of what i read you have to do cardio to burn calories you also burn calories with the weight training but you are building muscle so your number on the scale its going to go up so the best thing to tone up is to do 45 min of cardio and weight training circuit...that will help... i have been on the gym for 2 yrs now and its great...! i lost 55 in a year so im just working on define muscle... and doing some cardio to loose the fat...

i'm doing cardio (running mostly), weights, body pump, yoga and pilates (i like variety!) and they all seem to be complementing each other nicely! i'm toning, building muscle and still losing weight (albeit at a slow pace - i maintain a calorie deficit of about 500). i know it is a great feeling to see the scales go down or slip into a pair of jeans you had to squeeze yourself into before but the biggest high i'm getting at the minute is when i up my weights and make all the reps! i've already doubled my lifting weight in body pump and i find myself flexing my biceps all the time!!

i do find it strange though how i can feel pretty strong doing my weights (3 sets of 8-12 slow reps at weights heavy enough to fatigue) and then i go to yoga and she puts us into down-dog for like ten minutes and my arms feel weak as jelly! i guess it is the difference between repping and static holds. my muscles certainly ache doing yoga - anyone know the ins and outs of yoga's affect on your muscles in terms of static holds (i just made that term up but you know what i mean - holding a pose for a long period of time and having to support your body weight)?

What has seemed to work for me is a good blend of slight calorie deficit (~100-200 below maintain), cardio and weight training. 

Mon, Wed and Fri I do 25 minutes of cardio (normally an elliptical set at medium difficulty) and 15-20 minutes of nautilus (concentrating on my chest, back and biceps) and I follow it up in the evening with 80 bycicle-style ab exercise

Tue & Thur, Sat & Sun I do 120 bicycle style ab exercises, 60 crunches, 20 slanted pushups, 30 arm curls with 15 lb (30 each arm), 15 dead lifts with 30 lbs and 10 pullups

I sometime jog ~2 miles on Saturdays if the weather is nice and I walk 20 minutes everyday at lunch weather permitting

I am currently eating ~1900 - 2300 calories a day depending upon how hungry I am and how much I have worked out that day.

It seems to be working, in the past year I have lost 65lbs and 12" off my waist (you should see me when I try on my old 42" pants LOL)

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Original Post by balehead77:

may i suggest doing Pilates for an hour a day. you can tone and lengthen muscles and lose weight. my clothes fit better, i feel stronger and have better posture. you won't "bulk up" like weight training which causes your scale to go up because muscle does weigh more than fat. it's deceiving. but you do burn more cal's at rest when you increase muscle mass. good luck

 You are going to make spiro mad with this. Please, tell us how you "lengthen" your muscles? Did you detach them from your bones, stretch them, and reattach them further out?

The reason you don't "bulk up" (which weight training won't do either for women, unless you are quite an unusual female) from pilates is that it isn't weight training. It's fine for what it is, and has many benefits, but it is NOT a replacement for weight training.

well i suggest you educate yourself on pilates at www.pilates.com before voicing your opinions. to each his own, obviously you enjoy lifting but for a more feminine look pilates is the way to go. it is weight training using your own body as resistance, also lengthening muscles through breathing and stretching. muscles do stretch like rubber bands.  it's wonderful low impact and has many psychological benefits like stress reduction which you may really benefit from.