Question for Weight Lifters

perseverance14

I have been pushing my body, right now I am at 35% body fat and my goal is 25%, I am not caring too much what the scale says anymore as long as I don't see I am gaining weight (more than just retention). So, that is actually what my question is about. I thought I was retaining a few pounds of water since Wednesday and I thought it was from pushing myself, I just started lifting barbells Thursday and I am going to do it again tomorrow, but I am also doing T-Tapp and Pilates, and a small amount of cardio.

When I went to my diet place today, they put me on the Tanita and said it is not water retention, it is muscle breaking down. I have Tom Venutos book feed the muscle, lose the fat, and in that he says if you are eating at a deficit you should do strength and resistance to keep the muscle you have. My diet place is saying that too, that this should help me to keep my muscle. I don't really want to stop eating at a deficit until I get more fat off, I can look in the mirror and see exactly how much fat I want to lose and where, and when those go down enough, then I would be willing to eat more, but I am increasing my calories up to 1500 as needed.

So, my question is am I doing the right things to get where I want to go? I basically want to be toned and get the fat off, at that point I might think about if I want to bulk to gain any more muscle, but right now my sights are set on that 25% body fat goal.

Cherimoose

I thought I was retaining a few pounds of water since Wednesday and I thought it was from pushing myself, I just started lifting barbells Thursday

Starting weights is a common cause for weight retention, but it's temporary.

perseverance14

Coolness, I am upping my protein a little bit more, so that should make my muscles happy.