Loosing weight while building muscle help... recomp?

kendrahall24

I'm 5'6 and 137 pounds, started at 143. I'd say my body is naturally on the muscular side because I used to be a competitive figure skater, but I've gained some weight over the years since then. I think my goal weight is somewhere around 130, depending on what I look like as I loose. (I already know if I loose fat first and then start building muscle I will gain weight, and I'm okay with that) The point is, I still have awhile to go to be thinner and I want to have a low body fat % and build my muscles and be "toned". (And on a side note, increase my booty size lol) Right now I do about 45 minutes of cardio a day and spend 20ish minutes on weight machines (alternating days for arms and legs). Then I spend another 20-30ish doing workouts like lunges, push ups, squats, leg raises, ab stuff + a bunch more, that kind of stuff etc. Besides the cardio, I know it's not that much, but that's where my question comes in...

Should I keep the cardio high and the weight lifting minimal to preserve my muscles like I've been doing, until I'm as thin as I want to be, and then ease up on the cardio and start and focusing more on spending time weight lifting? Or should I keep doing the cardio and put more effort into weight lifting now vs later? Or should I do something else??? I just don't know if I should loose the weight and then build the muscle, or do them simultaneously. Can you even gain muscle in a deficit? Please give me your suggestions, this is confusing stuff and I'm new to this.

Notes on dieting- I eat about 1400-1500 cals a day and burn off about 250-350 in cardio. I try to get 1g of protein per pound of body weight (as google told me to do) Any suggestions on my dieting could help too.

TavistockToad

set MFP to lose 0.5lb per week, start a proper lifting programme (new rules of lifting or strong curves for example) do cardio 3 x a week.

sardelsa

The goal right now while you lose the last of your weight is to maintain the muscle you have.. this is SO important. That is the biggest mistake I see most people make because they think it will be a waste.
If you do just cardio and wait you will not really preserve them and building them back up will be even more work for you (believe me, been there!) Can you build muscle in a deficit? Maybe a little bit or maybe not.. but that should not discourage you from not lifting weights.

Also I would follow a lifting program for optimal results, not just doing random exercises.
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

rybo

Your focus should lean on the side of strength training. Keep a small deficit & drop a little fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible. Then bump the calories up as needed when you've reached the desired leanness.

BoxerBrawler

Get on a good lifting program and dial down the cardio a bit.

rsclause

Losing while building is not going to happen but you can still work at keeping as much as muscle possible.

PPumpItUp

Go in a deficit but keep your protein high and increase the resistance training. There are many studies out there that show, even in trained individuals, you can loose fat and gain muscle but as mentioned before you have to have a good resistance training program and keep your protein high, which 1g/lbs as you are currently doing is fine.

Cardio is good for overall health but is not needed loosing body fat, your calorie deficit is what dictates that. Although, if you burn 100kcal from cardio, it will increase your calorie deficit by 100kcal. Keep in mind it will reduce your blood glucose level and the amount of muscle glycogen you can use during your lifts to maintain/increase your muscle mass, so, do your cardio after resistance training.