Dovetailing off Kitten Love's questions

Kitten Love's question has really intrigued me because I am really starting to ramp up my exercise with more cardio and more weights and I was wondering the same thing.  But for me, I still want to lose 10+ pounds but also want to become more defined.  I have pretty good arm definitions but I feel like my thighs are too flabby to see the muscle underneath.  I have not lost weight in over 3 months and have maintained within +/- 2 pounds.  any suggestions for me? 

Currently I am working out 6 days a week.  I generally do about 30-45 minutes of cardio and then lift for about 30-45 minutes.  I am only lifting about 3 days a week.  On days I don't lift I will do an hour of cardio, working on different machines, like the elliptical for part of the time and the stair climber for the rest.  Do you think I need to lift more days?  I am lifting heavy enough weights that those last couple of reps are a real strain.  What can I do to finally get these last 10 pounds off and start to develop more muscle definition. 

BTW, I am 45 and am only 5'2 and currently weigh 135.  I wear a size P6 and a medium top.  My belly is really flabby and I feel like my thighs are still really huge.  Anyway, just to give you some back up info.

Would love any help you guys can give me!

You may need to put the scale away.  You may actually be at goal (for your body, not the number you desire). 

Concentrate on health.  Period.  Continue to do what you are doing to further build muscle and burn fat.  If the number on the scale stays the same, so be it.  Based on the clothing sizes you are wearing, it sounds like you might be there.

I have lots of muscle definition, but you cannot see it in my flabby thighs or my midsection.  But the key is that I feel great and strong and healthy.

Congrats on your success and for making physical fitness a part of your life--it really is the key to long term weight maintenance.

Kim

I think there is a lot of confusion about this. First of all, you can't really "tone" muscles. (Not that you said you wanted to, but lots of people ask how to do that here. LOL)

You can make them bigger or smaller and/or stronger. So, at the end, people think "I'm flabby so I need to firm up" but you are flabby because you still have fat. And we have the added variable of loose skin. That kind of flab can't really be exercised away.

Maybe your muscles could be built-up more too but most likely you don't actually want to do that. You actually want to break down the fat so what muscles you already have can show up.

Body builders understand that and they work in phases. For the first phase, they build up their muscles. During this phase, they eat at a calorie surplus! For the second phase, they burn fat. (And eat at a deficit.) When they burn fat, the muscle definition comes through.

Also, the "flab" in your stomach is probably loose skin and deflated fat cells (that can't lose any more fat) so the only way to get rid of it is to have it cut off via Plastic Surgery.

So I would do as much strength training as you need to be as strong as you want to be. I wouldn't worry about how big your muscles get. We're women so they aren't going to get huge and, even if they get bigger than they are now, they won't show up until you lose more fat. Then, do cardio for the rest to burn the fat. Finally, accept that you will have a certain amount of loose skin and this will make you look less fit than someone who works out without having lost tons of weight. Or... don't accept it and have PS.

Here's an example of how it worked for me:

I lost a lot of weight in my arms right away so my muscles showed there right away. My other muscles hardly showed at all. Then I went through a period of *heavy* strength training. My goal was to get stronger (for biking mostly). I didn't care if my muscles got bigger or not. But they did get bigger. Then I slowly ramped down the strength training to a maintenance level and ramped up my cardio.

This caused me to "lean out" and my muscles in my calves became more visible. My muscles in my arms already were more visible because I already had so little fat there. But my calves still had fat so the end result was more muscles but a smaller size! For my thighs, I can tell I have more muscles but you can't see them. The loose skin hides the definition. My thighs are the same size - I built up as much volume in muscles as I used to have in fat. Tummy is the same size. Back is bigger -- I had almost no fat there and the muscles take up more space. Same with my waist and hip. I can tell I have less fat but my measurements are bigger than a year ago.

Overall, my weight is higher - I went up from about 112-113 at my lowest, 115-117 at my steady weight to 119-122 with my new muscles. But I fit in my clothes about the same and haven't changed what size I wear.

So it's not always about the number on the scale... once you get into a normal range and your body fat % is reasonable, it's all about body fat to muscle ratio. Let's put it this way: I've weighed 117-119 and had my smallest clothes be tight and I've weighed 120-124 and had those same clothes be loose!

Thanks so much for your response.  This is exactly the explanation I was looking for.  A couple questions, though.  When you say you did heavy  weightlifting, what exactly do you mean?  Did you lift heavier weights with fewer reps?  did you lift your max?  How often should I be lifting?  I tend to lift 3 days a week, but I also do cardio 6 days a week.  On days I lift, I don't do as much cardio.  Should I increase my weight days or cardio days?  I understand about the fat so I know I need to burn more fat.  I joined our local Y and they use a program called activetrax.  Each day I lift I pull up a new set of exercises.  These are generally a combo of free weights and the machines.  Each day will target different areas and I generally spend about 45 minutes doing the exercises.  

Anyway, thanks for all your help and insight.

So when I said I went through a phase of heavy lifting, I meant I was lifting a lot. I went from 1-2 days a week to 4-5 days.

But I almost always lift heavy. It's the most efficient way to build up muscles and get stronger.

I also don't do a lot of traditional lifting with machines at the gym. I use kettlebells and Crossfit exercises and also I have a TRX strap. I do Olympic lifting -- deadlights and push presses -- so that's more traditional.