calorie deficeit / female weight training

DizzyLinds

So do you recommend I eat at maintenance for a few weeks? I've gradually upped my cals since last year...I was massively under eating for years. My current deficit is 15% so maybe need to go lower and add in more cardio?

Rae6503

Set your goal to lose 0.5lbs/week, eat back exercise calories, hit your protein target and lift heavy weights (5-10 reps range/set where the last rep or 2 is difficult to complete with good form) preferably compound lifts.

If you don't eat enough you risk losing a large % of the lean muscle you already have. the less you have to lose the more important it is to have a smaller deficit.

This. OP should definitely be eating MORE than 1200 calories.

DizzyLinds

I've been on fitness frog.

If you want to work it out please do so as I could be wrong, I'm 4ft 11, 56.9kg, exercise 5 times per week, 28 years old

Is it because I'm older?

I get the same number you did. But if you include your exercise in the TDEE, you aren't supposed to eat back exercise calories, without considering exercising the number is 1750ish. Also, TDEE calculators are just estimates so it is possible that your metabolism is slower than average. Are you gaining weight or just inches?

PS I am definitely no expert on any of this :laugh:

I don't eat back exercise calories. However! Ive been advised to ensure I net my BMR which sometimes I haven't if I've had a big burn.

Rae6503

Someone please explain to me why my thighs are getting bigger and hips wider as a consequence...I'm lifting heavy, doing short HIIT and eating at TDEE-15%?

How much bigger? How long have you been doing this? How long have you been dieting in total? Were you at a larger deficit before doing this? Have you taken a "diet break" recently?

Rae6503

So do you recommend I eat at maintenance for a few weeks? I've gradually upped my cals since last year...I was massively under eating for years. My current deficit is 15% so maybe need to go lower and add in more cardio?

If you were "massively under eating for years", yes, I'd recommend eating at maintenance for maybe as long as a month. You might gain a bit to began with, but that should level out after a week or so. Your hormones are probably out of balance due to the the long term calorie deficit.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

DizzyLinds

I've had an increase of an inch on each thigh. I've been lifting heavy for months now and have gradually increased my calories since January. I've not taken a diet break no, and yes, prior to Jan I spen years over exercising with cardio and eating 1200 or less most days.

karrielynn80

Forgive me for being naive, but if you work out 2x a day and don't eat back your deficit how do you manage to maintain energy in everyday life? Is your BMR cals at 1200 and you eat that but just don't eat back the deficit from your workouts?

I am asking cause mine is at 1200 cals but I do eat back my deficit and am wondering if this is reason for my lack of scale movement. I usually do an hour of cardio and then free weights for 30mins - all in one session though. Not to hijack this thread. You look amazing.

i'm not sure. sometimes i eat my workout calories, but just my cardio - i don't log my strength training calories burned - just depends on my appetite & i don't more than do.

i can tell you i split my workouts thru the day (cardio in the am & weights in the afternoon) and i don't eat before my am workout - i get cramps and stomach aches if i do - so i get up at lik 530, get ready go work out & then to work, my first meal is bt 8-9am, and i eat every 2/3 hrs after that... i rarely get belly rumble, or feel weak - if i do, it's usually a monday am after i've over endulged thru the wkend...

3laine75

I've been on fitness frog.

If you want to work it out please do so as I could be wrong, I'm 4ft 11, 56.9kg, exercise 5 times per week, 28 years old

Is it because I'm older?

all the calculators that are online (including MFP) are estimates. the only way to calculate it properly is to get an accurate BMR reading or BF% analysis which can be expensive and a massive hassle - it is better to use these (calculators) as a rough guide only then tweak or mess about with your calories to see what works for you.

chuisle

So do you recommend I eat at maintenance for a few weeks? I've gradually upped my cals since last year...I was massively under eating for years. My current deficit is 15% so maybe need to go lower and add in more cardio?

If you were "massively under eating for years", yes, I'd recommend eating at maintenance for maybe as long as a month. You might gain a bit to began with, but that should level out after a week or so. Your hormones are probably out of balance due to the the long term calorie deficit.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

I completely agree - before my current cut I took a few weeks at maintenance (could have/should done longer). After my cut I will go back to maintenance for month before I consider cutting again.

karrielynn80

Based on your pic and what you have said you don't have much more fat to lose, so it probably doesn't matter too much what you do until it is gone since that should only be another couple few weeks. In general though you would want to watch how fast you are losing, especially the lower bf% you get to, and 1200 would be pretty low for longer term. Once the fat is gone as a woman you would eat around 200 over maintenance if you want to grow more muscle. A ton of useful info can be found here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=146519303

thanks. i know the lower the numbers the harder the results too. can you tell me what a healthy bf% is for a female (5'3, 122) - i am goig for an "athletic" build (you know that of like a laxed fitness model) - my first reading on the hand held said 19.8, and i don't look as lean as i'd like just yet - but i don't want to shoot for too lean either - i know the mirror is all that counts, i'm not caught up in numbers, i just don't know the basics of what my bf% should be either - and i don't like using the online calcuators (doesn't seem right to me a online calc could tell me something that everything else uses physical evidence to show)...

DizzyLinds

Sorry for gate graphing this thread!

I'm just concerned as to why I'm continuosly gaining and am not sure how much more ill gain eating at maintenance?

DrMAvDPhD

Based on your pic and what you have said you don't have much more fat to lose, so it probably doesn't matter too much what you do until it is gone since that should only be another couple few weeks. In general though you would want to watch how fast you are losing, especially the lower bf% you get to, and 1200 would be pretty low for longer term. Once the fat is gone as a woman you would eat around 200 over maintenance if you want to grow more muscle. A ton of useful info can be found here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=146519303

thanks. i know the lower the numbers the harder the results too. can you tell me what a healthy bf% is for a female (5'3, 122) - i am goig for an "athletic" build (you know that of like a laxed fitness model) - my first reading on the hand held said 19.8, and i don't look as lean as i'd like just yet - but i don't want to shoot for too lean either - i know the mirror is all that counts, i'm not caught up in numbers, i just don't know the basics of what my bf% should be either - and i don't like using the online calcuators (doesn't seem right to me a online calc could tell me something that everything else uses physical evidence to show)...

You won't ever get the fitness model physique if you don't have a lot of muscle mass, even if you cut down to a low BF%.

karrielynn80

Just wanted to add my experience to good information you're getting here.

I started heavy lifting in April 2011. I saw great results with body recomposition and kept bopping along doing some combination of heavy weights, some cardio, and deficits eating from 1500-2000 for probably almost a year with 40/30/30 c/f/p macros. I bounced around a lot depending on how on target I was with these goals. I dropped body fat and looked better this April than last but still wasn't at my body fat goal and getting frustrated.

I realized I had been essentially eating at deficit for too long and took 2 weeks and ate at maintenance. After, late June, I started a an aggressive cut following a most of a recommended program from Leigh Peele (http://www.leighpeele.com/). This was a change. The deficits are much more dramatic, the macros vary according to which part of the cut you are in and there much more cardio work. I am always at a deficit of at leat 30% of TDEE and as high as 40%. I don't log exercise calories since they're already included in TDEE. I am working on being diet adherent all the time except for 1 meal/evening per week.

After 4 weeks I have lost 8 inches overall and 6.5 lbs (some of it water from having been eating more for 2 weeks before the cut). Body fat is harder to determine but I think that's trending downwards. I am in my 5th week with 7 weeks left (12 total)

I tell you all this because while I think slow and steady works for some it wasn't getting me where I wanted to go. I am cutting aggressively now and after I will reassess, eat at maintenance for a while and if I want to I will go back to cutting, though, according to the numbers this should put me where I want to be.

thanks, i've only been eating at a def* for 5 wks now. i'm seeing the results i want in the mirror / measuring tape. just like to know how everyone else does it. i know i'm not at my ideal bf% b/c i still have my "pooch" and my thighs still rub a bit (it not muscle rubbing either lol). u look great btw!!

Determinednoob

Based on your pic and what you have said you don't have much more fat to lose, so it probably doesn't matter too much what you do until it is gone since that should only be another couple few weeks. In general though you would want to watch how fast you are losing, especially the lower bf% you get to, and 1200 would be pretty low for longer term. Once the fat is gone as a woman you would eat around 200 over maintenance if you want to grow more muscle. A ton of useful info can be found here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=146519303

thanks. i know the lower the numbers the harder the results too. can you tell me what a healthy bf% is for a female (5'3, 122) - i am goig for an "athletic" build (you know that of like a laxed fitness model) - my first reading on the hand held said 19.8, and i don't look as lean as i'd like just yet - but i don't want to shoot for too lean either - i know the mirror is all that counts, i'm not caught up in numbers, i just don't know the basics of what my bf% should be either - and i don't like using the online calcuators (doesn't seem right to me a online calc could tell me something that everything else uses physical evidence to show)...

I am not quite as well versed in the exact bf percentages for women although I think it varries based on your breast size? Not sure... Somewhere between 15 and 20 I think but i am sure you can get some valid replies from other women.

chuisle

Look here for body fat percentage: http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

He's right - 15-20% is usually a sweet spot for most people who want to look lean.


And thanks! I'm not entirely sure what my body fat is at the moment 22-24% range I think. It's hard to tell. Scales/handhelds aren't particularly accurate. Calipers can even be off by quite a bit. Looking in the mirror is one of the easier/best ways.

karrielynn80

thanks "determine..."

karrielynn80

Look here for body fat percentage: http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

He's right - 15-20% is usually a sweet spot for most people who want to look lean.


And thanks! I'm not entirely sure what my body fat is at the moment 22-24% range I think. It's hard to tell. Scales/handhelds aren't particularly accurate. Calipers can even be off by quite a bit. Looking in the mirror is one of the easier/best ways.

and see u look great! now i think maybe i just need to add calories to gain muscle... if that's what you look like at 20+ bf... i'm torn b/c i know i could lean out more & see more definition, but i also think if i bulk up on muscle, any fat will be stretched & thus appear less - i'd like to do the first with my thighs and wouldn't mind the later with my abs LOL - bah!!

DizzyLinds

I'm about 22-23 according to my PT's callipers. I'd love to be 20!

12by311

OP, I would definitely take Rae's advice.

Also, you are not building muscle eating 1200 calories a day. You may actually be losing some muscle.

I don't have anything else to add, except...you talked about your belly pooch and I looked at your pictures. You may want to work in some hip flexor stretches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj30Qun63iY

chuisle

Look here for body fat percentage: http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

He's right - 15-20% is usually a sweet spot for most people who want to look lean.


And thanks! I'm not entirely sure what my body fat is at the moment 22-24% range I think. It's hard to tell. Scales/handhelds aren't particularly accurate. Calipers can even be off by quite a bit. Looking in the mirror is one of the easier/best ways.

and see u look great! now i think maybe i just need to add calories to gain muscle... if that's what you look like at 20+ bf... i'm torn b/c i know i could lean out more & see more definition, but i also think if i bulk up on muscle, any fat will be stretched & thus appear less - i'd like to do the first with my thighs and wouldn't mind the later with my abs LOL - bah!!

Since you're relatively new to strength training (right?) it's possible for you to gain muscle and lose fat. Think of it as a starting out bonus.. You'll probably be able to lean out more and gain a bit of muscle. You're right about muscle - it does often reduce the appearance of fat and make you firmer. Since what you're doing now is working decently I would carry on. Potentially consider increasing your protein and calories to encourage you body to hang on to muscle but keep at a deficit.

Keep going and as you see what's happening you can adjust your body fat goals etc.