I tried to read the coaching threads but didn't really find much useful info.

Hi y’all, to give a bit of context. I started with with a coach for bodybuilding in feb 2022. I wanted to compete in wellness but I am on the smaller side so I went through a 9 month build phase with the coach I hired. I thought I made great progress until we went through a mini fat loss phase where I spent 10 weeks in a “deficit” without losing a single pound. My coach kept telling me that my body was recomping but my gut feeling was that nothing was happening. Because my concerns weren’t being listened to I decided to find another coach.

Turns out my 20lb gain was very little muscle and a lot of fat (I went from 21% BF to about 32%). So I heard a new coach in December 2022 and we immediately got to working on loosing the extra body fat. I’ve been in and out of 8 week fat loss phases since.

My intentions with finding a coach were because I hoped to compete one day, and with my physique goals in mind thought that bikini might be the right path for me. But I’m having second thoughts on if I really want to compete or if I want to just have a physique goal in mind for myself and not worry about the stage (I’m 28 and have never competed before so I feel like I’m getting old!)

That being said, my coach I’m currently with is very much geared toward competitive bodybuilding clientele and I’m just not sure I want a coach like that since I’m 50/50 on what I want to do. In my current fat loss phase I’m eating less than 1200 calories (which I don’t think is ideal at all for someone not in a competition prep!) and I also have not had free meals since starting with my coach, cause their mentality is that free meals are only for people who are in build phases (I know I’ve been in fat loss phases but I’ve also been at maintenance for weeks in between and still no flexibility) and I feel like I just need to find someone who has a bit more balance.

Can anyone recommend a coach that caters to both lifestyle and competition prep?

Thanks in advance