I’ve been lifting weights seriously for eight years. It all started six months after I gave birth to my son, Isaac, in 2006. I gained 50 pounds during pregnancy and, despite being active most of my life and having a gym membership since high school, I didn’t feel in control of my body. I exercised through pregnancy, running 3 miles a day until seven months, then switching to walking. After birth, my workouts were mostly running, yoga, and machines—habits that left me feeling weak and defeated.
Running and yoga have their place, especially for endurance and mental health, and I value both. But I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. I felt frustrated and lacked guidance; even as a certified trainer I’d pull workouts from magazines rather than following a solid plan.
So I dove into strength training, studying every book I could find and learning from coaches like Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle, and Gray Cook. I started by following their programs, moved away from quick-fix magazine workouts, learned proper squats and deadlifts, got into Olympic lifts, started sprinting instead of long runs, and even my yoga practice benefited from the weight room. I began lifting to lose fat, but over time it became something for my soul. I felt empowered and capable for the first time in my life.
Six months after giving birth, I’d lost the baby weight, and my body looked and felt different—more muscular, athletic, lean, and strong, even though I weighed the same as before. Since then, I’ve continued to mix yoga, walks along the beach, stand-up paddleboarding, dancing, and other activities, but lifting remains at the heart of my routine. It’s the foundation for fat loss and overall fitness.
Lifting weights regularly builds lean mass, which helps your metabolism burn calories at rest. It also promotes natural growth hormone production, which can improve insulin sensitivity. Many women worry that lifting will make them bulky. It won’t. Women don’t have enough testosterone to bulk up quickly, and genetics, nutrition, and training all shape the outcome. Train to be strong and eat to support that, and you’ll achieve an athletic, feminine look. And because time is precious, you can get meaningful results in 20, 15, or even 10 minutes by increasing pace, intensity, or using methods like metabolic resistance training, complexes, density training, or “lifting weights faster.” You don’t need a long cardio session; prioritize weights and pair them with good nutrition to turn your body into a fat-loss machine.
I remember my first unassisted pull-up in early 2008, while I was awaiting knee surgery. I focused on upper-body work—pull-ups, push-ups, and overhead presses—and one day I tried a neutral-grip pull-up without a band and got my chin over the bar. It was a proud moment. Since then, every workout has been about getting better—heavier, faster, more efficient. Progress isn’t always about more effort; sometimes it’s about better recovery. This idea—PR every day—keeps me motivated. Breaking records is mentally rewarding and helps you stay focused in the weight room. While aesthetics matter, performance goals are more sustainable. That first pull-up showed me how strength in the gym could translate to strength in life, and how the body would change as I stopped stressing over weight and appearance.
Being strong makes everything else easier. Moving furniture, carrying groceries, lifting a heavy carry-on, keeping up with kids—these tasks become much simpler with strength on your side. I spoke to my son’s kindergarten class about exercise and nutrition, and a girl named Lizzie summed it up: “because it makes everything easier.” As a single mom, strength helped me carry a sleeping child from the car and move a bed into my apartment with no help. The bottom line is simple: strength reigns supreme.
Lean and lovely isn’t about chasing some impossible standard. It’s about helping women get fit and gain confidence while honoring their bodies. The program includes 12 weeks of fat-burning workouts, a comprehensive Nutrition Handbook that teaches fat loss without dieting, more than two dozen bonus workouts that fit into a busy schedule, instructional videos, and mindset exercises to keep you productive and positive. It’s designed to meet your body where it is and guide you toward lasting transformation—physically and mentally.
Neghar Fonooni is a fitness and lifestyle coach, writer, veteran, and mom from Los Angeles with 14 years in the industry. Through her blog, Eat, Lift & Be Happy, she helps women embrace their bodies through food and exercise. She contributes to various sites and is the author of Lean & Lovely. She lives in Santa Monica, California with her husband, her son, and two bulldogs.
