Fears about weight lifting

redhead1910

Now that I am at a healthy weight it is time for me to start building muscle. I know it is almost impossible to gain muscle while eating on a calorie deficit. But for 2 years my life has rotated around eating 1300-1500 calories. I need someone to reassure me that eating 1800 calories and focusing on weights instead of cardio will not make me fat again!

I'm 5'5 and 135 lbs btw.

Please help me

I'm 5'1" and 130lb, and I lose weight on 1850 cals/day (albeit very slowly!) I'm currently training and eating for strength gains, i.e. trying to gain weight slowly.

You will probably find that you gain the first 5lb or so very quickly, because that will be your glycogen stores refilling (after eating at a deficit for a long time, they will most likely be quite depleted) - glycogen is stored with water so you gain a lot of scale weight with it BUT it's not fat. So don't freak out about it when it happens. It's a good thing, it should make your workouts move up a gear.

After that weight gain is actually a lot harder than you'd think. In 5 weeks of basically eating as much as I want while ensuring I'm getting plenty of protein, healthy fat, healthy carbs, vitamins, minerals and fibre, while training for strength gains, I've gained just 1lb. My body fat percentage is still the same (I monitor it with callipers, circumference measurements and visual estimates, and I also go by how my clothes fit). I'm also going to think about whether I should be gaining weight a bit faster than that, because if so I'll have to start tracking for calories to make sure I'm eating enough to actually gain more weight.

So really nothing to worry about, and I'd guess that you'll find you have to eat more than 1800 cals/day to gain weight. Maybe you'll maintain at that, or maybe you'll still be very slowly losing weight.

Hmm how long have you been doing that? I'm looking to lower my body fat percentage.

csuhar

What about eating back exercise calories?

Yes. You will need to do this. It's another mental shift away from the weight loss mindset because you no longer want to have tht defecit. You now will need to put the calories you burn back into your body just to maintain and then add a surplus to help build new tissue.

The simplest way (IMO) is to find your BMR for maintenance and use that as your baseline number for the day, then log what you burn and eat those calories "back". (Say your BMR is 1500 and then you log that you've burned 250 exercising, you'll need to at least eat 1750 clalories.) That way, if you have a period of time where you can't exercise, you're still in "maintenance" levels.

Another way is to use the activity multipliers available on some calculators. The main issue I have with that is that I can't always tell what qualifies as a particular activity level.

Warchortle

Just eat back maintenance so you know what that is first.. do that for 2-3 weeks then only increase your calories by 150-200 daily and see how it goes.


People think jumping calories up or down instantly has metabolic effect, but metabolism doesn't work that way.

redhead1910

I've been eating 1400-1500 calories and doing a ton of cardio without eating back calories and I've been at a plateau for like 5 months. So hopefully increasing my calories to 1700 and shifting focus to weights will have the desired effects.

agggie550

Too good links to read just as FYI for lifting...

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.html (this will give you a basic idea of numbers and what to work towards)

This is a really good article about building muscle...
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-much-muscle-can-you-gain/

aelunyu

The whole advantage of being overweight, then losing weight is that now you are entrusted with the power that few have. You know what it takes to lose weight, and since you have been compliant at a 1400-1500 level for years, you know what it feels like to eat that amount. Therefore, at any time, you can "decide" to lose weight and not have it be something you don't know how to achieve. That is truly something you've fought for, and like riding a bike, you don't lose the ability to drop fat after putting on muscle.

So I would recommend continuing to eat at 1500, then slowly tapering the weight up. Make sure you are getting enough protein, restrict your fats to a reasonable number, and eat enough carbs to progress steadily in your weight training.

Instead of just suddenly eating 1800 and lifting, increase calories upward slowly, maybe 50 a week.

neandermagnon

Now that I am at a healthy weight it is time for me to start building muscle. I know it is almost impossible to gain muscle while eating on a calorie deficit. But for 2 years my life has rotated around eating 1300-1500 calories. I need someone to reassure me that eating 1800 calories and focusing on weights instead of cardio will not make me fat again!

I'm 5'5 and 135 lbs btw.

Please help me

I'm 5'1" and 130lb, and I lose weight on 1850 cals/day (albeit very slowly!) I'm currently training and eating for strength gains, i.e. trying to gain weight slowly.

You will probably find that you gain the first 5lb or so very quickly, because that will be your glycogen stores refilling (after eating at a deficit for a long time, they will most likely be quite depleted) - glycogen is stored with water so you gain a lot of scale weight with it BUT it's not fat. So don't freak out about it when it happens. It's a good thing, it should make your workouts move up a gear.

After that weight gain is actually a lot harder than you'd think. In 5 weeks of basically eating as much as I want while ensuring I'm getting plenty of protein, healthy fat, healthy carbs, vitamins, minerals and fibre, while training for strength gains, I've gained just 1lb. My body fat percentage is still the same (I monitor it with callipers, circumference measurements and visual estimates, and I also go by how my clothes fit). I'm also going to think about whether I should be gaining weight a bit faster than that, because if so I'll have to start tracking for calories to make sure I'm eating enough to actually gain more weight.

So really nothing to worry about, and I'd guess that you'll find you have to eat more than 1800 cals/day to gain weight. Maybe you'll maintain at that, or maybe you'll still be very slowly losing weight.

Hmm how long have you been doing that? I'm looking to lower my body fat percentage.

you can't build muscle while eating at a deficit, (apart from in certain specific circumstances, e.g. beginner gains, muscle memory) - usually you gain muscle by eating a little more than you burn off while training hard, then if you want to lose fat, do a cut by eating a little less than you burn off while continuing to train so you don't lose the muscle you gained. i.e. do one then the other, in cycles. So really you need to decide where your focus is. If you want to gain muscle, you need to eat a little more than you burn off.

I've been trying to gain weight for 5 weeks and gained a whole 1lb (i.e. not a lot!!!). Personally I've stopped caring so much about body measurements, and caring a lot more about getting really strong. I'll do a cut if my body fat percentage goes above approx 25% (for health reasons because I tend to accumulate fat around my waist, which is the least healthy place for it) but I'm done with the whole mentality of judging anyone's worth by numbers (either scale weight or body fat percentage) - I aim to be strong, fit and healthy. This article is definitely worth a read!! http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/a-lion-in-iron-ladies-measurements-dont-matter/

waldo56

Just eat back maintenance so you know what that is first.. do that for 2-3 weeks then only increase your calories by 150-200 daily and see how it goes.

This point needs to be stressed.

First things first you have to figure out where you maintain. Its not as easy as it sounds. Most people who have only been losing/trying to lose have no idea of what calorie intake they will maintain at.

Raise calories slowly , 100-200 cals every other week or so, and keep track of how your weight changes. Once it starts rising slowly (not the quick jump at first) you'll know you went just past it and are in a small surplus. Knowing where you maintain is a very important number to figure out.

Chances are the intake you maintain at is a lot heigher than you think it is. 1800 cals is almost surely way too low.

And as pointed out, don't freak out about the quick weight gain from glycogen/water. Once you settle in you will be shocked at just how hard it is to gain weight.