So I was just hired for a new job and it took about 3 weeks to get all the background check, finger printing done etc and I start tomorrow. In those 3 weeks I was hitting the gym every day, no rest days with 25 min of cardio afterwards. My calorie intake was around 1800-2100 without adjustment for working out.

Last week I was eating at the top end of that. This week I ate under that. Prob 16-1800 and I’ve been slowly gaining weight?

Just a general question, are rest days important for weight loss? Not that it’s a super big deal as I’m hovering around 14% bf and I look fine, but I’d like to get out of the teens(I never was before). I’ve been measuring everything I eat that isn’t prepackaged(I have 4 Oz pre packaged fresh chicken breast, only thing I haven’t been measuring). Thant and I haven’t been measuring the spinach that I put in my wraps. Or the cinnamon/spices I use(they say zero cal on the bottle but I know that’s actually not the case but also, I’m not eating CUPS of it). But everything else I measure and track 100% accurately. Is it possible not taking recovery days is putting stress on my body which is slowing down the weight loss? I’m taking today off to see but I legit eat the same thing every day so at worst I’d say I’m eating 100 cals more than I track(at the VERY worst) and I’m able to progressive overload each gym day, one set being heavier than the previous session(if not more sets) each time. I rotate Upper and Lower body.

Last week I lost weight eating closer to 2000 and I lowered to 16-1800 this week and it’s gone up?

Just curious for opinions. I can cut more food but I really don’t think I need to. With the job I won’t have time to run, everyday so it’ll just be weights.

Tldr ate 2k+ calories last week, averaged my weight daily. This week are 1600-1800 cals, averaged my weight for the week and it went up. Workout and diet stayed the same, lifts went up but I removed like 200 cal from what I was eating. Curious as to why this is. I feel like I’m no world should I have to even be at 1600+ workouts to lose weight but here we are.

If you're gaining weight at a certain calories it could be a couple of things:

1) You're tracking incorrectly.
2) Your daily activity has gone down.
3) You're metabolically fked.

And that’s what I thought, but I’m PRETTY accurate on 1, I use a food scale

2, has been consistent since I’ve been unemployed and doing the same thing daily(but increasing weight/sets).

I’m wondering about 3. I have been dieting consistently for 4 months and have only had 1 “refeed” day

Take 2 weeks at maintenance and then go back on the cut.

I’m sorta trying that out today. When I was last at maintenance it was around 2100. My hope is the cardio I was doing every day hasn’t lowered that. But who knows. I think this will be my route. Repped

Cardio doesn't lower your metabolism
Being in too much of a deficit will

2100 at maintenance sounds pretty low
how tall are you and how much you weigh?

Put your stats in a TDEE calculator

Sounds like water weight

Really more of a diet question than a lifting/workout question

Your current weight and height? And age.

5’9 145 33yo

I pulled the number from a calculator

Fwiw, I was noticing steady loss over the last few weeks, these last 2 not so much.

Get back on maintenance for two weeks as said before

And if you're trying to track the calories loss from your activity (Weightlifting, cardio), then stop that
Dont worry about the scale as much as how well you perform and physically look.

EDIT:
Also, keep in mind you may need to bulk up for a bit. But thats a whole nother topic

Could be water weight (starchy foods have that effect)

More than likely you’re fuking your metabolism up. You’re doing a lot and already extremely low calorie. Probably time to increase calories for a while, cool it on the cardio. Time to reverse diet.

How has your general energy been? Libido? Sleep?

Sleep poor. Mainly cause I only get 5hr a night.

Everything else and considered, I feel great

Rest days are important. Get better sleep.

Rest days help you be more physically and mentally capable when you workout. It also allows for you muscles to properly recover and grow. Sure you can hit the gym 7 days a week, but good luck with your burnout goals of 2022. If you are really self conscience about taking a day off then eat less that day to make up for the lack of exercise, but don't starve yourself.

Sleep is the biggest killer in this caffeinated and stressed out world. Its difficult for most people, but if you truly want to reach your goals you need proper sleep. 8 hours is key.