Ladies Maintaining & Strength Training....Diet Help

I think we all have to figure out the balancing act of calories in vs out. I find that being cognizant of my daily calories and planning as much as possible helps.

The habits .you set now will help you lifelong, I find that if i keep a healthy snack of almonds and one dark chocolate square in my brief case or purse it really helps me not indulge otherwise...it also comes in hand if lunch or dinner gets delayed.

If you are serious about making progress, you have to determine what is it that you want first. Are you loosing weight, gaining muscle, loosing fat, already have ideal look and just want to maintain, etc? If you want to lose fat and gain muscle and want to look like you work out, yes - the kitchen has just as much to do with it as your workout regime. You can exercise 10+ hours a week doing cardio like a demon and strength train like a power horse and not lose an ounce or get any leaner, and even gain weight. I've been there myself. If you're serious about results then do four things: 1). Determine what you want to achieve; 2). Figure out exactly (at your current fitness level) what your BMR is; 3). Then how many calories you need to maintain your current weight; 4). Carefully plan, measure and develop a diet to achieve your results. If you don't do this, and just stab in the dark at what you "think" you should eat, you will fail. MFP is not an accurate method for figuring out what you need. If you want to build muscle and cut fat, you have to reduce your calories, but do this in small increments 5-15%. (What you need to maintain weight, minus x%). If you're eating too little at your exercise level, you will fail. If you eat too much, you will fail. That is why sitting down and doing a bit of math is useful. There are tons of calculators (some better than others) online to help you out. Once you determine how much you need, plan you meals and stick to your plan.
For instance, I'm 32, 5'5 and weigh 148 lbs. I exercise 2 hours per day 6 days a week 45mins-1 hour cardio (spin, kickboxing, running, zumba, etc), and 1 - 1.5 hours strength (lifting heavy, plyometrics, etc.). My BMR is 1184, to maintain I need 2250, with my goal to gain muscle and cut fat, I set myself at a 15% calorie reduction which means I need to eat 1912 calories per day. I break this up into 5 meals, 4 on really busy days. Most people immediately say, I work, I don't have time to eat like this, etc. This is where you need to start planning your meals and eat simple and nutritious meals. Precook large quantities of brown rice/quinoa/etc., steamed veggies, lean protein meats, legumes, and whatever else fits into your nutrition model and mix your meals this way (you can put them into small containers and just grab and go). It saves time, keeps you on track. Yeah it sounds boring, but to eat clean and see great results, a little boring is necessary. Nutrition requires planning and some time, but it's worth it, and it will not keep you frustrated or deprived and likely to binge (which seems to be everyone's favorite complaint.) Don't forget to have your cheat days (unless you're planning on being a fitness model), but make it count and don't go crazy: If you plan your meals Mon-Fri and go of your rocker Sat-Sun - you are only hurting your own efforts. Treat yourself, but think about what you are doing and you're likelier to not overdo it. I can tell you from personal experience, that I spent a good two years restricting calories to 1200 (Thanks to MFP's assessment) and exercising like a demon and stayed the same weight. Once I made the above change, I swear I could feel the fat melting. Don't be afraid to eat. As long as you restrict your calories with no rhyme or reason or planning or understanding what it is you actually need, I promise you - you will fail.
Also, set realistic goals. This has to be long-term and don't expect to look like a body builder in a month or two. Results take time and effort. If you want to look like you work out, plan on seeing results in a year or two. If it happens sooner -great! If it doesn't, keep at it. It has to be a lifetime commitment. You can't just exercise for a couple of months to reach your magic weight/size/whatever and then drop it. Always think long-term. It's good to measure your body instead of weighing yourself. I weigh 16lbs more than I did before having my daughter, but I fit into all of my old clothes, minus a couple of pairs of skinny jeans that just don't fit correctly at the hips.

Definitely take a look at the Eat, Train & Progress group:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

I don't have any advice, because I am in the process of figuring out my macro goals and calorie intake to get past my newbie gains(my protein macro is a little ambitious). So, I am right there with you!

Glad to see you posting again, Musicloverx. I see that you followed the advice regarding Starting Strength and even took it upon yourself to invest in some dumbbells. Awesome.

You are right in that a lack of appropriate planning is a huge obstacle for college students. When I was a former personal trainer, I emphasized planning but specifically encouraged people to think about how they wanted to eat and exercise during maintenance. This was important because I wanted the way they eat and exercise during intervention to closely mirror life in maintenance as much as possible. Thus, they had less variables to worry about with less adapting when transitioning to maintenance.

If you already established what your present and actual TDEE is, and have been maintaining your weight, then that's perfect as it allows you to select a more accurate and suitable deficit in accordance to how much fat mass you have and wish to lose.

You stated you live at home, thus I assume you have access to a full kitchen. If you haven't already done so, I would invest in a good digital food scale so you can weigh food ingredients at home when preparing meals.

As I mentioned above, I prefer that people eat and exercise similarly to maintenance. With that said, there isn't any need to omit anything that you enjoy eating as long as you are honest and account for the calories.