Tone & Tighten?

[awood08]

Any helpful tips for tonning and tightening your body after weight loss? I've lost 64 pounds and while I've worked out these past 6 months between cardio and weight/strength training. I haven't really focused on muscle building. My usual strength training involves using the chest press, bicep curl, tricep extension machines usually 35-40 pounds 3 sets of 15 reps. Using the abdominal crunch machine 4 sets of 15 reps at 65 pounds. Also do intervals of planks with russian twists, flutter kicks, and crunches on the mat. I take Bodystep and Bodyattack twice a week.

I have gradually increased my weight resistance on the machines over time (started out very low). I feel the muscles under the skin on my stomach and in my arms when I flex there is definitely muscle definition, but I still have a few layers of skin/fat that I need to work off. Any help or advice would be appreciated!

[SunsetRunner]

Try moderate indoor spinning  3 -4 days a week using a spin bike.  Purchase cycling shoes to get the most out of each spin session.   

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

First of all, congrats for your impressive weight loss!

Regarding skin tightening, I don’t think there’s much else to do than wait for your body to adjust to its smaller size. It’s probably going to be faster if you are younger rather than older. Building new muscle should help, but it’s a lot slower and harder to add 10 pounds of muscle than it is to lose 10 pounds of fat (in addition to which muscle - which is denser - fills less space than fat). Also, building muscle normally requires a caloric surplus, while losing fat requires a deficit (unless you belong to the happy few who can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, all while eating at a deficit, something known as "body recomposition"). 

[awood08]

Thank you!

Let me ask, not sure if you would know this regarding muscle building. The first 50 pounds came off no problem, the last 14 took alot longer and now I've been stalled out at 171-173 for 3 weeks. Is this the dreaded "plateau" or is it because my body is now building muscle as opposed to loosing fat? I've always heard muscle weighs more than fat but that it also takes alot longer to build up, as you said above.

[Mukluk4]

Based on the limited information, you plateau'd.  I would suggets looking at your caloric intake and ensuring that it's balanced to your new out (not your previous weight).  The other option is to increase your activity, but it seems that you are pretty active to begin with.

[Dominique]

I would also say plateau, but I wouldn’t call it "dreaded": it’s just your body’s natural reaction, its way to ask you take it easier. Weight loss cannot be fully linear.

Muscle gains cannot be linear over time either: you will gain more as a beginner, and it becomes increasingly more difficult and slower as you progress. This article gives some general guidelines about what to expect.

Do you measure your waistline (in addition to weighing yourself)?

[awood08]

Yes I do take body measurements. Have been every other month since day 1.

I am taking the higher intensity options when doing my classes now (instead of jogging in place i'll do the plyometric lunges). And I'm going to gradually add 5 pounds on the machines when working with those. My calorie intake is 1500-1800 per day. Sometimes it's less, just depending on my activity.

I'm 26, 5ft 3 and 171-173 pounds (it fluctuates alot between that range). I have 2 days of high intensity cardio a week and about 2 days of strength and light cardio training.  

[SunsetRunner]

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@awood08 wrote:

Yes I do take body measurements. Have been every other month since day 1.

I am taking the higher intensity options when doing my classes now (instead of jogging in place i'll do the plyometric lunges). And I'm going to gradually add 5 pounds on the machines when working with those. My calorie intake is 1500-1800 per day. Sometimes it's less, just depending on my activity.

I'm 26, 5ft 3 and 171-173 pounds (it fluctuates alot between that range). I have 2 days of high intensity cardio a week and about 2 days of strength and light cardio training.  

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Your calorie intake is too high.   If you find yourself eating more on days you do  high intensity training try something  that doesn't suck up all your energy.  If you want to continue to lose weight you have to keep your muscles shock by doing different excercises.  If running outdoors isn't part of your routine do it once a week.    Watch your sugar intake and avoid eating too much fruits.

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

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Your calorie intake is too high.

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I don’t think her intake is too high: at 26/F, 5ft 3, 171 her BMR alone is 1485. With her activity level, she probably burns another 1000 on top of that.

[Mukluk4]

What are you doing on your two "off" days?  That may be your culprit.

[SunsetRunner]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

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Your calorie intake is too high.

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I don’t think her intake is too high: at 26/F, 5ft 3, 171 her BMR alone is 1485. With her activity level, she probably burns another 1000 on top of that.

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Her calorie intake should be under 1200 per day given her height. In comparison,  I'm 6'1 and weigh 174 and don't take in 1500-1800 calories per day.  Even on a cheat day, I don't get close to 1500 calories.  She definately do not need 1500- 1800 calories on a regular day unless she's training to be a bodybuilder.     

She can drink more water to feel fuller.  At  her height she do not need that many calories per day.  If her fitness routine is making her hungrier she has to make changes.

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

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In comparison,  I'm 6'1 and weigh 174 and don't take in 1500-1800 calories per day.  Even on a cheat day, I don't get close to 1500 calories.

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At 37/M, 6'1, 174, your BMR is 1768 (check it here). Your activity level (based on your profile) probably adds a lot on top of that. In fact, your calorie expenditure is visible on your profile and shows an average of 3000 over the past 30 days (with quite a few days at 4500+). How can you not take in more than 1500-1800, if you expend double that amount?! There’s no way a guy your age and your size can maintain his weight with 1500 calories. You’re probably underestimating your intake by a lot, if you believe it’s 1500-1800.

[awood08]

Fitbit calculates my calorie burn as 2000 to 2500 on my active days so at 1500-1800 i'm eating at a 500-700 calorie deficit each day. On my "off" days I burn around 1500 calories and usually take in around 1000-1200. So it's still at a deficit, and my off days it's not just me sitting on the couch for a movie binge. Instead of the gym after work on those days, I catch up on all my housework and cleaning, laundry, take the kids to the ball field and dance class. So i'm still running around just not in the gym sweating it and pushing myself to the max.

[Mukluk4]

Based on what you are saying it doesn't add up to the results.  I would reverify your calorie intake and potentially your calorie outtage as something is off.  Are you weighing yourself daily? twice a day?  If not, I would start daily as most likely your off days are the culprit and you are spiking up in weight and working it off on your "active days"

[awood08]

I weigh myself daily, have been since I started. I log every single thing, even liquids if they aren't water. If I have a cup of coffee with cream and sugar or even a diet coke (usually once a week for each) I log it. I know i'm not missing calories somewhere. If my outage is being overshot too much then I'm not sure what to do because i'm relying on Fitbit for that.

[Mukluk4]

Math never lies, so the inputs to that equation are wrong in some way.

[Dominique]

I think you should give your body a break by eating at maintenance and reducing cardio a bit. This would allow it to recover from the cumulative stress caused by six month of heavy dieting (as shown by your weight loss) and of heavy exercise (I assume you were either sedentary, or exercising a lot less when you started your weight loss journey). All this (diet + exercise) is very taxing. You can start a second bout of fat loss later on, and should be able to break through your current plateau more easily.

[awood08]

I started intermittent fasting a few days ago and replaced my Thursday Bodystep class for a full 45 mins of weights and ab work and I weighed in this morning at 169. I know I was eating what I should and logging what I should, I guess my body just needed a change from the same old routine.

[Dominique]

But you’re still submitting your body to a hefty deficit, via nutrition and exercise? One that has been going on uninterrupted for already six months?

[awood08]

What would you define as hefty? My general deficit for the week is anywhere from 3500 to 7000 depending on day to day. In the past I've hit these little stops in loosing weight and I always change something up. Excercise program, calorie intake for a few days, macronutrient changes...my body always seems to reset itself after I shake it up a bit.

I'm not as concerned about the scale number my hard work and progress is not defined solely on the number at my feet, if I don't drop pounds one week but I lose inches, it's still a win. I looked back and I've lost 2 inches in the past 3 weeks, although the scale was in between 171-173 I still was loosing inches. To me, that tells me I'm doing something right.