Losing weight / gaining muscle - female

1200 calories is way too little with all that exercise. I would personally increase your calories to about 1600 which would leave you with a net of 1200-1300. You need to fuel your body properly to be able to build muscle. I am currently in Stage 6 of The New Rules of Lifting for Women and I have lost fat and built muscle while eating 1600-1800 calories a day.

Do you follow the recommendations mfp gave you? In my case the amount of calories where way to low. I took two weeks to find my basal metabolic rate and subtracted 500 cals. If you don't loose or gain any weight on 1700 cals the 1200 cals you chose should work just fine.
I'm not a huge fan of low carb because I think you're losing to much strength in the process. If you don't have any negative experience with it, go ahead. As long as you consume less calories than your body needs to maintain weight you'll lose weight, no matter what you eat.
As for your workouts, definitely keep lifting heavy. I don't know why people suddenly switch to small weights when they want to cut.
Additionally heavy weights will definitely favor fat oxidation due to an elevated metabolism.

EDIT: You don't even need to do HIIT, consume less calories than your body needs and you'll loose weight. If you want to eat mor however, HIIT is a good thing because it will get you "extra calories to consume". ;D

I think you mean TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Your BMR is your baseline caloric needs - the absolute minimum you need to eat to survive.

OP, check out Jamie Eason's Livefit trainer on Bodybuilding.com. She lays out a very specific mealplan aimed at exactly what your goals are. I started it 9 days ago along with her lifting program. Not saying you need to follow her program, but her nutrition recommendations fit the goals you've described (they're my goals as well). I find that it fits my macros perfectly and is a really good guideline for someone still learning about nutrition like myself. It's got a great 12 week lifting plan as well. Worth checking out anyhoo.

This is what i am trying to do, tone up as well as losing weight.
You gotta remember your weight will go up and down a little bit.
Have you thought about doing these challenges that you can do?
More protein in your diet will also help a lot too

xx

1200 calories is way too little with all that exercise. I would personally increase your calories to about 1600 which would leave you with a net of 1200-1300. You need to fuel your body properly to be able to build muscle. I am currently in Stage 6 of The New Rules of Lifting for Women and I have lost fat and built muscle while eating 1600-1800 calories a day.

+1

If you eat below your BMR, (I'm told and have read in several reputable sources), you are just hurting yourself unnecessarily. Your lowest intake should be at BMR at least to ensure that you don't have your body adapt to your lower intake and slow your burn.

Why slow the burn and then have a cheat meal when you can have what you want in the plan without it being cheating?

I was skeptical too. But I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal and have lost a lot, and I am following the skinny people like a scientist following the wild animals, observing their habits and prowling their diaries.

I think you should try 1400 net, making sure you eat back your calories. Then just see what happens in one month. You have to give it more than a week or two because your body is also adjusting to exercise and other factors and water fluctuations can play in.

Lean bodybuilders EAT here, even and especially the ladies.

You think you are creating the greater deficit by shaving a few hundred calories off a day so that you can lose fat, but when you eat below BMR you are going to lose muscle for sure --- which lowers your BMR, lowering your calorie burn 'round the clock, 24/7.

So by trying to shave a few hundred off on the top of your balance sheet, you are cheating yourself of calories burned round the clock, perhaps even more than you're shaving.

Not to mention all the other hazards of a very low calorie diet (1200 is the bare minimum for someone who is not into the activities you are into).

Why would anyone make demands of their body and then refuse it the fuel and resources it needs to fulfill those demands? That's where things go wrong, sometimes TERRIBLY wrong (with your health) before you realize it and by then it could be too late to repair. You don't think about these things as much at your age, but when your friends start dying in their 30s from things like pickling their livers with alcohol, eating very low calorie diets for years on end, taking too many over-the-counter meds, stroking out from high blood pressure ... then you start paying attention. It's your one body. Trust me when I say there is much medical science still cannot fix. I recommend that you think in terms of long term performance of this body while you can.

/oldladyrant

Great thanks all.
Will
Up to 1400 bmr to start to see how I get on then look to up
Again.
Goal is to lose fat first then build muscle but thought by adding in heavy weights it would compliment my fat loss...
Thought this way I would b able to get some definition whilst I lose weight.

Only losing fat will accomplish this. Do not take this to mean that you should *not* do heavy weights. Heavy weights (in conjunction with *enough* calories but a smallish deficit) will help you retain muscle mass, the prime mover behind your BMR.

The takeaway we're hoping you'll get is modest deficit, heavy weights, and a *loooot* more patience.

Great thanks all.
Will
Up to 1400 bmr to start to see how I get on then look to up
Again.
Goal is to lose fat first then build muscle but thought by adding in heavy weights it would compliment my fat loss...
Thought this way I would b able to get some definition whilst I lose weight.

Why would you want to lose fat and then build muscle, rather than retain what you have now?

Building muscle is extremely hard, plus with being a female, you're even further behind the 8 ball when it comes to building due to the lack of testosterone.