Recomposition advice - What do I do from here? (F | 28 | 5’2" | 177 > 120 lbs)

Hi everyone,

I began trying to lose weight about a year and a half ago. For context, I’m 28 years old, 5’2”, and my starting weight was 177 lbs. Over about a year, I lost 57 lbs through a calorie deficit and walking 3-4x per week (I eventually switched to running). About six months ago, I added resistance training 2x a week.

My original goal was 115 lbs, but I hit a plateau around 120 and decided to take a break from being in a deficit. I’ve been maintaining 120 lbs for the past few months, eating roughly 1,700-1,800 calories/day and I average about 100-120g of protein/day. I currently resistance train 2x a week and run ~3 miles 3x a week, with longer walks on my rest days.

Since starting resistance training, I’ve noticed some muscle growth, but I still don’t think that I look & feel “toned,” especially around my upper thighs and hips. That got me thinking about recomposition. To help get a better idea of where I'm at, I recently got a DEXA scan that showed I’m around 22% body fat.

Ideally, I think I’d like to get closer to 20%, which would mean losing around 2–3 lbs of fat. It doesn’t sound like much, but I really struggled to get below 120 before, so I’m wondering if a small cut would be productive now that I’ve been maintaining for a while. Maybe a slight deficit (around 1,500 calories/day) while keeping my current activity level?

I'm posting here to see if anyone has gone through something similar and has any advice. I’m just worried that a deficit will cause me to lose a little bit of muscle along with the fat, but maybe some slight muscle loss is inevitable? Or maybe 20% body fat is just too unrealistic/unsustainable?

I know these are super basic questions, but I feel like I’m still new to this and learning. I’d greatly appreciate any advice or experiences others can share!