For those of you who are going to begin a resistance training program, use caution.  It seems simple, but you could injure yourself in many ways.  I would recommend a few personal training sessions just to get you going.  Just be careful and know how to use the machines properly at the very least.

As stated earlier, to lose weight effectively, one must change their body composition: gain muscle and lose fat.  To do this, one needs to do more than just diet and cardio.  Resistance training must be implemented(weight lifting).  The more muscle you have at any given time, the more calories you burn when you sit, eat, sleep, lay etc.  Most women are afraid to lift weights because they think they are going to “bulk up.”  This is not the case.  Many men spend their entire life trying to “bulk up” unsuccessfully.  More muscle increases fat loss. 

One might be thinking-I just want to shrink, not GAIN muscle.  The fact is that one will shrink if they gain muscle and lose fat.  Fat is twice the volume of muscle.  Therefore, if one loses 10 pounds of fat and gains ten pounds of muscle, one will have lost about 5 pounds of fat in volume, even though there is no weight change.  Plus, this person will look much, much better.  Good luck.

Weight loss alone should never be the goal.  Body Composition change is what one should aim for.  Gain Muscle, and lose fat.  There are ways to do this through proper cardiovascular exercise, resistance training, diet, and rest.