Dropped 100lbs in 4 months doing carido. Need advice lifting.

[prfoster27]

So the title says it all. Back in January I weighed 325 pounds and by the end of April I was down to 225 through using the treadmill, or elliptical for at least an hour a day and by changing my diet (lots of veggies, fruits, lean protein, whole grains etc) instead of eating rice or, and fast food every other meal. My eating habits were honestly terrible.

After I reached my goal of losing 100 pounds I began to start lifting. However once I had cut out the hour+ of cardio a day I noticed that the weight was no longer dropping and I was gaining weight. So I ended up doing more cardio again. When I went back on my cardio regiment I got down to about 213. As soon as I hit that weight though, my cousins from Texas came back home to Maryland and asked me to lift with them. After lifting with them the first week I really enjoyed the feeling of lifting and wanted to get stronger. This was 2 weeks ago and over that period of time I have gotten back to 223 which concerns me quite a bit. I would have moments of weakness and weigh myself in the middle of the week and would see that I would lose weight randomly and gain it all back on my actual weighing days. (My diet has been so-so ever since my family has been home because I work on weekdays and eat my usual diet, and eat out with my family on weekends. I don't usually go crazy but I can't really count calories at the places we go.)

All of my athletic friends tell me to just lift weights and cut out the carido because I've come so far and that lifting weights will help me lose weight as well. However all I ever see is weight gain whenever I lift.

tl;dr Can someone please give me some advice or facts about how weight lifting will benefit me?

[PeterGibbons316]

Stop worrying about your weight, and start paying more attention to your body fat. Weight is just a meaningless number when percentage of muscle/fat are not also considered.

The swings you are seeing are more likely water weight, and not actual fat loss/gain. Start tracking your calories: www.myfitnesspal.com use their app if you have a smartphone.

Weightlifting combined with a diet that supports growth will build muscle which will increase your metabolism. Plus you will be stronger, and who doesn't want to be stronger?

Spend more time reading through the stickies here, particularly this one: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981

[mslman71]

You ran an average of a 3000+ kcal/day deficit? Did you have surgery?

So, anyway, I've been through the same thing, 180# in about a year and change. Your weight and metabolism is going to be whacky for a while, and mentally you are going to have a hard time dealing with the inevitable fluctuations that are going to go with trying to find normalcy.

There's nothing wrong with doing cardio, mentally or physically. You might consider diving your time between cardio and strength training. You have to find a balance that you can live with but by the same token you are going to have to talk yourself out of the rapid weight loss hysteria. You are going to gain some weight at the tail end of this diet as you start to eat more sustainable caloric levels but that will settle down with time. Recomposition will be doable for you as long as you are eating well, but again, you have to eat well. You cannot be running huge caloric deficits.

[prfoster27]

[QUOTE=PeterGibbons316;907047803]Stop worrying about your weight, and start paying more attention to your body fat. Weight is just a meaningless number when percentage of muscle/fat are not also considered.

The swings you are seeing are more likely water weight, and not actual fat loss/gain. Start tracking your calories: use their app if you have a smartphone.

Weightlifting combined with a diet that supports growth will build muscle which will increase your metabolism. Plus you will be stronger, and who doesn't want to be stronger?

Spend more time reading through the stickies here, particularly this one: QUOTE]

Thank you very much for you information. I raelly do need to stop working about weight. I always think whenever the scale is lower that I lose fat instead of water weight. I need to keep my head straight.

You ran an average of a 3000+ kcal/day deficit? Did you have surgery?

So, anyway, I've been through the same thing, 180# in about a year and change. Your weight and metabolism is going to be whacky for a while, and mentally you are going to have a hard time dealing with the inevitable fluctuations that are going to go with trying to find normalcy.

There's nothing wrong with doing cardio, mentally or physically. You might consider diving your time between cardio and strength training. You have to find a balance that you can live with but by the same token you are going to have to talk yourself out of the rapid weight loss hysteria. You are going to gain some weight at the tail end of this diet as you start to eat more sustainable caloric levels but that will settle down with time. Recomposition will be doable for you as long as you are eating well, but again, you have to eat well. You cannot be running huge caloric deficits.

A lot of people asked me if I had surgery (I didn't). I usually consumed roughly 1100 calories a day for my duration of running. My cardio usually burnt about 700 calories a day. I never really felt too hungery because I ate throughout the entire day. Protein shake upon rising, and before the gym and 3 small meals with frequent snacks of fruits or yogurt throughout the day to keep me satisfied.

Congrats on your 180 =).

I definitely need to work on keeping focused and dealing with my body's metabolism and weight attempt to achieve normalcy. Thank you for sharing your advice and I will try my hardest to talk myself out of my weight loss hysteria. I will need to learn to accept any weight gain and stop punishing myself at the gym for gaining 2 or 3 pounds. I was just so used to losing so much weight that this turtles pace has really shaken me to the core.