I really need some advice ):

[caesyC1572]

Okay so basically I started gym at the start of this year because I love strength, fitness exercise etc and I was also really depressed cause I had/have a really big gut, so I started weightlifting and gained some muscle and I was happy with that but as summer came around and I started wearing short tops, I noticed my big fat gut is still there and now I don’t know what to do. Because to lose fat you need to be a deficit and to gain muscle you need to be in a surplus but I don’t want to lose all my progress I’ve made with my muscle but I really want to lose my belly and love handles. I don’t know what to do because some articles say to cut calories and some others say to add more calories and I’m just so confused. please help, I’m a women btw

[smokinal]

Ok, first off, throw out any article that says to increase cals to lose weight. To lose weight/fat, you need to be in a deficit....period. No two ways around it.

It sounds like your biggest concern is your belly fat, yes? So I would attack that first. To do this, its as easy as just staying in a deficit, consistantly. Consistantly being the key word; no ups and downs, no yearly average, just figure your TDEE and eat under that in calories every single day.

It also sounds like you've made some muscular gains, which is great, and you're concerned about losing that. I am too. I work very hard to put on muscle between shows and then my biggest concern is chiseling away the fat but retaining the muscle. I believe the best way to do that is to keep your protein intake high and keep your weight training heavy and intense. Continue to train in the fasion that gave you those muscular gains in the first place, just drop your calories while doing that.

Most important=patience. Changes worth making take time. People do these cycles every day and it works.
Train hard, stay in a deficit, keep proteins high
It's not rocket nutrition
Believe in the system

[faithbrah]

you won't lose all your muscle gains just by being in a deficit

[xsquid99]

Good advice above ^^^^.

Lower calories until you're in a deficit (losing 1-2 lbs a week), keep protein intake high, keep lifting on a proven program. That's all you need to do to maintain muscle while reducing fat.

It takes time, but if you do it right the results will come.