But it probably takes a lot of work to get there (not sure how many pounds of muscle that is offhand.) Also, to actually build the muscle (rather than improve your CNS) you will need to bulk for awhile.

I personally (when I lost as much as 60 pounds and started lifting for the first time in almost a decade) found lifting to be very helpful from a motivational standpoint, but it was controlling my diet and running that caused most of the weight to come off.

You're totally right, and even over some long period of time your losses from extra muscle will be dwarfed your losses due to lifestyle changes.

My philosophy is that if you don't enjoy your health regime, whether its a diet, running, lifting, crossfit (I know, booooo) or some combination -- you're going to give it up as soon as possible. Lifting is something that I think a lot of people find enjoyable because it really doesn't have that misery factor of other workouts (I personally love that, I'm a rower which is basically a sport predicated on collectively loving misery more than the other team). People tend to stick with lifting longer, if not forever. That extra 200 calories 3 or 4 times a week, plus the boost in metabolism over the lifetime of a person is more valuable in my opinion than only dieting/running for a year and then being relieved when you cross the finish line and stop.

When people ask me how to lose weight (I cut pretty hard every year and it's dramatic), I point them towards lifting -- maybe they would lose more weight short term by controlling their diet and running, but people never stick to that stuff. A lot of my friends, mostly girls, have been doing some lifting program now for a couple of years (5-3-1 is my favorite) and they have stuck with it because its enjoyable. They eventually get dragged in and discover protein and macros and by then they're already invested in lifting and enjoying it -- it's part of their lifestyle now.

> crossfit (I know, booooo)

Why the "boo"? Just interested to know. I don't do crossfit!

Lots of people just hate crossfit for various reasons -- most of it stems from the fact that they combine speed and strength, and a lot of athletes will sacrifice form for speed which can cause injuries.

The other reason is that crossfit is the Harvard of workouts -- you'll know someone is doing it because they'll tell you, constantly. My girlfriend hates it because people talk about it constantly on facebook.

I personally like to add some work-cap style workouts occasionally. I like their test workouts and a lot of their workouts are fun to adjust and add to my normal cycles. As with a lot of things, if you don't focus on doing it correctly and police yourself - you're opening yourself up to injury.

We have a crossfit gym near work I've been meaning to try out - I don't really have any problems with the program, the haters are just very passionate and vocal on the internet about their feelings towards the program.

Thanks for that.

> The other reason is that crossfit is the Harvard of workouts -- you'll know someone is doing it because they'll tell you, constantly. My girlfriend hates it because people talk about it constantly on Facebook.

I have also found people who practice crossfit talk about it endlessly. Anyone know why?

I lifted weights for four years and I have not gained even ten pounds of muscle, so less than a 40 calorie a day change. Less than four pounds a year difference.

I have gained about 15 pounds of muscle in 3 years from lifting. To put on muscle you need to have the protein intake and carbohydrate and protein intake timing is also important.

One good thing about muscle is that it can burn fat quite happily. Unlike the brain.

I have to assume that gaining mass/muscle/strength wasn't the intention of your weight lifting then. I can't imagine you're much stronger than you were 3 years ago which if that's what you're going for is just fine.

It was my intention, but I wasn't very successful. I even tried bulking pretty hard, but the gains were mostly in fat with very small gains in strength/muscle.