I'm ready to make a huge weight lifting change...

Okay -
I'm here to listen to what you all have to say. 
Here are my stats:  5'4", 33yrs old, female, 140 lbs.

I've been cardio queen since about the end of June.  I've lost about 20 pounds.  Actually - I might not exactly be solely the cardio queen per say - I lost all this weight by changing my eating habits and jogging 3.75 miles 5 days a week, sometimes 6.  I know technically jogging is cardio - but the hills are hard, and I honestly feel like I've built up muscle in my quads.  Occassionally I'll take a spin class, and I walk a lot.  School is a mile away.  I'm prepared to hear that I've lost muscle with my approach to slimming down.  I do care about muscle, but I dropped down nearly 3 sizes and I'm super happy about it.  I feel really good - I see a little definition in my arms and shoulders, and even my upper abs look like they aren't far away from making an appearance.  When I flex my legs, I'm in love with my quads. 

I know I can't keep this jogging routine and expect to keep seeing results.  I know that our bodies get used to things.  Right now it's just really working for me.

I'm really trying to trust all the posts I've read about weight training and make the leap.  I'd really like to try lifting weights three days a week without doing any cardio on those days (except for a little 5 minute warm up) and then spend the other three days jogging.  It'll be an every-other-day thing with lots of stretching.

For the weight training, I'd split my body up into three sets of muscles and try to do three sets of 12 reps, or maybe 8 reps for each exercise.  I actually had a similar routine years ago where I had an abs and back day, an arms and shoulders day, and a legs and butt day.  I'm willing to try heavier weights - although 10 lb free weights is a huge step up for me with regards to tricep exercises and shoulder presses.  I'll likely use some machines even though I know they don't offer the same results as free weights, but I'm concerned about my form.  Yes, I know you can accomplish poor form on machines too, but I have a really hard time doing a proper squat on my own.  That's just an example.

I'd really like to know what to expect within the first 2 weeks.  I'm guessing it will take 4 to 5 weeks before I see any real changes in my physique - but it's those first couple weeks I'm really worried about.  I know it's also time for me to change my eating habits again if I want to support this change.  My protien is low.  I don't really count calories per say.  I just watch what I eat and I've been losing about a pound to a pound and a half a week.  The first week back in June I lost 5 pounds, but 2 pounds in one week is the most I've lost since.  I'm happy with that, and I'm not obsessed with the pounds.  I'm already aware that muscle weighs more and I might see a gain in pounds but a drop in inches.  That's fine.  I also think that I won't really be able to build any muscle if I have a calorie deficit.  That's going to be tough because I really don't care for calorie counting, but I understand that it is probably something I'm just going to have to get used to if I'm serious about making these changes.  Ultimately, those are my goal.  I want to build enough muscle to see some more definition, and slim down at the same time. 

Any comments you may have are welcome.

You're worried about the first two weeks? Honestly if you can really see much/anything after two weeks I'd be amazed. If it only took two weeks to see changes motivation would be easy.

 

Relax. Enjoy.  It takes time. Just try to push a little harder every week.

I guess I'm just worried that I'll see a really abrupt stop to my current weight loss.

Well you may see the lbs stop dropping but that can be any number of things.  Muscle gain, when your muscles are strained they tend to retain a lot of water while they repair making it seem like you have gained weight.  Don't worry about lbs.  Worry about inches and how your clothes fit.

You should really learn to do a squat without a machine.  If there is any machine that can hurt you its those ones cause they don't allow you natural movement.  Get a trainer for a couple of sessions to show you form.  T-Nation and bodybuilding.com, and stumptuous.com also have great sections to show you proper form and lots and lots of advice.

Good luck and welcome to the world of iron loving broads!!!

You can always do dumbbell squats. This way if things go wrong just drop them and make a loud noise. Not a big deal. Barbell squats without a cage aren't my idea of fun.

From everything I've read about gaining muscle (and I've read a lot!), it is almost impossible for your body to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.  Basically, to lose fat, your body needs to be "catatonic" as in tearing-down mode; to gain muscle, your body needs to be "anabolic" as in building-up mode.  In other words, if your body can store muscle, it will also be able to store fat.  So, you'll need to give your body more calories than it needs to maintain if you want to gain muscle.  This is why bodybuilders cycle through "bulk up" and then "slim down" times.  Continuing to lift weight while slimming down will convince your body to burn fat, not muscle... so, you'll keep the muscle you gain while slimming even though you won't increase the muscle.

Thanks for your reply -
I really wanted to drop most of the weight first before I started seriously weight training, which is essentially what I did, but others on this site will disagree with my methods.  I still have some fat stores larger than I'd like them to be in the normal areas women tend to have them. 

I've always heard that the more lean muscle mass you have, the faster you metablism will be which in turn will contribute to weight loss, but I guess I've just been afraid to fully commit to this approach because I know the cardio way works for me.  It's kind of like doing tons of ab exercises to build up a six pack that you can't see because you've got a layer of fat and water on top of them.   So I do prefer the  "lose weight first, build muscle second" approach.  I may never have well defined abs because I'm probably not willing to drop down to an ultra low body fat percentage, but I think I'm capable of doing what it takes to see more definition in my arms and legs.

It helps for me to equate the calories burned doing aerobic exercise (cardio) with cutting food calories.  So, you're right, you will need to keep doing what you're doing to maintain.

If you put on muscle, it takes more calories to maintain that muscle; hence, less cardio or dieting is necessary.  I've read that it's anywhere from 10 to 30 calories per day per pound of muscle.  

A benefit of that is that it will take less time to maintain your body with the additional muscle.  That's worth it to me!

So, put on 10 pounds of muscle across your body, and you may be able to cut your cardio time in half.  Remember that muscle takes up far less space than fat, so it's not that you'll look all pumped up from that 10 pounds.

pixyz, I think you've done the right approach and yes it's time to add wgts to your exercise program, although you could/should have been doing them all along.

But better late than never!

I've been using a combo of wgts and cardio since January and have lost 43 lbs and 50 inches....However, as the wgt came off I cut back on the cardio and increased the lifting.  I sit do enough cardio to promote a healty cardio/vascular system but not so much that I'm sacrificing alot of muscle.

Log your foods and pay particular attention to your protein.  You need protein to repair your muscles.  There is a debate over the necessary protein levels needed to sustain/develop muscle.  I stick closely to the 1g protein/1lb body wgt. 

This link will help with tons of exercises and the videos will show you the proper form... to me it's like the Bible of lifting.

http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

In the first couple of weeks you'll probably be sore as heck but just keep doing it and the soreness and stiffness will regulate itself.  It will take 6-8 weeks of dedicated lifting before you see much in the way of results.  Of course that is all dependent upon your diet and your lifting intensity.

Try to have a high protein shake w/in 30 min of lifting.  It helps the muscles recoup. 

I wouldn't recommend long cardio on your non lifting days...Let your muscles burn your fat now.. it's alot more efficient!