Where to go from here?

adorable_aly
adorable_aly Posts: 398 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am about 106-110lbs and am 4"11. This is a healthy weight for my height, and so far I have lost 25lbs, in about a year and maintained. My main concern is now on body composition, rather than weight.

So I have been attempting to eat 1600 cals a day (TDEE -20%) for a few weeks and have started some basic strength training about a month ago. I do this about 3x a week. I am also doing c25k on alternate days. However recently I have found myself tired so I'm going to cut back on the cardio to 2x a week.

I have seen quite a lot of difference in my body since I started. And I'm wondering whether it would be more beneficial to eat at maintenance rather than at a deficit, to aid the weight training. Or whether I should still be in a deficit to lose the fat.

What do you think?

Replies

  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    lifting while in a deficit will simply help you retain the muscle mass you currently have. If you don't like how your body looks building muscle is most likely what you want which is achieved by heavy lifting and eating slight above your maintain calories.

    When lifting you will put on a tiny bit of fat along the way due to eating above your maintain calories. So you do bulk (eat slightly above maintain and lift heavy) and cut (eat at a small deficit, continue to lift, add in a bit of cardio) cycle to build muscle and cut fat.
  • adorable_aly
    adorable_aly Posts: 398 Member
    In terms of increasing cals, should I do this slowly? Also by how many calories should I be bulking by?

    Thanks.
    :)
  • adorable_aly
    adorable_aly Posts: 398 Member
    Bump for more help :)
  • djeffreys10
    djeffreys10 Posts: 2,312 Member
    Lift heavy 3-5x per weak, get about 100 grams of protein per day at least, and eat at 10% over tdee.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    If you're worried about possibly gaining weight as you move toward your TDEE maybe try adding 100 calories a week till you get there.
  • adorable_aly
    adorable_aly Posts: 398 Member
    I'm not ready to lift heavy yet, as I haven't ever really done strength training before and need to start slowly because I've had joint problems in the past. I do barbell squats, and use a lot of machines at the moment, purely because I really don't want to hurt myself. I can't afford a trainer at the moment.

    I do get enough protein.

    My only concern with this approach is that I have worked hard losing the weight, especially the last few pounds, and to gain some of it back during bikini season, seems counter-intuitive to me. But I don't know much about this stuff. I guess I still have some fat to lose (stomach, love handles) and since I have just seen some progress in these areas I don't want to ruin it.

    Also my TDEE seems to vary quite a lot depending in what site I get the figures from, what is the most accurate method?

    Thanks :)

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