question about muscle

now that i've lost the weight that i wanted, i'd like to build or strengthen
muscle (not to an extreme extent, but "softly") that i might have lost when
reducing calories. i was about 135 lbs or so at 5'7 and probably lost about 1
lb per week (sometimes more, sometimes less i suppose-- i didn't really keep
track, but it happened over the summer months and a little bit into september).
i'm now around 118-120 lbs, though i had only planned to be 125 lbs. this is
borderline underweight, i think, and i have no idea how much muscle mass i
might have lost in that time (does anyone?). i have relatively nice calf
muscles and abs, if that means anything.

what is the best way to do this without joining a gym? i.e. what kind of
weights should i use, and how often/how long should i lift them? i have 5 lb
ankle weights already. i also walk almost everywhere i go everyday, somewhat
uphill (though it will be less in the next month while i'm home for break), so
i get some exercise from that as well.

thanks.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.

also, i meant to add that if i can tone muscles with other exercises, that
would actually be better. for example, crunches and other exercises that are
not aerobic. i'm just looking for advice on a good way to "tone" muscles
without spending too much money.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.

also, i meant to add that if i can tone muscles with other exercises, that
would actually be better. for example, crunches and other exercises that are
not aerobic. i'm just looking for advice on a good way to "tone" muscles
without spending too much money.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.

Sarandipidy wrote:
also, i meant to add that if i can tone muscles with other exercises, that
would actually be better. for example, crunches and other exercises that are
not aerobic. i'm just looking for advice on a good way to "tone" muscles
without spending too much money.

Go read Mistress Krista's stuff at
http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html, in particular the page under
Workouts called "No Weights? No Problem."

Good luck!

Dally

"Sarandipidy" wrote in message
...
now that i've lost the weight that i wanted, i'd like to build or
strengthen
muscle (not to an extreme extent, but "softly") that i might have lost
when
reducing calories. i was about 135 lbs or so at 5'7 and probably lost
about 1
lb per week (sometimes more, sometimes less i suppose-- i didn't really
keep
track, but it happened over the summer months and a little bit into
september).
i'm now around 118-120 lbs, though i had only planned to be 125 lbs. this
is
borderline underweight, i think, and i have no idea how much muscle mass i
might have lost in that time (does anyone?). i have relatively nice calf
muscles and abs, if that means anything.

Without before and after bodyfat percentages there is really no way of
knowing. My guess would be 5 to 8 pounds of muscle loss.

what is the best way to do this without joining a gym? i.e. what kind of
weights should i use, and how often/how long should i lift them? i have 5
lb
ankle weights already. i also walk almost everywhere i go everyday,
somewhat
uphill (though it will be less in the next month while i'm home for
break), so
i get some exercise from that as well.

As briefly as possible: some exercises I would recommend would be body
weight squats, body weight lunges, push-ups, and chin-ups (if you can manage
them). These exercises will work all the major muscle groups in your body.
In general perform 1-3 sets of 5-15 reps of each exercise resting 1-3
minutes between sets and exercises. Do this routine 3 times per week with at
least one day of rest between workouts.

There is a push-up progression to follow he
http://www.stumptuous.com/pushup.html. This whole site is a great
introduction to the world of strength training for women but you will have
to get over your aversion to gyms and weights to get the most benefit. The
author of this site is a regular poster on misc.fitness.weights.

There is a chin-up progression to follow he
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....e=body_100back

Best of luck.

Hi Sara,

Did you lose the weight primarily by watching what you ate, or did you
combine a low calorie diet with rigorous exercise? If it is the latter,
you should have developed some muscles as you were losing weight.

Also, a question to ASD: when you gain muscle, isn't it true that your
body burns more calories to maintain the muscle as muscle takes up more
energy than fat?

HS

Her Subj. wrote:

Also, a question to ASD: when you gain muscle, isn't it true that your
body burns more calories to maintain the muscle as muscle takes up more
energy than fat?

Yes. Another way to put it is that building muscle causes your basal
metabolic rate to rise. You just burn more calories 24/7 when you've
got muscle. This is one reason men get to eat more calories and lose
weight easier: they've naturally tend to have higher LBM (lean body mass.)

Dally

Did you lose the weight primarily by watching what you ate, or did you
combine a low calorie diet with rigorous exercise?

unfortunately, primarily watching what i ate. the exercise i did was not
rigorous-- just what i normally did. walking and some weight-less
squats/crunches/etc. in my house. and sometimes i did some jogging. it was the
summer.

i really have never gone on any kind of diet in my life (i've always been
skinny, and 135 is pretty slim anyway, i just got a little nervous about it
because it was so foreign to me) and i ate too much during a stressful semester
at college. i should have just cut out things more slowly. still, i hope that
the 1200-1300 calories i ate a day can't be considered a "crash diet" because i
wanted to reach 122-125 lbs (small-frame) from a relatively low weight and it's
not like i was below 1000 or anything. i seem to have lost these pounds at a
healthy rate-- about 1 lb per week. i'm wondering, though,if i lost too much
muscle from not doing any muscle work.

i actually need help with this and i'm hoping that some of you here know what
to do. i would not be adverse to gaining 5 lbs right now, because i think that
my weight right now is probably not ideal. i've been slowly upping my calorie
intake, and i'm at about 1400-1500 now, sometimes reaching 1600, still walking
everywhere (at least 20 minutes per day, from class to dinner, etc.) so getting
a small amount of exercise daily. overall, i think 1500-1800 is probably my
ideal average. but am i going to gain all this weight back, even if i add some
muscle training for a couple days a week and keep walking? or, if i actually
*did* mess with my metabolism, would i eventually even out at a 5 or 6 lb gain,
instead of reaching something like 135?

i'm sorry-- i've checked google and the archives of this group and i still
can't find much advice on what to do if you might have *already* made dieting
mistakes and want to keep any damage minimal. i still don't really know
where the calorie/nutrient line is drawn for "crash dieting" or "yo-yo
dieting." i have not gone back to my old habits of eating too many fried foods
and other junk, or just too much food in general, nor do i plan to; i just want
to make sure that i can eat at some normal maintenance level.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.

Did you lose the weight primarily by watching what you ate, or did you
combine a low calorie diet with rigorous exercise?

unfortunately, primarily watching what i ate. the exercise i did was not
rigorous-- just what i normally did. walking and some weight-less
squats/crunches/etc. in my house. and sometimes i did some jogging. it was the
summer.

i really have never gone on any kind of diet in my life (i've always been
skinny, and 135 is pretty slim anyway, i just got a little nervous about it
because it was so foreign to me) and i ate too much during a stressful semester
at college. i should have just cut out things more slowly. still, i hope that
the 1200-1300 calories i ate a day can't be considered a "crash diet" because i
wanted to reach 122-125 lbs (small-frame) from a relatively low weight and it's
not like i was below 1000 or anything. i seem to have lost these pounds at a
healthy rate-- about 1 lb per week. i'm wondering, though,if i lost too much
muscle from not doing any muscle work.

i actually need help with this and i'm hoping that some of you here know what
to do. i would not be adverse to gaining 5 lbs right now, because i think that
my weight right now is probably not ideal. i've been slowly upping my calorie
intake, and i'm at about 1400-1500 now, sometimes reaching 1600, still walking
everywhere (at least 20 minutes per day, from class to dinner, etc.) so getting
a small amount of exercise daily. overall, i think 1500-1800 is probably my
ideal average. but am i going to gain all this weight back, even if i add some
muscle training for a couple days a week and keep walking? or, if i actually
*did* mess with my metabolism, would i eventually even out at a 5 or 6 lb gain,
instead of reaching something like 135?

i'm sorry-- i've checked google and the archives of this group and i still
can't find much advice on what to do if you might have *already* made dieting
mistakes and want to keep any damage minimal. i still don't really know
where the calorie/nutrient line is drawn for "crash dieting" or "yo-yo
dieting." i have not gone back to my old habits of eating too many fried foods
and other junk, or just too much food in general, nor do i plan to; i just want
to make sure that i can eat at some normal maintenance level.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.

Sara,

My situation is rather similar to yours. I gorged on an almost daily
basis while in college, but I have never been considered "overweight."
I got a little worried during my last year and started jogging a mile a
day, eventually working up to around five miles a day now.

I found it very helpful to exercise, and leg exercises were the
easiest. All you have to do is run. Can I also suggest yoga or pilates?
I find that stretching/resistance exercises like the aforementioned
really help to build muscle --and not bulky muscle-- rather lean and
long muscles.

I have never gone on any diet in my life until the last three months or
so. I was around 146 three months ago and have been eating about
1300-1600 calories a day (sometimes I'll binge and go around 2000-2500
once a week!) and am currently 5'9" and 135lbs (medium frame). I'm not
underweight by any means, but I am built a little like a beach
volleyball player. I just did not want to hit 150lbs so I figured a
sensible diet was the way to go.

I am also wondering if I've messed up my metabolism by drastically
reducing my caloric intake per day. I used to eat around 3000-4000
calories a day (yes, really) in college, and am now taking in less than
half of that nowadays. Would I gain more weight than I originally was
if I started eating that much and did not exercise (like I never did
during college?).

You sound like you're eating rather healthy, Sara, and I don't think
gaining 5-6lbs would kill you. Sign up for a resistance/stretch
exercise class in your neighbourhood. I think you'll be able to see
some lean muscle develop in two or so months, depending on the level of
ball-busting of your instructor.

Please keep us updated on how it goes.

HS

Sarandipidy wrote:
Did you lose the weight primarily by watching what you ate, or did
you
combine a low calorie diet with rigorous exercise?

unfortunately, primarily watching what i ate. the exercise i did was
not
rigorous-- just what i normally did. walking and some weight-less
squats/crunches/etc. in my house. and sometimes i did some jogging.
it was the
summer.

i really have never gone on any kind of diet in my life (i've always
been
skinny, and 135 is pretty slim anyway, i just got a little nervous
about it
because it was so foreign to me) and i ate too much during a
stressful semester
at college. i should have just cut out things more slowly. still, i
hope that
the 1200-1300 calories i ate a day can't be considered a "crash diet"
because i
wanted to reach 122-125 lbs (small-frame) from a relatively low
weight and it's
not like i was below 1000 or anything. i seem to have lost these
pounds at a
healthy rate-- about 1 lb per week. i'm wondering, though,if i lost
too much
muscle from not doing any muscle work.

i actually need help with this and i'm hoping that some of you here
know what
to do. i would not be adverse to gaining 5 lbs right now, because i
think that
my weight right now is probably not ideal. i've been slowly upping my
calorie
intake, and i'm at about 1400-1500 now, sometimes reaching 1600,
still walking
everywhere (at least 20 minutes per day, from class to dinner, etc.)
so getting
a small amount of exercise daily. overall, i think 1500-1800 is
probably my
ideal average. but am i going to gain all this weight back, even if i
add some
muscle training for a couple days a week and keep walking? or, if i
actually
*did* mess with my metabolism, would i eventually even out at a 5 or
6 lb gain,
instead of reaching something like 135?

i'm sorry-- i've checked google and the archives of this group and i
still
can't find much advice on what to do if you might have *already* made
dieting
mistakes and want to keep any damage minimal. i still don't
really know
where the calorie/nutrient line is drawn for "crash dieting" or
"yo-yo
dieting." i have not gone back to my old habits of eating too many
fried foods
and other junk, or just too much food in general, nor do i plan to; i
just want
to make sure that i can eat at some normal maintenance level.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.