How's my day look? What should I add?

anachronicles

If you guys wouldn't mind taking a look at my diary and letting me know if this qualifies as a healthy day.

I tried to keep my carbs concentrated to the beginning of the day, and I'm trying out a new system where you separate carbs and fats during meal times (has anyone else tried this? What have you found)

About me: I'm 19, 5'1, 96 lbs and trying to put on a little muscle. My macros are 35, 35, 30 (p/c/f), does that seem adequate? I workout 4x/week

Lastly, I have a few calories leftover, what should I fill them with?

peachyfuzzle

Looking at the last week of your diary, it appears as if you're trying to maintain weight currently? Forgive me if I'm wrong on that.

If you're looking to put on muscle, you'll have to eat at a surplus directly opposite as if you were trying to lose weight (around 20% over your maintaining caloric intake) along with setting up a weight-lifting (even if it is just bodyweight) regimen. The issue with bodyweight exercises is that there is no "progressive overload," and after a certain point any muscle gains you make will plateau.

This caloric overage will cause you to gain both fat, and muscle, which is why the weightlifting is crucial as it will force your body to gain as much muscle as possible during the time you're "bulking." After a period of bulking, you'll begin a "cut," in which case you'll lose both fat, and muscle again, but the weightlifting will force your body to keep as much muscle as possible while burning excess fat.

Usually, this is all adhered to by body fat percentage. People generally begin to bulk at around 15% body fat, and then start cutting again at around 20% back down to 15%, and so begins the cycle until you're happy with yourself.

You'll never be able to gain muscle while cutting, or maintaining as you're not ingesting enough calories to create those tissues in your body. Unfortunately, fat, and muscle go hand-in-hand. Your body does not care so much as to what it burns when you're at a deficit, or maintenance. This is why at least some sort of weight-training a few days per week is most beneficial while cutting/maintaining because while you're not going to build muscle during these times, you're trying not to lost the muscle you already have.

This is a very basic outline, so if you're looking to get further into it, I highly suggest doing more research on how to build lean muscle properly.

NK1112

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

.......
If you're looking to put on muscle, you'll have to eat at a surplus directly opposite as if you were trying to lose weight (around 20% over your maintaining caloric intake) along with setting up a weight-lifting (even if it is just bodyweight) regimen. The issue with bodyweight exercises is that there is no "progressive overload," and after a certain point any muscle gains you make will plateau.

This caloric overage will cause you to gain both fat, and muscle, which is why the weightlifting is crucial as it will force your body to gain as much muscle as possible during the time you're "bulking." After a period of bulking, you'll begin a "cut," in which case you'll lose both fat, and muscle again, but the weightlifting will force your body to keep as much muscle as possible while burning excess fat.

Usually, this is all adhered to by body fat percentage. People generally begin to bulk at around 15% body fat, and then start cutting again at around 20% back down to 15%, and so begins the cycle until you're happy with yourself.

You'll never be able to gain muscle while cutting, or maintaining as you're not ingesting enough calories to create those tissues in your body. Unfortunately, fat, and muscle go hand-in-hand. Your body does not care so much as to what it burns when you're at a deficit, or maintenance. This is why at least some sort of weight-training a few days per week is most beneficial while cutting/maintaining because while you're not going to build muscle during these times, you're trying not to lost the muscle you already have.

This is a very basic outline, so if you're looking to get further into it, I highly suggest doing more research on how to build lean muscle properly.

This is the best description in easy to read and understand format I've seen that also answers my own question of how much to eat to lose weight but not slow down my metabolism. Thanks.

anachronicles

The 1800 calorie goal that I currently have set is a bulking amount for me (according to a bunch of the online calculators) It's about 15-20% above my maintenance calories (apparently).

Do you think the type of food I'm eating and the ratios are adequate for my goals?

peachyfuzzle

Ah, ok. Well, that's good then. It looks like you're hitting your macros which is most important, so that's excellent. You could really fill your remaining calories up with just about anything that isn't wildly out of whack considering you're bulking. I've always been one to opt for a protein overage when it comes to macros, but that's me.

The rest of it would all come down to what types of workouts you're doing, and how much muscle you're looking to gain asking with how experienced you are with weights. Remember that women generally gain muscle mass more slowly than men do, so don't expect to gain more than about 1lb of muscle per month. I hear good things from women about the 5x5 programs, i.e. Ice Cream, Stronglifts, etc. That might be something you'd want to look into further.

SnuggleSmacks

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

Usually, this is all adhered to by body fat percentage. People generally begin to bulk at around 15% body fat, and then start cutting again at around 20% back down to 15%, and so begins the cycle until you're happy with yourself.

Obviously, those percentages are for men. What would be the general guidelines for women in bodyfat percentages to bulk/cut?

SnuggleSmacks

anachronicles wrote: »

The 1800 calorie goal that I currently have set is a bulking amount for me (according to a bunch of the online calculators) It's about 15-20% above my maintenance calories (apparently).

Do you think the type of food I'm eating and the ratios are adequate for my goals?

Are you sure? I maintain at around 1950 calories, and I'm fairly sedentary, short (5' 3 1/2") and not very overweight at 148 lbs.

nuvimi

SnuggleSmacks wrote: »

anachronicles wrote: »

The 1800 calorie goal that I currently have set is a bulking amount for me (according to a bunch of the online calculators) It's about 15-20% above my maintenance calories (apparently).

Do you think the type of food I'm eating and the ratios are adequate for my goals?

Are you sure? I maintain at around 1950 calories, and I'm fairly sedentary, short (5' 3 1/2") and not very overweight at 148 lbs.

She's 5'1 and 96 pounds, there's a world of difference between you and her...