Dieting Help

Question
I am 5' tall, 28 years old, and a female.  I have lost in total about 50 pounds in the past year and a half or 2 years.  I am now down to 106 pounds.  I enjoy mixing in weight lifting with my cardio.  Most of my exercise comes through workout videos, but I have ones that use free weights with the cardio.  I seem to be building a good amount of muscle.  According to my body fat scale, my percentage is somewhere around 14 to 19%.  I generally work out about an hour six days a week.

Here's my issue.  I can't seem to get out of dieting mode.  I have continued to lose weight (slowly) over the past few months.  Can you give me an idea of what I need to do to maintain instead of lose?  About how many calories should I be getting?  If I lift weights about twice a week and increase my calories will I be gaining muscle or will it still be fat?  Thanks.

Answer
Hi,

Your weight of 106 lbs is a good weight for 5 feet tall. But the best indicator is your body fat, which is very good and should not go below 15% for health reasons. Also you should find the ideal size you like looking like, and like how your clothes feel and like how active and mobile you feel.

Again for calories it depends what they are made up of. I would not go below 1200 as you are hitting the gym a few times a week. Your mix should be 60% protein, 30 % complex carbs for energy and 10% fat.

Do you have a personal trainer to do your body fat regularly?

Thanks.

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