Hi! 2 questions

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Hi everyone! I’ve been weightlifting for a few months now and was in a calorie deficit to lose a few pounds on the app. I’m trying to figure out if I still need to be in a deficit to lose another 2 or 3 inches off my waist. I’m not sure that I have “weight” to lose besides the belly fat. How do I make a plan on MFP? Would I chose lose 0.5 lbs/week or maintain?

As far as working out I would like my arms and legs to relatively stay where they are and not get too toned but want to work on belly fat. Would I stick to the same weight on arms and shoulders to maintain or do you continue to up the weight?

Hope all of this makes sense! Thanks!

Replies

  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 498 Member
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    If only we could design a plan that determines where fat is lost from! Unfortunately - we can't. Planning to lose at a rate of 0.5lb a week while strength training sounds reasonable to me. You likely won't build a lot of muscle doing so, but it will allow some fat loss and help muscle retention. It will go from your belly eventually, but I never find it goes from where I want it to first. If you are happy with your weight overall, and want to work on doing a recomp - whereby you build muscle while losing fat, but your weight stays the same, this could also work. You'd eat at maintenance instead of a deficit, and make sure your lifting program is a good one. It's slow. Both options are pretty slow. But entirely doable.
  • dcdeleon02
    dcdeleon02 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you! Yes I wish it would flow from the belly to the bottom ;)
  • driganezis
    driganezis Posts: 15 Member
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    Very well said by Courtscan2! There is no spot reduction in fat loss. As long as you are in a deficit eventually sometime you will get rid of it, you just don't know exactly when. In my case i lost almost 15 kg in 7 months, dropped my bodyfat from 30% to 15% but still have to loose a lot of fat in my belly and lower in my back in order to achieve my goal of 10-12% bodyfat. That's why my plan is a slight def for the next 9 months so i can gain some muscle as well with resistance training...