I've reached my goal, of 140, and I was thinking I may try to go down to 125 but lately I've been looking at my body in the mirror and the problem is no longer that I'm not skinny enough. I like my weight, the problem is I'm not tight, I'm not toned, and I think weight lifting and strength training will help me achieve the body I want for the rest of my life.

My boyfriend has some whey protein powder, and I plan to start drinking it when I begin my new workout routine, but I don't really know what to do. Can someone help me by explaining the correct workouts for a lifting newb to do? I was thinking three days cardio and three days lifting and strength, but what should I do on those three days at first?

I have 10 pound weights, but my boyfriend has been talking about getting a bench with a dumbell and all that stuff.

Hi there

I think you need to do some research before you grab those weights Here are a few good places to start:
Krist Scott Dixon's wonderfully informative site
There are hundreds of book on workout programs. Some of my favorites are:
Body for Life by Bill Phillips
Body for Life for Women by Dr. Pamela Peeke
Bodysculting Bible
Body Sculpting Bible for Women
Brother Iron Sister Steel by Dave Draper.

Another approach is to start with weight training videos. There's another part of the exercise forum devoted to videos- I really don't know which ones to suggest.

I think you are right to reasses your BODY rather than your scale weight at this point. At 5'7", 140 is a very reasonable weight. If you are carrying some muscle, you should look great at that weight! Don't be afraid to push yourself. Those 10 pound weights are probably going to be too heavy right now for some exercises (shoulders) and way too light for others (legs and back). Make sure that you target ALL your muscles- not necessarily during the same session, but don't try to "spot tone".

There are also a lot of weight bearing exercises you can do with virtually no equipment for starters: pushups, lunges, dips...add a stability ball and a few weights and you're pretty much set.

And WOW ! Congratulations on that fantastic weightloss You must feel like a new person!

Mel

hey also check out the official body for life site.
hey I wish you the best and congrats on the excellent job you have done.

I agree with Mel. You are at your goal weight; you just need to improve your body composition with some bodybuilding.

Great work on losing all that weight.

Hello,my name is sara and i stared weight watchers last week and i started weight lifting a little. I do 30 reps ( 2sets of 15) of bisep curls, trisep curls and shoulder lifts , i followed my diet to the T and lost only 1 pound the first week, and yes i exersixed 30 to 45 min each day and drank all my water, could i be changing fat into muscle? Could that be why i didnt see a huge result on the scale?

You lost a pound! That's great! You don't necessarily want to lose more (okay, yes, I know we all want to get it done, but it doesn't work like that).

Keep exercising and eating healthy and the weight will come off! You just have to be patient! This is a great place to LEARN!