Ladies who weight train in a deficit

anniea1818

Girls, have any of you started weight training while in a calorie deficit to aid weight loss? Every talks about how weights are great for building muscle etc but what about when eating to lose weight? obviously you wont be building muscle as your not eating over your maintanance cals, so have any you ladies had good success with weight training to lose fat? And how did you cope with eating less as it makes me really hungry!
x

TrishaCisneros

I do! I eat three meals and two small snacks throughout the day. I am not hungry at all. Lots of protein and veggies.

usmcmp

I don't really do cardio and I didn't as I was losing weight. I've pretty much just stuck to weight training. If you're struggling with hunger maybe your goal is too aggressive. Try changing your rate of loss to something slower.

jemhh

You will find that many women on MFP weight train while eating in a deficit. I am not now, but I have done it. Every person is different. Some can sustain greater deficits than others or for greater periods of time than others.

I find it healthier for me to separate weight loss from exercise. That is, I try to think of eating a bit less being for weight loss and exercising being something I do because it keeps me healthier and I just plain old enjoy it. I don't really think of exercise as something I do to lose fat. I won't lie, though. The temptation to exercise more in order to speed fat loss pops into my head from time to time. I just try to resist it.

Experiment with meal timing in order to help with hunger (I'm assuming you aren't using an overly large deficit.) I find that I can do upper body lifting in the morning fine even without having eaten. Lower body lifting, however, I have to do in the afternoon/evening after I've had a couple of meals and feel a bit more warmed up. I love my Sunday afternoon lower body sessions when I can finish lifting and then head to the kitchen to finish making our big Sunday meal to eat afterward.

quiksylver296

What @usmcmp said. How many calories are you eating?

I've been strength training in a slight deficit for approximately 2 years. I'm revealing muscle (and it looks damn good!) as I lose the fat. I shoot for 1750-1930 calories per day, but go to maintenance ~2200 calories once in awhile. I figure, as long as I'm staying under maintenance calories, I'm losing slow but steady.

RoxieDawn

I can see everyone is different.. by far..

I am currently in a very small deficit and weight training. My deficit will take care of the last pesky ounces I need to lose before October 1.

I am not losing fat because of strength training.. I am by the looks of my data, maintaining my current mass (i move to mainteance oct 30 and will bulk over winter)..

If you are struggling with being hungry and its not just the getting adapted to a deficit and training in the beginning, slow your rate of loss..

anniea1818

thanks everyone, im eating around 1500 cals but am considering upping to 1700-800 as ill still be in a deficit just slightly smaller

nowine4me

I'm training in a deficit of -250 with a goal of losing .5 per week and maintaining muscle. My lift progress has been slower than I'd like. I hope that once I lose the last 10 and switch to maintenance, things will ramp up faster. That being said, I'm happy with the results thus far. Be patient and stick with it!

sllm1

I eat at a smaller deficit so that my workouts are adequately fueled (1800 calories). I'm losing slowly, but my body is coming along quite nicely. It just takes patience and perseverance.

Sara1791

I'm trying not to think of training as a weight loss tool; I'm training to be strong and to look good. And yes, lately it's been making me very hungry. I tend to eat more on training days and then make it up by going lower on off days - I do this kind of unintentionally, but I may have to codify it as a rule if this hunger keeps up.

eta: My calorie deficit is 250, and I'm supposed to be eating 17something a day without counting exercise.

jolive7

I train heavy in a small deficit and believe it or not I do gain muscle and drop body fat consistently