Struggling to find my plan...

AngryDiet

This post, this request for advice, involves numbers! Be warned!

In fact, here are some numbers.

Current weight 213lb, male. Been that weight for about 25 days. The preview roughly two months I saw a 21lb weight loss.

I started out eating rather a few calories, around 1400, and have been adjusting as I've been going. But roughly 25 days ago I decided that I'm eating way too little and started increasing it. Right now I'm eating between 2050 and 2350 kcal a day.

Now some might think that's a coincidence. You know, that I stopped losing weight when I started eating more. I dunno.

More info...

I've started Stronglifts 5x5. I've been doing it a few weeks. Not quite 25 days, but close enough. Right now it's body calibration type successes.

The press is already getting challenging. Squats are easy, but I'm concentrating on practicing form and making sure I get parallel. Bench press is stupid easy ATM. Deadlifts I'm starting very light, due to prior back problems and a strong desire to learn do do them right before getting to any serious weight. Really, I'm ultra cautious about deadlifts and that will not change until I build confidence. Barbell rows are fun and again, not too challenging.

I used to lift before, but that was a decade ago. Still, I can tell that my muscles remember.

More numbers!

From fat2fitradio, I am 213lb, 26.5% BF (by the military calculation), lean body mass is 157lb, and my Katch-McArdle BMR is 1911 kcal.

I walk about 4 days a week, usually for pretty decent and fast walks, and I'm getting up to speed on lifting three days a week. I have a desk job.

So I judge my activity level to be lightly active. F2F recommends 2463 kcal a day, at present, with it's modest weight loss plan.

All well and good.

More numbers! Because you love numbers.

I'm eating about 150g to 180g of protein a day.

About three weeks ago I was 27.6% BF, with a LBM of 153. So I've got more LBM now. Or more water. Maybe more muscle. But I think I've shed some fat.

My goals: I want to lose fat and gain muscle. Big shock there, I know. Really, I want to lose this gut. I've already lost enough fat to go down at least 3" at my waist, and now I look mostly like a normal guy with a gut, instead of where I was at 235, which frankly wasn't pretty.

I want to lose this fat, but I also really want to start putting on muscle.

My dilemmas.

1. I should probably be eating more than the 2050-2300 kcal a day, but I'm having a mental block believing that it will not cause weight gain. 2k kcal seems like a lot of food these days. I certainly feel I keep fueled on it. I'm never hungry as long as I spread the calories out throughout the day.

2. I want to gain muscle. So I need to eat a surplus of calories. But I also want this fat gone, so I don't want to eat a surplus of calories. Do I really need to chose one goal at the cost of the other?

3. Right now I figure that since I'm not pushing serious weight yet, I should run a caloric deficit for a little while longer, then perhaps up the calories for muscle gains. But I don't know.

If you were me, what would you do, for say the next two or three weeks, and say the next 2 or three months?

Please answer with numbers.

AngryDiet

I think I made a tactical error admitting there were numbers in my post.

AngryDiet

At least I didn't say there would be math.