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what Gym exercises to lose weight and tone up??
- Thread starter CAZZ
- Start date
Diet is generally good, low fat, good protein intake, maybe a little high on carbs, my weakness is for sugary things, sweets etc... thats a bad point of it.
i had been on weights watchers a while back and dropped some weight, since then for the last year ive been working out in my gym and had some good results, just seem to have plateaued now though. i have been concentrating mainly on cardio with some light weights also up to this point.
i had been on weights watchers a while back and dropped some weight, since then for the last year ive been working out in my gym and had some good results, just seem to have plateaued now though. i have been concentrating mainly on cardio with some light weights also up to this point.
Frisco Chick
New member
Good one spatts,Looks like i'm not the only one that wants to know how to get results....
Welcome to the board! Everyone reaches plateaus at different points in their training. That means it's time to take another look at your training and diet.
Contrary to popular belief, muscle is not "bulky". Muscle is denser than fat. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. Light weights won't build muscle. Use a weight that you can get between 8-10 reps out of. When you feel you can get more than 10 reps, increase the weight.
Diet is extremely important. Traditional weight-loss diets are all about deprivation and how few calories you eat. While bodyweight may drop, it usually includes muscle tissue as well as fat, so as a person continues to diet, their metabolism gets slower and slower.
A training diet is a whole new mindset - you must make sure you get sufficient calories and nutrients for muscle growth/retention, but not so many that you store body fat. You also want to make sure you get the most mileage from every calorie. The nutritional value of the food you eat has a direct effect on the quality of your training.
I have a sweet tooth too, and my life just would not be worth living without chocolate chip cookies. So I accomodate this in my diet w/in limits, and I don't feel any deprivation. Honestly, eating a better diet has made me crave sweets far less than I used to. (I never believed anyone who told me that.)
It's time to take it to the next level and shift your concentration from cardio to weights. You don't have to abandon cardio. You'll still want to do enough to maintain cardiovascular fitness, which means you can probably get by with less than you're doing now. Too much cardio can burn valuable muscle, and that's detrimental to fat loss. Cardio only burns calories while you're doing it, muscle burns calories ALL the time. Weights are what will change your body. Building muscle will give you shape and hardness. Adding muscle will make it easier to reduce excess bodyfat, because more muscle = higher metabolism.
Contrary to popular belief, muscle is not "bulky". Muscle is denser than fat. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. Light weights won't build muscle. Use a weight that you can get between 8-10 reps out of. When you feel you can get more than 10 reps, increase the weight.
Diet is extremely important. Traditional weight-loss diets are all about deprivation and how few calories you eat. While bodyweight may drop, it usually includes muscle tissue as well as fat, so as a person continues to diet, their metabolism gets slower and slower.
A training diet is a whole new mindset - you must make sure you get sufficient calories and nutrients for muscle growth/retention, but not so many that you store body fat. You also want to make sure you get the most mileage from every calorie. The nutritional value of the food you eat has a direct effect on the quality of your training.
I have a sweet tooth too, and my life just would not be worth living without chocolate chip cookies. So I accomodate this in my diet w/in limits, and I don't feel any deprivation. Honestly, eating a better diet has made me crave sweets far less than I used to. (I never believed anyone who told me that.)
Gladiola
New member
Just wanna chime in here with some more input. Yup, sugar is EVIL - stay away from it. I have found consistently that I can have an extra 200 cals of fats some days (nuts, olive oil, etc.) & keep loosing - but 2 chocolate chip cookies for a 200 cal total & FORGET IT - up goes the body fat.
Think good (unsaturated) fat, lean protein, and CLEAN, all natural, unprocessed carbs (sweet potato, potato with skin, brown rice, oatmeal, veggies, some fruits, etc.) CLOSE TO NATURE is key.
To make sure you get enough protein (a challenge for me, I'm not fond of it) & enough fats, try www.fitday.com - awesome & free.
I highly recommend the sticky at the top of this forum - 'top 10 reasons women need weight training." it was originally posted on www.ideafit.com - I recommend sending it to friends as well!
I love how the doc has done strength training studies with thousands of women & NEVER had one complain about 'bulking up'.
Think good (unsaturated) fat, lean protein, and CLEAN, all natural, unprocessed carbs (sweet potato, potato with skin, brown rice, oatmeal, veggies, some fruits, etc.) CLOSE TO NATURE is key.
To make sure you get enough protein (a challenge for me, I'm not fond of it) & enough fats, try www.fitday.com - awesome & free.
I highly recommend the sticky at the top of this forum - 'top 10 reasons women need weight training." it was originally posted on www.ideafit.com - I recommend sending it to friends as well!
I love how the doc has done strength training studies with thousands of women & NEVER had one complain about 'bulking up'.
