;)

You know, when I was training for half-marathons, I found that I plateaued at a BMI of 25, after a few weeks, I stopped worrying about it. Being exhausted and sore all the time are also symptoms of overtraining.

all muscle that you have burns calories, calories can come from fat, so any that you have already does this. But, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, which eventually leads to fat loss.

uhm, there is no such thing as "toning." any sort of weight bearing exercise is a muscle building exercise. the way the muscles look once they are trained depends not so much on the kind of training(high rep low weight, or low rep, high weight), but rather on genetics (length of muscles/muscle bellies, hormonal factors, etc). Either method of working out builds muscle mass, bone density, and neuro-muscular pathways. it's excellent for all around health. Trent is right though, low rep, high weight will build muscle more quickly (and in my opinion, more efficiently).

also, fat and muscle does weigh the same amount (a lb of fat equals a lb of muscle--both are a lb!), but fat takes up more space than muscle. This is why many fitness regimens don't look at weight so much as they look at inches (or the space that you take up) and body fat percentage (amount of body fat that you have). So, when you gain muscle, you may gain weight, even though you've also lost some fat. The only way to determine if you've lost fat is through testing body fat percentage before and after.

The other thing is that women particularly constantly fluctuate in weight. Each month, because of my menstrual cycle, i gain 4-6 lbs in water weight and whatever else. My husband is always "shocked" at the end of my period "wow you look so fit" where for the last two weeks he probably mentioned (more than once) "it looks like you've gained a bit." about which i remind him that i am heading toward mensturation and that this is "normal." He's starting to figure it out. By watching your cycle, you can begin to understand your normal body-weight-hormone fluctuations and not judge yourself so harshly when you gain and loose a few due to menstruation.

also, remember that body type has it's own place in this. i use the ayurvedic system--vata, pitta, and kapha types--and each body type will look different when they're at a "healthy" weight. some are long and very thin with small muscle bellies. others have round muscles and look quite "athletic," and others have the classic "bombshell" look with the lovely round hips, thighs, and tummies--which is also where they have a LOT of muscle and develope quite quickly in these areas. SO, what is 15lbs overweight? a person with the irst kind of body type may be 5 ft 7 and weigh about 115-20 lbs. the second kind of gal may be the same height but weigh 135. and the third type may weigh 145-150 and be just right for them. due to what is fashionable, people think that everyone should look like the first body type and that her weight is the "healthy" weight--but noticably, this weight is very unhealthly (too thin) for women with the other sorts of body types.

lots of different people out there. the main thing is to look to fitness and health, and not worry about numbers on the scale.

uhm, there is no such thing as "toning." any sort of weight bearing exercise is a muscle building exercise. the way the muscles look once they are trained depends not so much on the kind of training(high rep low weight, or low rep, high weight),

Partly true. Muscles are composed of two different types of fibers. Slow-twitch muscle fiber is emphasized in high-rep low-resistance workouts. Fast-twitch muscle fiber is emphasized in low-rep high-resistance workouts. The kind of training you want to do should depend on goals.

i agree kirk--but not goals related to what you want to look like. goals related to what you want to do. for instance, if you want to develop fast twitch muscle fiber (which is excellent for sprint work in any field), then you would compliment your aerobic training and sprint work with the sort of training that supports that sort of muscle fiber development.

but it's still not "toning"--it's still building muscle.

The muscle you build intially probably will not burn enough calories to lose weight. I too do lots of weight training and some cardio, but I haven't lost any weight, I've merely gained muscle mass. Thus, I look better, so people keep saying "I think you've lost weight..." but, I haven't.
At any rate, you need to figure out an approximate value of how many calories you need per day, and eat exactly that amount on the days you exercise and a few hundred less on the days you don't. Eat a balanced ratio of carbs, proteins, and fats and exercise, and you should start to see better results. You just need to cut your calories a bit, I think.

I do about 50/50 cardio/weight. I wasn't concerned about my weight until my doctor told me I needed to lose weight. He actually made me really neurotic when before hand I was fine with my weight. I did gain weight in the past year or so, but thats because my IBS has gotten better and I'm eating more normal quantities of food. I KNOW my metabolism is screwed up from years of going through cycles of not eating much/eating relatively normally, again due to my stomach problems. Even now (which I consider to be a good time) I need to be awake for 3-4 hrs before I can eat.

Insofar as being exhausted & sore all the time, and the weight gain goes (i've gained a couple pounds since exercising), my mom's been bugging me to get my thyroid checked, because thyroid problems run in my family, and I seem to exhibit most of the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Zoe: I have the big hips/boobs/thighs figure. I know no matter how much exercise I do, thats not gonna change. I largely need to lose the weight from my midsection. My arms are starting to look toned (for the first time in my life!) and my calves are just muscle.. but thats it. I don't want to think about numbers because it just makes me feel awful, but its there just the same, and now that I know (I always requested the doc not tell me cause I didn't want to be a "slave" to a number so to speak, but the bastard said something anyway).

OrganicVegan: I meant that before starting all this exercise thing in January (not New Years related! As I don't believe in it. I just got a good deal on a gym membership!), its only led to frustration and beating up on myself. Its like I'd be better off in my former state of being before exercise.

Meg: Outdoor exercise is really hard for me because, of all things, I have exercise induced hives, so I have to take an antihystamine to work out without breaking out in hives all over my body, and being in a non-climate-controlled environment makes it worse, faster and the antihystamine doesn't work as well. Isn't that ridiculous? I could certainly try to increase the sex though :D :D

rainbowmoon: fitday.com says I burn 2500 calories a day through my "normal" activities. (it claims 1500 basal, 1000 lifestyle) On top of that is something like 300 cals at the gym 4-5 days a week. I eat when I'm hungry, and don't restrict myself and consume about 1500 calories a day. I could cut back, but I don't think restricting calories would be a good idea considering the level I'm at now. All things considered, I should be losing 2 lbs a week.

I really appreciate everyones comments/help. I hope I don't seem too whiney or self-depricating. I'm just feeling lost about the whole thing and frustrated. I don't want to quit, and I'm not about to, but it really feels like I'm getting nowhere... Much like walking on a treadmill :D

just a thought. when you are working out and building muscle etc. your BMI starts to become obsolete. ( it doesnt take into account lean mass)

RC, I've been working out regularly for a while. My weight hasn't changed much since January, but I've lost a couple inches. I've been doing cardio 3-4 times a week and toning 3 times a week. I've recently upped the cardio, hoping to get rid of more fat. I'm getting pretty toned, but there's still a layer of fat there. Anyway, I'm trying to do cardio 5 times a week and toning 2-3 times a week now. I think I've seen that suggested somewhere. We'll see how that goes.

hey rabid, help me.. i'm just starting to get back in to exercising and checked out that page you posted (fitday.com). Where did you see how much you burn a day? i clicked on "activities" and there is this thing that says total is 3938, basal 2128 and lifestyle 1809... that just really don't sound right. i weight about 205 and am 6 ft... ya, i'm a bit overweight, but not that much... i was shocked, cause if i'm reading this right it says i burn 4000 calories a day?!? i thought the average was lower than that....

EDIT: I prolly should add that while i'm not completely sedetary at my job, it's not like i'm running a marathon or anything like that.

vlad - if you click on home you can change your height/weight/activity level. i have mine as seated work (some movement) since I figured that was about average of having days sitting around doing nothing and having other days walking dogs, wrestling with animals, cleaning cages, carrying around cases of food and every other dang thing I do. The activities tells you how much you burn in a day. Basal + Lifestyle + Activities. You can add anything to that like taking a shower to that, though I only add actualexercise!

it looks to be set right... about 40% of my work day (sometiems a bit more, usually a fair amount less) is spent sitting. the rest of the time i'm out in the shop (i work at a granite countertop shop) so its a fair amount of lifting and moving stuff... i'm just shocked it says i burn that much from an average day.... (i haven't put in any activities or anything like that)

Heh, I have no explanation for these things!! If this thread has taught you anything, it should be that i'm completely clueless about such matters!!

Heh, I have no explanation for these things!! If this thread has taught you anything, it should be that i'm completely clueless about such matters!!

Blind leading the blind? :up:

Blind leading the blind? :up:

I'll tell you what I can about the site but I have no idea what it means in relation to real life. :lol:

RC:

i suspect that you have the Kapha body type. you may want to look into an ayurvedic site that talks about what sorts of foods and exercise your body really responds to.

also, my sister is a kapha. most kaphas, including my sister, tend to have "soft" stomachs (no 6 pack) no matter what sort of shape they're in. My sister was once a competitive volleyball player and swimmer. Even at her most fit, she still had a soft stomach, soft-looking legs (though they were solid muscle), and soft hips/chest. That's just her. So, while you may need to loose a few around the middle, it won't be a "flat" stomach per se. And that's a good thing too. Kapha bodies, when healthy, are quite soft and lovely (men--and women--love them).

i don't think caloric deficit may be in necessary, but perhaps switching to more "body-compatiable" foods will help a lot. Again, check out an ayurvedic web site for some general suggestions.

hey rabid-
Due to your caloric intake, I agree with you that you do not need to further restrict your calories. 1500 is actually pretty low, in my book...so my new thought is, I wonder if you are not eating enough?! If you burn 2500 calories a day, and an additional 1200-1500 in exercise, thats setting you up for a 8,350 calorie deficet (or something close) which should equal about 2.3 lbs. per week. Maybe you need to eat a little bit more food, and lose weight a little bit more slowly. The difference isn't THAT huge, but who knows, maybe its enough to make your metabolism freak out and want to shut down. At one point in my weight loss/gain history (I've been all over the freakin scale...) I was eating about 1500 calories and exercising off about 800-1000 calories 6 X per week, and I couldn't lose a pound. When I pumped my calories up to 1800-2000, I started to lose slowly.
At any rate, you might also want to have a body fat % test done. Its becoming obvious all over the place that BMI is an outdated way to measure health in correlation to size- because its not REALLY about the pounds on the scale, its about body fat and fitness.
Good luck.
lovenlight,
Linz

hey rabid-
Due to your caloric intake, I agree with you that you do not need to further restrict your calories. 1500 is actually pretty low, in my book...so my new thought is, I wonder if you are not eating enough?! If you burn 2500 calories a day, and an additional 1200-1500 in exercise, thats setting you up for a 8,350 calorie deficet (or something close) which should equal about 2.3 lbs. per week. Maybe you need to eat a little bit more food, and lose weight a little bit more slowly. The difference isn't THAT huge, but who knows, maybe its enough to make your metabolism freak out and want to shut down. At one point in my weight loss/gain history (I've been all over the freakin scale...) I was eating about 1500 calories and exercising off about 800-1000 calories 6 X per week, and I couldn't lose a pound. When I pumped my calories up to 1800-2000, I started to lose slowly.
At any rate, you might also want to have a body fat % test done. Its becoming obvious all over the place that BMI is an outdated way to measure health in correlation to size- because its not REALLY about the pounds on the scale, its about body fat and fitness.
Good luck.
lovenlight,
Linz

I'm not burning 1200-1500 cals/DAY exercising!! Perhaps a week? I think I'm burning about 300 in an hour of exercise.. so maybe thats what you meant... That would be crazy. I'm tired enough as it is!! :D I know 1500 cals isn't too high, and I'm not deliberately eating to that number, it just seems to end up that way at the end of the day. I eat what I'm hungry for when I'm hungry for it... speaking of which I need to go make dinner. :chef:

I KNOW part of my problem is my metabolism. Years of IBD have it completely shot. I stopped being able to eat in the morning when I was about 11 or 12. By the time I was 15 there were entire days when I couldn't eat much of anything cause my stomach was so upset. Even now I go from extended periods of time when I barely eat, or can't eat until the evening, to periods of time when I'm back up to about 1500 cals/day. Until someone finds a cure for my IBS, I can't see that aspect of my life changing. I was hoping exercise would help the metabolism, but I fear there's not much hope for normalizing my eating habits!!

I also think I need to find a doctor who like, speaks english and is helpful. Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it!