Female body recomposition

eat around maintenance.
Make sure your macros are on point for your calories.

Enjoy....

But you do have to be patient, will take its time

I was having a chat with a guy who is well into his SL 5X5. We were discussing my goals which is to be as strong as I can and as lean as I can. We were discussing that I struggle with calorie counting because I hate to feel hungry and restricted. He suggested that I take a body recompostion approach to my training rather than a cut loads of calories. I kind of understand but I don't

He said I should be eating close to my calorie goal each day while lifting heavy. Is this correct?

I am female 5'2, I will be heading back into SL 5X5 this month (I had to stop due to expenses) 25 years old.

This is what my calories look like for me: BMR being 1456

Activity Level

Daily Calories

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1747
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2002
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2257
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2512
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2766

I tended to eat at 1600 calories but I can never stick to this amount.

So based on that say I ate at moderately active less a few calories for a cut would this give me the desired result?

Oh I run a couple of times a week nothing major just a mile or so and I cycle to and from work which equates to about 20 miles a week.

Thanks!

You've gotten a lot of great ideas and advice from the folks above and I'm not going argue the finer points of whether to bulk, cut, recomp or stop altogether and drink a lot of beer (no one actually recommended that one but I think it sounds good). Don't take what I say as anything other than what works for me - I'm not saying it's the only way to be successful, I'm just saying it has worked for me all my life.

But I will say that I believe you are setting yourself up for failure with your second sentence. Being as strong as you can and as lean as you can is not a goal, it might be an ideal but it is not goal. A goal would be:
I want to squat 185lbs for 5 sets of 5 reps by 1/1/15.
You could incorporate the lean part into that as well saying:
I want to squat 185lbs for 5 sets of 5 reps by 1/1/15 while weighing 132 lbs.

I am a big believer in setting SMART goals:
Specific - "as strong as I can be" is not as specific as "Squat XXX.
Measurable - same as above.
Attainable - If you are currently squatting 135lbs 5x5 and you are as strong as you've ever been, its probably not attainable to say you want to squat 325lbs in 4 months.
Relevant - does it fit in the big picture of your life? If your objective is to be strong and lean then the goal above fits into that. If you objective is to be CEO of a major corporation, that goal won't help much.
Time Related: This creates urgency and helps you avoid procrastination.

I also believe you shouldn't set too many goals at one time or you will lose focus. Setting a weight goal for each of the SL 5x5 exercises at once might be too much. Starting with a squat or dead lift goal is a good way to focus your attention on a general strength exercise, once you've hit that goal you may want to work on your back so you set a pull up goal.

My current goal is to bench press 350 with 10% body fat on the day I turn 50 in December. I've been working on this goal for 6 months now and I really like it because it keeps my on track with my diet, my cardio and all of my lifts not just bench press because I need a strong core, strong tris and shoulders to hit that goal.