6 Responses to “How to exercise and lose weight and not gain muscle?”

1. gvr says:

   May 13, 2010 at 7:04 pm

   do you wrestle? why do you care how much you weigh?
2. dirtyDan says:

   May 13, 2010 at 7:19 pm

   It’ll be tough just burning the fat but long cardio sessions at a slow-medium pace will burn mostly fat. Do 1-1.5 hrs 3-4 times per week as soon as you wake up.
3. heartfruitsalad says:

   May 13, 2010 at 7:34 pm

   While muscle does weigh more then fat, you’ll still want to increase the amount of muscle you have to loose weight because a pound of muscle also burns more calories at rest then fat so you’ll if you get more muscles you’ll burn more calories just sitting around and over time weight loss will be easier. On top of that, once you’ve lost weight you’ll want the muscle to may yourself look lean.

   It takes a lot of work to build muscle and it’s unlikely that you will gain muscle faster then you will loose weight (unless you’re actively body building). Eat a practical diet and be active.
4. Orla C says:

   May 13, 2010 at 7:58 pm

   Muscle does weigh more than fat, but it takes up a fraction of the space. If you do running, pilates, yoga, weights training to tone, you won’t develop huge bulky muscles, instead you will lose the bulk of the fat on your body, and most of the excess weight.

   Muscle is good because it burns the energy that would otherwise be turned into fat.

   What you need to do is watch what you’re eating. Keep a food diary and talk to your trainer about it. There will probably be things you can cut down on, other things you can increase, and things you might want to keep for very occasional treats, and of course there are foods that you can eat as much as you want of.
5. kellifromkeller says:

   May 13, 2010 at 8:22 pm

   you will gian muscle and lose fat.. do you want to be skinny and jiggly?? (thats called skinny fat and even though you are thin will still not be healthy) I am so sick of girls being worried of gaining muscle… guys like the toned look and clothes look and fit better and toned skin then flabby skinny skin… muscle is denser than fat which means that it takes less muscle to reach a pound than it does for fat… but muscle takes up less space than fat. not to mention that having muscle actually helps you lose fat faster!!! why in the world would you want to just lose weight? a person who weighs 120 and is toned looks better and will wear a smaller size than a person who is 120 and jiggly…

   You need to eat lean meats (chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef) , low gi fruits (apples, bananas, pineapple, oranges), green veggies (broccoli, celery, green lettuce, spinach), only whole wheat breads (look on the package and see if the first ingredient is whole wheat flour, if it is it should be good unless it has high fructose corn syrup like Mrs Bairds does). Jillian Michaels from biggest loser has a great quote, “before you eat your food ask yourself, does it have a momma or did it come from the ground? If not don’t eat it.” Eat 5 – 6 small meals a day, this will increase your metabolism and help you to not feel so hungry in between meals. It’s all about portion and calorie control regardless of what food you are eating, but remember cleaning up your diet and eating X amount of calories of lean good healthy foods instead of X amount of calories of candy bars (I know you are probably not eating 4 candy bars a day but its just an example) will help you lose it faster. The leaner you are eating the faster you will lose it, and you will get a toned healthy look instead of a skinny jiggly look. You also need to drink at least 8 glasses (8oz) of water a day. Sometimes hunger is mistaken for thirst so if you are hungry drink 8 oz of water and wait 30 minutes, if you are still hungry then eat a light healthy snack. Water also helps you feel fuller longer and helps flush out toxins that may prevent fat loss. Also allow your self a cheat day (but don’t go over board and eat everything in sight or like 5 cakes in that day). Allowing yourself a cheat day once a week will help cut out cravings… Think of it like a reward if you did well with your diet and exercise that week have a piece of pie… If not just stick with you healthy food. You can find recipes for decent tasting healthy foods on sights like bodyforlife.com and bodybuilding.com and also on recipe sights like allrecipes.com, foodfit.com, cookinglight.com and foodnetwork.com

   You need to do a good mix of both cardio and strength training, strength training is not going to make you look like Arnold, I promise (unless you are taking test). Toning and building muscle strength will help you lose fat quicker as you will be burning calories all day to feed your muscle tone instead of just while you doing cardio activity and it increases metabolism. Running, walking, rollerblading, swimming are good cardio work outs. You can also get some at home videos. I personally like Gilad’s Kick boxing, ten minute solutions videos (ten minute solutions are good because they have 5 ten minute segments and you can do one or all five or three or what ever you want to do at the time and they have a variety, like dance, pilates, yoga, etc.), shape and woman’s health videos. Get your self some 5 pound dumbbells or a gym member ship and do bicep curls, push ups, sit ups, squats, dead lifts, lunges, tricep over head extensions, chest presses, shoulder presses, etc. You can do most of this on your own if you just go and buy some free weights, but a gym membership is helpful as well. If you do end up getting a gym membership I would consult a personal trainer (most memberships come with a free session) they can show you what to do and come up with a meal plan for you… You can find the videos I mentioned on the web at collagevideo.com, or at ross (cheap cheap at ross) or walmart or any other place that sells dvds.

   Lastly, don’t get discouraged, it takes time… you should be losing 2 pounds of fat a week safely, more is not typically safe. but you could gain weight especially if you are gaining muscle. So if you get on the scale and it says you’ve gain two pounds don’t freak out… just look in the mirror and go by how your clothes look and feel on you. Hope this helps! email me if you have any other questions!
6. Johnny B says:

   May 13, 2010 at 9:04 pm

   It is true that muscle weighs more than fat. However, building muscle is still a good thing if you want to lose weight. Building muscle increases your body’s metabolism. This means that by adding a little muscle to your frame, you can start burning fat even when you’re not working out! Sounds pretty cool, right?

   Now if you’re scared that you’re going to gain more muscle weight than the weight you lose in fat, that’s understandable. But let me tell you that if you are overweight at the moment and you start a regular exercise regimen, you will for sure lose a lot more fat weight than you will gain muscle weight. There are a TON of guys out there that wished gaining muscle was that easy, but it’s not. It takes a lot of hard work and persistence, and it is generally much easier to lose excess fat than it is to put on pounds of muscle.

   So, as far as what you should focus on if you’re trying to lose weight? Cardiovascular workouts like running, swimming, biking, etc. are the best for burning calories, and they will help you burn fat. However, non-cardiovascular workouts like lifting weights will help build muscle. Building muscle raises your metabolism, which turns your body into a 24/7 fat burning machine whether you are working out or not.

   Some people say you should just stick to one or the other, but if you are really serious about losing weight and getting into shape, doing both has been shown to help people lose weight more than 2.5 times faster than doing just one or the other.

   Whatever you choose to do, try to do something that you enjoy! If you hate your workouts, chances of quitting are high, but if you do something that you enjoy, it is more than easy to keep it up!

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