New here, could use advice

kgeyser

Hi ladies! I'm new in the sense that I just started the program, I've been stalking this group for quite sometime. I'm on Week 3, and so far things are progressing nicely. I've been following the program as written with starting weights and increases, with the exception of rows, which I deloaded and started over at 65 lbs because my form was sucky.

My question is about diet. I'm within the dreaded last 10 lbs, but I'm not sure how much to eat. I've currently got calories set at 1900 (40c/30f/30p), height is 5'7" and weight is about 144ish. I did calculations on the scooby website and got the following:

3-4 hrs moderate exercise:
BMR: 1379
TDEE: 2138
TDEE - 10%: 1925

5-6 hrs strenuous exercise:
BMR: 1379
TDEE: 2380
TDEE - 10%: 2142

I'm doing SL 3 days a week, and do cardio 3 days a week (2 days HIIT or intense cardio, 1 day light cardio/yoga/pilates). I've only been doing this for 2 full weeks, and have lost 0.5 - 1 lb per week, closer to 1 lb. Not complaining about weight loss, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by eating too little and losing out on strength gains.

Thoughts? Should I choose the moderate or strenuous calculations? Split the difference? Go for a 5% deficit? Eat at maintenance? My goal is fat loss and more muscle definition. I had one training session where they measured my BF% using that little handheld doohickey and it said 24.8%, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

Thank you in advance for reading and any suggestions you might have. Or if you just want to post a gif, I'm not picky.

KaterinaTerese

I'm sure someone will have better advice, but I would say stick with the moderate deficit until

A) you're hungry and want to eat more
or
your lifts begin to stall

Only because you will make strength gains without the extra food for a while, just because you're a newb (newb power!). After a while, as the weight goes up, you might feel more worn down, and for me, that's the point when I chose to eat at maintenance and ignore my last 15lbs for a while. I'll go back to a deficit... someday...

Oh, and here's a gif

KaterinaTerese

Oh, and I totally didn't answer half your question:
Sounds like the higher end of moderate, but once you're ready to eat at maintenance, just try one and chart your weight/measurements. If you don't gain or lose, you're in the right ballpark.

Llamapants86

Katerina pretty much covered it. Moderate deficit until you get higher in weights where hunger and lack of progress lets you know you need to eat more. I found that point after about 12 weeks. I set my goal to lose .5 lbs a week and just try to come in a bit (100-200) under it on non-lifting days, lifting days I some times go over but not usually. It gets me losing about 3 lbs a month, but still progressing with the lifts.

Our stats are pretty similar (understatement... they are pretty much identical...including work outs) although I use a fitbit to track my TDEE. It puts my TDEE close to the moderate level that you have. What ever you pick, you can change it if it isn't working for you. Eat more if you are truly hungry, cut down if you aren't losing a rate you like. It is a bit of a guessing game.

SezxyStef

Yah our stats are quite similar too..I am a bit heavier...

and yes Kat pretty much covered it.

My advice is always choose what you want the most.

My choice was always lose the fat first which meant not being in a deficit as long, eating at maitenance and making all those gains later and possibly a small recomp...which is where I am now..

I came into goal May 12th, Hit maitenance June 16th (imagine 1 year after joining) and have loved my summer of maitenance and lifting, seeing my gains in plates come, still loseing a small amount of weight and my body shape is changing too...lost some of the lumps that were hanging around and apparently have really made a difference in my legs...

So if you want the weight down stay in a decent deficit and accept your gains may stall after a bit but that won't last long because you will hit maitenance and see all those gains then.

kgeyser

Thank you all for your advice and the gif. :happy: I'll just keep doing what I'm doing until I get stupid hungry and then I'll bump up some more. And Stef, that is a good point about making a choice between the number on the scale/tape and the number on the bar. I think I'm just in a weird place right now being so close to goal weight but also finally having access to weights that go above 25 lbs.