@terri777 https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
Tl;dr - Your weight is dictated by your diet. If you aren't losing weight, you're eating too much.
190 pounds. I'm trying to get down to 130.
I'm guessing then you're maybe somewhere around 5'5 or less in height? Just wanting to make sure 130 is a realistic goal
I want my arms to be toned and to get a pretty flat stomach
To start off, "toned" is a bullshit word. You don't "tone" anything. You build muscle and then be lean enough to see it. And I think you understand lifting weights = building muscle. Now this doesn't mean you flap around 2lb dumbbells for a few months and expect change. You need to lift
heavy. Now if 2lbs is all you can start with for some lifts, that's fine. If you're still doing 2lbs for those same lifts a month in, that's not fine.
I also encourage you to follow a proper routine and work towards building muscle all over. This will help with your 2nd goal of a flat stomach.
From my own experience (5'7F, highest weight ~165lbs), building muscle was KEY to flattening my stomach. When I first lost weight (only by diet) and got down to 135, I still had a bit of pudge. I had dropped a shirt size and looked WAY better than I did, but my genetics have me hold more weight on my belly. (I had a friend who was more overweight than I was, but held her weight on her hips/thighs more than her belly, so despite being bigger than I was, she had a flatter belly. Totally not fair, but such is life. ) Some of
what you eat can influence this a bit too, as well as stress. But since the fat is already there, that's irrelevant now. But anyway, after figuring a bunch of stuff out and lifting pretty cluelessly for a bit, I spent a solid year lifting correctly and consistently, while eating for my goals (aka gaining a little bit of weight) before dieting back down to 135lbs again. Due to the increased muscle mass, this 135lbs was leaner than the previous 135lbs, but also due to my increased muscle mass and increased exercise habits, I could maintain this weight more easily (vs all my attempts to get down to 130 or less. I have maybe 5 days total I spent under 130lbs. This is due to my eating habits, I couldn't maintain a diet any lower than that
at that time)
So basically, the more muscle you have the leaner you'll look while at a higher weight. So the number on the scale isn't the full story, but regardless, 190lbs is too much.
I also don't want to lose my butt lI want it to be perky
This is gonna be partly genetic. My butt honestly hasn't changed visually from 165 to 135 or in any of my bulk/cuts since. However, it is MUCH firmer than it was before. To really work the butt, you need to lift HEAVY. None of the bullshit videos of women doing bodyweight exercises or little band exercises saying 5min workout to build glutes... bullshit. Heavy squats, heavy deadlifts. Full range of motion. Time and consistency.
I'm not sure where to start or how much to do in a day. I plan on working out Monday threw Friday
Read the links I posted above.
Your primary focus should be your diet. You should get into a calorie deficit and start improving your diet. Your first goal (besides reducing calories) should be increasing your protein intake. Aim for like a minimum of 100g a day. This is key for muscle growth. Your next goal should be making sustainable, healthy changes to what you eat. Focus on eating whole foods, while limiting/eliminating ultra processed foods (bread, pasta, cereal, chips, crackers, sweets, etc). Slow steady changes are all you need, don't expect to do this overnight. I've been slowly improving my diet for
years. So just try and be better than you were the day before. Ultimately, how you eat to lose weight should be how you later eat to maintain weight.
Workout wise, pick a routine from the wiki. A 3x a week full body routine will be fine. You don't NEED to spend 5 days in the gym. It may actually be easier for you to commit to only 3. You could try 3x lifting as your MINIMUM. And then on the other 2 days, do some long cardio. This can be simply walking to start. Work on distance/speed, build up to it. You could even try getting on a bike instead. Ultimately, cardio should be something you ENJOY. Don't try and use the estimated calorie burn for any kind of calculation. Just ignore it really.
For weights, you can use machines or freeweights. I would highly encourage free weights, they aren't as scary as you think. Look up different exercises on youtube to watch the form. Ease into it and push yourself more once you're comfortable.
Since you are an overweight beginner, you're in the best position to build muscle while in a deficit. But any muscle gain will NOT out pace the deficit. So if you aren't losing weight, you're eating too much.
So that's a lot of info, don't let that overwhelm you. Work on a few small habits at a time. You dont' need to be perfect from day 1!!! Just small, sustainable changes. Build them into habit, then make more changes. Repeat.
Don't let perfection get in the way of "good enough".
And don't start too hard that you burn yourself out! Going hard for a month and quitting isn't gonna get you results. Starting slow and building up, but maintaining it over a year (and more!) is going to make a MASSIVE difference.
Lemme know if you have any other questions or things you want me to clarify!
