Question re maintenance

estelle74uk

Hi Friday people

Just wondering how long I should be eating at maintenance for. I have been eating around 2000 for a few weeks now, and the scale hasnt budged, which is a really good thing, because forever I had been trying to eat at 1200 and was still the same weight!!

Im lifting heavy and doing spin also, and am trying to get the last of the fat off my behind and thighs. Should I just keep eating at this point, and get stuck in to my training, or cut it down a tad? Bearing in mind I am obviously trying to sort out my metabolism, having eaten low cal for years off and on, i dont want to go that low ever again. Love eating at 2000. Should I keep going at that amount for a good while still just to make sure ?

thanks

JakeBrownVB

Hi, it is really good to be back at that maintenance level so well done! Women natually have a hard time loosing body fat % alot more then men so it is quite a tricky task to loose that last bit of fat. I would say eat your maintenance every day but dont eat your workouts back, that will cause a deficiency each week while keeping your metabolism in control. Although dont worry too much about your metabolism as it will never "crash" or come to a "screeching halt" or any other nonsense you may here.

estelle74uk

So shall I just keep on going for say another few months at this rate?

The_Enginerd

You aren't looking to drop weight, just working on trying to build muscle and lower your fat percentage?

estelle74uk

Yes that's exactly wot I want to do

vorgas

I would highly recommend staying at the same caloric intake. Make sure you are increasing the weights of your lifts every time. It doesn't have to be much, even a pound or two. If you're doing spin on the same day as lifting, it should come after the lifting, and keep your HR low.

All that being said, you look like you don't have much to lose. Generally, those last few bits of fat come down more to diet than anything else. No sugars late at night, don't eat to close to bed, etc.

The_Enginerd

Hi Friday people

Just wondering how long I should be eating at maintenance for. I have been eating around 2000 for a few weeks now, and the scale hasnt budged, which is a really good thing, because forever I had been trying to eat at 1200 and was still the same weight!!

Im lifting heavy and doing spin also, and am trying to get the last of the fat off my behind and thighs. Should I just keep eating at this point, and get stuck in to my training, or cut it down a tad? Bearing in mind I am obviously trying to sort out my metabolism, having eaten low cal for years off and on, i dont want to go that low ever again. Love eating at 2000. Should I keep going at that amount for a good while still just to make sure ?

thanks

To put on more muscle weight and lose body fat while staying at the same weight, you have a couple of choices:

1) Continue to eat at maintenance and with your current routine. You will progress, although it is a slow going process.
2) Go through bulking/cutting cycles. You will gain fat as well as muscle during the bulking phase. If you are okay with that, it is supposed to provide more rapid progress. This is the approach I am taking as I have a hard time gaining muscle and strength. A good starting point is to eat at a 10% calorie surplus during the bulk period and a 10% calorie deficit during your cut.