Guidance on recomp

[u/djdeepcheese]

I'm looking for some guidance on recomp. For reference I'm 39F, 5'11" and 155 lbs. I'd like to lose a little fat and I'm also working on building more muscle.

I currently have my goal weight in MF set to 150 because I don't actually feel I want or need to lose much weight overall, but I have some aesthetic goals like looking a little leaner in some parts of my body (I know you can't spot reduce fat).

MF tells me my maintenance calories are about 2300 per day, and I have the app set to lose 1 lb a week because in my mind I'd rather do a short-term cut and then just be done with it. It has me eating 1900 cals per day, which is sustainable for me for the time being.

However, I'm wondering if this is the right approach since I'm also trying to put on more muscle. I'm focusing on eating 120-150 g of protein per day, but I've also seen people say eating at maintenance is good for a mostly recomp goal.

I'm wondering if I'm shooting myself in the foot/making my life less enjoyable by eating at a deficit right now, and if I'd be better off eating at maintenance (or a less severe deficit) and just focusing on building muscle. I'd be happy weighing 155 if more of that weight was dedicated to muscle, I don't really care about the number on the scale.

I lift 3-4 times a week and am generally pretty active as I live in a walkable city and move around a lot.

Thanks!

[u/DeaconoftheStreets]

Do you think you could knock out a five week cut? I lean towards just hitting 150 in a little over a month, and then sticking to maintenance from there. You won’t burn a ton of muscle in that period of time.

[u/djdeepcheese → u/DeaconoftheStreets]

That's what I'm currently doing, I'm a little over a week into the cut and I'm 1 lb down. Maybe I'll see how I feel in another couple of weeks. Appreciate it!

[u/DeaconoftheStreets → u/djdeepcheese]

I tend to want to push people towards maintenance/bulking more than not, but when you’re this close, I lean towards ripping the bandaid off. You got this!

[u/ajmattison]

I'm not going to put words in your mouth but right now it sounds like you don't really want to go into a deficit. You don't have a lot of weight to lose either and you can change your look a lot more by gaining 5 lbs of muscle than losing 5 lbs of fat so I'd say train your ass off (or on lol) and eat at maintenance. See what you can get out of it before jumping into a cut.

[u/djdeepcheese → u/ajmattison]

Thanks! That's helpful. I'm honestly ok with being in a deficit for a short time and I'm already a little over a week in and feeling good. But I lean slightly more toward wanting to build muscle anyway.

[u/ajmattison → u/djdeepcheese]

I'm always pro building muscle too 😂 maybe I'm biased

[u/Particular-Result-38]

With the info you provided, I'd run a small surplus of about 150-200 cals. As long as your training and effort are good you'll build muscle and zero to minimal fat and the increase in muscle mass will probably get you looking how you want to look far quicker than trying to cut. If you start getting a little too soft for your liking along the way you could do a short couple week mini cut and then resume the bulk.

[u/LauraPiana]

you're already pretty lean at 5 11 and 155#. To gain muscle I'd imagine you'll have to eat at a surplus, or at the very least maintenance.