Lost during the process, need help figuring out how to optimize a routine to work with my body type. (F,30)

Need helping optimizing my process. I lost some weight a few years back and am beginning the process again. I remember feeling constantly defeated and entering disordered behavior around food and exercise and I’m trying to avoid that and focus on building habits/get into healthy shape. Okay- here is my issue/sticking point

It is so hard to see progress bc of my body type and even at my lowest weight a few years back I never have felt “thin”.

Approx 5 years ago I began intermittent fasting and lost roughly 20 lbs over a summer+ Went from about 170 to about 150 The lowest month being in the 140’s but I felt discouraged bc despite my efforts/consistency. I’ve never had smaller than a 30” waist measurement and even at my lowest weight on my most debloated day, I’ve felt disproportionate and not thinner.

lowest weight pic for reference

My legs QUICKLY lose fat and then slowly my upper body sheds weight but I’ve never not dealt with what feels like excessive back fat/bra bulge (yes I’m wearing appropriate bra sizes). I genetically do not have hip or glute fat whatsoever especially when I lose weight and I’m left feeling lost on how to go into this process now 5 years later to help prevent/fix this if even possible. All in all I have the following questions for anyone who can help me to understand what process may work best for someone like me. (My current weight is <175 GW is tbd, height 5’8, 30 y/o. Currently about a month into doing OMAD IF M-F and staying under 1200 cals)

2023 highest weight pics for reference

Do I continue to lose weight until my body fat is much lower and see if the problem fixes itself? Should I set a lower goal weight than 145? Should I stop cutting weight at some point and just build lower body muscle? How can I stay under 1200 calories and hit protein goals for muscle gain? Is it productive to strength train when at a larger cal deficit? Or should I cycle? Is there a way to shrink/tighten the width of my midsection at all? Is there a way to grow lower body muscle without gaining significant weight?

When I was in the gym with the goal of building glutes/legs earlier this year, I ended up putting on about 15-20 pounds of overall weight (no way of knowing fat vs muscle weight here). My focus at the time was to hit protein goals which led to an increased calorie count. I was consistent at the gym for about 5-6 months. While I was making progress in lifting weight I was not noticing my body changing in the way I expected. i was gaining fat FAST all in my upper body from the calorie/protein increase and I had only very very slight improvement in my muscle definition in my lower body VERY slight. So I switched over to lighter cardio workouts/yoga etc. and have been losing the extra pounds since then.

I’m extremely frustrated and am lost on how to go about mixing working out and diet to try and get to a place where I feel confident in my body. I know you can’t fight genetics and I don’t want to! I want to learn to work WITH them but it feels like much of the advice/many of the success stories are from folks with naturally “curvier/feminine” body types or from folks who are actively building upper body (more traditionally masculine shapes). My goal is to just to feel more proportionate + more strong overall, and to avoid extreme diets/extreme cardio (I mean extreme). I’m hoping to find some general knowledge/advice just to help figure out what kind of plan works for someone with my body type/experience. Are my goals/questions realistic?

submitted by /u/atangerinequeen
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/18gi57d/lost_during_the_process_need_help_figuring_out/