Need to hear from someone that this is OK

So I admittedly had some disordered eating tendencies when I joined CC, but this site has really helped me realize that I don't need to lose weight (just fix my skinny fatness through exercise), and you guys have all done a great job hammering those healthy eating habits in. I'm still working on it, and I'm not perfect yet, but I'm trying.

I had been keeping a deficit of 150 or 200 daily and working towards no deficit. When I came on here, my deficits were closer to 500. I just started the New Rules of Lifting for Women and they suggest that I eat about 1850 on non-workout days, 2050 on workout days if I'm not trying to lose weight. But when I log my calories burned through exercise, it says I burn 1590 on non-workout days and 1750 on workout days. I just don't know if I can bring myself to go OVER my calories burned just yet, when I hadn't even worked towards no deficit yet.

What do you guys think?

if you're trying to tone up and build muscle, you should be eating a little more than you burn. if you eat less than you burn, how can you gain muscle?

i understand how scary it is to trust your body over your mind sometimes, but trust me.. it'll be worth it in the end.

I agree with the above poster--building muscle actually burns more calories than cardio and you don't want to lose weight, but gain toned muscle, right?  My suggestion is to eat foods that have higher protein content, such as chicken, tuna, salmon, cottage cheese, etc, which will help you in the long run.  Personally, I don't think eating only 1850 calories on a non-workout day is enough.  I think you would burn through that rather quickly. 

Original Post by tahitisweetie123:

I agree with the above poster--building muscle actually burns more calories than cardio and you don't want to lose weight, but gain toned muscle, right?  My suggestion is to eat foods that have higher protein content, such as chicken, tuna, salmon, cottage cheese, etc, which will help you in the long run. 

Yeah, I'm still convincing myself that I don't need to lose weight. I'm almost there, but it's hard. I've increased my protein intake to about 1g/lb, which is a midpoint between what was recommended by New Rules and what I've heard everywhere else as being healthy.

Sounds like you're on the right track ... If you're as focused on eating a balanced diet, with lots of fruits and veggies, along with the protein important for building muscle and dairy products to keep your bones strong...you'll be golden.

I've long been a cardio person who hasn't done much weight lifting...so my legs are quite strong, but the rest of me is mush. So I've started lifting weights to tone up all over and get my metabolism/muscles burning hotter. It seems to make me more tired than just the cardio stuff...so in the early stages it already feels like it's working. :-)