u/Honest-Growth7412

I need advice or help as I’m becoming frustrated with my progress. I’m on a weight loss journey but have been stuck around 170lbs for three months. I’m 5’5 (29 and work remotely) so my exercise mainly comes from the gym and taking my dogs on walks. Today marks 6 weeks since I’ve gotten back into heavy lifting and so far I’ve lost only 1lb 😭. I’m tracking my calories on average at 1400-1700kcal eaten a day and averaging 1900-2300 burned a day. With that I’d hoped to be down at least 4-7lbs by now. When I look in the mirror I’m visibly more toned, it’s quite noticeable in my quads already and core. While I haven’t taken my measurements I look smaller HOWEVER I tried on a pair of pants yesterday that felt quite tight on my thighs and hips. Mind you I’ve worn these pants 4-5months ago when I was 6-8lbs heavier and they were not tight then. What’s even more frustrating is two days ago I finally hit 169.5 but yesterday morning the scale said (174.2 like WTF). I don’t usually weigh myself everyday but my cycle ended so I actually thought it would have gone down not up. A friend of mine mentioned I may be unintentionally in a body recomp phase but I need to be in a cut. My goal is to be between 140-150 and toned. What should I be doing differently?

Of note: I have PCOS and gain strength easily. I was lifting 4-5x a week the first month but have just switched it to 3x a week with an optional active rest/ cardio day the past two weeks.

Hi all! I need some super realistic advice or success stories to get out of my own way after returning to the gym. For context, I’m competitive by nature but even more so when comparing myself to past accomplishments. I started weightlifting in middle school (7-8th grade), as one of only 3 girls in the whole class I felt I had to be the stronger because I was the biggest (5’5 163-183 during that time). I could bench 105 and leg press 300+lbs. Fast forward to college I gained a lot of weight and then lost it by my junior year (226lbs back to 175ish, age 19-21) my 1rm stats were bench 90lbs, deadlift 205, squat 185 and I could leg press 230 4sets of 8. Now I’m 29 have PCOS-insulin resistant (5’5 169lbs) and feel weak AF. I ran a half marathon last year but now I can’t even run a mile under 11:30 let alone multiple. My bench press is a struggle at 40lbs, deadlifting 65lbs felt like hell, and my back squat was the most surprising at 85lbs without obstructing my form. I know it will take time but at this point I’m seriously wondering if I’m too old to hit these levels again or it’s just going to take years for something that really only took me 8months to achieve 7-8years ago. Has anyone gone through something similar or any advice to help set realistic expectations? The running I’m less worried about because I ran 6-10 miles 4-5x a week in college but that took me 2 years to achieve.

For reference my long term goals are:

Bench: 135lbs

Deadlift: 235lbs

Squat: 265lbs

Sub 9 minute mile

Hold 3 minute plank

😅- should I go back to the drawing board???