Need advice on cutting, weight lifting and correct calorie deficit

ccsisima

So I am a 25yr old gal with alooot of weight to lose. Back in the day I was a long distance runner and ran about 10-12 miles a week. I always held a steady healthy weight of 120, I am 5'1 and now 189 pounds. I started out at about 204 pounds and have made some good progress. I started at a deficit of 1200-1300 calories a day because of my super sedentary desk job and started mainly doing cardio/HITT 3x a week. This went on for 2 weeks. I realized I was under eating and and raised my deficit to 1400-1560 a day and incorporated weight training and my weight has stalled for 2 weeks and it has stayed at the 189 mark and fluctuates to 192 some days. I was wondering if I am over eating or not training enough... I cut down HITT to only once to twice a week and continue with my weight training 3x a week. Thoughts? Advice?

ccsisima

just realized I didn't mean deficit but total calories per day consumed

RelCanonical

Incorporating weight training and slight increase in calories can lead to temporary water retention (even if still in deficit, as the increase is usually due to increased salt or carbohydrates with the calories). I had very similar stats to you when I first started (5'1'', 192) and was on track at 1,450. I say stick with it and it should start to come off slowly (as it should).

apullum

It’s very common to retain a few pounds of water for a few weeks when starting a new exercise program. This is probably what’s happening.

middlehaitch

It is probably water retention through weight training and extra food transiting your system as stated above.

Are you eating back your exercise cals?
To get the best out of your routines, lose as little muscle as possible, and avoid lethargy during every day life, you should.

If you feel eating all your cals back will slow your weight loss eat back a percentage (50-75) consistently and adjust after 4-6 weeks so you are losing at your planned rate.

Weight lifting can be found in the 'cardio' section under 'strength training'.

Cheers, h.

TavistockToad

You're 25, when exactly was 'back in the day'?!

Sounds like you're just being impatient. Weight loss isn't linear and fluctuations are completely normal.

steveko89

I lift, do some irregular cardio and have a desk job, TDEECalculator.net get's pretty close to my observed TDEE when set on "light exercise" so those are the numbers I'd try starting with:
https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=25&lbs=189&in=61&act=1.375&f=1

For round numbers, let's call it a TDEE (essentially maintenance) of 2100.

As far as setting a deficit (stolen from another thread:
If 75+ lbs overweight = 2 lbs/week (-1000 cal/day)
If 40-75 lbs overweight = 1.5 lbs/week (-750 cal/day)
If 25-40 lbs overweight = 1 lb/week (-500 cal/day)
If 15-25 lbs overweight = 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week (-250-500 cal/day)
If <15 lbs overweight = 0.5 lb/week (-250 cal/day)

Alternatively, 1% of body weight is another guideline used for suggested max loss rate.

All-in-all, for you to get back to that 120 lb level, I'd suggest keeping with 1400-1600 range you've been using which should get you somewhere in the 1-1.5 lb/week ballpark. Make sure you're eating adequate protein to fuel your workouts and ensure you at least retain the muscle you already have, (0.6-0.8 g/lb total body weight is sufficient).

The biggest thing is to make sure your logging and intake are consistent. If you don't already use a food scale to accurately measure as many servings as possible, get one and use it fanatically.

missbutton82

Good luck I’m at almost the same stats 5’2 and 179.0 looking to lose 50 myself, good luck and add me if you want!