Noob fat loss question

RekindledRose

Hi! I've been strength training for only a few months and have gotten nice results as far as strength. Of course I'm new, so that's to be expected.

Lately I've come to realize that losing fat is really very important to my overall health. I'm carrying about 75 lbs. of fat on my body! Ugh.

I understand that I need to eat at a deficit if I want to shed fat. I have two questions - 1. How would you recommend I do this if I don't want to risk losing any of the strength I've gained? My TDEE is nearly 1800 calories and I strength train 3 days/week. 2. Do you recommend I continue to add weight to my lifts or should I just maintain the amounts I'm lifting while I try this?

I'm considering doing 3 months of fat loss at first to try to drop fat % while staying strong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Nayners21

I highly suggest you become a member of the Eat More 2 Weigh Less group here on MFP. They are amazing and have awesome people that can help you out. I highly doubt your TDEE is only 1800 if you're working out 3 days a week. Or you can find their website at http://eatmore2weighless.com/

JessaLee0324

I am in the exact same boat as you...asking the exact thing. I've been weight lifting for almost two months and have not lost any fat. In fact, I eat more because I'm so drained after lifting.

So far I've been told to keep lifting but decrease my calories a little.

hiker_chick

Nayners21 wrote: »

I highly suggest you become a member of the Eat More 2 Weigh Less group here on MFP. They are amazing and have awesome people that can help you out. I highly doubt your TDEE is only 1800 if you're working out 3 days a week. Or you can find their website at http://eatmore2weighless.com/

Thanks for posting this! I just looked up their site and they have some great tips and ideas.

coralraelamb

RekindledRose wrote: »

Hi! I've been strength training for only a few months and have gotten nice results as far as strength. Of course I'm new, so that's to be expected.

Lately I've come to realize that losing fat is really very important to my overall health. I'm carrying about 75 lbs. of fat on my body! Ugh.

I understand that I need to eat at a deficit if I want to shed fat. I have two questions - 1. How would you recommend I do this if I don't want to risk losing any of the strength I've gained? My TDEE is nearly 1800 calories and I strength train 3 days/week. 2. Do you recommend I continue to add weight to my lifts or should I just maintain the amounts I'm lifting while I try this?

I'm considering doing 3 months of fat loss at first to try to drop fat % while staying strong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I'm in the same boat, I've been researching and doing this for about 7 months. Keep lifting!! Eat at least 30% of your calories from protein, try to keep away from saturated fats since they are harder to burn off. Stay in a calorie deficit. Realize that on really heavy training days you will be more hungry, try to only do it twice a week. On other days do strength training but not to a severe intensity. And you must up your cardio if you want to lose fat. A good strength workout that torches fat is deadlifts and weighted squats since they work the largest muscle groups. I like to do 25 min of cardio and then go straight to strength training with very little rest. It keeps your heart rate in the fat burning zone. And also do HIIT.

coralraelamb

Personally right now I go heavy on lower body 2x/week, upper body and back 2x/ week. On those days I make sure I get quality carbs and protein. I'm also doing HIIT 4 times a week. No steady state cardio. Be sure to take a multivitamin and get plenty of sleep. I keep my calories between 1200-1600, depending on what I feel I need that day.