Mom new to recomp - can you give some suggestions and examples?

abbynormalartist

I'm a 34 year old woman, 125lbs and not very active. I was previously trying to lose 5-10 lbs in hopes of getting rid of my "mummy tummy". After asking around some people have suggested recomp-ing instead of just trying to cut calories and lose weight. My understanding of this is that I would eat at maintenance on workout days and at a deficit on off days- is that correct?

Anyone in a similar situation who can give advice? How often do you work out and eat at maintenance? For example, if I work out 5 days a week do I only eat at a deficit 2 days a week? And how much of a work out is needed? I have 2 kids under 5 years old and a full time job so leaving to go to the gym isn't really an option. I usually try to do a 30 minute body weight work out at home after the kids go to sleep. Do I need to amp that up? Thank you!!

TavistockToad

Eat at maintenance every day.

Look into a proper lifting programme

rybo

Eat at maintenance don't worry about whether it's a workout day or not. You can build muscle/change your body doing at home bodyweight movements. But you need to pick the progression/regression that hits the appropriate level of difficulty.

cwolfman13

While recomp can be a deliberate act, I look at recomp as more of a bi-product of living a fitness centric lifestyle and eating well at a maintenance level of calories (I don't change mine based on whether I workout or not, I look at my maintenance as an average over the week).

When you're eating well and training well, good things happen over time...note that recomp is slow, it's not an overnight thing.

I do some form of exercise most days, but it varies in intensity. I lift 2x per week with a full body program as established by my trainer...you should definitely follow an established program for best results. I cycle 4-5 days per week...I typically do a sprint interval once per week, a tempo ride once per week, climbing work once per week, and a longer endurance ride on the weekend. I usually have a "free play" day on either Saturday or Sunday (depending on when I decide to ride) and I'll take my boys to the trampoline park, or we'll go to the rock climbing gym as a family...or family hike or family recreational ride, etc...just something fun but active and usually involves the family.

I've been doing a little Jiu Jitsu this past month, but I think I'm going to drop it...it was worth a try, but there are so many other things I'm interested...it is a good workout though.