need help from the experts re: breaking plateau

deekaydee

Hello all,
I am 5'7 and currently 158-159 lbs. I have been holding steady at this weight for the last 6 weeks. I am at the top edge of a healthy weight, my goal is 145 so I have 14 lbs to go.

I am not one to eat too few calories; before I started logging, I'm certain I ate well over 2000 calories per day, so I have a hard time believing I need to go much lower than 1500.

Currently I have my goal set at 1/2 lb per week, because I am strength training using the New Rules of Lifting for Women program, and I do not want to eat too few calories while trying to maintain muscle mass.

MFP has my calorie goal set at 1560, with exercise I add about 350 to that, so generally eat between 1700-1900 calories per day.

I strength train 3x per week, and then have 3 days of cardio. I am a runner and regularly sign up for races; my cardio during the week consists of one day of speed intervals, one day of incline on the treadmill and/or cross training (cycling/rowing) and one day of endurance running.

A few weeks ago I went on maintenance for a week, and dropped three lbs that week, then gained two back as soon as I dropped my calories back down. My weight hasn't budged since.

I really struggle with going back to maintenance, since I'm not ready to maintain, so I thought just a 250 calorie deficit would be the right place for me, but I still keep hanging at this same weight and not seeing any progress.

I just don't have a handle on what is the right calorie goal for me.

Help?!?

deekaydee

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