Should I strength train AND lose weight at the same time? I am a 41 year old woman.

[babycakes1970]

I have been working on losing weight for about a year and a half. I have lost about 45 pounds and need to lose about 55 more. I have been using the weight machines at the Y. I also really need to tone up my abs because well I have had four kids the youngest of whom is nearly fifteen. Even though I have had a great start I have been experiencing a lot of plateaus.

I am getting tired of having to spend so much of my time at the gym. Still I keep on making myself go. Lately I have been taking my seventeen year old who has Aspergers Syndrome (high functioning autism). She has been ordered by one of her doctors to walk three times a week to try to lose weight. If it were not for the doctors orders I do not think that she would even be interested even though she is quite overweight.

I have tried to start a body weight exercise plan at home but all the exercises I tried failed miserably. So my question is should I strength train while I am trying to lose weight or should I lose the weight first and simply do toning? I am thinking that the body weight exercises would be easier to do with a 135-140 pound body than with a 193 195 pound body.

The reason I want to be able to do at least that much at home is so I can cut down the time at the gym.

Second question. What should I eat if I focus on strength?I can tell you that switching to paleo would probably get little support from the family.

[bigm141414]

1) Strength training is a great way to lose weight, see spezzy's and Saint's stories. My own story is I've lost roughly 40 lbs with strength training and little cardio

2) Body weight exercises are great at any weight. What type of routine were you doing before hand? I spent months doing body weight training before I ever stepped into a gym. The key is not to get disgruntled that you aren't improving because it takes time.

3) You mentioned you've hit several plateaus. Plateaus come and go and once you hit one you may need to look at changing your routine/ eating habits to get over it.

4) As for eating, when you do strength training protein is key. I think the standard recommendation is .8g of protein per kg of lean body mass (by lean body mass I mean weight - body fat). Paleo is not the only solution although many people here have had success with it. First step would be to start eating more natural products (actual veggies, fresh meat, fresh bread). Try to cut out stuff that has added sugars are salts (quite a bit of processed food off the shelf). Also, portion control is key. Make enough for one serving for everyone so they don't overeat.

5) When you say it wouldn't go over well with your family, is there any specific reason they would be resistant to the change? Have you talked about it with your significant other yet?

6) Don't worry about your abs. It's silly really, and only because most people have plenty of "abs" but just can't see them because of a high body fat percentage. You can't spot remove fat and it is better to focus on how you look overall instead a single part of your body.

[Loren Wade]

There's really no such thing as toning. The answer is simply... yes. You can strength train and lose weight at the same time. In fact, they work great together. Do any kind of exercises, bodyweight, weight lifting... whatever you like. You cannot go wrong. Paleo definitely. Cut the carbs, up the protein and fat and you're golden.

[alexgator]

A lot of people here have had loads of success losing weight through strength training. I think it's about 1000x more fun than plain cardio (read: running, YUCK). A good circuit workout can have a cardio aspect, too! Anything that gets your heart rate going is cardio. This basic workout is a good starting place; it definitely gets your heart pumpin'!

As far as what to eat... 100% Paleo might not work for you, but remember that you don't have to eat what your family eats! If you make chicken wings and rice for them, you can eat chicken wings and a bunch of veggies for yourself! Other than that, just do your best. Cut out all processed foods and liquid calories. Eat as few grains as possible yourself. Cut out dairy, if that's realistic. There are a lot of changes you can make that shouldn't disrupt the fam too much :]

Good luck!!

[babycakes1970]

In my home currently there are four adults two teens and one infant grand baby. Our son and his fiancé and baby are staying with us temporarily. My husband has degenerative disk disease in his back and because of this he has chronic pain.I work during the day and he does not want to have to wait until I get home to start dinner so he does the cooking. Because of his condition he often prepares foods like hot dogs or pizza. He does do healthier meals but not quite with the constancy that I would like. My work hours have changed recently and I get home about an hour and fifteen minutes later than I used to although my schedule will probably go back to what it was before by February. I have spoken to him about this and I do understand his reasons but he is worried about the cost because our grocery bills are our second highest expense after the mortgage.I think the kids would be okay with it but he wants stuff that is easy to fix because of his condition. We also have a daughter with low functioning autism who needs extra care. I would love to spend more time working with her but right now I have to focus on my health so that I can be there for my family a lot longer.

[babycakes1970]

Allex gator and everyone else thanks for all the suggestions.I have actually been trying to do about 75 percent of what the first two posters have suggested. I think that in the near future I will be stepping up my efforts a bit.

[alexgator]

It sounds like you're in a really tough situation. (I'm not trying to criticize, so please don't take this the wrong way!) If you really want to focus on your health, you will have to find time to make healthy food for yourself. "You can't outrun a bad diet," meaning that no matter how well you work out, you can sabotage yourself with a poor diet. All of your concerns are totally and completely valid. Eating healthy doesn't have to be more expensive, but it does take more time to plan meals. I spend less than 100$ on groceries per month on myself.

The only advice I have is to load your diet up on fruits and veggies at least. But at least getting those into your diet would be a good first step and would help with your vitamin and mineral intake! I know a couple people here bake will bake a whole bag of chicken at a time and then portion it into baggies so it's a super quick meal. There are solutions! Joining this forum means you really must want to make a change (with 45 pounds lost, you obviously already have). It's just experimenting a bit and finding what works with your unique situation.

I think someone in a situation closer to yours (a large family, for example!) would be able to give you more functional tips. Nonetheless, I'm rootin' for you :]

Edit: Oops, once I posted I saw your next post. I guess the biggest thing is just to know that this is a super supportive forum. Most people here will do whatever they can to help each other!

[HenryFnord]

1) Strength training is a great way to lose weight, see spezzy's and Saint's stories.

Both of them used cardio and diet to make their initial cut:

Saint:

I’m glad it happened. I know we talked about it a few months before that, but until you got to that point where you were ready to make a change, there wasn’t anything I could do. To say you’ve made a change is an understatement: you’re a different person. Describe a typical day now, and now what do you weigh?

Saint: I’m down to 212 lbs (and counting!)[editor's note: Since the first publishing of this article, Saint lost another 9 lbs in the next 3 weeks, bringing his weight down to 203!]. The changes to my daily routine that I made are not as hard as you think. Instead of soda I drink water, about 5 – 6 bottles a day. Instead of coffee, I have been drinking Green Tea. I eat breakfast (Egg White Frittata Sandwich ), LOADED with good proteins. [NF Note: Saint deciding to eat breakfast every day was one of the biggest changes he made] My lunch is a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato. My dinners have been any thing with pork or chicken. Every day I try to either play basketball or go for a run, and then do push ups, crunches on other days. I have changed over to Left 4 Dead rather than EQII for the last couple months mainly because I didn’t have enough time to get raid gear and do multiple 6 hour long quests. Honestly, it dawned on me that I was leveling up my character to no end. It never ends and you get pretty much nothing out of it. I figured I’d rather level up in real life while saving the world…from a zombie apocalypse.

Spezzy:

To get started on her weight loss journey, Staci joined a gym and started doing the elliptical as much as possible (because that’s what you do when you want to get skinny, right?). She said:

“At first I was only able to make it like, 10 minutes, but eventually got up to about an hour a day. Keep in mind though, I’d smoke a cigarette walking up to the gym, and light up again immediately after leaving.â€

I always thought that being super skinny would make me happy, like it was the one missing piece of my life. I bought countless exercise machines for my apartments, which all ended up sitting in the corner gathering dust. I bought DDR thinking that if I could exercise in a video game, that would do it. But it didn’t. I even tried “Sweatin to the Oldies†(which, for the record, everyone should do, because it at least gets you laughing and moving). But nothing stuck.

Until I was finally ready. I can’t say what it was, but I just got up one day and said “ok, I’m going to do this nowâ€. I can’t tell you what it was – I didn’t set a date ahead of time, I just woke up knowing it was time. I went on weight watchers, I started running. But as I started to feel the effects of the weight loss, I got obsessed. I’d weigh myself every day, I got a scale that measured every ounce so I’d know what I lost.

Following this unhealthy plan, Staci went from 170 pounds all the way down to 117 pounds over the course of a year. And then she started to open her eyes…

I'm personally using strength training as a major part of a fat loss effort, but let's not re-write history please...

[Loren Wade]

Both of them used cardio and diet to make their initial cut.

I'm personally using strength training as a major part of a fat loss effort, but let's not re-write history please...

No one is rewriting history. Both stories used Strength Training.

[HenryFnord]

Both stories used Strength Training.

Not for the initial fat loss.

They both cut a bunch of fat with diet, cardio and generally getting off their assness. Then used strength (barbell) training to progress from there after they each hit a plateu in body appearance.

[Loren Wade]

Not for the initial fat loss.

They both cut a bunch of fat with diet, cardio and generally getting off their assness. Then used strength (barbell) training to progress from there after they each hit a plateu in body appearance.

And I believe both admitted that cardio wasn't the healthiest/best/optimal way to lose weight. I don't remember the stories exactly, but weight loss and weight lifting are not counter productive. Quite the opposite. I don't know what point you're trying to prove.

[alexgator]

Henry, are you trying to argue that strength training isn't productive...? babycakes has already lost 45 pounds! It's not as if she's never stepped in the gym.

[Moxie Hart]

Have you considered cooking foods in batches or at least preparing them so its easier for the person doing the cooking to prepare? My biggest asset is the things I can make in batches. I make marinara sauce from scratch once or twice and month and freeze whatever I won't use that week. Then I make paleo meatballs in batches. Then its just a matter of him throwing pasta down for everyone else and you slicing up veggies and stir frying them to go along with it when you get home. Zucchini and peppers with meatballs and marinara is my go to meal when I just don't want to do anything. Its like my comfort food.

I do the same for chicken noodle soup. I do it in batches from scratch once a month and freeze, but without the noodles. That way it can go in the crock pot to heat and just add noodles for those who want them or more veggies for those who do not.

There are a ton of things similar to that that could be altered just enough to make it a bit healthier and may be just what you are looking for.

*hugs* I get where you are coming from tho. I've got 2 kids, I go to school full time, and have am going through a really difficult separation. Sometimes the last thing on my mind is food and then I pay for it later.

[spezzy]

Not for the initial fat loss.

They both cut a bunch of fat with diet, cardio and generally getting off their assness. Then used strength (barbell) training to progress from there after they each hit a plateu in body appearance.

I lost a lot of POUNDS with just cardio.

My switch to strength training had nothing to do with appearance - my obsessive cardio did.

I had a higher bodyfat percentage at 117lbs than I had at even 150lbs (where I'm at now).

I started dropping fat when I got rid of the cardio, upped my food intake, and started strength training.

[alexgator]

I lost a lot of POUNDS with just cardio.

My switch to strength training had nothing to do with appearance - my obsessive cardio did.

I had a higher bodyfat percentage at 117lbs than I had at even 150lbs (where I'm at now).

I started dropping fat when I got rid of the cardio, upped my food intake, and started strength training.

Bam. Straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

[Loren Wade]

Bam. Straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

It's not nice to call Spezzy a horse.

[alexgator]

It's not nice to call Spezzy a horse.

Hey, hey, hey. That's why I said "so to speak"!

But if she was a horse, she's be a POWERhorse.

Get it? Get it?!

...Cause she's powerful.

....Like, with weights.

*crickets*

[bigm141414]

What about a Thirsty Horse?

That's a thing right?

[chammy]

I've been on my 'weight/fat loss' journey since October 2010. Between then and Oct 2011, I lost ~13 pounds, and didn't really lose much more than that. I worked out 1-2 times a week and I was kind of a slacker on my diet, but I didn't -gain- anything back.

In October I did my first (and so far only) 6 week challenge. I had started making moves towards a more paleo diet a couple weeks before, and then about a week in I started doing heavy barbell training.

I've lost 10 pounds since then, and a pant size. I don't calorie count, I don't do cardio (though I will be adding it in, probably).

Try it out, see what works for you.

[DrJWilson]

The more lean body mass you have (e.g. stuff that's not fat), the more calories you burn naturally, therefore if you strength train you're going to experience some weight loss as a result of the extra lean muscle you're putting on.

[Guest Carjack]

Eat roughly half your calories in protein and lift everything you see.

Don't get too caught up in specifics. It'll work.

It's not nice to call Spezzy a horse.

Could call her a pony.

[Loren Wade]

Could call her a pony.

Touché, sir.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Hi Babycakes,

With your situation it sounds like you need something you can do at home. Bodyweight work is effective for lots of people, but if you don't like it, you won't do it. My wife likes doing workout videos, but I can't understand why. How about getting some dumbbells and doing strength training at home. I used a sledgehammer to kickstart my fitness; swinging it around for 20 minutes a day strengthened me, gave me a cardio workout, and increased my metabolism so I dropped a pound a week until I started eating a gigantic breakfast. Check out www.shovelglove.com for details. If that doesn't interest you, I'm sure there are other "fun fitness" ideas you might like.

Good luck.

[ryanmercer]

Simple answer... YES.

[babycakes1970]

What I have found (unfortunately) is that I have too many distractions at home to do a whole exercise routine including cardio/weights/ect. I am going to keep on trying though until I find something that works for me that I can stick with. This weekend I am going to try some more of the Your Shape kinect workouts and will try some of the body weight exercises.

When I first read about the paleo diet I though that it does sound more affordable than a lot of other diets. When I shop for food I always try to buy a lot of fresh veggies and meats. I do realize that unless I want to eat dinner at 8 pm I have to find ways to make the dinners easy if the hubby is to prepare them. I am actually thankfully that he does this even though he does not always cook the healthy meals that I would like because he could use his condition as an excuse not to do anything but he doesn't.

I want to thank you all for the great advice. I will be taking it all under consideration.