Can't decide where to put this question/comment/vent, so here it is. My goal for this year was to get into the mid to low 150s, and, to be totally truthful, I'd really like to get into the 140s. But after having a bit of holiday gain, I haven't seen the 150s since the fall. However, I've been eating well and exercising a lot--the pants-o-meter is just fine. My weight lifting is progressing, and I'm almost at my 2008 goal of leg pressing 300 lbs. and bench pressing 75, which means I'm lifting heavier faster than I thought.
My body shape is looking pretty good (except for that danged post-menopausal roll at my waistband), but the number on the scale isn't what I want it to be. I can only think that the weight lifting is keeping the scale number up. So that makes me want to focus more on cardio and lift less, but I like the muscle. How do I get the scale to move without giving up the muscle, or do I just learn to live with the number I'm at? Any thoughts?
I'm 5'9 too, and I'm trying to get down to 155 or so, where you are. I was 155 a few years ago and I felt it was just right, other then some belly fat as I'm the apple body shape. I'm reading the Denise Austin book right now called Tone Your Tummy Type and it has a lot of sound advice in it on losing belly fat. She talks about five different types of belly fat, and yours sounds like post-menopausal, and she has tips for your type. You might look for that book at your library where I found it. I'm 40 so I'm the apple type, or stressed out type, she suggests a clean diet, certain exercises, things to do throughout the day to keep the metabolism revved up. I think she'd say it's a matter of cardio and weights, but if you have belly fat to increase the cardio more and keep weights lighter with very quick reps for metabolism...
As for your weight, if you are lifting like this you are really likely 150 or so in weight, muscle weights more so I've read you can subtract 3-5 lbs depending on what you are lifting. There's some great dvd's out there specific to abs. I'm going to start doing more and more abs work, I think you can do it daily and not stress out your muscles unlike weight training. And I'm going to do more yoga, relaxation, tummy weight can come from stress/cortisol too.
If you haven't read the Clean Eating books and exercise plan you might look into that too. Tosca who writes for Oxygen has great ideas. She's almost 50 and looks like THAT. I love muscle too. I'd rather have nice muscle then see the scale really go down. I'm just starting to lift weights again and I love the toning it does that cardio doesn't. There's also ideas in YOU on a DIET about tummy fat, lots of scientific stuff from a doctor. This fat is most dangerous as you know for health so I'm trying to read as much as I can to get rid of mine too, not just for vanity!
I wouldn't give up the muscle either. Sure, it makes a higher number on the scale, but muscle is metabolically active tissue that uses calories even when you're not doing anything... so if you let your lean mass go down, it'll mean you'll have to compensate through cardio AND eating less, probably (and at some point, it becomes hard to pile hours and hours of cardio a day just to make sure you burn enough calories).
I have no idea if there's a way to keep the muscle and weigh less. I guess it depends on whether you still have 'lots' of fat tissue left? Maybe a change in diet closer to a bodybuilder's? (But I'm not sure, I'd better let Meg or another of the real specialists answer that!)
If losing weight means losing lean muscle, I think that's the wrong answer. You've worked hard to build that muscle; it makes you healthier and increases your metabolism, making it easier for you to maintain your loss (I just read in You on a Diet that a pound of muscle burns 40 to 120 calories a day just sitting there. Compare that to a pound of fat which burns about 1 to 3 calories per day. Do you really want to give up that calorie burn?); and it makes you look toned and athletic. Ultimately, I don't think losing muscle is going to make you any happier with your appearance. Also, if you think your body shape is looking pretty good, why worry about a number on the scale? Nobody knows that number but you and the people you choose to share it with. Even at 158 lbs, you are within a healthy BMI.
I think that focusing on your body fat %, rather than weight, might make more sense for you. This would give you a better idea of whether it is realistic for you to continue to lose weight without losing muscle. I also think that it is a better indicator than either BMI or the scale of whether or not you even need to lose more weight. Here is an article that helped me understand what my body fat % means to my weight loss: Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage. Also, here are a couple of web sites that will compute your body fat using weight/measurements: www.he.net, BBLex, www.freedieting.com (I love this one because it has lots of cool calculators).
Yeah, I agree that it makes much more sense to focus on how you look or your bf% as opposed to what the scale says. Your scale weight isn't tattooed on your forehead, after all. I've been wanting to get down to 135 for the past couple of months (pure, pure vanity) and haven't been able to: I comfort myself with the thought that if I wasn't so muscular and shapely, I'd probably weigh 135 without looking as good as I do at the moment.
If you want to get a bit smaller yet without sacrificing muscle, perhaps you should throw some regular HIIT sessions into your cardio routine? The folks from the New Rules of Lifting for Women recommend doing HIIT rather than steady-state cardio for fat loss. I think mixing supersets into your weight lifting can help as well-it sort of mimics interval training.
you're pretty happy with your body shape (but for the menopot )
And, of course:
you're successfully maintaining a 100 pound weight loss
But ... you don't like the number that you see on the scale.
Sheila! Sensible, calm, rational, level-headed Sheila!! You're almost the last person who I imagined would fall for stupid scale head games!!
OK, play a game with me. Pretend you're standing on the scales and everything is exactly the same as it is right now -- clothes, measurements, strength, body fat. But the scales read ten or twenty pounds less than they did yesterday. How do you feel? If the answer is estastically happy, then you know that you've been sucked into the evil numbers game.
Like everyone said, it's just a number! By itself, it's meaningless. It doesn't tell you body composition, which you very well know is a far better measure of health and fitness than scale weight. If you were at a healthy BF %, could wear the size of your dreams, and could bench press and squat your body weight, would it matter if the scales said you weighed 300 pounds? Of course not.
Under no circumstances are you allowed to consider cutting back on weights!! You know weightlifting is the Fountain of Youth for women our age. You know it's the key to keeping our weight off for life. And you for sure know how empowering (and just plain fun) it is to be strong and have muscles! I'm just shuddering at the thought of you leaving the weight room and becoming a cardio bunny.
So I refuse to talk to you in terms of making the scale move. Phooey on the scales! Instead, let's talk about body fat. If you still have fat to lose, then there are only a few ways to accomplish it:
reduce calories
squeaky clean nutrition
add muscle mass to raise metabolism
more calories burned through exercise
The first three are pretty self-explanatory. As for increasing your calorie burn through exercise, the answer is NOT longer, steady-state cardio. I agree with Baff that interval training is the way to go, not only to burn more calories while you're exercising but also to increase your calorie burn throughout the day (EPOC = Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption). You might be doing intervals already? -- if so, keep it up.
Sheila, please don't give the number on the scales any kind of power of you! It doesn't measure health, fitness, muscle, or success. If you never lost another stupid pound of scale weight, you'd still be healthier, fitter, and a heck of a lot hotter than almost any other woman our age.
Well said, Meg! And Sheila, I look at my arms all the time too, and my DH's best compliment to me was about how good my shoulders were looking (well, maybe not all-time best, but recent best anyway)
This is exactly why I don't have a goal weight, and why I think I was never "successful" until I gave up the whole concept. I find the number an excuse to beat myself up, rather than a motivational tool.
you're pretty happy with your body shape (but for the menopot )
And, of course:
you're successfully maintaining a 100 pound weight loss
But ... you don't like the number that you see on the scale.
Sheila! Sensible, calm, rational, level-headed Sheila!! You're almost the last person who I imagined would fall for stupid scale head games!!
OK, play a game with me. Pretend you're standing on the scales and everything is exactly the same as it is right now -- clothes, measurements, strength, body fat. But the scales read ten or twenty pounds less than they did yesterday. How do you feel? If the answer is estastically happy, then you know that you've been sucked into the evil numbers game.
Like everyone said, it's just a number! By itself, it's meaningless. It doesn't tell you body composition, which you very well know is a far better measure of health and fitness than scale weight. If you were at a healthy BF %, could wear the size of your dreams, and could bench press and squat your body weight, would it matter if the scales said you weighed 300 pounds? Of course not.
Under no circumstances are you allowed to consider cutting back on weights!! You know weightlifting is the Fountain of Youth for women our age. You know it's the key to keeping our weight off for life. And you for sure know how empowering (and just plain fun) it is to be strong and have muscles! I'm just shuddering at the thought of you leaving the weight room and becoming a cardio bunny.
So I refuse to talk to you in terms of making the scale move. Phooey on the scales! Instead, let's talk about body fat. If you still have fat to lose, then there are only a few ways to accomplish it:
reduce calories
squeaky clean nutrition
add muscle mass to raise metabolism
more calories burned through exercise
The first three are pretty self-explanatory. As for increasing your calorie burn through exercise, the answer is NOT longer, steady-state cardio. I agree with Baff that interval training is the way to go, not only to burn more calories while you're exercising but also to increase your calorie burn throughout the day (EPOC = Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption). You might be doing intervals already? -- if so, keep it up.
Sheila, please don't give the number on the scales any kind of power of you! It doesn't measure health, fitness, muscle, or success. If you never lost another stupid pound of scale weight, you'd still be healthier, fitter, and a heck of a lot hotter than almost any other woman our age.
Now go throw the thing in the trash!
Alright Meg!
I wish everyone would throw the scale in the trash and start looking at their bodyfat. We women have to get smarter about this weight thing.
Scales are for wimps. Get that bodyfat tested weekly or use that tape measure.
I, too, am trying to get less caught up in the scale. It's complicated, though, because the scale DOES keep me in check. If I didn't weigh myself regularly, I would go into denial and gain.
That being said, I think I need to add more focus on strength training. I would rather have a lower body fat % and have the scale stay where ever it needs to instead of going down, down, down.
The "Number" vs. Body Shape
)
Instead, let's talk about body fat. If you still have fat to lose, then there are only a few ways to accomplish it:
thing in the trash!
