Looking for weight gain tips

bettieb1988

So I admit that this is fairly premature as I still have 25lbs of fat to lose, but Im trying to be as knowledgeable and prepared as possible when I switch my goal to adding muscle as I know absolutely nothing about doing so haha. At my current pace I will be at my goal weight in 12 weeks so really its not too far off. IIM confident in my weightloss success as IM just losing extra weight from having a baby and have done this once before after the first one

I'm interested to know what my calorie intake should look like? Also what types of foods should I be eating? Macros? Any tips, suggestions, anything really would be helpful!

markjacobs1987

Any type of foods are fine really. As for macros I would go with a higher carb intake. For calorie intake just start slowly adding calories until you hit .5-1lb gain a week. I'd add no more than 100-200 additional calories every 3 weeks until you find that sweet spot where you gain 0.5-1lb a week.

AliceDark

Are you lifting now? The best thing to do is to start lifting while you're losing weight, so you don't have to gain afterward. Not everyone needs to do bulk/cut cycles. It's much easier to keep the muscle you have now than it is to lose it now and then try to build it again.

bettieb1988

AliceDark wrote: »

Are you lifting now? The best thing to do is to start lifting while you're losing weight, so you don't have to gain afterward. Not everyone needs to do bulk/cut cycles. It's much easier to keep the muscle you have now than it is to lose it now and then try to build it again.

I am lifting 2-3 times a week depending on how sore I am. But even there IM not really sure what I am doing lol. When I went last time I bench pressed 6 sets of 75 lbs 10 reps each. Then I did similar sets for my back and shoulders. I really have no idea where to start Im a complete beginner.

ndj1979

bettieb1988 wrote: »

AliceDark wrote: »

Are you lifting now? The best thing to do is to start lifting while you're losing weight, so you don't have to gain afterward. Not everyone needs to do bulk/cut cycles. It's much easier to keep the muscle you have now than it is to lose it now and then try to build it again.

I am lifting 2-3 times a week depending on how sore I am. But even there IM not really sure what I am doing lol. When I went last time I bench pressed 6 sets of 75 lbs 10 reps each. Then I did similar sets for my back and shoulders. I really have no idea where to start Im a complete beginner.

you need to get on structured program that is tailored to beginners. I would suggest strong lift 5x5 ..you can start it now so that you retain some muscle and continue losing fat..

AliceDark

Find a good beginner program, like Stronglifts or Starting Strength, and start running that now. It shouldn't be a given that you need to bulk after losing -- the idea should be to keep as much of your muscle as you can while you're losing. If you're worried about losing muscle now, you need to lift, eat protein and maybe switch to a slower rate of loss (0.5-1 pound per week).

FWIW, when women bulk, we aim to gain 0.25-0.5 pounds per week. We build muscle more slowly than men do, so we shouldn't be trying to gain 1 pound per week. That'll be mostly fat.

bettieb1988

Thank you both! I will check out those programs and see what they're about. Currently I am just trying to maintain as much muscle as possible! Last time I lost weight I noticed that by the time I reached my goal weight my legs were very muscular and firm but my arms were pretty tiny. So Im hoping that I can maintain some upper body strength this time around.