Question Weight Lifting for Women

  • I used to weigh over 200 pounds, and have bounced between 160 and 180 for awhile. During, exercising... I always fall off the wagon.

    Well me and my boyfriend find a gym we could afford. We started weight training. W work a major and a minor muscle group at a time.

    We have two seperate goals though. He wants to build. I want to lose weight, gain strength, and benefit from muscle burning more calories.

    We spend about an hour and a half there. About 15 to 20 minutes cardio then weight training.

    My question is this, will I still lose weight? I don't want to build I want to lose.

    I'm on a program from Body building.com for fat loss. It is called LiveFit...if that helps.

    And I'm on 1,200 calorie a day diet if that helps.
  • If youre only eating 1,200 caloires a day there is NO WAY you'll bulk up. The only way to bulk up is to eat MORE calories than you'll burn (whether youre gaining weight the right way-- gaining muscle, or the wrong way--gaining fat, it will take a calorie surplus.)

    Not only will you not bulk up on a 1200 calorie diet- but it takes a lot more work and often a lot of supplements to get that bulky "body builder" look, especially as a woman-since we have a whole lot less testosterone! in short- you have to build muscle on purpose. When I added weight training to my program was actually when I got to my lowest weight- I'm assuming because of the residual calorie burn that continued after my workout, and the fact that I was maintaining my muscle mass, and losing mostly fat- rather than both.

    When you are weight training on a calorie deficit, the weight training only helps you maintain as much muscle as possible while losing weight. Also, I've seen a little about that program and it looks good. So no worries! It looks like youre on the right track!
  • Thanks!! I've been worrying about it alot.