too much mass...wanna get lean!!

forzawithin

I am a very muscular 5'5" tall 36 yr old athletic female and have gone from 135 to 130 in 3 weeks. I saw a fast drop in the beginning but have now hit a plateau and I am wondering if/what I am doing wrong.
Since I was little I have always played muscle building sports like gymnastics and swimming which is why I am more muscular than most girls. I also know that my build has a lot to do with the numbers on the scale. However, I am trying to lose some of that fat which is keeping all those muscles warm and just get a little leaner.

I have always worked out and consider myself to be pretty efficient in the gym. By that I mean that I don't think I am burning the standard calories as someone who is the same height and weight as me might.
I try to eat about 1300 calories a day and burn anywhere from 300 to 600 a day. (note: I say 300 to 600 because that is what the app says when I enter the exercise and time. I don't think I burn 600 calories after an hour or so of cardio).
My goal is 122 -125 and I would love to know if anyone else out there who considers themself to be muscular has experience in losing the fat and getting lean. I will admit that I wouldn't mind losing even a little of the muscle either. I feel like I have just got a lot of mass.
Also, and I know this has been discussed exhaustively in the forums but could someone explain the whole intake/exercise/net thing in simple terms?
Example? if my goal is 1300 and I eat 1500 and burn 400....my net is 1100. what should I do/eat then?

thanks!

bathsheba_c

There's a lot of stuff contained in here, so I'll try to condense it to bullet points.

1. Weight loss is not linear and 1-2 weeks is not a plateau. Body weight fluctuates throughout the day, and the fluctuations are several times larger than any weight loss due to losing body fat.

2. MFP is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. If you do not, you are creating a larger calorie deficit. If your deficit is too large, then you put yourself at risk of all sorts of negative effects.

3. Because you are already at a very healthy weight, your body is going to fight weight loss every step of the way, so expect weight loss to take more time than it would if you were morbidly obese.

4. The general guideline for what is healthy is that you should always eat more calories than your BMR, which is the number of calories your body uses daily to keep your organs functioning. As long as you are eating fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight over time.

dossas

You lost close to 2 lbs per week for 3 weeks, and you say you eat at 1300 cal and burn 300-600 cal per day (which puts you at 1000 cal, or less, per day). That seems too low for someone who is a muscular 130-135 lbs, and would explain the rapid initial weight loss. Up your cals per day for a while, and then restart.