Ladies 5'3-5'4 doing stronglifts...how many calories to lose fat

Options
jessjess210
jessjess210 Posts: 91 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Im 5'3, 146 lbs, 33. Just started stronglifts 5x5 2 weeks ago. I do this twice a week and see my trainer twice a week. I had a baby 7 months ago and still have weight to lose. I'm not terribly concerned about the number on my scale. I do want to bring down my body fat which is 35%, and just look nice and toned. So my question is how do I figure out how many calories I should be eating to lose the fat, but still keep fueling my workouts and making gains on the lifts.

Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Options
    Fill out one of the 100s of calculators that are available, or let MFP calculate it for you. Whatever number you get back, eat that for a month and see how you do, then adjust as necessary.
  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
    Options
    If you want to lose weight, you should eat at a deficit. After lifting and eating at a deficit, your lifts will most likely stall (it could take months before this happens though). To get through the stalls, you'll need to bump up the calories to give your body more fuel to work and repair itself.

    If you aren't too concerned with the scale number, you could try a recomp. You would eat at about your maintenance calories and lift heavy. Over time, you become leaner even though your scale weight may not change much.

    To get a good starting number of what your maintenance is, use iifym.com or this one (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/#projectedweightloss). Follow the number either gives you and reevaluate in a month to see if you are losing as predicted. If you aren't, you'll need to adjust up or down.
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
    Options
    I agree with using one of the calculators out there. I personally like fat2fitradio.com's BMR and TDEE calculator.
  • jessjess210
    jessjess210 Posts: 91 Member
    Options
    Good info. I've used the calculators. What should I set my deficit at? 10,15, or 20%?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Options
    I'd start at 15% and see how that works for you.
  • iRun_Butterfly
    iRun_Butterfly Posts: 483 Member
    Options
    I'm 5'3", started SL5x5 about a year ago, followed it for well over 6 months, lifting 3 times a week. I think when I was truly following it, I was eating at about 1700-1800 calories a day. I lost consistently for several months, but was very close to my goal weight anyway. You may notice on lift days, or the day after, you are a bit hungrier. I would try to stay at a larger deficit much of the week to give myself some wiggle room on the "hungry" days. I did eventually stall out on the program, but was quite satisfied with what it did for my body. My heaviest lifts were 130 squat, 180 dead lift, 80 bench, 90 row, and 60 OHP. I'm going in a slightly different direction at this point with my fitness, still lifting twice a week, running 4 times and eating between 1800-2000ish a day and happily maintaining. I'm currently mid way through a half marathon program, but once I've completed that I'm really looking forward to resuming SL5x5. I absolutely loved the program! Good luck!!
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    Options
    Just because you reminded me of Staci Ardison:
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
    And as to how she eats:
    http://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2011/10/28/nerd-fitness-how-to-eat-healthy-without-breaking-the-bank/

    She now seems to be enjoying the CrossFit thing.

Categories