Help needed on recomp/maintenance

sodapoppin28

So I've lost a considerable amount of weight in under a year and would like to start adding muscle mass by way of recomping. My current weight is 196 and my goal weight is 190 but I have been stuck in a plateau for about 2 months now and think my body is telling me its time for a major change. My question is since I still would like to lose some fat and build muscle should I start a recomp (setting mfp to lose 0.5 pounds per week) or should I just eat at maintenance while adding extra calories to build muscle. Thanks. This is a pic of my progress by the way.

jemhh

I think that you would do well to recomp by eating at or around maintenance rather than 250 (.5 lb) under it. I'd just aim to be at about maintenance each week, meaning that you might have a couple of days that are higher and a couple of days that are lower but overall it's close to maintenance. There's a big recomp thread that you might want to look through if you haven't already:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

Good work, by the way! Nice transformation so far.

Sumiblue

You look great! Good job! I think you'd probably do well with recomping.

MamaFunky

Great job! You look fantastic! There are a lot of people that can give you some great advice on recomp.

Womona

Congrats, you look great!!!

catsdogsh

You should be able to eat at maintenance and lift heavy to build muscle. Plenty of protein will help.

Hornsby

Another vote for maintenance. Get enough protein and carbs and you will profit at maintenance I think.

sodapoppin28

Thanks all I've decided to do maintenance with a small bulk so on weight lifting days I'll eat an extra 500 calories over maintenance and on days I don't workout I'll eat just a bit below maintenance.