Healthy fat loss?

brookeebuchanan

I am trying to work on my body composition and lowering my body fat percentage. I have finally landed at a healthy overall weight, and haven't budged much in the past year or so.

I'm 5'5", 144 lbs., 26-28% bodyfat depending on what method you use (yikes!) and a vegetarian.

I was eating at around 1200 calories (for at least the past year or more) and weighed 137 lbs. My exercise primarily involved cardio with some light strength training, but I always struggled to make it through my workouts (likely because I was not properly fueling my body). My body composition was definitely not what I wanted; I was just a smaller, skinny-fat version of myself with all of the same problem areas.

I recently (mid February) increased my calories to 1645, and I've gained a few pounds, taking me up to 144. I've also started a new fitness program, dropping the long cardio sessions for more challenging strength training and HIIT. I'm becoming more consistent with my workout program (I started about three weeks ago. It is significantly harder for me, which is good, but it makes forcing myself not to quit midway through a workout more challenging.)

I just want to know, am I doing the right things? When can I expect to begin losing fat again? Should I be factoring in my macros? I try to hit the recommended guidelines as much as I can every day, (50% carbs: 30% fat, 20% protein) and I'm just not sure on protein because I've read so many different opinions on the pros/cons of a high protein diet. Being a vegetarian also makes it difficult.

I would say my biggest flaw at this point would definitely be allowing myself too many "binges" on sweets several times a week. I'm working on trying to get that under control primarily, because otherwise I eat relatively healthy and try to work out consistently. I just want to make sure I'm doing all the right things so that I can finally stop sabotaging myself and enjoy this summer fit and healthy.

Advice would be great!