Last 20 pounds plateau..help!

bbylaura22
bbylaura22 Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I'd like to say I have a unique situation. ANY recommendations or advice will be greatly appreciated.

I'm a 5' 10" female at age 18. Currently I weigh 170-172 (depending on the day) and my goal is 150. I got down to 160 2 years ago in a couple months by strength training, lots of volleyball for cardio and skipping breakfast and or lunch, sometimes dinner too. After I stopped playing volleyball and I began eating again I gained 10 pounds (but kept the other 10 pounds I lost off :D) But I'd still like to lose 20 pounds (or you know, look super duper fit and strong, even if that means not losing weight on the scale)

Currently, I'm eating 1,200 (well, that's my goal. I usually go over a little every day and go over a lot occasionally...helloo thanksgiving!) And for working out I just work out 3 days a week doing some cardio and strength training.

Alright, now for the questions. Should I be doing more in my workouts? If so, what?
How many calories should I try and burn weekly?
If Im burning off 500 calories at the gym, should I eat those calories back or keep it as extra?
I want to lose weight and gain muscle...can you do that at the same time? If so, how?

Okay that was kind of a lot, but I've been stuck for a while now so really anything helps :)

Replies

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Hi Laura,

    At 5 ft 10, you should be eating way more than 1,200 calories. With the stats you provided, I figured this out:

    Your Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR): 1633
    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE): 2245

    I figured this out here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Do not eat below your BMR, and perhaps cut about 10-20% from your TDEE to lose those 20 pounds or so at a slow healthy rate.

    Your BMR is the least amount of calories you would need to survive if you were comatose or were sitting on the sofa all day long doing nothing at all.

    if you establish your weight loss goals using MFP, you do eat back your exercise calories because your deficit is already built into your calorie allowance.

    If you use the TDEE method above, you don't eat your exercise calories back because no deficit is built into this method.

    Edited to add: you won't gain muscle on a calorie deficit.

    If that's a current photo of you in your profile, you look very slender already.
  • bbylaura22
    bbylaura22 Posts: 18
    I thought 1,200 was too low but I wasn't sure. Thank you for answering all this! And thank you very much for the compliment

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