Laurie2

It depends on your exercise intensity, what kind of exercise you are doing AND your diet.

I was 245lbs in Fall 2002 (September) when I took a college Women's Strength class. It was lifting moderately heavy weights for 4 sets of 10-12 reps for three days aweek at 90minutes a session. We had access to both freeweights and machines. We all started out with 3-5lb dbls for some exercises (arm/shoulder) and 10lbs for bentover dbl rows (back). We had a mixture of ages, conditions and some have not lifted before. So we all started off light. However I found I liked it and ran with the class's premise...increasing the poundage when I was able to finish the 4 sets easily. Eventually bypassing everyone else in how much I was lifting. Of course there was nothing to prove by this....just I felt good after a workout and was getting results.

I did not look at the scales at first as this can be frustrating and learned to judge my progress with my wardrobe instead. Did some research online and started a journal to keep a log of what I was doing from week to week. Also jotted down what changes I noticed. I was wearing size 48 jeans, in the beginning (and had been for nearly 20 years). By the end of the first semester, I was getting into size 44s. By the first week in December, I weighed 217. So, in those three months I lost 28lbs.

I had battled being obese for all of my 33 years of marriage. Been 245 and more for all of that. Was as high as 275 at one point. My height is 5'6"/largeboned and I have never been skinny as a teen. Was always "hefty" and was 165 when I got married. My only exercise then was riding a 10 speed all over San Diego and to college. Ate only when I was hungry and not always the right stuff when I did. Could not ride a bike after marriage as there was no place to do so. My husband was a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy and my weight went up. Tried all kinds of diets.

Only after I turned 50, did I decide to do something about it and took the class. At first, all I did was eat more protein and cut back on the pasta as well as sugary sodas. Tried to eat a breakfast....which I used to not do. Went looking around the web and relearned how to eat properly again. Learned what was "myth" and what was not about dieting and women lifting. Surprise! I can eat 5-6 smaller meals and it will not make me fat! Women cannot bulk like a guy...not enough testosterone but they can gain strength while losing bodyfat and keep curves/become defined. The lifting forces your body to work harder to burn the fat as energy and keep the metabolism up longer doing so.

By the end of the second semester, I reached 205 and stayed there for awhile. Hit a plateau. By the end of the third semester (Summer), I finally broke through and reached 185. Stayed there through the final fourth semester....Fall of 2003. I had promised myself to go through a full year's worth of classes. Changed my diet through all of this although there were times during the hot summer months (live in SW Arizona) that I did not feel like eating anything.

My last class ended in December 2003 and I have been working out at home twice a week with my own gym equipment. Basically just an Olympic style bench w/leg extension, Olympic barbells w/plates and some dumbbells. Within the last three months, I am now down to 178 and still dropping a little at a time.

When I hit 185lbs, I began wearing premarriage size clothes....when I was 165. I had lost enough inches and bodyfat to do this. However, the scales showed I was heavier. Now part of this is due to muscle built up taking the lifting classes. Muscle is denser than bodyfat and weighs more for it's size. A tangerine size portion of muscle weighs about the same as two grapefruit size portions of bodyfat.

I can get into size 16s now. Does not sound like much but considering what I was wearing before...a big change. Overall, I lost 62lbs. But if you notice, as I just did, when I was at my highest weight....I lost it the fastest. As I got closer to where I am now, there was some tweaking of diet and having to change my routine sometimes to get through any plateaus. But they can be worked through. In the meantime, learned a new lifestyle I can keep with for the rest of my life.

I still have a stomach to get rid of. Where the body stores the fat first, is the last to go. I had two c sections of both types 21 and 18 years ago...so my abs are not in the best of condition. But I have talked to other women with similar and was told it will get flatter eventually. My "batwings" have shrunk quite abit through the exercise and now my skin feels "looser" from the fat loss and what flab is there still. At 52, my skin is not as elastic as if I was far younger...so it will take abit longer for it become firmer/shrink back.

I have regained lost flexibility, my back has been strengthened (used to hurt sleeping on it), am much stronger and do not feel tired after working with the animals (raise some goats and poultry). Lifting builds bone density, keeps up the production of natural HGH, helps with osteoarthritis symptoms. I can lift up a six year old grandchild and not feel like I am going to drop them. Can even keep up running after them too.

So, you can lose quite abit of weight at first depending on how much bodyfat you have, intensity and length of your exercise combined with a proper diet.


In some of my later classes, there were a couple of women who had gone through gastric by pass and taking the course as part of therapy to lose the fat. They had tried all other avenues to lose bodyfat but were not able. For their health, they had to resort to this drastic measure.