Lost enough, time to maintain but...

LC4509

I have been on a deficit resulting in me losing several pounds, but I don't want to lose anymore as I was already a healthy weight before and I still am now. I need to build lean muscle instead as I think my body fat percentage is too which is obvious to see in my stomach.

I'm already doing regular strength training alongside cardio but what to do about calories? Start eating at maintenance?

TavistockToad

I would go with eating at maintenance while still lifting and see if you like the results after a few months

Spliner1969

To gain muscle faster, you'll need to follow a progressive overload lifting program of some sort, eat at a surplus (up to 500 extra calories a day with sufficient protein), and be ok with some weight gain. In the end you will typically then cut some weight again to reduce any fat that was gained. You can also eat at maintenance and continue to train but the results will be slower. I've been doing that for about the last year or more and have managed to gain some muscle, but nothing near what I thought it would be. I could have gained the same amount of muscle in half the time if I had eaten at a higher caloric load. But I wasn't willing to gain very much fat. So what I do is stay at maintenance, or slightly above (maybe 100 cals or a bit more off and on) and I train like a madman. I'd say I've 'toned' up (IE: gained small amounts of muscle), but not gained any significant bulk. I'm ok with that since I never really wanted to get much bigger. I've now switched to a 100-200 calorie a day deficit to slowly cut fat back, and in November I'll switch back to a 250ish caloric surplus again until the spring. So it's a slow slow process.

sijomial

Especially if you still have fat to lose don't go to a surplus unless you want to weigh more and gain more fat.
That would really only be a valid option for someone who puts strength and size ahead of body composition and aesthetics.

So remaining options are....
Either cut more then regain back up to goal weight or simply maintain weight and train - recomp in other words.

You are probably best served by maintaining at least for a while and reassess after a period of months - then decide. You don't stop transforming just because you have hit goal weight.

LC4509

I'm finding the whole thing really confusing. I don't want to gain any fat but it's just hard because I don't know which advice to listen to! I don't want to bulk up at all, I just want to get rid of my flabby stomach so I guess slower progress would be ok. The thought of eating at a surplus scares me though, anyone else?

sijomial

gracelynnclark wrote: »

I'm finding the whole thing really confusing. I don't want to gain any fat but it's just hard because I don't know which advice to listen to! I don't want to bulk up at all, I just want to get rid of my flabby stomach so I guess slower progress would be ok. The thought of eating at a surplus scares me though, anyone else?

What exactly is confusing? Try to expand on what isn't clear....

By the way - in my 40+ years of training I've never met anyone who accidentally bulked up (gained a lot of muscle)! That's really not a valid fear.

Plenty of people have accidentally got fat by eating in a surplus though.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I'll give another point of view than the above. Presuming that you aren't trying to look musclebound and you are currently normal weight, just find any set of activities you like and do them regularly. It can really be anything including gym work, exercise/dance classes, rock classes, kayaking, swimming, running, gardening, cycling-- doesn't matter so long as it is active. Be creative and try new active things until you find some you really like, then keep doing them. Meanwhile, maintain your weight.

One day-- bam-- you're in better shape.

sijomial

@Jthanmyfitnesspal
Nice perspective.
Wimbledon Tennis is on at the moment.... Loads of enviable physiques on show, no evidence of everyone doing Stronglifts with cut & bulk cycles.

LC4509

sijomial wrote: »

gracelynnclark wrote: »

I'm finding the whole thing really confusing. I don't want to gain any fat but it's just hard because I don't know which advice to listen to! I don't want to bulk up at all, I just want to get rid of my flabby stomach so I guess slower progress would be ok. The thought of eating at a surplus scares me though, anyone else?

What exactly is confusing? Try to expand on what isn't clear....

By the way - in my 40+ years of training I've never met anyone who accidentally bulked up (gained a lot of muscle)! That's really not a valid fear.

Plenty of people have accidentally got fat by eating in a surplus though.

All of the different information that I'm reading. I'm not sure how many calories I should be eating to achieve what I want and I don't really know how to work out macros either. I'm not worried about bulking up, it's more that I just don't want to gain fat from eating in a surplus.

CoueCoue

sijomial wrote: »

You don't stop transforming just because you have hit goal weight.

Really liked this.

sardelsa

gracelynnclark wrote: »

I'm finding the whole thing really confusing. I don't want to gain any fat but it's just hard because I don't know which advice to listen to! I don't want to bulk up at all, I just want to get rid of my flabby stomach so I guess slower progress would be ok. The thought of eating at a surplus scares me though, anyone else?

If you don't want to gain, don't eat in a surplus! While bulking can add muscle faster, it isn't the only way to do so.

You can either keep cutting down (but you won't really be gaining muscle, just keep losing fat and revealing what muscle you currently have) or you can eat at maintenance and recomp.. to build muscle and lose fat over time. If you are happy with your weight and just want to add a little here, lose a little there, recomp is probably the best next step for you.

LC4509

Well thank you for all of the advice everyone. I think I'm going to eat at maintenance and recomp for several months and see how that goes, then I can always reassess as you say.

One last question - do you think I need to eat more protein and less carbs to be more productive?

sijomial

gracelynnclark wrote: »

Well thank you for all of the advice everyone. I think I'm going to eat at maintenance and recomp for several months and see how that goes, then I can always reassess as you say.

One last question - do you think I need to eat more protein and less carbs to be more productive?

Depends how much you are eating now!
More protein for someone training hard compared to someone not training hard is a good idea.
But also more carbs for someone training hard is a also good idea - they make a big difference for performance and recovery.

But really macros are less important when maintaining than when you were losing.
Defaults are more than likely fine for you if that's how you enjoy eating, there's a wide range of perfectly adequate and precision isn't really required unless you are elite level or striving for extremes of body composition. Remember you want to enjoy maintenance - not feel you are on a restricted diet with a slightly higher calorie allowance.

Spliner1969

gracelynnclark wrote: »

All of the different information that I'm reading. I'm not sure how many calories I should be eating to achieve what I want and I don't really know how to work out macros either. I'm not worried about bulking up, it's more that I just don't want to gain fat from eating in a surplus.

What I did was transition to maintenance plus exercise calories. So basically I stay at TDEE averaged over the period of a week. I figure the exercise I do each week, add those calories to my non-exercise TDEE for maintenance and eat at that level. That way I am able to slowly gain muscle and strength without truly bulking and gaining a ton of fat. Basically without exercise I maintain at around 2100 cals/day. I work out 5 days a week, for just under 2 hours pretty intensely with body weight circuit training, running, walking, and some HIIT. Each workout nets me somewhere around 1000 calories, give or take. So that's roughly 5000 calories a week of exercise. Divide that by 7 and I get an extra 700ish calories a day I can eat. So my maintenance calories are around 2800.

The catch is that I MUST continue the same intensity and same length of workouts or I may slowly gain or lose weight. I simply weigh in about once a month now and if I see a trend over a few months of gaining I back it off a bit on the daily calories, or adjust my workouts. It's been working well for me for over a year to not gain a ton of weight. I started around 178, and I sit around 188. Yes, it's a 10lb gain, but I can tell you it's certainly not just fat. I did gain, in the last year, about 2% body fat along with whatever muscle I gained. I'm currently setting myself around 2500 calories a day for the rest of the summer to shave off that 2%-3% body fat I gained. In November though, I'll bump it back up to 2800-3000 and intensify my weight training for the winter. Then I will start again in the spring with likely a slow cut again. I will probably never look like a body builder, but my method keeps me happy in the calorie range I am set, and it keeps me energized for tough workouts, not to mention muscle definition is slowly coming into focus.

That's basically how you can maintain and still train for some strength gains. The more exercise you do, the more you need to eat. But nothing says you need to go over maintenance levels.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

@Spliner1969, dude, TL/DR!

About macros: Most important is to stay within calorie bounds, eating a good balance of healthy foods. Nothing extreme required.