From Cardio to Weights, Changing my Perspective

[SunsetRunner]

Two years ago I started my weight loss journey and lost 40 pounds going from 186 to 146 with the tracking benefits of Fitbit. This change has been so invigorating and I've loved every minute of this process. My problem is getting my mind from the mentality of weight loss to muscle gain. 

To to lose the weight, I started with heavy cardio and yoga and have since moved towards a combo of cardio, yoga, and weights during the last six or so months. 

I've read all the articles and I can obviously see the results, in muscle tone and my rep weight, but when I see the scale go up and not down anymore I get a little freaked out. 

From others who have gone through this change, do you have any recommendations? I want to keep building, but the scale is something that's stressing me out during the adventure.

This all being said, I recently got a body fat measuring tool and I do know that this is a positive direction for my life and body, but I'm trying to learn how to change my way of thinking from weight loss to muscle build. Any advice is appreciated. 

Thx, 

Robyn

[Esya]

Do you have a scale that also shows fat %? Cause then it might be easier to try and focus on that number instead of the weight. When my weight goes up but my fat % goes down, I actually feel like my work is paying off nowadays. And it takes time to change your way of thinking. Just kindly remind yourself what your goal is.

[Dominique]

First of all, I’m glad to see you’ve added weights to cardio, rather than switching from cardio to weights (which the title of your post suggested). Many people seem to view cardio and weight training as mutually exclusive (it’s either one or the other), whereas there are clearly benefits in doing both.

If you have reached your weight goal (e.g. are now in the normal weight range as per BMI), my advice would be to set a range within which your weight is allowed to fluctuate (I personally use 5 kg, or 11 lb) and alternate between "bulking" phases (during which the focus is on gaining muscle) and "cutting" phases (during which the focus is on losing fat). It’s almost impossible (or at least very hard and suboptimal) to do both (lose fat, build muscle) at the same time, which is why it makes sense (IMO) to focus on them one at a time.

With that approach, you have to accept you will gain a bit of fat during bulking phases, but you know there’s an upper limit and you’ll be able to lose fat again when you reach it. And you’ll be enjoying eating at a (small) surplus and making strength gains. When cutting, you’ll have to accept you won’t add much muscle mass (though you may still make strength gain as a relatively newbie lifter), but you should see your waistline shrinking (it’s one of the best indicators of changes in body fat in my experience). So whichever phase you’re in, there are positive aspects to motivate you.