I'm starting to burn out on counting calories and SLs.

I've lost 10lbs since Feb 11th. Certainly nothing to write home about. I never did a "reset". Maybe I need to. That's about 1lb/week... and includes a few over-indulgences... maybe 3 times. Heck, the 10lbs may just be water weight.... and not actual fat.

1) 10lbs in 2 months IS something to write home about. We've all gotten the idea from the horrible diet industry and shows like the biggest loser that weight loss happens FAST if you're doing it "right" -- if you've bought the right program, if you cut out the right foods from your diet, etc.

Sustainable healthy weight loss is NOT fast for 99% of individuals. The stuff you see in infomercials and on TV are anomalies at best (that 1 in a million person), lies at worst (Its very common for people who are already in shape to fake 'before' pictures - its VERY easy with the right lighting, clothes, posture, etc), and in the middle you have stuff like the biggest loser where people are monitored 24/7 and starved and dehydrated for months. People in labor camps are skinny too but that doesn't mean we would all be healthier if we moved to china and made clothes for walmart

2) Try taking a break from the diet alone, first. I don't know if you've read any of the recent literature on self-control but what they are finding is that we (surprise!) have limited amounts of it. When we spread it to thin, we start to lose our ability to control ANYTHING. So if 2 areas of control (less food, more gym) is too much for you, try dropping it down to just 1 area of control.

In my opinion, exercise ALWAYS comes first. I know its contrary to the old "everyone knows...' statements from the diet and fitness industry but recent studies across populations show pretty clearly that being ACTIVE and fat is still healthier than being inactive and THIN across ALL markers of health (blood pressure, cholesterol, metabolic health).

So, here's what I'd recommend.

Stick to SL. if you haven't gotten fractionals for your OHP and Bench yet, do that now. Its a huge mental relief. IF you have, but you haven't dropped to 3x5, do that. If you've done both, we should double check form a little but then we can talk about a pyramid or reverse pyramid.

Change your calorie goal to maintenance, AND if you get hungry during the day, eat a reasonable snack, regardless of if that will put you over calories. (But do log it, for data's sake). Basically, don't let your diet go off the rails, but don't force yourself to be hungry. If you're hungry, eat something. Try to have something like fruit and a yogurt before you have a chocolate bar, but if you want a chocolate bar then have the darn thing (same calories as a yogurt and a banana, anyway)

I'm fond of this calculator because it lets you do TWO things - one for level of normal activity, and then check a box if you workout hard 4-5 times a week but if you think you do a little less than that then I would run it twice - once with, once without, and assume your TDEE is in the middle.

http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-classic

I used to think the number was wildly high but it seems to be coming out about right for me after loads of experimentation.

I will add the caveat that ALL of these calculators are not goingto take into account very high bodyfat, so if you are 200 lbs and 30% bf they're probably fairly on, but if you're 200lbs and 45% bf its going to overestimate quite a lot. Make sure you check the box for "female"

I'm not super fond of the "past 8 weeks' method for determining MAINTENANCE specifically, only because dieting tends to slow your metabolism, so if you lose 1lb/week eating 2000, your metabolism is probably more like 2600-2700 than 2500 due to spontaneous reduction in NEAT."

Also if you are eating maintenance you do not need to worry abotu your protein intake as much. You still need to eat SOME when you workout for muscle repair (depending on weight, at least 25-35 grams of protein vaguely in timeframe of your workout - like within an hour or two on either side) and obviously some for your body to function healthily, but you don't need to eat as MUCH because you don't need to worry about muscle catabolization if you aren't dieting.

I don't think catabolization is a word, but whatever.