Hey, Ginger...
it all depends on what your goals are. Do you want to lose fat or gain muscle?
If you want to lose fat, you cut your calories while maintaining your lift to prevent muscles from going bye-bye. You're just protecting your muscles in cutting (or fat loss) mode. Focus on cardio, every day, 30-minutes.
If you want to gain muscle mass...well, I don't know what it would be like for a woman, but I stack on another 5-lbs every two weeks. My diet is high protein during this stage, and I do light cardio 3x per week (recumbant bike, treadmill, etc.). Low-fat cottage cheese just before bedtime can protect your muscles during the fasting that happens while you're zonked out.
When you fast (even in sleep) your body will turn to the nutrient-rich muscles for energy. That's bad. It'll use those nutrients in your muscles before it uses the fat.
Six small meals per day are better than 3 large ones whether cutting or gaining, with your largest meal during lunch.
Also, if you overtrain a body part during your gaining mode, it's going to stop responding. Especially if it doesn't have the nutrients that it needs to grow. Give yourself a full day of rest per body part and then do a stretch test before you work them out again. If they're sore, don't work them out - skip to another muscle group. Some people have "chest days" or "leg days". "Arm days" and "core days". I like those, because you can work out six days per week (one rest day) without returning to a muscle group that's still recovering from the last workout.
Also, if you do the same exercise over and over and over, never changing, your body will get used to it and it'll learn to cheat. When that happens, you'll stop seeing results. Mix things up to confuse your body. For example, do your squats on a balancing board. Do your biceps curls with free weights instead of a barbell. Confuse your body and it won't get a chance to get used to things.
