@freds I’m 5’3” and 40 years old, 114lbs. I lift heavy 4 times a week with a 5th day of core/cardio. I get about 8K steps a day. I work an office job.
I maintain this weight at 2200 cal per day. I cut at 1800/1900, bulk at 2500
I get 140g protein per day on average. I don’t restrict any food group or type of food. I routinely have ice cream or take out without issue.
I think your problem may be that you’ve been eating so little that you’ve slowed your metabolism down to a crawl. My advice would be to reverse diet back up to a decent amount of food, stay there for a bit to heal your metabolism and then you’ll be able to cut at a higher calorie amount. I’ve done this myself and it was the best thing I ever did. I used to gain weight at 1400 per day!
If you’re stalled out now, at the tiny amount you’re eating then there is no where else to go without being so low it’s unhealthy. Good luck OP!
@danieljames Oh no! I hope it hasn’t slowed down I get 10k steps everyday too but maybe it’s because my lifts aren’t as heavy as y’alls but it is very heavy for me lol I am building up to that though but slowly! How long did you do the reverse diet for?
@freds For around 6 months or so, the slower you do it the more stable your weight will stay while you do. You could also just go into an extended bulk too, take the opportunity to gain some strength and muscle while speeding up your metabolism. You could cap any weight gained at around 10-15lbs so it would be an easy cut at the end
@danieljames Gaining 10-15 lbs seems scary to me!! Lmao I know it should be muscle and it’ll look different but whew. Thank you so much! I will look into this
@freds Im 24, 5’3 and 110 lbs ish . I maintain around 2000kcal , lift 4 times a week , but my intake varies a lot according to my activity level that day
@freds 33 and 5'3" here, if I eat at or over 1200 I gain. it's terrible! I also live a very sedentary life though trying to get back into walking/running soon though
@freds I feel like my maintenance is anything over 1750 but I think it’s more like 1900. I’m trying to eat 1600 but I’m constantly hungry and always go over on weekends. I do Orangetheory/run 2x a week and strength training 2x. I eat 115-120g of protein a day
@freds You do way more physical activity than me, and I probably eat the same or more than you do and maintain. However, I don't eat a lot of carbs, usually 75-120 g of whole grains a day. I eat substantially more veggies than I used to.
@freds Im 5’2”. 48yo. Most days i do 10k steps without specific exercise my maint cals come in around 1450-1500. On days where i do some gym and a decent walk or run i come in around 1800-1900. Maybe even 2000.
Id love it to be closer to 10000 just to eat cheesecake
@freds 5'3, 34 yo, and between 123 and 128lbs, depending on the day. I maintain at 2300 probably? I run 5 times a week (aiming for over 41 miles), and the rest I walk. My maintenance would be 1700 if I would do any exercise. My metabolism definitely got a boost throughout the years.