In the past 2 years I have gained about 51 pounds. I am 21 and I weigh 165lbs. That wouldn’t be so bad if I were 5’8” but I’m only 5’1”. I want to get back down to a healthy weight. About 125. (I was 114, but I think I was too small. I looked “knobby” so-to-speak. When I was 120-125 l looked great.) Anyway, I want to begin a workout routine, but I don’t know where to start. I know I need at least 30 minutes of cardio a day. How intense? Is it okay for me to lift weights? My fiance tells me lifting weights is important for fat loss, but I’m really worried about looking like a linebacker. So far in my family both women and men build muscle mass quickly even if they start off with light weight lifting. I want to build strength too, will that bulk “fall away” with some consistent light weight lifting? I used to love to run (just for pleasure and inconsistently–stress reliever), but my thighs got bigger for a while and then they got smaller. Does weight training work the same?
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January 7th, 2010 | 
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I took a weight training class in college, and my professor said that to tone muscles you use lighter weights and more repetitions. To build muscle mass you use heavier weights.
For weight loss purposes, muscle burns more calories than fat does, so you want a higher proportion of muscle in your body (within reason of course).
Don’t weight train the same muscles every day. They need rest in between workouts. Also, make sure to drink plenty of water because it helps flush out the waste products made by the weight training.
Good luck in reaching your goals!
You came to the right person
Dont worry to much about weight lifting you only weight lift to train your body to break down fat and not muslce. What you want to do is atleast 1hour of low intesity cardio a day! You do NOT need to run to lose fat. You see when you work out your body burns energy from different sources fat, muslce, stored energy. When you work out at a high intensity your body pulls most of its energy from stored energy. When you work out at a low intesity with your heart rate staying around 130-150 your body pulls most of its energy from stored fat. The energy ratios change depending on what kind of cardio you are doing. Lifting weights is not going to help to much in fat loss. Eating veggies, fruits, lean meats, low fat dairy, and whole grains is what you need to eat. Plus drink lots of water throughout the day if you have any questions e mail me. 
GL
Yes you are overweight. My first suggestion is to see a doctor and ask them to evaluate you condition. See why are you have gained so much weight. My second suggestion is to review your diet. If you want to lose weight, in my opinion diet is very important for a weight lose program. Diets sould be balance a try to avoid any junk food, fast food, can foods, microwave foods, buffets and salad bars.
Now, to beging your work out, Yes, you should do some cardio vascular(runing, fast walking, aerobics, swiming or get in to the ellliptical machine for at least 15 min. For weihgts, do light weight first and increase the weight gradually. finally do some flexibility exercises for 10 to 15 minutes.