Starting Again After a Long Pause. Any Advice Appreciated

Hi everyone! This is my first post here, so be patient :slight_smile:
I started lifting 10 years ago and loved it, did a couple of bulk/cut cycles and was very fit (visible muscles on back and shoulders, some abs definition).
I then had 2 babies within 3 years and after the second pregnancy stopped training all together, needless to say that I have some weight to lose at this point and since 4 weeks I am back in the gym.
I am 40 years old, weight 173lb and my goal is to lose 40lb, I am 5’6’'.
On the nutrition front I am carb cycling (worked fine a few years ago when cutting) and eat 1300kcal on rest days and 1600kcal on lifting Days (120g protein, 50-60g fat and the rest is carbs).
I go to the gym every second day and do 45min of lifting followed by 20min of HIIT, for the lifting I do a full body routine including sqauts or lunges, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, one vertical and one orizontal pull.
I take measurements and have been losing 1inch per week on all upper body measurements, a bit less on the lower body (that’s where i store most of my fat), the scale only showed a 3lb loss up to now, not really pleased there :frowning:
Do you think I should do something different? Is my nutrition plan way off?
Should I add more cardio? I am not a cardio lover and I actually like HIIT much better but I will do it if you think it is needed.

Hey there! I am certainly no expert, but I would say that if you’re consistently losing 1" on your measurements per week, that’s excellent. Scale weight doesn’t matter so much, and measurements are a better judge of body recomposition.

If anything, I might add a bit more calories from protein on your training days. Also, if you reach a plateau, I would break up your training days and do more specific body parts or upper/lower splits. Maybe not do HIIT every day you work out.

It sounds like you’re making progress, though, so great job! The stubborn fat areas are always the last to go, and may take some time and more specific training to really see drastic changes.