Are heavier weights more effective than lighter ones?

Pretty Polly

So I've been maintaining the same weight for the past year or 2. I'm 8 stone 11 and 5ft3 and while that may seem ok, my body fat is quite high, especially around the tummy + thigh area.

My weight loss has completely plateaued and I'm probably at the stage where I should be using heavier weights and possibly join a gym/buy heavier weights?? I only have light weights at home, 2-3kg. I don't drive though and the nearest gym is a 20 min bus journey away.

Is there any way of toning up/losing body fat using the weights I have? Or do I just need to get heavier weights/join a gym.

Aspiring

I wouldn't say you need to join a gym. You could keep doing what you're doing with the weights but make sure you're eating at a calorie deficit every day. You could use a BMR calculator like the one here and aim to eat less than whatever that number is. These BMR calculators can be innacurate so you might have to do a bit of trial and error over a few weeks to find what works for you. A good number to aim for that I've used for fat loss in the past is 500 calories under my BMR. That's a surefire way to lose weight.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Pretty Polly wrote: »

So I've been maintaining the same weight for the past year or 2. I'm 8 stone 11 and 5ft3 and while that may seem ok, my body fat is quite high, especially around the tummy + thigh area.

My weight loss has completely plateaued and I'm probably at the stage where I should be using heavier weights and possibly join a gym/buy heavier weights?? I only have light weights at home, 2-3kg. I don't drive though and the nearest gym is a 20 min bus journey away.

Is there any way of toning up/losing body fat using the weights I have? Or do I just need to get heavier weights/join a gym.

Have you considered rubber resistance band training, TRX or Kettlebells?.

The TRX and Kettlebells can be expensive, but in my opinion worth it if you can motivate yourself to train at home (you'd be surprised at how many people can't find the motivation for home training).

Cheaper and very effect is resistance bands training, there are lots of very good video's on youtube ~ Schmitty10 is brilliant.

Due to injuries over the years my lifting heavy days are over, the final straw was a complete pec tear in Febuary last year. So my training now is a mix of all the above, and to be honest I've rarely felt better.. I compete in Judo and its been remarked upon how my endurance and strength has improved since I stopped lifting heavy iron, go figure!.

So anyway, you can certainly train effectively at home with modest weights (or none at all) but it takes a lot of motivation.

Mellor

Fat loss will come down more to diet than the choice of weights, or type of training you do.

But that said, 2-3kg weights are a waste of time. Your handbag probably weights more.

Brian?

A bodyweight routine might suit. Press ups, chin ups, burps etc.

Pretty Polly

Thanks for your replies. I'm going to try out a few things that were mentioned here. I probably need to change up what I'm doing and increase intensity as well.

@Brian: I've done burpees before and I enjoyed using my whole body. They're exhausting though. I'll look some up more body weight exercises on Youtube. Thanks

@Mellor: You're probably right, my bag probably weighs more than 2kg!!


@Aspiring: Thanks for the BMR calculator. It came up 1354. I eat about 1450-1600cals, depending on the day. 1354 seems very low.

ted1

I've not seen someone admit to liking burpees before, are you doing them right

marialouise

Pretty Polly wrote: »

It came up 1354. I eat about 1450-1600cals, depending on the day. 1354 seems very low.

1354 is your Basal Metabolic Rate which would be the calories needed just to keep you alive. Then you need to go to the next page (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/) and alter it based on your activity level. This gives you a figure known as your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). 
For example if you are sedentary, your TDEE would be actually around 1625. This would be required just to maintain your weight. Eat above and you'll gain, eat below and you'll lose. 
The figures don't need to be exact; as you can see you are eating 1450-1600cals and not losing weight. This means your maintenance number is somewhere around here, and you need to change the energy balance (be in a calorie deficit) if you want to continue to lose. This means either increasing your calorie expenditure through exercise, and/or decreasing your calorie intake. The best dumbell circuit won't help you lose fat if it's only burning 150cals and you're eating above your TDEE, so I would definitely focus on the diet. Being short isn't working in your favour and 1500 isn't a huge calorie budget, but there are definitely ways to get loads of food in at 1400. What do you eat in a typical day?

conzy

As much as it sucks you are going to need to create a bigger calorie deficit through a combination of calorie restriction and more activity.

Track your adherence too. It's all well and good eating 1400 calories Monday to Friday but eating 3000 on Saturday and Sunday will totally erode and deficit you created

I'm an 80kg male 5'10" and need to eat in around 2000 calories to lose weight at an appreciable rate. Being female, relatively short and light means you may need to reduce calories below 1500 to lose. Again a combination of restriction, more activity and better adherence will help here.

You can look at techniques to control hunger like not eating until lunchtime or having certain days of the week that are more restrictive so that you can be less miserable for the rest of the week. E.g Tuesdays and Thursdays you could essentially just eat meat and salads. Which could net you a 1500 calorie "buffer"

Mister Vain

You have to shock your body. If you keep doing the same exercises your body will eventually get used to it. Try mixing it up with some calisthenics.

Mellor

Mister Vain wrote: »

You have to shock your body. If you keep doing the same exercises your body will eventually get used to it.

That's a complete myth.

You're body can't start to break the laws of physics because it gets used to working out.

Brian?

Mister Vain wrote: »

You have to shock your body. If you keep doing the same exercises your body will eventually get used to it. Try mixing it up with some calisthenics.

You don't need to "shocks your body". You need to apply progressive overload to keep the intensity. If you get stronger you add weight, if you get better cardio fitness then you run faster or further etc. .

Pretty Polly

OP here. So I thought I would post what I eat in a day...roughly speaking.

Brekkie- 50g porridge + 10g linseed mix. I have this every day, including weekends. 50g is the uncooked weight of the porridge before milk/seeds are added.
Snack- Banana + apple or a green smoothie
Lunch- Varies. Usually 2 egg omelette/veg/50g bulgar wheat. 50g is the uncooked weight of the bulgar wheat. Or tuna/avocado + 4 Ryvita.
Snack- 2 oatcakes + pb/150ml greek yogurt
Dinner - Varies. 50g couscous + 80g chicken + veg. It could be potatoes + fish + veg.
Snack- nuts like cashews/walnuts and a yogurt.

85-95% of what I eat is cooked from scratch and I'm not just guessing how much rice etc that I eat. I weigh absolutely everything and that makes me even more frustrated that I'm not shifting the belly fat:( I just feel a bit disheartened!

I know my diet is very high in carbs but I've tried low carb before and got very jittery + anxious + had no energy. It's not for me unfortunately. I think I've a fairly big appetite and would find it hard to reduce calories any lower.

Using the tool above my BMR is 1354. I walk for 40 mins each week day and I'm on my feet a good bit throughout the day. Does this mean I'm lightly active?? I multiplied by BMR by 1.375=1861. Then to lose weight I reduced that by 15% = 1582 cals.

AnneFrank

Get jogging Polly, best weight loss there is, and great for the mind

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Pretty Polly

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It's a 20 min walk to work so I walk for 40 min each day plus the regular walking around I do in work.

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siblers

That's very low impact exercise (unless you are walking at a very fast pace) you need to start trying higher intensity workouts, hiit workouts would really get you going, would increase your metabolism and your fitness would really improve, you can then work your way to the harder workouts where you will improve your strenght etc. There's a load of them available on Youtube and you can do them at home. A lot of them are quite short too (20-25) mins

Pretty Polly

siblers wrote: »

That's very low impact exercise (unless you are walking at a very fast pace) you need to start trying higher intensity workouts, hiit workouts would really get you going, would increase your metabolism and your fitness would really improve, you can then work your way to the harder workouts where you will improve your strenght etc. There's a load of them available on Youtube and you can do them at home. A lot of them are quite short too (20-25) mins

I have been doing workouts from home, up until the last few weeks. I used to use Hasfit and Fitness Blender videos on Youtube. I probably need to increase intensity and push myself more.

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bladespin

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I love training, esp weight training for me I start to feel a little nervous about the workout a couple of hours beforehand, then get in and kick some iron and come away dazed but flying high.

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seefin

Sorry to highjack the thread.. been doing heavy weight lifting the past year and after years of calorie restriction am trying to eat at maintenance for another year and then try to cut. My partner ,sick of me bemoaning fact that my thighs are getting bigger(I'm a typical pear) said I should stop lifting heavy and do circuit training a la Madonna as creates a leaner look whereas I'm getting bigger by weight lifting? I reckon she's only that lean because she's not eating properly and has really really low body fat percentage? Then again I'm not happy with how look so am tempted to quit what I'm doing and try a different aporoach. Should I try circuits with lighter weights and eat at maintenance for a year and see if works better? Then do the cut ,try to get down to 18% bf(currently 24%) and then try heavy lifting again? Will circuits maintain the muscle I have ,if I increase the weights every now and again and do eg 30 fast reps?

marialouise

I wrote a huge essay-type response to this last night and must never have hit submit! Here goes trying to recreate it! 

Pretty Polly wrote: »

OP here. So I thought I would post what I eat in a day...roughly speaking.

Brekkie- 50g porridge + 10g linseed mix. I have this every day, including weekends. 50g is the uncooked weight of the porridge before milk/seeds are added.
Snack- Banana + apple or a green smoothie
Lunch- Varies. Usually 2 egg omelette/veg/50g bulgar wheat. 50g is the uncooked weight of the bulgar wheat. Or tuna/avocado + 4 Ryvita.
Snack- 2 oatcakes + pb/150ml greek yogurt
Dinner - Varies. 50g couscous + 80g chicken + veg. It could be potatoes + fish + veg.
Snack- nuts like cashews/walnuts and a yogurt.

85-95% of what I eat is cooked from scratch and I'm not just guessing how much rice etc that I eat. I weigh absolutely everything and that makes me even more frustrated that I'm not shifting the belly fat:( I just feel a bit disheartened!

I know my diet is very high in carbs but I've tried low carb before and got very jittery + anxious + had no energy. It's not for me unfortunately. I think I've a fairly big appetite and would find it hard to reduce calories any lower.

Using the tool above my BMR is 1354. I walk for 40 mins each week day and I'm on my feet a good bit throughout the day. Does this mean I'm lightly active?? I multiplied by BMR by 1.375=1861. Then to lose weight I reduced that by 15% = 1582 cals.

Well done, this is a really comprehensive post. I have a few questions and a bit of advice based on personal experience but honestly really well done on measuring everything and taking such care.  I highlighted a few bits that stood out to me.
Don't get disheartened! So many people come on here complaining about their diet and then we see they're not weighing anything at all. You have taken a huge step in measuring and logging everything accurately, some people don't even have the willpower or discipline to do that, so well done on taking the time. It's only a matter of time, trial and error before your hard work pays off so don't lose hope  
So about the diet. I assume you weigh the peanut butter, nuts, avocado and measure the milk in your porridge too? What did all of this add up to at the end of the day, around 1580? And how did you feel?
It isn't the higher carb that I saw first, it was the lack of protein. 2 eggs, 150g yoghurt and 80g chicken is only about 50g protein for the whole day. There'll be a small bit more between nuts, milk, even porridge and vegetables but I still don't think it's much. Why only 80g chicken for dinner? High carb/low carb is a personal preference but there are actual guidelines for protein and fats which you could take on board. 50g is like the minimum, but when dieting, 0.8g-1g protein per lb would be recommended. This would be somewhere around 95-125g protein per day for someone of your weight. Protein helps to repair and maintain muscle as your body is in a calorie deficit, so hopefully as much of the weight as possible which comes off will be fat and not muscle. As you're not exercising much yet you don't have to aim for the higher figure, but protein really helps to keep hunger at bay so it's definitely worth increasing your intake towards 90g or thereabouts. Try swapping the mid morning fruit for some meat/cheese and a small salad? 
I think a guideline for fat is 0.3g per lb but as I did reduce my carb intake significantly when dieting, I upped my fats. I'd be really interested to know your macro breakdown (fats, carbs, protein) at the end of the day, or even the weekly average MFP gives you? Also, check the breakdown for the week of fibre and iron. Fibre should be 20-25g per day, and iron is done as a percentage. Doesn't have to be 100% every day but just make sure it's not down at 10% for the week, this will also affect your energy. 
I'm not going to advocate low carb to you, but I want to show you how different 1500 cals can look. I have an obscene appetite (as in, the laughing stock of my friends, family and colleagues kind of ridiculous appetite) and the only way I found to not starve while dieting was to swap carbs for huge volumes of low calorie foods, and protein at every meal. I have an unusual work schedule so can't eat at "lunch" or "dinner time", so spread my meals throughout the day. It looks a bit like:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, loads of veg cooked in a little coconut oil (mushrooms, onions, spinach, tomato), with some cottage cheese, turkey rashers or smoked salmon. I have the hardest part of my working day in the morning and have to go one long stretch without access to food usually. I used to have porridge for breakfast (and way more than 50g I dare to confess) and was nearly fit to kill my colleagues by mid morning, it just didn't fill me up at all. This breakfast is obviously more time consuming than porridge but I love it and it keeps me going. 
Meal 2 (like an early lunch) - At least 100g chicken and a huge salad (lettuce, rocket, tomato, cucumber, celery, peppers, maybe half an avocado or some feta cheese or something), olive oil
Meal 3 (like a late lunch/early dinner) -At least 100g meat/fish and loads of veg
Dinner (like a light, late dinner) - At least 100g meat/fish and loads of veg
Snack before bed - Greek yoghurt (with whey protein powder if needed), chia seeds, almond milk, maybe a few berries, nuts
I could do all this on 1500 cals, and I was aiming for about 140g protein, 60g fat and the rest from carbs. This day above is completely changeable, and is just one day where I might not be doing any exercise. On the days I workout there are plenty more carbs (oats, sweet potato, rice cakes) so there's plenty of ways to fit the carbs into the calorie budget but I just want you to see how different 1500cals can look. Rarely hungry and plenty of energy. I think if you doubled your veg at lunch and dinner, and increased that chicken portion with dinner, you could cut back on the bulgur/couscous etc by 10-15g and see how it changes your hunger levels? It is more expensive, meat and fish are more costly than bags of rice etc, but that was my choice and I am happier to pay more because I feel better when I eat this way. I also have PCOS and it has helped with that, so will probably do lower-carb for life. It's also not planet-friendly, but I try to make small differences in other ways. 
About the activity level... This number is just an estimate of your calories out. You can accurately measure your calories in by weighing your food, but we have no accurate way of measuring calories out. I set mine to sedentary and just ignored any activity levels even though part of my work is very physical, I don't have a car so cycle everywhere and I work out regularly. I just tracked calories in, tracked my weight and adjusted accordingly - if my weight stayed the same I reduced my food intake or increased activity. I don't think walking to work counts as 'lightly active' but it might, but anyway the label doesn't matter. Set it to sedentary and see how you get on with those calories, knowing you have room for a little more in your calorie budget from the walking. Or set it to lightly active and see if your weight changes. If it doesn't, then you need to change something in the calorie equation. 
For home workouts, again I have to admire your discipline, so many people don't have the motivation to properly work out at home. Well done. I like Emily Skye's workouts, you can do a lot of them without any dumb bells or just small dumb bells. It's a mixture of bodyweight exercises like lunges, squats, burpees, shoulder presses, planks etc and she has loads of different videos to choose from. Doing one of those three or four times a week will help you burn a few more calories, and as the fat starts to come off you will have maintained some muscle underneath so eventually some nice toned shoulders might appear! 
My 1500cals was at a time when I could hardly exercise, and I continued to lose weight without being able to go to the gym. Fat loss really is all about the diet. Now I'm eating more (and more carbs) and working out a lot more regularly and yes, bodyweight workouts wouldn't cut it anymore, I do go to a gym and do squats and deadlifts and all that, so you might eventually consider it as it does have an effect on appearance. I wasn't particularly toned at that weight, I was a bit 'skinny fat' as they say, and now I'm eating more and weigh more but I have more muscle so look more shapely than I did. That's just an aside. 20mins sounds like a pain, if it would be harder to stick to than working out at home, then it's not really sustainable, and you could spend your money on 5kg dumb bell, resistance bands and a kettle bell or something. Loads of kettlebell workouts online too! 
You will find what works for you, I know myself I would never feel full on the foods you listed above, but you feel you might never have energy on the foods I listed and that's fine, different strokes for different folks. You seem very disciplined with the diet and don't have a lot of calories to play with so tweak a few things to make sure you're getting enough nutrients and not feeling hungry, and then increase your calorie budget by getting in a few workouts. Anything that gets your heart rate up for 30 mins a few days a week is spot on. I'm really rooting for you as I can see you really want to do this, sorry for the super long response but I just wanted to give you every bit of advice possible! There's also a General Weight Loss Support Thread here, lots of helpful folk on that too. You're on the right track, let us know how you get on!

marialouise

Oh my god I think I need to stop writing on boards until I learn how to control my word count, that is a horrifically long reply, I'm sorry!

bladespin

marialouise wrote:

Oh my god I think I need to stop writing on boards until I learn how to control my word count, that is a horrifically long reply, I'm sorry!

Top post though, full credit.

Pretty Polly

@Marialouise thank you so much for your detailed reply

I used to weigh the peanut butter and nuts when I first started my weight loss journey. Don't do it at the moment. I eat 8-10 nuts per day and 50-75 cals of peanut b.

The lack of protein is something that I've thought about before. I find it hard to get lots of protein in. I'm definitely going to increase my protein intake and try to reduce carbs slightly. I might add a few grams to my porridge in the morning, I'll see how it tastes! I'll have a protein shake after my walk home from work on Monday, instead of oatcakes + pb. I'll start with those two little changes and see how I get on. I've anxiety so I don't want to shock my system too much.

Macros: I'd say I eat Carbs 45/50: Protein 30: Fats 25/30?? I'm not really sure. I know I should be closer to 40 40 20, i'll definitely try improve on that.

My energy levels aren't great and I find that I get tired easily, this effects the intensity and duration of my workouts at home. As a result my home workouts aren't effective as they could be. (Iron levels etc are fine by the way). I'm not always full either, which is something you mentioned too. Hopefully the extra protein will help with that. Thanks for all the pointers and tips. You're a star

Mister Vain

Mellor wrote: »

That's a complete myth.

You're body can't start to break the laws of physics because it gets used to working out.

It's not a myth. If you keep doing the same exercises you will eventually plateau. I'm not saying your going to break the laws of physics but its better to mix it up for better results.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Mister Vain wrote: »

It's not a myth. If you keep doing the same exercises you will eventually plateau. I'm not saying your going to break the laws of physics but its better to mix it up for better results.

It's all about subconscious cheating.

If you do nothing but pushups for 10 weeks one of two things will happen.

You build every muscle that you use to do pushups and they are very strong or you start to use momentum and do other little cheats like that and you are just being skilled doing pushups.

marialouise

Pretty Polly wrote: »

@Marialouise thank you so much for your detailed reply

I used to weigh the peanut butter and nuts when I first started my weight loss journey. Don't do it at the moment. I eat 8-10 nuts per day and 50-75 cals of peanut b.

The lack of protein is something that I've thought about before. I find it hard to get lots of protein in. I'm definitely going to increase my protein intake and try to reduce carbs slightly. I might add a few grams to my porridge in the morning, I'll see how it tastes! I'll have a protein shake after my walk home from work on Monday, instead of oatcakes + pb. I'll start with those two little changes and see how I get on. I've anxiety so I don't want to shock my system too much.

Macros: I'd say I eat Carbs 45/50: Protein 30: Fats 25/30?? I'm not really sure. I know I should be closer to 40 40 20, i'll definitely try improve on that.

My energy levels aren't great and I find that I get tired easily, this effects the intensity and duration of my workouts at home. As a result my home workouts aren't effective as they could be. (Iron levels etc are fine by the way). I'm not always full either, which is something you mentioned too. Hopefully the extra protein will help with that. Thanks for all the pointers and tips. You're a star

Ok I normally give out to people who don't weigh nuts but 8-10 nuts is a very reasonable portion... Some people say "a handful" which could be like 250 cals! 

When you said increase your protein intake and then adding some to porridge, did you mean adding in whey powder? This is one option but I put whey in my huge bowls of porridge and it still didn't make it much more satisfying for me. Whey powder is a convenient way of adding grams of protein but I personally prefer to get it from a whole food source. 100g of chicken and a small portion of pasta with veg would fill me more than porridge with protein powder, for around the same calories. This is just something to think about. You're right about making small changes, definitely the right approach. 

About the macros, there's no "should" when it comes to %. I believe 40-40-20 is very popular but I've almost always done 33%-ish each since I started tracking. What I was really interested in was your grams. Type all your food into MyFitnessPal, and at the end of the day you can see totals of calories, but also grams of protein, fats, carbs, micronutrients etc. What is your average for a week there? 

You also can breakdown the macros by meal, this can also be linked with energy levels. You will find some meals you might have hardly any of one macronutrient and other meals will have a better balance. If you have a good balance of each of them at every meal, it's more likely to keep your energy levels consistent throughout the day. Also I meant to say in my unsubmitted reply that you might like to keep a note of your energy levels yourself in a diary throughout the day/week. See what times of day you feel good, tired, hungry, energetic and then maybe you'll see a pattern that it's always after a particular type of food and then you can see what to change. If you feel fine from breakfast to lunch, then no changes there. If you are consistently starving before dinner, maybe you need to adjust your lunch for example. 

There's a whooooole other bunch of info out there on workout nutrition. I have a meal of protein-carbs-fats before I workout (how long beforehand is up to you, somewhere around 30 mins-2 hours beforehand is a rough guideline. some people don't like feeling full working out, and others feel weak if they leave it go too long). After the workout I just have protein+carbs and no fat (could be oats+whey, or chicken+sweet potato for example), and I have that pretty quick after working out, then a bigger meal a bit later. 

If you are looking for some ideas for eventual changes, there are loads of recipes out there for lower-carb diets. 
https://authoritynutrition.com/101-healthy-low-carb-recipes/
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html
Lean in 15 is another one, where meals are mostly high fat and high protein and low carb, and then around workouts you have a carb-y meal. 

You don't have to overhaul anything, but there are still some nice recipes and ideas for filling meals with fewer calories, and increasing your protein without hardly trying. Make sure to keep weighing and logging everything in MyFitnessPal).

Mellor

Mister Vain wrote: »

It's not a myth. If you keep doing the same exercises you will eventually plateau. I'm not saying your going to break the laws of physics but its better to mix it up for better results.

"Shock the body" is a myth.
You've rephrased is as "you'll plateau", which is very broad and vague.

How will weight loss plateau if you don't "mix it up".

Mister Vain

Mellor wrote: »

"Shock the body" is a myth.
You've rephrased is as "you'll plateau", which is very broad and vague.

How will weight loss plateau if you don't "mix it up".

I think its just the way I phrased it that you have a problem with. Basically what I mean is, you have to force the body to adapt to stimuli you're not used to. Your body is designed to adapt to the conditions that it experiences. If you don't vary your workout routine you will reach a plateau. From my own experience, this has been the most effective. Incrementally increasing weight/sets/reps is effective too but that can also be considered mixing it up, shocking your body, confusing the muscle or whatever else you want to call it.