How not to lose muscle?

Stats; 18, f, 5'3, 115lbs.

Im not all interested in losing weight, i would however like to slim down.
Basically im sedentary and i burn 1610 calories a day. I do 20minutes of circuit training every morning to burn 155 calories giving me a total daily burn of 1765 calories.

Im debating between:
walking 10,000 steps a day + my circuit training giving me a daily burn of 2089cals which would probably take me around 1hr 30 minutes on the treadmill.

OR

circuit training + 30mins of HIIT on the treadmill giving me a total burn of 1940cals

I ask because the last time i walked say 10,000steps i was on a deficit and lost muscle instead of fat. Which would be the best route to optimize my fat loss? and if i chose option one, if i ate at my maintence would i still lose muscle?

You don't want to lose weight, but you want to slim down? Oxymoron?

Lift weights and you will not lose muscle mass. Which may cause water retention, therefore you will indeed "slim down" w/o losing weight.   ::facepalm:: Temporarily, at least.

yeah i dont want to lose weight, i must of got mixed up when i read building muscle (not losing weight) helps you "tone" up looking leaner ::facepalm::

Original Post by rmckenzyy:

Stats; 18, f, 5'3, 115lbs.

Im not all interested in losing weight, i would however like to slim down.
Basically im sedentary and i burn 1610 calories a day. I do 20minutes of circuit training every morning to burn 155 calories giving me a total daily burn of 1765 calories.

Im debating between:
walking 10,000 steps a day + my circuit training giving me a daily burn of 2089cals which would probably take me around 1hr 30 minutes on the treadmill.

OR

circuit training + 30mins of HIIT on the treadmill giving me a total burn of 1940cals

I ask because the last time i walked say 10,000steps i was on a deficit and lost muscle instead of fat. Which would be the best route to optimize my fat loss? and if i chose option one, if i ate at my maintence would i still lose muscle?

 So, you don't want to lose weight but rather you want to lose fat and keep muscle, right? Strength training along with a protein rich diet [1gram per bw] will allow your body to burn a lot of fat and maintain muscle. It's impt to at least maintain you muscle bc muscle burns more cals than fat not to mention, imo, there is nothing more unsightly than a skinny -jiggly person.

If I were you, I would concentrate on strength training 3 times a week...then do HIIT 2x's a week. You will be amazed how your body will look! Just keep the nutrition on par for your goals!