We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
Should I recomp or stay in deficit?

BigBadVanna
Posts: 65 Member
Stats: 5'11'', 148lbs., 30 yo
I'm nearing what I thought was my goal weight of 145 and I'm wondering what to do next. I've lost almost all of my baby weight (8.5mo postpartum), but still have a ways to go in terms of body composition. So far, I haven't exercised at all, just calorie deficit. I know heavy lifting would help and will start lifting regardless. I'm averaging 12,000 calories a week and losing a little over a pound a week. Should I eat my calculated maintenance and settle in for the long haul of a recomp or keep the deficit to lean out a little more first? Eat just under maintenance? I guess I'm worried that if I eat too close to maintenance, it'll take forever to get the leaner look I want.

I'm nearing what I thought was my goal weight of 145 and I'm wondering what to do next. I've lost almost all of my baby weight (8.5mo postpartum), but still have a ways to go in terms of body composition. So far, I haven't exercised at all, just calorie deficit. I know heavy lifting would help and will start lifting regardless. I'm averaging 12,000 calories a week and losing a little over a pound a week. Should I eat my calculated maintenance and settle in for the long haul of a recomp or keep the deficit to lean out a little more first? Eat just under maintenance? I guess I'm worried that if I eat too close to maintenance, it'll take forever to get the leaner look I want.

1
Replies
-
You are at a healthy weight right now. It would take a little over 10 pounds before you get to the underweight category. If you decide to continue to lose a couple more pounds do it a lot slower.0
-
You are at a healthy weight right now. It would take a little over 10 pounds before you get to the underweight category. If you decide to continue to lose a couple more pounds do it a lot slower.
Thank you for your response. I've been upping my calories by 100/day every week to slow down the loss, as was suggested on this site. I was trying to not increase it too much at a time, but you're definitely right, I need to lose at a slower rate now that I'm close to goal.
0 -
Eating at maintenance & starting to lift sounds better than eating at a deficit. *Assuming that you really haven't exercised at all* Because you will burn off some of your maintenance calories when you do lift/exercise.1
-
Maintain and lift/exercise would be my advice. Your clavicles and upper ribs are starting to show.
Remember you can always return to a (small) deficit at some time in the future if you should choose to.
Eating more will support your body better while starting a new exercise regime helping with both training and recovery.1 -
Thank you, everyone! I will increase to what I believe is maintenance, start lifting some weights, and see where it gets me.0
-
BigBadVanna wrote: »Thank you, everyone! I will increase to what I believe is maintenance, start lifting some weights, and see where it gets me.
Good plan. Just be mindful that gaining muscle is a very slow process so don't expect instant results. Especially near maintenance.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 391 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions