Am I over-eating or under-eating?

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MS26721
MS26721 Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I’m fairly new to the calorie-counting/dieting world so I’m still learning and reading a lot. I find these threads extremely helpful and I’d love any input or experiences you can share! My question is around calorie intake, but I added some reference below to help!

I would consider myself a pretty active person. I used to be all cardio (running, swimming, triathlons, etc.) but after some injuries and realizing that’s not the best route, I’ve switched to focusing more on weight training. I don’t run anymore due to an injury, but do an incline walk for steady state cardio for 1-2 times per week. I incorporate HIIT in the form of stairmaster, spin, or tabatas at least 3 times per week. I weight train about 4 times per week—either heavy and slow, or in the form of something like BBG (fast circuits). I also try to throw in yoga at least once per week and have started doing more yoga sculpt classes.

Sometimes I work out twice per day. In an average week, I probably exercise 7-10 hours.

When I first started counting calories, I used some free online calculators and was shooting for 2100-2200 calories per day. I also changed up my workout at that time and did notice more definition—but I wanted more fat loss. I recalculated and have been holding steady at 1900-2000 calories—I haven’t noticed any change to my body. My question is—am I over-eating or under-eating? It seems like I’m at the point where a couple 100 calories would make a huge difference in my progress.

Macros tend to be 23-25% P, 31-34% F, 39-43% carbs.

For reference, I’m female, 27 years old, 5’5, 135 pounds. I’ve had my body fat taken a few times but it’s all over the place, anywhere from 20-24%.

Thank you!!

Replies

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    If you are not losing or gaining you are eating at your maintenance level.
    Are you trying to lose weight?
    You are not overweight so should have a small deficit like 250 calories.
    If I were you I would stay where you are with calorie intake and keep doing strength training.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    How long has it been since eating 1900-2000?

    You obtain fat loss through being in mainteance (recomp) but it is a slower process so if you are maintaining your weight (and this is your goal) stay the course.

    If you are looking to drop body fat at a faster rate, you will need to be in a calorie deficit, continue what you are doing.

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