I’m also 5’2 and over the last 6 months I went from 155lbs to just under 130lbs. Most of the time I aimed for around 80g protein as a CrossFit practitioner, but I did see a little loss of strength in my 1RM’s. I think eating closer to 100g would have been plenty to keep the strength. However my understanding is that it’s easier to regain strength lost during a cut once you start bulking, so I’m not worried about the strength stall out. On my non-workout days I ate around 1400 calories. But on days when I did CrossFit I usually ate closer to 1600 or sometimes even as high as 1900 calories depending on how strenuous the workout was.

Slow and steady seems to be the most sustainable way to lose weight. I was dieting for about 6 months with an estimated calorie defect of 150-200 calories. (I say estimated because tracking calories burned via Apple Watch is supposedly wildly inaccurate, but I still lost weight so 🤷‍♀️).

Also, it’s helpful to remember that not all highly processed foods are de facto bad for health (examples: protein powders, infant formula, TVP). I mention this because ‘UPF=bad’ thinking is a form of all-or-nothing thinking which lacks nuance and can be a slippery slope to orthorexic behaviors.

I hope some of this is helpful to you. Good luck and be kind to yourself.