Strength Training for Women

Dr. Sims explains that 1,100 to 1,200 calories is roughly an average resting metabolic rate, the energy you need lying in bed. When you eat that little, the body perceives a threat, conserves energy and breaks down lean mass. Women often see more belly fat, puffiness, poor sleep and no response to training.

JJ says that if you use cardio as a weight loss strategy you will fail, because it makes you hungrier and the minute you stop you start gaining weight. It also does nothing to build muscle, which she calls your metabolic currency.

Nikkiey explains that getting toned is a combination of building muscle and losing body fat. Losing body fat reveals the muscle underneath, which creates the lean, defined, fit look most women mean when they say toned.

Nikkiey explains that toned isn't produced by weight loss; it comes from having enough muscle under a reduced layer of body fat. The medication suppresses appetite and creates a deficit, but without a muscle-preserving strategy you can lose muscle along with fat and end up with a smaller, softer body.

Nikkiey explains that in the first weeks of a new program, most of what's happening is neurological adaptation. Your brain is mapping new movement patterns and recruiting muscle fibers more efficiently, so you get stronger using the muscle you already have before meaningful muscle tissue changes show up in the mirror or on the scale.