Finding the right caloric intake and ratio to lean out

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kemersonlmt
kemersonlmt Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Im 5’4, 134 pounds with 19-20% body fat. I’d like to get down to about 15%. I had plateaued with my goals when my calories were set to 1550 and macros at a 40/30/30 p/c/f. So I knocked down my calories to 1350 and a 40/35/25 and it didn’t do me any favors.. I wasn’t full and I was moody! I am pretty active, athletic build, working out 5-6 days a week with a mix of weights and HIIT. Any suggestions or advice for my set calories and macro split? Thank you!!

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  • Teabythesea_
    Teabythesea_ Posts: 559 Member
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    You're already in a healthy weight range so loss will be very slow. How long was your "plateau" at 1550? Were you eating back exercise calories? A stall of a few months with so little to lose is not unusual. Your calories should whatever MFP gives you when you input your stats and select a rate of loss of .5lb. Eat that plus at least a portion of your exercise calories. Default macros are usually fine. I upped my protein but that's a personal preference.

    Have you considered eating at maintenance while lifting to recomp?
  • kemersonlmt
    kemersonlmt Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you for responding! My plateau had been about 2-3 months and that’s when I lowered my calories for two weeks. Sometimes I have some calories leftover (at 1500) but my macros are usually dead on and sometimes I do eat back my exercise calories. I don’t usually keep my phone on me when exercising, so it’s most often not accounted for. I believe mine is set for one pound a week and I did not use the default setup. So, set it to .5 a week? I just changed my calories to 1500 yesterday, so I wonder if I should wait a couple weeks? I get so frustrated with how to adjust my numbers, I just don’t know anymore! Thank you for taking the time to read and respond 😊

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