2200 but STILL losing, huh?

llamajenn

If you are doing true HIIT on the bike, I would change that to intervals or do HIIT the same day as lifting. HIIT taxes the muscles/CNS similarly to lifting and should not be done on a rest day.

The HIIT I was planning for was 20 seconds of intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest... repeat 8 times. Is this correct?

Right, that is the traditional Tabata formula for HIIT. If done as intended (i.e. close to 100% effort during those 20 sec intervals), you will burn a lot of calories and continue to burn more over the net 24 hrs. It is great for conditioning and for weight loss....so that might be an issue for you.

sarahstrezo

To develop more muscle mass you need to increase your daily intake of protein...just to maintain what muscle mass you have you need to consume 1gr of protein per pound of body weight. To gain lean muscle mass you need to increase your daily intake of protein to 1.5 - 2gr of protein per pound of body weight. And it needs to be clean protein...chicken breast (about 42 grams), salmon, eggs, yogurt, but the best is casein protein (found in certain cottage cheeses) because it takes about 8 hrs to metabolize it making it a great snack to eat before going to bed.
When I was strength training and competing I consumed 7500-10,000 calories a day and around 500gr of protein daily and all of that was to maintain my muscle mass and weight. You have to find a balance in your diet...I would suggest starting with increasing your daily intake of protein and see how it goes. Good luck!

Not necessarily true. Lean protein vs fatty protein doesn't matter. It's just that a fattier cut of protein will also add to your fat macros. Just eat. Period. And while yes...you need protein to build new muscle, you also need carbs. Lots and lots of carbs to build muscle as well. When I was at a stall with my gaining, I'd add 100-150 more cals a day and they'd almost all be in carbs. Once you hit your required amount of protein for the day, you don't get bonus points or bonus muscles for eating more protein above and beyond that. The carbs are what will fuel your workouts and will feed your muscles.

As for NEET...sorry...I meant NEAT (auto correct). It's "non exercise activity thermogenesis). So...basically your daily activity level. It goes up with all that extra food your will be eating. On my bulk, I'd do a crazy heavy squat workout (one that would normally leave me feeling wiped the rest of the day) and I'd get home and be itching to cut the grass and take the dogs for a big long walk. I had energy like crazy. So...after a while of that, your body increases your activity to use those calories....thus the reason why you may need to keep increasing your food as time goes on.

The_Enginerd

thanks everyone who have responded so far.

Answer to a couple of questions:

I have cut back significantly on my cardio. Currently I am lifting 3x per week and on alternate days am doing only 15 minutes of easy intervals on the treadmill followed by 4 minutes of HIIT on the bike. I take Sundays off. (triathlon season is over for me so extensive cardio isn't necessary right now)

I intentionally upped my calorie intake from 1800 about a week ago but before that I was on vacation and ate lots of ice cream so was going over calories regularly.

So.. I'll try adding a few more calories
I'll continue lifting
... and is my wee bit of cardio okay?

That amount of cardio is fine.

If you are doing true HIIT on the bike, I would change that to intervals or do HIIT the same day as lifting. HIIT taxes the muscles/CNS similarly to lifting and should not be done on a rest day.

The HIIT I was planning for was 20 seconds of intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest... repeat 8 times. Is this correct?

It does sound like HIIT then. Some people do intervals but call it HIIT.