Loosing body fat

lauracm1

Hi Guys Looking for a bit of advice.


Ive been training hard for 5 months now and starting to hit a plato.

I'm looking to decrease body fat and increase muscle. I'm female so I don't really wanna 'bulk' Just define.

I train 4 times a week, cardio and weights and currently on a 40/40/20 split on my macros. I usually burn 500-600 cals at the gym but i',m not sure what I should be doing about my calorie intake. I'm 5"2 and 122lb so my calories are about 1400 (on training days I usually eat more). I find on my training days I am STARVING by 7pm

Advice would be much appreciated thanks in advance!

_KitKat_

First you will not gain muscle in a deficient. You also will not get bulky without pharmaceutical help..

Check out these 2 groups....
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

Defining/toning is just losing the fat that is covering the muscle.

These groups could help a lot, the coleader Sarah of Eat, Train, progress has a great success story.

0somuchbetter0

What she said ^

It's great that you're doing all that exercise, but no wonder you're hungry. If you just want to look more defined, you need to lose more fat. The only way to lose fat is to maintain a calorie deficit. If you want to actually GAIN muscle (very difficult for women), you need to eat more calories and get into a serious heavy lifting program. You can't do both at the same time. That's why you hear about bodybuilders "cutting" (eating less, losing fat, losing weight) and *then* "bulking" (eating more, lifting heavy, building muscle, gaining weight).

IMO you're working too hard.

LeanButNotMean44

EAT MORE! I plugged in your stats in the IIFYM TDEE calculator, and you are barely eating above your BMR so it is no wonder you're hungry. TDEE tells us how many calories we should consume to accomplish our goals in an effective and efficient manor while preserving muscle. Your TDEE is 1,956. According to your profile, you have lost 4 lbs and have 2 lbs to go, so I would not eat at too much of a deficit. Even if you went with a 10% deficit, that would still be 1,760 cals per day.

What lifting program are you running? How much protein are you consuming each day?

ASKyle

We are almost the same height and weight! It becomes harder to lose the weight as you get closer to your goal.

I would caution against assuming you're burning 500-600cals at the gym. Where are you getting this measurement? We are smaller individuals and therefore burn fewer calories moving a smaller body.