Wondering how to proceed from here...

sengalissa

I am pretty much at goal weight (below 130lbs at 5.4''). I know that's not low, but I lift 4x a week and need to eat so I don't feel crappy. Also, I do not get a lot of rest during my days and I need to have my acts together every day.

But. I wonder how much I COULD push myself. And I cannot decide whether I should make this a priority and really try to cut some or not. if I did, I would have to count calories for my whole life. If I settled in on my current weight, I could just keep lifting, get stronger and look good - but not fantastic. I cannot seem to decide what I want and so I keep switching things up, going from maintenance to cutting, calorie cycling etc, back and forth every one or two weeks. For instance, I ate no birthday cake (my daughter's birthday) although it was Xmas and her birthday, and it was fairly healthy carrot cake (I made it). And I thought to myself, wow, now I am overdoing it. I mean, do I want to be a person who brings her own greek yogurt while everyone else is eating chinese take-out? Or do I want to eat in public and cut privately? Whenever I do not count, I tend to overeat on sweets.

I don't seem to be able to find a balance in my eating and in my goals. What COULD I maintain without going crazy? I don't want you do answer this question for me, but I would love to hear how others made peace with their own gials and weight.
I will definitely keep lifting 4x/week because I enjoy it so much. And maybe some running once spring comes. I don't know if I am willing to put that much effort into my diet. Or maybe I should make a 6 week effort cutting and then just try to maintain?

What do you do?

dramaqueen45

I'm also 5'4". I feel like a good goal for me is 120, but I am a small frame and the last time I weighed that much I didn't have a lot of muscle mass. I may try to get down to that goal again, I may not, depending on how I feel and look. I am now lifting about 3X per week so maybe I will have more muscle and not feel the need to get down to that low of a weight. I may try to get down to 120 and then relax a bit and be fine with 125-130. The last time time I weighed around that much I was pretty happy with my weight and appearance. And the last time I was 120 was pre-pregnancy. So now I'm about 20+ years older and I may just be happy at 128. So I think if you feel good with where you are now, 130 is very healthy for your height.

FromHereOnOut

Have you ever tracked meticulously while also pushing the calories higher and higher, to see just how high you can go? You may find that you are "maintaining" at the bottom of your range, whereas you could eat much more and "maintain" at the top of your range instead. Especially if you're lifting. Once you see how high you can go without actual fat gain (discounting glycogen, water gain), it might make your decision easier.

sengalissa

FromHereOnOut wrote: »

Have you ever tracked meticulously while also pushing the calories higher and higher, to see just how high you can go? You may find that you are "maintaining" at the bottom of your range, whereas you could eat much more and "maintain" at the top of your range instead. Especially if you're lifting. Once you see how high you can go without actual fat gain (discounting glycogen, water gain), it might make your decision easier.

That's a very good point. I thought I might just go by pure intuition, without any restriction and counting. Then assess my weight in 2 months. That would leave me enough time to cut for summer. Basically, that's what I want, just go by hunger signals and nothing else. Maybe I should just go for it?

tephanies1234

sengalissa wrote: »

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FromHereOnOut wrote: »

Have you ever tracked meticulously while also pushing the calories higher and higher, to see just how high you can go? You may find that you are "maintaining" at the bottom of your range, whereas you could eat much more and "maintain" at the top of your range instead. Especially if you're lifting. Once you see how high you can go without actual fat gain (discounting glycogen, water gain), it might make your decision easier.

That's a very good point. I thought I might just go by pure intuition, without any restriction and counting. Then assess my weight in 2 months. That would leave me enough time to cut for summer. Basically, that's what I want, just go by hunger signals and nothing else. Maybe I should just go for it?

I did that and then got fat.

palwithme

For me it is an issue of time and resources. I am putting a lot of time into exercising and counting calories, logging, etc. Once I hit goal it is going to get scaled back for sure. I am still going to log and exercise, but maybe not as diligently or intensely.