Want a Smaller Pant Size? Lift Weights

There's lots of reasons to lift weights: Toning up, staving off osteoporosis, increasing metabolism, increasing energy. Let's address these one at a time.
TONING UP: Obviously if you workout with weights, you will develop your muscles. Although muscles do not weigh more than fat (a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same), a pound of muscle WILL take up less space than a pound of fat. One third the space of fat to be exact. I have gained ten pounds in the last five years. I'm not happy about it, but the good news is, I still wear the same pant size that I did then (and looser). I started going to a personal trainer a year ago. I was about to turn 50 in January, and as I told him, I wanted to be in great shape for the BIG 5 - 0. He started me on all kinds of weight machines, free weights, and core exercises (balancing). Although I had been lifting weights at the gym by myself for since the early 90's, I was in a rut and my workouts didn't have any effect. So when he started me on the leg curls, I could barely do it at any weight. And I had been doing lunges for years! I gradually worked up to ten pounds per leg. When I started on chin ups, I couldn't do that either. Now I can chin 70 lbs. You won't believe this, but your muscles will get stronger a lot faster than you think.
OSTEOPOROSIS: We don't have a choice in the matter. If Mom and Grandma had osteoporosis, it's unavoidable. I'm white and short. I'm so genetically predisposed it simply doesn't make sense to hide my head in the sand and take osteoporosis medication after my bones become effected. I'm huge on prevention, or at least mitigation. I consume soy everyday for this reason. Here's a short item I found on the web about that:
"Soy and Your Bones
Written by Gloria Tsang, RDlast updated: September 2005
A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in September 2005 found that intake of soy food was associated with a significantly lower risk of bone fracture, particularly among early post-menopausal women. Researchers studied associations between soy consumption and bone fractures in more than 24,000 postmenopausal Chinese women averaging 60 years of age. After following these women for 4 1/2 years, researchers found that the women in the highest soy intake group (13g soy protein daily) were at a 35 - 37 percent lowered risk of bone fractures than women in the lowest intake group (5g soy protein)."
The other thing you can do to mitigate your bone loss is weight bearing exercises. If you start young, you will be light years ahead of the game. Wait until you start shrinking and you will be that much weaker from lack of exercise. I started doing yoga as my weight bearing exercise of choice and eventually became a yoga instructor for five years.
My grandmother, probably 5'2" at one time in her life, died of old age, badly stooped from osteoporosis at well under 5 feet. My mother, 5'3" died at 61 of bone marrow cancer and was probably 4'10" from shrinkage of the bones from cancer and osteoporosis. Whatever it takes to get motivated, latch onto it. Bone loss is a very big deal. The stooping is not poor posture; it's tiny fractures. (By the way, if you DO want beautiful posture, lifting weights is the answer for that as well.)
INCREASING METABOLISM:
Fat doesn't burn fat. Muscle burns fat. The more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn. Therefore, you will reduce your fat the more you lift weights and build muscle. My metabolism came to a halt in my early 40's. Had I not done something to kick start it, I would have gotten bigger and bigger. I get up at 5:15 almost every morning and head down the gym to work out. It might be on weights or doing cardio work, but the key is to do something. Otherwise, I can forget about burning off what I eat. For people who know me, I love to eat more than I should. But look around us. Doesn't everybody? If everybody worked out religiously, they could burn off a good percentage of the excessive calories they are eating. But since they don't, they get to wear them. I'm telling you, exercise is 25% of any weight solution. The other 75% is getting the portion sizes down and eating the right things. I love my Weight Watcher leader, but she doesn't talk about exercise AT ALL. I guess she doesn't want to be a hypocrite. But the truth is, she's leaving out half the program. And her members would be far better served if she would emphasize this part of the equation.
INCREASING ENERGY:
The question I get from a lot of people when they see my artwork or hear about my piano practice schedule is "how do you have the energy for all this?" Lifting weights is really the answer. If I let me muscles go to jello, then they would respond like jello. Because I workout, my mind is sharper and I can get a lot more done (including at work). I WANT to do more. I sleep great. I am more emotionally upbeat. The key is to not let the excuses get in the way. This isn't just about better health, it's about a higher quality of life. They say living well is the best revenge.