Back at it again: Maintenance or Deficit? Noob Lifter

shrinkingletters

Hi Y'all! I'm not sure if this question should go in this forum or not but here goes:

I'm not new to MFP or how it works. A few years back I used this to successfully lose 30 lbs and get in pretty good shape. I was pretty happy with my appearance and overall fitness and obviously feeling really accomplished. However, life happens: I met my boyfriend, we've been dating about 3 years now, and 25 of those lbs have crept back up.

Now, I'm by no means saddened by my appearance, I actually still feel very positively about my body, and knowing that I want to be able to comfortably live my life without spending every moment of it obsessing about food and calories, I've decided I want to lose again, but a more modest amount, maybe 15 lbs, and see how I feel then.

The thing is, I've recently started a basic lifting program, and I'm REALLY loving it. I'm feeling very accomplished and I love that I get to try to lift more every week. I've been at it for a month and a half and am worried that if I go into a deficit now, I might become discouraged if my lifting suffers for it.

My question is: Should I stick to maintenance for another month or two to really solidify my routine and feel out where I am strengthwise, before starting a deficit to lose weight (I'd obviously still be lifting to preserve muscle as much as I can)? Or should I go straight into a deficit while lifting and do my best not to be discouraged if my strength gains start dropping off?

I am currently 5'4, 155 lbs (and have been holding steady at that weight for the last 2 months while eating at maintenance and lifting). I lift 4x a week, split up into push/pull days with 1 day of light cardio, weekends occasionally including a casual bike ride or a hike. My lowest weight was 127 and I was very lean, but it was a nightmare to keep up, so I would settle for dropping anywhere between 135-140, since I've been that weight before and in pretty good shape.

sijomial

You shouldn't have any problems with increasing strength if you keep your deficit modest.

Lifting is a very small calorie burn and you really shouldn't have any problems with maintaining intensity as long as you don't go for an aggressive deficit.

nowine4me

If you are doing a beginners lifting program (like SL5x5), your increases will drop off at some point anyway. You can’t just add 5# until infinity. But noob gains are a legit thing, so roll with it.

Doing a small cut (-250) should have a very minimal impact on your strength training, especially at the beginning.

shrinkingletters

sijomial wrote: »

You shouldn't have any problems with increasing strength if you keep your deficit modest.

Lifting is a very small calorie burn and you really shouldn't have any problems with maintaining intensity as long as you don't go for an aggressive deficit.

nowine4me wrote: »

If you are doing a beginners lifting program (like SL5x5), your increases will drop off at some point anyway. You can’t just add 5# until infinity. But noob gains are a legit thing, so roll with it.

Doing a small cut (-250) should have a very minimal impact on your strength training, especially at the beginning.

Thanks both of you! I used to be primarily into cardio but towards the end of my weight-loss/right before I met my boyfriend I was trying to get a feel for what lifting could do for me and was starting to appreciate what it was doing for my shape. I'm glad to hear I can do exactly what I need to do without sacrificing my fun time at the gym.