Can you lose belly fat eating at maintenance?
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Springfield1970 wrote: »Then you're either underestimating your intake, truly at maintenance, or in a stall.
Only time will tell. Track everything meticulously. The discoveries you make now will set you up for years of maintenance, cutting and bulking.
Just don't go down the whole 'metabolism stalled, starvation mode myth shenanigans' it's bull and will stop you finding the truth.
I explained the theory behind the stall earlier. Give it time.
I second this.
Those numbers match mine 1650/1800ish for losing/maintenance- and I am 5'8" at 165 pounds- I lift 3 times a week- I spend 15 hours a week in dance of various intensity (actual dance- not zumba) and I finally re-started dropping some body fat after adding in 2 additional/shorter sessions of cardio.
- So- yeah- I'm NOW losing again this month after finally sucking it up to add cardio...
But I'm now doing
Three (and occasionally four) 90-120 min sessions lifting
10-15 hours of Dance movement- rehersal- and technical drilling classes
Two- 15-30 min cardio (mostly running) sessions.
Being said- OP- you're eating more than you think- and or you need to be lifting.
I suggest staying at the calorie intake and getting on a progressive lifting program- something 3-4 times a week and not a 6 week isolation program- build some solid muscle. That will improve your over all look and structure- because continuing to lose weight and have little to no frame under it in terms of muscle will not improve your appearance.0 -
Springfield1970 wrote: »ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »You've got to understand that men and women are very different.
People quite often don't quite get how losing 4/5 pounds of body fat at our low weight can make an enormous difference to our body fat percentage, putting us in a great place to make leaner gains. I can see that your weight OR body fat isn't low enough yet to get where you want to go. I also know you aren't experienced enough yet, or male enough to successfully recomp lol.
I also think you aren't as far under maintenance as you think you are, and will be dropping about a pound a month at this rate. I think that is awesome, if you have the patience. But to truly get the body you dream of, you are going to have to build some muscle shape, and you need to bulk a bit, about 3lbs, which is months of hard work, and you'll need to be in calorie excess to do it.
Question about this-- originally recomping was suggested to me by Sarauk2sf specifically because I wasn't experienced enough to do a bulk and because I wasn't ready mentally for fat gain. Can I ask what the reasoning is for not recomping as a beginner? It seems like it'd be easier to take advantage of newbie gains (that's certainly what happened for me, things have slowed WAY down since then).
You have to know your numbers ie your Tdee, exercise burns, maintenance really well, and have the faith to sit through weeks/months of stalls without panicking and bingeing, or over cutting. It takes a couple of years to get this all together plus learning to lift properly, and figuring out exactly how you want your body to look and how much you can bend your lifestyle to it.
Bulking and cutting is so much more black and white! You can see visible results, track things easier, and not get caught up in all the mind games of recomping. I honestly think it's much harder for women to recomp. Especially if you are one of the many women, like me that have put the fear of dieting into our bodies and have the eternal munchies!
With bulking you get the satisfaction of more food, seeing your strength go up, added growth hormone, visible healthy nails, skin and hair, it's like turning the clock back.
With cutting you get the hunger hormones taking a back seat, a timeline you can see an end to and of course results on the scale, measuring tape.
It's so much more satisfying and obvious.
Recomping, muddy and confusing! Plus maintenance is A *kitten*!
I'm not even sure how much newbie gains are for women. Muscle is so hard to come by for us.
I personally find the opposite to be true. I already had a good idea of my numbers and I'm a patient woman so the time didn't bother me. I found my short bulk to be much more of a mind game than my year of recomp. And I like maintenance. It's easy for me to keep the same calorie goal all the time instead of getting used to eating more and then having to adjust to eating less again. I suspect all of that is a matter of preference and temperament.
The part about lifting is the part that's throwing me. The way it was explained to me at the time is that it takes more lifting knowledge to bulk, and that generally speaking it's better to recomp first while you learn the ropes. Then when you're actually eating at a surplus you know that you're doing so you don't just gain fat.
It's interesting to hear other people's experiences!
I find maintenance really difficult! I do too much cardio and my hunger is through the roof. But that's because I love triathlon. I bulk and cut when I'm off season.
I agree that there needs to be a good period of time to get experienced with heavy lifting and make use of any newbie gains! It's always difficult to know what to do next though, but a good adventure
OP I hope you keep this thread alive and update us! Please take measurements and weigh yourself so we can see what works for you, it's really useful for us.
Yup will update it
it's only been a week and i haven't seen any changes yet 
but the good thing is I've been eating more and doing less cardio.. Not putting on weight so im happy lol
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Springfield1970 wrote: »ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »You've got to understand that men and women are very different.
People quite often don't quite get how losing 4/5 pounds of body fat at our low weight can make an enormous difference to our body fat percentage, putting us in a great place to make leaner gains. I can see that your weight OR body fat isn't low enough yet to get where you want to go. I also know you aren't experienced enough yet, or male enough to successfully recomp lol.
I also think you aren't as far under maintenance as you think you are, and will be dropping about a pound a month at this rate. I think that is awesome, if you have the patience. But to truly get the body you dream of, you are going to have to build some muscle shape, and you need to bulk a bit, about 3lbs, which is months of hard work, and you'll need to be in calorie excess to do it.
Question about this-- originally recomping was suggested to me by Sarauk2sf specifically because I wasn't experienced enough to do a bulk and because I wasn't ready mentally for fat gain. Can I ask what the reasoning is for not recomping as a beginner? It seems like it'd be easier to take advantage of newbie gains (that's certainly what happened for me, things have slowed WAY down since then).
You have to know your numbers ie your Tdee, exercise burns, maintenance really well, and have the faith to sit through weeks/months of stalls without panicking and bingeing, or over cutting. It takes a couple of years to get this all together plus learning to lift properly, and figuring out exactly how you want your body to look and how much you can bend your lifestyle to it.
Bulking and cutting is so much more black and white! You can see visible results, track things easier, and not get caught up in all the mind games of recomping. I honestly think it's much harder for women to recomp. Especially if you are one of the many women, like me that have put the fear of dieting into our bodies and have the eternal munchies!
With bulking you get the satisfaction of more food, seeing your strength go up, added growth hormone, visible healthy nails, skin and hair, it's like turning the clock back.
With cutting you get the hunger hormones taking a back seat, a timeline you can see an end to and of course results on the scale, measuring tape.
It's so much more satisfying and obvious.
Recomping, muddy and confusing! Plus maintenance is A *kitten*!
I'm not even sure how much newbie gains are for women. Muscle is so hard to come by for us.
I personally find the opposite to be true. I already had a good idea of my numbers and I'm a patient woman so the time didn't bother me. I found my short bulk to be much more of a mind game than my year of recomp. And I like maintenance. It's easy for me to keep the same calorie goal all the time instead of getting used to eating more and then having to adjust to eating less again. I suspect all of that is a matter of preference and temperament.
The part about lifting is the part that's throwing me. The way it was explained to me at the time is that it takes more lifting knowledge to bulk, and that generally speaking it's better to recomp first while you learn the ropes. Then when you're actually eating at a surplus you know that you're doing so you don't just gain fat.
It's interesting to hear other people's experiences!
I find maintenance really difficult! I do too much cardio and my hunger is through the roof. But that's because I love triathlon. I bulk and cut when I'm off season.
I agree that there needs to be a good period of time to get experienced with heavy lifting and make use of any newbie gains! It's always difficult to know what to do next though, but a good adventure
OP I hope you keep this thread alive and update us! Please take measurements and weigh yourself so we can see what works for you, it's really useful for us.
Yup will update it it's only been a week and i haven't seen any changes yet but the good thing is I've been eating more and doing less cardio.. Not putting on weight so im happy lol
Springfield1970 wrote: »jaysiekemso wrote: »ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »You've got to understand that men and women are very different.
People quite often don't quite get how losing 4/5 pounds of body fat at our low weight can make an enormous difference to our body fat percentage, putting us in a great place to make leaner gains. I can see that your weight OR body fat isn't low enough yet to get where you want to go. I also know you aren't experienced enough yet, or male enough to successfully recomp lol.
I also think you aren't as far under maintenance as you think you are, and will be dropping about a pound a month at this rate. I think that is awesome, if you have the patience. But to truly get the body you dream of, you are going to have to build some muscle shape, and you need to bulk a bit, about 3lbs, which is months of hard work, and you'll need to be in calorie excess to do it.
Question about this-- originally recomping was suggested to me by Sarauk2sf specifically because I wasn't experienced enough to do a bulk and because I wasn't ready mentally for fat gain. Can I ask what the reasoning is for not recomping as a beginner? It seems like it'd be easier to take advantage of newbie gains (that's certainly what happened for me, things have slowed WAY down since then).
You have to know your numbers ie your Tdee, exercise burns, maintenance really well, and have the faith to sit through weeks/months of stalls without panicking and bingeing, or over cutting. It takes a couple of years to get this all together plus learning to lift properly, and figuring out exactly how you want your body to look and how much you can bend your lifestyle to it.
Bulking and cutting is so much more black and white! You can see visible results, track things easier, and not get caught up in all the mind games of recomping. I honestly think it's much harder for women to recomp. Especially if you are one of the many women, like me that have put the fear of dieting into our bodies and have the eternal munchies!
With bulking you get the satisfaction of more food, seeing your strength go up, added growth hormone, visible healthy nails, skin and hair, it's like turning the clock back.
With cutting you get the hunger hormones taking a back seat, a timeline you can see an end to and of course results on the scale, measuring tape.
It's so much more satisfying and obvious.
Recomping, muddy and confusing! Plus maintenance is A *kitten*!
I'm not even sure how much newbie gains are for women. Muscle is so hard to come by for us.
I personally find the opposite to be true. I already had a good idea of my numbers and I'm a patient woman so the time didn't bother me. I found my short bulk to be much more of a mind game than my year of recomp. And I like maintenance. It's easy for me to keep the same calorie goal all the time instead of getting used to eating more and then having to adjust to eating less again. I suspect all of that is a matter of preference and temperament.
The part about lifting is the part that's throwing me. The way it was explained to me at the time is that it takes more lifting knowledge to bulk, and that generally speaking it's better to recomp first while you learn the ropes. Then when you're actually eating at a surplus you know that you're doing so you don't just gain fat.
Sounds good I don't think I'm ready to bulk, im no where near experienced enough. 5 months ago I didn't even know what macros were lol
One day you'll be ready and brave enough! I hope it's sooner rather than later. Cutting is easy, so don't worry about a bit of fat gain with bulking. Building curvy muscle is really difficult but such an amazing experience.
Thank you I hope so too. At the moment im just learning everything by myself.. I wish I could afford a PT lol
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You don't need a personal trainer! Not with the Internet and people going you good advice on MFP.
You need to keep records and be meticulous and find out for yourself.
Follow Bret Contraras, he understands women's bodies like no other! I'm quite often at the gym with his book, and there are countless helpful YouTube vids.
You need to study, and most of all be patient.0 -
Springfield1970 wrote: »You don't need a personal trainer! Not with the Internet and people going you good advice on MFP.
You need to keep records and be meticulous and find out for yourself.
Follow Bret Contraras, he understands women's bodies like no other! I'm quite often at the gym with his book, and there are countless helpful YouTube vids.
You need to study, and most of all be patient.
Yeah I'm studying I always watch YouTube videos and read things a lot. I pretty much learned all this myself. Being patient is so hard haha I want results asap. Cool, I'll look him up
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Wow guys it's been ages lol k so I ended up going on a bulk and just started cutting lol0
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jaysiekemso wrote: »
It went from feeling flabby to okay in around 2 months. It felt taut after around 8. But I'm a lazy exercizer - I sit on a pilates ball all day (which is fantatic for core muscles and posture) and walk. Someone who worked at it would be faster.
It was my strong impression that after weight loss (40 pounds), my belly had extra 'space' in it like it did after I had by babies (I gained and lost 50 pounds each time). The fat that had taken up room was gone, but the muscles and skin were too large. It was straight flab. I know the muscles and skin shrank back to an appropriate size. I think - with no evidence - that the cells in which the fat was stored also got smaller over time. In any case - I looked fine again. 3 years later I still look fine and not flabby.
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