do you know your TDEE?
try that -10%.

I eat 2300, at 5'4" and 160 pounds. I am still losing. but slowly. I don't mind the slow, though.

I'm 5'2 130 lbs and eat at 2000-2100 to maintain. I am currently hanging around 1600 while I take a break, but will be back to 1800 when I start back to lifting. I'm trying to lose fat at this point since it has crept back up a little the past few months. It can be a slow process, but I know the majority of my loss is fat when I do it that way.

Once you hit the heavier weights you will probably find that you get hungry a lot. If that happens, it is your body telling you that it needs more food. Listening to your body is a very difficult thing to do when what it needs conflicts with what your goal is, but feeding it will help in the long run.

If you are looking for suggestions, I would recommend looking to eat around 1800 calories for a few weeks and seeing what that does. If you are still losing, but getting hungry with the lifting, bump up to 2000. That would put you at TDEE -20% or so. TDEE calculations are great, but are really just an estimate. The reality is that you need to determine what levels help you lose or maintain. I think calculators have my TDEE at 2300, but I know that is just a little high for me. I figured it out by tracking my progress while at various calorie levels. It takes time, but only your body can really tell you where the balance is.

I am 5'4" and 194. My TDEE with heavy lifting is 2600. My calorie goal is about 2100-2200.

I record my weight and my calories for the last 4-8 weeks, and then I calculate my actual TDEE, and use that. You can pick *any* reasonable number, try it for a couple of weeks, and see what happens. If you lose too fast and you're cranky all the time and your lifting suffers, increase the calories. If you're not losing, decrease them. I would get at least 4 weeks of good data with doing SL 3X week and see what that gives you and adjust as needed.

I hope that helps you!

I am having the very same issue as you are. I'm 5'1 1/2", 47 years old, and 126 lbs. My lifting program is five days a week with all the major compound lifts and just a few isolation lifts and it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to complete. I also spin for 55 minutes three times a week and do a body works class for an hour once a week. I average about 8 hours in the gym a week. According to Scooby' s Workshop my tdee is 2218 and I should eat 1996, a 10% reduction, to lose. I went with the 5-6 hours a week activity level because the next one up seemed like I should be slaying dragons during my workout and I'm working hard and sweating but not slaying dragons. Lol

I don't even want to discuss the scale because it's making me crazy. I seem to have longer weight loss plateaus where I can go 2+ months without losing, then drop a lb, and then I seem to immediately gain back 2 lbs and hold steady for another month or so before I drop another lb. I have never taken measurements but clothes are getting smaller and I am getting tighter and firmer, SLOWLY. The main issue is that I'm hungry. I was trying to keep my calories to 1800-1900 a day but as of late I've been eating over 1900 and even had one day at 2300. I'm not really sure what to do. I'm only 7 weeks into my lifting program so I keep telling myself to have patience and I'll see results but I'm concerned that eating at the higher calorie level will make my progress even slower. I thought about cutting back on the cardio to get better results but if I do that I'll need to eat even less, and well, I'm hungry. Any suggestions?

I am having the very same issue as you are. I'm 5'1 1/2", 47 years old, and 126 lbs. My lifting program is five days a week with all the major compound lifts and just a few isolation lifts and it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to complete. I also spin for 55 minutes three times a week and do a body works class for an hour once a week. I average about 8 hours in the gym a week. According to Scooby' s Workshop my tdee is 2218 and I should eat 1996, a 10% reduction, to lose. I went with the 5-6 hours a week activity level because the next one up seemed like I should be slaying dragons during my workout and I'm working hard and sweating but not slaying dragons. Lol

I don't even want to discuss the scale because it's making me crazy. I seem to have longer weight loss plateaus where I can go 2+ months without losing, then drop a lb, and then I seem to immediately gain back 2 lbs and hold steady for another month or so before I drop another lb. I have never taken measurements but clothes are getting smaller and I am getting tighter and firmer, SLOWLY. The main issue is that I'm hungry. I was trying to keep my calories to 1800-1900 a day but as of late I've been eating over 1900 and even had one day at 2300. I'm not really sure what to do. I'm only 7 weeks into my lifting program so I keep telling myself to have patience and I'll see results but I'm concerned that eating at the higher calorie level will make my progress even slower. I thought about cutting back on the cardio to get better results but if I do that I'll need to eat even less, and well, I'm hungry. Any suggestions?

How lean are you? As in BF% wise. So are you needing bigger or smaller clothes? If your clothing size is getting smaller then what you are seeing is body recomposition. You are losing fat, but gains in lean mass (most likely water weight from lifting and possibly the smallest bit of noob muscle gains) are hiding the loss from the scale. It happens. Start taking measurements. The scale is great at selling half-truths and false impressions. Measurements have a harder time hiding the truth about recomposition, as do progress photos. If you are hungry, eat. Pick healthy snacks and don't shy away from carbs when you hit your protein goals. Not to say you need to go crazy, but bumping up even to 2000 for a few weeks won't destroy your progress. You may find that it actually works better for you.

I'm about 25-26% bf. The clothes are getting smaller, and this weekend I put on a top that was literally hanging off me, so it is working just really slowly. I'm calorie phobic and did many years of low calorie dieting so the eating at higher calorie levels make me so nervous but I've been getting much better about it.

Had to laugh at the 2000 calories not destroying my progress because I ate about 1995 calories yesterday and woke up feeling a little bloated and then freaked out because I was sure that the extra cals made me gain!! Yes, sometimes I can get a bit obsessed. lol But you are correct, and I don't think that eating 2000 a day would make me gain so I will give it a try. Just wanting this to work so badly and hoping I'm not wasting more time by eating too much. Patience. Must have more patience.

I am having the very same issue as you are. I'm 5'1 1/2", 47 years old, and 126 lbs. My lifting program is five days a week with all the major compound lifts and just a few isolation lifts and it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to complete. I also spin for 55 minutes three times a week and do a body works class for an hour once a week. I average about 8 hours in the gym a week. According to Scooby' s Workshop my tdee is 2218 and I should eat 1996, a 10% reduction, to lose. I went with the 5-6 hours a week activity level because the next one up seemed like I should be slaying dragons during my workout and I'm working hard and sweating but not slaying dragons. Lol

I don't even want to discuss the scale because it's making me crazy. I seem to have longer weight loss plateaus where I can go 2+ months without losing, then drop a lb, and then I seem to immediately gain back 2 lbs and hold steady for another month or so before I drop another lb. I have never taken measurements but clothes are getting smaller and I am getting tighter and firmer, SLOWLY. The main issue is that I'm hungry. I was trying to keep my calories to 1800-1900 a day but as of late I've been eating over 1900 and even had one day at 2300. I'm not really sure what to do. I'm only 7 weeks into my lifting program so I keep telling myself to have patience and I'll see results but I'm concerned that eating at the higher calorie level will make my progress even slower. I thought about cutting back on the cardio to get better results but if I do that I'll need to eat even less, and well, I'm hungry. Any suggestions?

You're doing stacks of exercise! Your body must be exhausted! I'm shattered and I don't do anything as intensive as that at the same age, tiny bit taller and lots heavier. I don't think you're eating enough to sustain the activity you're doing. And I don't see how your body is getting time to recover either. If your body is genuinely hungry, then eat. And judging from the activity level, it's not emotional hunger, it's crying out for fuel. Maybe hook into the Eat, train, whatever the other word is forum and ask Sarah and Somethingsteel (sorry for the weird forgetfulness. It's 4am and my body is telling me its not happy with me by waking me up!)

Should I just increase it or do it slowly?

Depends on your body. You will probably find that once you do start lifting any serious weights, you're going to be ravenously hungry.

If that doesn't happen, just go up slowly. Maybe add 100 calories every week or so. Handful of nuts here, some spoon-fulls of peanut butter there, some avocado over here ... you can easily increase your calories in a healthy way by adding healthy fats to your diet by a handfull here and there without having to stuff anything down.

I eat all the calories, all the time! lol.. but I'm 5'11 so have a bit more leeway... I also need to get things back in control, but given I've eaten everything without a lot of control since I started lifting, and things fit better, and I have put on scale weight, I'm not worrying tooooo much!

I think you need to put away your scale for a bit because it's messing with your head. Go by photos/measurements and how your body feels (hungry or not), give yourself some recovery time please!!! and see how you feel with a few weeks of lifting all the weights and eating all the food

Thanks for all the helpful info guys!! So great.
I think im going to try to bump it up to 1800 or so, and see how that feels.

Do you all eat the high calories every day? or only on lifting days? I did notice when someone talks about taking a break obviously you bring the calories down a bit while not lifting.

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to make sure I'm on the right track and I have always done the low cal thing.

Thanks again all you ladies are super!

Let me start by saying that I don't fast so I don't know how that would play into your nutrition program.

I eat the same every day. I lift in the afternoons and on lifting days I need to fuel myself up for the training session. On recovery days I'm usually hungrier as my body works to recover.

If you decide to eat less on rest days, remember that you need to hit your protein target every day, and your fats need to hit the minimum target averaged out over time (say, a week). The 'less' really needs to come from carbs.

Another way to look at it would be that you eat the same each day but have more carbs on training days to fuel your workouts.

I am having the very same issue as you are. I'm 5'1 1/2", 47 years old, and 126 lbs. My lifting program is five days a week with all the major compound lifts and just a few isolation lifts and it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to complete. I also spin for 55 minutes three times a week and do a body works class for an hour once a week. I average about 8 hours in the gym a week. According to Scooby' s Workshop my tdee is 2218 and I should eat 1996, a 10% reduction, to lose. I went with the 5-6 hours a week activity level because the next one up seemed like I should be slaying dragons during my workout and I'm working hard and sweating but not slaying dragons. Lol

I don't even want to discuss the scale because it's making me crazy. I seem to have longer weight loss plateaus where I can go 2+ months without losing, then drop a lb, and then I seem to immediately gain back 2 lbs and hold steady for another month or so before I drop another lb. I have never taken measurements but clothes are getting smaller and I am getting tighter and firmer, SLOWLY. The main issue is that I'm hungry. I was trying to keep my calories to 1800-1900 a day but as of late I've been eating over 1900 and even had one day at 2300. I'm not really sure what to do. I'm only 7 weeks into my lifting program so I keep telling myself to have patience and I'll see results but I'm concerned that eating at the higher calorie level will make my progress even slower. I thought about cutting back on the cardio to get better results but if I do that I'll need to eat even less, and well, I'm hungry. Any suggestions?

How lean are you? As in BF% wise. So are you needing bigger or smaller clothes? If your clothing size is getting smaller then what you are seeing is body recomposition. You are losing fat, but gains in lean mass (most likely water weight from lifting and possibly the smallest bit of noob muscle gains) are hiding the loss from the scale. It happens. Start taking measurements. The scale is great at selling half-truths and false impressions. Measurements have a harder time hiding the truth about recomposition, as do progress photos. If you are hungry, eat. Pick healthy snacks and don't shy away from carbs when you hit your protein goals. Not to say you need to go crazy, but bumping up even to 2000 for a few weeks won't destroy your progress. You may find that it actually works better for you.

I'm about 25-26% bf. The clothes are getting smaller, and this weekend I put on a top that was literally hanging off me, so it is working just really slowly. I'm calorie phobic and did many years of low calorie dieting so the eating at higher calorie levels make me so nervous but I've been getting much better about it.

Had to laugh at the 2000 calories not destroying my progress because I ate about 1995 calories yesterday and woke up feeling a little bloated and then freaked out because I was sure that the extra cals made me gain!! Yes, sometimes I can get a bit obsessed. lol But you are correct, and I don't think that eating 2000 a day would make me gain so I will give it a try. Just wanting this to work so badly and hoping I'm not wasting more time by eating too much. Patience. Must have more patience.

I find that getting below the 25% BF level is a difficult process for me, I can get down (my lowest has been about 20%), but it is hard to sustain. I'm 5'2" and about 25% BF @ 130 lbs so really not far off from your stats except for age (33 years old here). As I got to my lowest weight/BF% I was a little nervous about bumping up the calories as well. I was nervous about maintenance so I'm still a little conservative on the calories, but I'm working on listening to my body and eating without logging/worry. Getting past the scale was also a big challenge/change. It took looking at pictures of my progress to realize that the scale was a lying piece of *kitten* that fed me half truths and messed with my head. Patience is the hardest thing to learn out them all.