How should I change my diet/exercise?

ehaleyhoward2778

Hi all,

So I've been working on a healthier lifestyle for a little over 2 months now. MFP has really helped me keep on track lately. I'm a female, 5'5" 123lbs (started at 132 about 2.5 months ago) sorta average to slightly athletic build. Trying to get down to 115lbs or so but mainly just want to tone up my thighs, stomach, and lose the little bit of love handles I carry. I know not to try and spot reduce, so I just decided to start eating cleaner and working out regularly. My body fat caliper shows me around 25%(not sure how accurate they are) I would really like to get that down to 16-17% in time and just look and feel leaner.
I have been targeting anywhere from 1350-1500 calories a day (any lower and I'm hungry all day), getting most of my protein from whey isolate, PB2, nonfat plain Greek yogurt, boneless/skinless chicken breast, fresh eggs, lean steak, and salmon. Carbs come from things such as a kind bar for a snack, sandwhich thin with my pb2 for lunch, fresh fruits, oats, sweet potatoes etc. I aim for 30g of fiber a day (fruit and veggies mainly) My ratios are usually 45%C/ 30%F/ 25%P but on days I strength train I may bump my protein to 30% and drop fat down to 25%. Lately my stomach has been looking a little bloated, I've been taking peppermint pills, dropped my sodium goal from 2300mg to 1500mg and have been staying under that even, drinking 100-130oz of plain water a day and 12oz of Amino Acid water(Amino Lean), taking a probiotic supplement and reduced my broccoli/cauliflower, and dairy intake.. still look a little bloated though.
Anyways I've been doing 3-4 30 minute strength training with weight sessions a week plus 20 minutes of body weight exercises 5-6 days and 2 miles of interval running(sprints and jogs) 2 days a week, plus steady state jogging a couple miles 2 days a week and walking at least 2 miles extra all 7. I have a Fitbit and I average at least 15000 steps a day. I take an active rest day once a week, power walking&foam rolling plus still on my feet in the sun at work. I have lost about an inch off my waist in 2 months and close to 10 pounds. I've been so obsessive over counting calories and getting enough exercise everyday but have seemed to have plateaued in my weight loss in the last week or so. I also have an active job, I'm always hungry and have to work to stay under my calories. My question is, should I start slowly increasing my calories (maybe something more like 1450-1500 a day everyday) and reducing cardio? I've read a little about reverse dieting and it seems like a good idea, but is it a good idea for someone like me? I'm scared the scale will start to go up again and my belly will start to poke out even more!

sammyliftsandeats

I don't know much about reverse dieting but I think you have been successful so far. You lost 9lbs in 2.5 mos and that's pretty fast, considering you are already at a healthy weight for your height and you have little to lose.

How much of a deficit are you on? I would set your deficit to lose .5lbs/week moving forward. It will slow down the losses but avoid losing muscle mass.

As for the 'belly sticking out', maybe that's just where your body stores your fat (everyone is different) and while you continue to lower your bodyfat, it will go away with time.

TeaBea

Look up body recomposition.

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/tag/body-recomposition/

A couple different blogs

tcunbeliever

I kind of envy you, I've lost 9 lbs in 5 months...so, not sure how much my advice is worth!!!

If you aren't feeling satisfied from your food, try changing the macros around, a lot of people are more satisfied with higher fat or higher protein. I prefer high fat, keeps me feeling full and not hungry, I don't do hungry well.

If you are worried about the belly try adding in some yoga or pilates to help build your core muscles - that's about the only thing I see missing from your workouts is some kind of ab or core work, but it's possible you lumped it under the body weight work. Having a stronger core will not only help strengthen and pull in the belly, but will also strengthen your back and protect your spine.

Unknown

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ehaleyhoward2778

Thanks for the quick replies! MFP is awesome!
I will try changing my deficit to .5lbs per week. I'm also going to look at the body recomp blogs TeaBea recommends.
And as far as the weight I've lost, it's hard to tell how much is actual fat loss and how much is just water weight going away since I've upped my water intake a lot from what it used to be, and my weight fluctuates 3-4lbs everyday but the past week or so I've been stuck around 123+/-

For core workouts I do sit ups, oblique crunches, Russian twists, leg raises, push-ups, chin ups, and a lot of planking.

I guess it just takes time to see the fat % go down. I'll keep pressing on. Thanks for the replies!

capaul42

I would suggest the Recomposition thread on the Maintaining forum. It's far more informative than the blog posts.