Maintenance while Weight Training

dpr73

So I have been weight training since the very beginning of my weight loss. I got down to just under 140 (which I know may be slightly low for my 5'7 size and being male but I look and feel great). However, now that I am in maintenance I want to just pick up strength. I have ceased counting calories which helped me stop weight loss but now I am just slightly anxious about how to keep up my weight and understanding whether I am gaining a little muscle or fat. I am eating ultra healthy and satisfying portions for me but over the past month or so I am weighing in a little under a pound more than I had been. It's not a big deal right now but I'm just not sure how or when I should start looking at my eating habits and reevaluating due to weight gain. I don't want to go on some kind of deficit if all I am doing is gaining muscle, but I don't want to let things go so far that I gain back a lot of fat that will require an even larger deficit to lose. So I guess my question is, what is a good strategy to follow if I don't do measurements regularly? Would paying attention to how my clothes got give me a good enough gauge on whether I am gaining or will that tell me far too late? I think worrying about the scale, however is unreliable seeing as I tend to have higher sodium on some days and I'm lifting.
By the way, I am noticing some gains in strength in the gym and I do mentally track about 2500 cals a day, and that's with me being generous with the amount of cals in my dinner (which isn't massive by any means but I still calculate at near 1,000 cals).

IGbnat24

Take a shirtless pic of yourself, hit the weights hard, and reevaluate in a couple months. Are you more cut? Are you getting stronger? Arms look bigger?

You're not gonna wake up fat all of a sudden one day. Building muscle is a long, long, slow process so be patient.

sijomial

As said above - gaining muscle or fat doesn't happen overnight.

Take progress photos, take measurements, track your strength progress and record/monitor monthly would be my suggestion. Changes in size can be measured but the more subtle differences in muscle definition and vascularity (as examples) are more subtle. Fit of clothes can be quite good, I lost my last few pounds partly as I was stuck between two sizes of trousers.

Most body fat measurement methods have such a range of inaccuracy that you can't get any reliable short term data.

Please don't concern yourself with a 1lb gain, that's the equivalent of a large glass of water!

healthdiscoveryjournal

Now everybody wants better fitness and but only some people achieve this because we have spend lots of money and time for personal training,nutritionist,high price specialist but all is worthless because they don't give importance to that person that is the trainee.so that new fitness program is launch on the Market that is "Coaching Yourself Thin!".