Ladies who eat high calories to tone

so to define toning..means showing muscle definition.

the horrible thing about where you are now..is you should have been focused on retaining muscle mass while losing body fat. now its going to be even harder to 'tone'. as we eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy to build muscle, we also will put on a little fat. i ate around 2000 calories to 'bulk'. right now i try to stick to 1700 while lifting and running at least 1.5 miles after ever lifting workout. it took me a while to find the optimal calorie and workouts to build muscle and lose fat.

everyone is different. i dont eat back, never have. i'm 126 ish lbs now, 5'2". my poundage has stayed the same, yet i've lost inches and notice more muscle tone. i know i'm gaining muscle because i can see changes and i'm getting stronger. like i said, i eat around 1700 calories.

and 8 weeks is nothing..i've been lifting for probably a year and half to try to build muscle..its a slow process.

You cannot gain muscle in a calorie deficit - you must be in a slight surplus I'm afraid, which means you will gain some fat too. this is why serious muscle building requires cut and build cycles.

If you just want to continue to lose a little fat and not really gain *much* muscle but just look tauter - which is kinda where I am, then you can reduce your deficit or eat at maintenance. I'm trying a 250 deficit from my FitBit TDEE of 2050 - so eating at 1800. My understanding is that I should lose fat at this level, albeit slowly, whilst benefiting some from t being a relatively new lifter and getting a tiny bit of extra muscle.

Where does the 1800 come from - is it your maintenance or is there still a deficit built in?

Why not give it a try for a few weeks and see what happens. If you gain weight you can always lose it again.

I would eat at your TDEE then, I think.

Really glad its working for you Meg Im hoping to see a change in my size as aposed to what the scales day. Hopefully I can get rid of my all over excess flab and look defined.

I'm still a work in progress that's for sure! Just take your time, you'll see results, I can't wait to see bigger (photo worthy) changes either! (and get rid of the damn belly!!)

Try to eat at your TDEE and lift as heavy as you can. You won't build muscle per se but your existing muscle will look much better.

^^^ I like ripped better too!

And I forgot to add, I was eating 1800 calories. Now eating around 2000 (just started that) because I was feeling hungry and sluggish.

intresting subject - bumping til later!

You cannot gain muscle in a calorie deficit - you must be in a slight surplus I'm afraid, which means you will gain some fat too. this is why serious muscle building requires cut and build cycles.

If you just want to continue to lose a little fat and not really gain *much* muscle but just look tauter - which is kinda where I am, then you can reduce your deficit or eat at maintenance. I'm trying a 250 deficit from my FitBit TDEE of 2050 - so eating at 1800. My understanding is that I should lose fat at this level, albeit slowly, whilst benefiting some from t being a relatively new lifter and getting a tiny bit of extra muscle.

This is very controversial.

I eat at a deficit and muscle definition is def evident. I however was eating more than if I was just doing cardio.
When I original lost weight I was doing all cardio and eating 1200 cals

Now I do crossfit and lifting and eating anywhere from 1400-2000 cals depending on the amount of exercise. I eat back a good portion of my exercise calories because of the exercises I'm doing. Lifting heavy needs fuel

My photo is proof. And my weight has not changed.

**FYI I recently lowered my cals and will be running more to lean out a bit**

Muscle definition and muscle gain aren't the same thing.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition