Help? 5'2 & 5'3 ladies who lift!

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Tldavis3s
Tldavis3s Posts: 83 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am starting to lift this week and I am a little lost. I have done the 1200cals/day since November and finally reached that plateau everyone always talks about. I calculated my tdee and its around 1988. If I want to lose fat and gain muscle should I eat that amount or do like a minus 5%? I would be happy losing another 5-10 lbs and toning up a lot but I am so scared of such a large calorie jump. But so many people have it work so I'm going to try. Advice? Please feel free to post some pics if you're around my height also!

Stats : 5'3 female. 21 years old. 138lbs and lightly to moderately active.

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  • overshadows
    overshadows Posts: 58 Member
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    I'm scared of calorie jumps too; but if you are serious about lifting, you will likely need to scale up your cals. I do 1200 on a low-fitness day, and 1500 on days where I get a good lift / workout in.

    Maybe read the New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women, if you need some reassurance and research into how much you should be eating. You'll want to make sure you are eating 40/30/30 ( % Carbs, Protein, Fat). When you get started you can lose fat and gain muscle, but as you keep going you basically need to gain muscle, and then cut fat (not simultaneously). That's when you have to start ignoring the scale, and start looking at your strength and body measurements.

    Me:
    5'3"
    27 y/o
    CW: 120lbs
    GW: 115 lbs
    SW 133 lbs
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
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    I just started heavy lifting two weeks ago. I eat a minimum of 1600 a day and a max of 1900. I try to keep it around 1600, but if I am hungry, I eat. I have always eaten like this and I keep getting smaller, though the scale says 2 pounds.
  • ALittleBitLess1
    ALittleBitLess1 Posts: 119 Member
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    what programme /routine are you following to start lifting?
  • minijuggernaut
    minijuggernaut Posts: 98 Member
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    5 foot 2 checking in.

    My 10 month transformation is here:
    http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/progress-photos/mediumraw

    I would advise picking a goal - gain muscle or lose fat. A body recomposition is not impossible, but it is painfully slow and easy to get wrong, especially for a new lifter.

    I eat 1800-2,000 calories a day. Don't be scared to gain, you won't put on any appreciable muscle if you're not eating enough to support it. With all muscle gain comes some fat gain.

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