Thoughts on weight and working out

I have actually been doing really good on my Weight Watchers lately. I am not sure how much I have lost but I am thinking it is 35- 40 lbs now. (I still am not sure about my scale.) I have a few pairs of jeans where I know I have gained if I am muffin topping when I put them on, all 3 are wearable just a little tight in the legs. One of the pairs has never even been worn. (They are $225 jeans that I found for $60! A must buy in my book.) The biggest thing that I have been doing is working out. I even lifted weights one day, upper body. I am planning on lifting lower today after I run for 30 min. I can't tell you the changes I see when I am following my points and working out.

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Are any of you scared of bulking up when you lift weights?

My hubby majored in health and exercise science and knows quite a bit about personal training so I will share what he has taught me. Woman don't have the same hormones that men do, we are missing the ones that will make us bulk up like men do when they lift. (Body builder women who look like men are taking steroids) The more muscle you build the more calories you will burn through out the day. You can't tone your body, you just build muscle or you don't. You also don't burn fat in just one place, you loose fat all over your body, it just is more noticeable in spots where more fat is present. I know that most of these are the opposite of what we have always been told so they may seem a little strange.

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I have learned from the facts that he has taught me is that lifting weights will really help us get to our goals. Going to the gym and lifting very light weights a tons of times will only have the equivalent of a slow walk, lifting heavy weights will really burn the calories that you want and give you results you can see.

Next time you are at the gym notice what the women who you want to look like are doing. Are they just lifting 5 lb weight or are they really pushing themselves by lifting enough that they can't lift the same weight more than 9-10 times? Also notice that the ones who are lifting are not huge but look great, like you strive to. They also can eat more calories a day because muscle burns calories. If you want what you did at the gym to continue working after you leave you have to build muscle.

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When I was lifting on a regular basis my measurement were less than they are now even though I may weigh less now. The more muscle you have the better clothes will look on you and the skinnier you will be. People see skinny not your actual weight.

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Also since I have started Weight Watchers I have realized how terrible fad diets are and how they set you up to fail. I tried a few and they always had terrible results after I quit. I also watch my friends try them and always fail miserably. Whenever you are restricted it will be impossible to stick to it. I watched a friend skip all the food at a Christmas party and eat a stash of nuts, she is cutting out sugar, dairy and caffeine. The problem with that is she most likely ate her entire days calories while she was sitting there. How long can that truly last?

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I hope this all make sense and give you something to think about.