I've reached my target........

comptonelizabeth

...now what? Lol. Do I continue at a smaller surplus and work on lifting,eat at maintenance? Would appreciate advice. I'm tempted to continue gaining- I quite like the new me - but suspect it's mainly fat that I've gained!

JaydedMiss

Your body. Do what makes you happy.

comptonelizabeth

richardgavel

You've got 2 choices, eat at maintenance and slowly add muscle while losing fat or go thru multiple surplus/deficit cycles. Muscle builds faster in a surplus, but you're not going to get away without adding fat as well, hence the later deficit.

comptonelizabeth

I just don't fancy the whole bulk/cut thing! But at 61 years old,female and with chronic health issues I'm guessing the muscle gain will be small.

middlehaitch

@comptonelizabeth. Congrats on reaching your goal.

At 63 and in maintenance I have decided to do a life long recomp. This may suit you too- helps in muscle retention and bone density.

As you know muscle gain for women in the prime of life and with a good fitness level is only .5-1 lbs a month. For me it is way, way less- that doesn't deter me; just keeps my expectations in the reality zone.

I lift 3 days, do 30 min LISS 2 days, yoga 1day, and rest 1day.

I had to cut back cardio, use to do Zumba or Pilates, etc, as lifting is quite taxing for me. Although I know exercise is good for me, I don't want to put myself in a position where I am too exhausted to enjoy my life or burn out.

I eat at maintenance and eat back every single exercise calorie- I need them.

I do keep considering a small bulk, but as muscle gains would be minimal, and all my fat goes to my stomach, I stick with the recomp.

Cheers, h.

comptonelizabeth

middlehaitch wrote: »

@comptonelizabeth. Congrats on reaching your goal.

At 63 and in maintenance I have decided to do a life long recomp. This may suit you too- helps in muscle retention and bone density.

As you know muscle gain for women in the prime of life and with a good fitness level is only .5-1 lbs a month. For me it is way, way less- that doesn't deter me; just keeps my expectations in the reality zone.

I lift 3 days, do 30 min LISS 2 days, yoga 1day, and rest 1day.

I had to cut back cardio, use to do Zumba or Pilates, etc, as lifting is quite taxing for me. Although I know exercise is good for me, I don't want to put myself in a position where I am too exhausted to enjoy my life or burn out.

I eat at maintenance and eat back every single exercise calorie- I need them.

I do keep considering a small bulk, but as muscle gains would be minimal, and all my fat goes to my stomach, I stick with the recomp.

Cheers, h.

Thank you - that's really helpful! I too have cut back on cardio and also eat back all my calories. I'm still unsure what my maintenance is because the majority of the time I exceed the calories set by mfp so will need to experiment a bit.
Thanks again and good luck!

middlehaitch

@comptonelizabeth. MFP or any other calorie calculator is only an estimate so it is good to spend a couple of months establishing maintenance before trying to make drastic changes to your workout routines.

I was weight loss, not gain, and by the time I hit maintenance I knew an hour of almost any type of exercise burnt 175-200 cals (small and old!) so I found my maintenance pretty quickly- the plus of no longer having TOM disruptions. Now, 7years later I adjust what I eat without really thinking of it- don't count calories and rarely weigh myself.

Cheers, h.

comptonelizabeth

Thank you