Specific advice desired...

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LauraFouhse
LauraFouhse Posts: 115
in Fitness and Exercise
45 years old
140lb
25% body fat

My goal is to get as strong as I possibly can :-) A little vague, I know. Essentially I want to build muscle and decrease my body fat.

Currently I am lifting weights 3x per week.
Interval training (cardio) and HIIT (bike) on alternate days for 1/2 hour max (usually 20 min intervals on treadmill followed by 4 min HIIT).

When I was working at weight loss, I was eating 1800 calories per day. I've increased that (based on TDEE calculations) to 2200. TBH, I'm terrified that I'm eating too much and that I'm going to regain all the fat I've lost to date (down from 165lb and 36% body fat).

Am I on the right track? Is there anything I could/should be doing better?

Should I focus more on decreasing my body fat before focusing on the strength training? Or do I keep with the strength training and then work on body fat?

I'm really trying to let go of a specific weight-related goal and focus more on body fat and strength. If I end up gaining 10 pounds but am leaner and stronger... that's okay (well, sort of okay... I've been focusing on the scale for a very very long time. Not easy to let go of)

Helpful advice... encouragement... ??? Questions?

Replies

  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    I'm terrified that I'm eating too much and that I'm going to regain all the fat I've lost to date

    It's reversible, so don't lose sleep over it. Finding the right calorie intake takes practice.

    Everyone should lift.. so yes - lift. Follow a good program for best results.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    If you're eating below maintenance (at a deficit) and following a heavy progressive lifting program (something like Stronglifts, Starting Strength, NROLFW, etc.), then you'll cut body fat and get stronger. You won't gain muscle, other than unremarkable newbie gains if you're new to lifting, but you can definitely gain appreciable strength. Once you've reduce bf to a place you're happy with, you can switch to a bulk to gain muscle mass. Definitely definitely lift while cutting fat - you'll retain the muscle you have.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Bulk for the win!

    Haha honestly, if you can stand to gain a few pounds, go for it. You can fly through the plates, eat all the foods (well, +250ish anyway)and feel great (till your jeans get tight, that is). Then cut back the fat at the end to reveal your awesomeness - rinse and repeat :happy:
  • LauraFouhse
    LauraFouhse Posts: 115
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    another question. I figured out, with the help of some online calculator that to maintain I should be eating 2200ish calories (my TDEE). Do I still eat back exercise calories? That would put me at about 2600 per day which seems like way too much. I'm assuming the 2200 calories factors in the calories burned. Right?
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    If you calculated your TDEE correctly, then it includes the calories burned via exercise in addition to your basal functions and non-exercise activity. So you want to take a small cut from the TDEE and NOT eat back the calories - this creates your deficit. You only eat them back if you're using the NEAT method, like MFP does - its estimate of your daily burn doesn't include exercise, so if you exercise you get to eat more. So if your TDEE is 2200 and you want to lose a bit of fat, take about 10-15% off that amount (somewhere in the realm of 1870-1980) and eat that amount every day, no eating back. If maintaining is your goal (or very slow recomp), eat the 2200. If you want to gain some muscle, add about 250. That will come with a bit of fat gain, but nothing you can't cut later.
  • LauraFouhse
    LauraFouhse Posts: 115
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    If you calculated your TDEE correctly, then it includes the calories burned via exercise in addition to your basal functions and non-exercise activity. So you want to take a small cut from the TDEE and NOT eat back the calories - this creates your deficit. You only eat them back if you're using the NEAT method, like MFP does - its estimate of your daily burn doesn't include exercise, so if you exercise you get to eat more. So if your TDEE is 2200 and you want to lose a bit of fat, take about 10-15% off that amount (somewhere in the realm of 1870-1980) and eat that amount every day, no eating back.
    Perfect. That's what I thought. I love helpful people.

    Can anyone guess for me... if I am diligent about eating at a slight deficit, lifting heavy 3 times per week, a little cardio on the off days... how long can I expect it to take to bring my body fat down to 22%? and is 22% good enough to start seriously working on bulking up (as much as a middle age woman can bulk)? This is all so new to me and I'm quite fascinated by and curious about the whole process.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Super hard to say with any certainty. For one thing, the TDEE estimate is just that - an estimate. Only time, careful tracking of your intake (i.e. data) will let you figure out what it actually is (and then you can adjust things as needed). Purely as an anecdote, I went from 24+% to about 18% between February and September of last year, lifting 3x/week and doing some cardio 2-3x/week (usually things like 15 minute HIITs or a 25 minute jog), while eating about 2000-2200/day. High teens/low 20s is a perfectly good bf% to start with for a bulk for a woman.

    You should check out the group Women Who Bulk - there's more of us than you might think :)http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/51470-women-who-bulk Lots of great info/advice/stories there :)

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