Skinny fat to strong help please!

Soxiez

Hi! I'm sure this has been asked in some variety a million times before so I'll make it short. I've done the majority of my weight loss through diet and maintained around my 'ok' weight for around 2 years. But I'm bored of 'ok' I want to be the best I can be, which means sorting out my flab. I'm 22, 5"6, 63kg (3kg heavier than I usually am, and would like to get that off too at least, and ideally another 2 on top of that, down to 58kg which is my most confident size!) and while I have UK size 8 measurements, my stomach and arms are not enviable.

So I want to combat this. But I've heard you can't gain muscle in a deficit. So where as I'd usually eat around 1400 a day (loosely around my BMR) would I need to eat more? If so, how can I lose the 3-5kgs I want off; just train even harder? And can anyone recommend me any strength exercises as well? I've got a great starting point plan for the gym (cardio, lifting, squats etc) which has helped kick start it, but any additions are welcome!

Essentially I guess I'm asking if anyone can point me in the direction of any handy plans for women who only need to lose a small amount of weight, but tone up like there's no tomorrow. As from both a diet and exercise point of view, turns out I am fairly clueless haha. Thanks in advance!

JenMc14

Generally speaking, one doesn't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. You can do a recomp where you eat right around maintenance and lift heavy, but that is a long, slow process. Generally, the fastest way is a bulk/cut cycle. With a bulk, eating at a surplus, lifting heavy, not doing excessive cardio (usually) is what you'd do, and you'll gain fat and muscle. With a cut, you eat at a deficit, but still lift to maintain LBM. If I were you, I'd do a cut on a moderate deficit with a good lifting program first, I think. You may like the results from that and not feel the need to do a traditional bulk.

Also, while strength gains may stall eventually at a deficit, you can still gain strength even if you're not gaining muscle.