Unsure of the proper calorie intake

Well, I am thoroughly confused.

You're eating deficit calories and expecting to gain weight?

Low carb and low fat are two ways people try to limit calories in order to lose weight.

You're employing both methods at once and wondering why it is hard to eat enough calories to gain weight.

Do you see a disconnect?

I am not saying eat unhealthy. But running a bulk on steamed fish, egg whites, boiled skinless chicken breast and cucumbers is going to be fairly difficult (just listing random relatively low calorie foods here--no idea if that's what you're doing)

Some well thought out plans keep lean proteins constant, wrap carbs around gym and exercise time, and add or reduce fats (nuts, nut butters, etc) depending on caloric goals (bulk or cut).

Personally I would be more inclined to go with ice cream... but hey, it is obvious that I am not in the super disciplined game!!!

You could try a recomp. The idea is to maintain weight while slowly gaining muscle and losing fat. However you need to be aware this can take a LONG time. Like.. years. I believe you want to eat pretty much at maintenance calories. Calorie cycling is ok (eating more on training days and less on non-training days) but to balance out for the week at maintenance (take an average). You want to try to eat plenty of protein but you need fat and carbs too, to keep you full and keep your muscles healthy.

You might run into difficulty with only having one rest day a week... I've read that you want to do weight training with plenty of compound moves about 3 days a week. Now, of course if you are doing a split type workout then that's not the case. But make sure you have 1-2 days of rest for each muscle group before you work them again.

Do you like the training program your trainer uses? Have you seen improvement? What kind of lifts do you do and when? I'm curious.

Also, as a woman, I would expect a bit of fluctuation on your fat/muscle during the month. Using calipers or a scale-zap thing (omg brain fart what are they called... impedance... ???) then your water retention will affect all those measurements, but that doesn't mean you are gaining fat or losing muscle. Also during your monthly, you might find you need a smidge more calories.

I've heard that doing proper bulk and cut cycles can be a real mind game. Though I'm sure recomposition is as well, in a different way.

By the way, I'm 5'6" and 135 lb (ish). While I was weight training I found there was no way in the world I could go below 1700 calories a day. Since you're taller and probably have more muscle than I do (oh hamstrings, where did you disappear to?) I wouldn't suggest going as low as 1600. You could probably eat at least ... 2100 to maintain? That's a really rough guess though.

inkedrapture wrote: »

I do a lot of squats and deadlifting but I don’t go super heavy because of my back. I have scoliosis but I try my best to push myself. I go heaviest on some machines with isolation exercises, maxing out on legs usually every time. I do workout legs a lot but I’ll do maxing out weights, then with the lower weighted squats or deadlifting the next day.

Darn that scoliosis. I have a super minor case as well (so minor drs didn't even know I had it till I was 28, so I'm going to assume yours is more noticeable). Definitely be sure you're working on flexibility and form then!
How much would you say you would max out on for squats and deads before you'd be uncomfortable lifting more for your condition? Lol I'm just asking out of curiosity. To be clear these answers won't help me steer you in any direction. I just like knowing what people's plans are and it's nice to read how you manage scoliosis since I also have it.