Hi girls,

I have a question here, what do you think is better to lose last couple of pounds: running (5.5 mph 4 miles x 3 days a week) or lifting weight 3 times a week?

I believe building muscles will be better to maintain weight in the long run, but running is better to lose weight , is it?

What is your experience and opinions?

I've always heard to strictly lose pounds, regardless of their composition (fat, muscle, etc), you should eat and NOT exercise at all. Seriously. For probably most of us we'd rather take the trade-off: exercising, which means losing a little more slowly, but reaping the other benefits of exercising- cardiovascular, bone density, muscle, etc.

I think if you want to include exercise in your routine and your priority is to lose weight, cardio is the way to go.

Since you asked for opinions, I'll share mine I love having muscle on me and I'd rather be 5 lbs heavier and a little rounder than risk losing my muscle or cardio health in exchange for a few pounds. Strength training is too important for bones and muscles and cardio is too important for keeping my lungs and heart healthy. If that means I'm doomed to be a curvy size 6 forever instead of a tiny size 2 I'm fine with that personally

I hear you…I love lifting weight so much better then running. I would rather lift, BUT my stomach area is still has some fat which I need to lose to be able to see my abs.

After two kids I was working so hard to build my abs and I did a good job (I think), but then life happened and I gained weight and at this point I really don’t want to lose any more weight anywhere but my belly.

From what I read I will not see my stomach muscles until I will get rid of belly fat, which make me thing I should continue running, right? Maybe I should go low carbs for a while and lift?

For me the cardio works better to see the actual number drop on the scale in the short-term. In the long-term the higher your muscle % the more efficient your body is at burning calories.

i say STOP exercising (except for walking) and drop your cals as low as YOU can go....1200 a day?
youll see an immediate drop of 2-3 pounds in water weight (by immediate i mean within a week)... due to water being retained by your muscles for recovery from workouts
and your body will start turning to stored fat as well, because your cortisol (stress--- exercise induced) levels will drop and in general your body will be less stressed out and allow weight loss to continue.
youre at such a low weight... this is what i have to do to drop 5 pounds

I understand the concept of not exercising and losing water weight within a week, this is only a quick fix though, as soon as you start exercising either weight training or cardio those few pounds of water loss will come back... For long term I would stick to cardio AND weight training... Cardio is good for your heart and burns calories, weight training increases muscle mass, increases metabolism, therefore you're burning more calories even when you're at rest...

I totally agree with this statement. I would just up my cardio maybe take longer walks/ runs and plan to keep carbs at a minimum long term. Its hard but it works for me and the trade off is worth it to me.

I finish reading Lou Schuler's book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" and it helped me to decide to have 2 days of weight lifting and 1 day of cardio (I usually run 4 miles) instead of 3 days of cardio.

I actually would love to have 3 days of weight lifting, but because I lift as heavy as I can, I am quite sore for 2-3 days after and from what I understood it is not good to lift when you still sore, as tissue still in the process of repair itself.

Also, I am eliminating any source of carbs, except veggie afternoon. Let’s see what will happen, for now I am up to 130 lb from 127 lb, but I really hope it is just the water from lifting and sore muscles ( as per book above).

Maintaining weight requires as much, if not more, self discipline and planning, even if it is not including calorie counting, but instead portion control and intuitive eating!

Ain't that the truth