Am I doing right with my lifting/diet ( with photo showing where I'm at )

137 lbs at 5'9".

You do not need to lose weight. Eat at maintenance and lift for now. After a month or so you might decide to eat a bit more but it doesn't sound like you're ready for that. Plus, it's not necessarily required for good results. Bret Contreras wrote a good article on whether or not bulking/cutting is required or if eating at maintenance may be better for some people. Look it up and read it.

Are you following stronglifts as written? Have you stalled at all? Are you able to continue the progressive overload? If you eat at or slightly below maintenance while keeping your protein intake adequate, you can work on a slow recomp which will build the muscle underneath your "wobble" and slowly allow you to adjust your overall bodyfat percentage... but you're looking awesome. I'd work on building your legs to build your overall symmetry. Adding some mass/muscle to your legs will change your proportions enough that it may accomplish what you are after.

VickiLogan11 wrote: »

Thanks for all your helpful replies. Don't laugh but im doing SL with 22.5kg & that's all the weights I have so have not been progressing with weight. I do just want to maintain and lose the wobble lol but don't understand all the recomp stuff at all. Overall I'm happy just need to improve this area & like someone mentioned I would be happy to build muscle in this area. I've always needed to raise my heels on a plank with squats otherwise I can't do them as I dip forward and I always feel it's more quads than glutes doing the work. Thanks again

You need more weight to progress with a weightlifting program. Keep working on the mobility thing. If you're serious about continuing to lift you could get lifting shoes that are slightly elevated in the back.

Squats are a compound lift but quads are a major muscle that's worked with them. If you want more work on glutes, do hip thrusts and/or glute bridges or some of the other stuff you learned doing Strong Curves.

You can't maintain while eating 1500 calories. You need to eat at maintenance to maintain. Recomping is eating at maintenance and lifting heavy to burn fat and build muscle. It's a long term project--think 6, 9, 12+ months.

Not an expert, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. You are at the lower end of weight for your height, you eat at the lowest end for calories, and you've started strength training. Is that the gist?

Figure out your maintenance range. You aren't eating at that since I'm 5'3" and eating the same calories, while losing weight. There aren't any medals, or muscle, from eating too little for your goals.

Once you are fueling your body properly, you'll be able to lift more. This will benefit you with fat loss and a gradual muscle building. Yes, your weight may increase. However, your size will remain consistent or reduce. At your starting point, I wouldn't even track weight unless my torso area was expanding. That isn't likely to happen if you are following a program while in maintenance.

I've done SL 2x/week since Feb. The inches lost are phenomenal and the strength gains top it. Life is too short to focus on one metric (weight). Eat adequately, lift more weight, get smaller. The wobble will go away but you have to progress with difficulty/lifting. Look into nerd fitness.com for progressive bodyweight exercises if you aren't able to do SL as prescribed.

Buy some more and bigger weights for your barbell.
You can't really follow the programs you are on if you haven't got enough weights to give you progression.

VickiLogan11 wrote: »

I not in a position to buy more weights at the minute unfortunately

@VickiLogan11
That's a shame. To be honest a program that relies on progression by increasing weight on the big barbell lifts isn't going to work for you if you can't add more.
Adding volume or fatigue work (supersets or drop sets for example) are other options and they are free.
I'm not a fan of isolation lifts but if you only have light weights then they become more valid choices.
Bodyweight exercises are another free option - for example you would get more out of doing a set of push ups that you find hard than a barbell chest press with a weight you find easy.

Vicki - you have had some good suggestions - eat a little more & lift heavy - if you cant afford heavier weights get some thing heavy and lift it, carry it or put over your head. you can use a sand bag, concrete block, or a bag of concrete mix. use your imagination. Pick it up carry it as far as you can, then carry it back, pick it up and put it down for reps you get the idea. Eastcoast Jim