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MyFitnessPal Community

Goal: Lose body fat but get stronger... Q: eat at defecit or surplus?

biejen

F, 22, 5'11", 145 lbs, lean

I suddenly put on 10-15 lbs of fat 6 months ago due to stress or medication. I'm no stranger to gaining a temporary 5lbs, but this weight has come to stay! Now that I've graduated, I have more time to dedicate to my health.

My gym goals have always been to "get stronger," which is likely too vague to lead to meaningful results. I'm not afraid of muscles, but I also want to fit into all the pants I outgrew this winter (*kitten*'s expensive, yo).

Recently I've been eating at a defecit and I think that's taken down the weight a bit. Tips from ladies on how they figured out which way they wanted to go? Tips from anyone on getting stronger while losing inches?

Replies

heybales

Plenty of women commenting in here.

And you forgot 3rd option - eating at maintenance.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

middlehaitch

In with @heybales ^^^ look at recomp. h.

bethany_rose8

Eat at maintenance and you will slowly get both strength and aesthetic results, it just take longer but in my opinion is worth it!

KickboxFanatic

I would suggest that you do a small cut cycle to drop the 10-15 lbs and get back into your pants and then decrease the deficit closer to maintenance levels and start recomping. You can absolutely build strength on a deficit with a proper progressive lifting program.

deannalfisher

at 5'11", 145lbs, she is in the normal range for height/weight (more on the lower end of the range) - recomp would be a viable option - I don't know if recommending she lose 10-15lbs is smart or even easily doable without serious work

a progressive strength program and eating at maintenance would work (I'm slowly recomping, weight stable at 147lbs, but down 2 pants sizes as I have recompd)