CARBS!
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tristamdavis
Posts: 21 Member
hi everyone, I am attempting to build lean muscle. Unfortunately when I went to college, I gained the dreaded freshmen 15 in an instant and became super depressed due to my insecurity and body issues. I became obsessed with losing weight and am now 17 lbs underweight. I am 5'2.5" and 85lbs. Please do not post any negativity as I know that this is a problem and I am honestly try to fix it. I have seen a dr and all of that as well. I work out daily and do not intend on stopping anytime soon as my true goal is to build lean muscle. I do fitness classes mainly such as kettle bell, barre fusion, and functional fusion that all focus on building muscle. I always meet and often go over my fat and protein goals for the day but can never make my carb goal. I eat sweet potatoes, 100% whole wheat bread and crackers, brown rice &I plenty of fruits and veggies as well as fairy which contains lactose. I do not want to eat anything that isn't clean, which I consider to be containing any artificial sugars or refined carbs like white flour. Please help me gain weight!!! I'm tired of shopping in kids clothing stores and having a pancake profile (no curves). Thanks!
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Replies
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You're either going to have to eat more bread and rice or get over this clean nonsense and eat some ice cream and other stuff to get your weight back up.
Group fitness classes are largely cardio based and not muscle building focused.0 -
first - what is lean muscle? Can you explain to me how it is different than muscle?
Secondly, to gain weight and add muscle (not lean muscle, as I don't know what that is) do the following:
Set your caloric intake to .5 pound per week gain.
get on a structured lifting program like strong lifts, new rules of lifting for woman, starting strength etc.
make sure that you are hitting micros and macros
take starting measurements and then at least once a month take follow up measurements
set your macors to about 1 grams of protein per pound of lean mass .4 gram of fat per pound of body weight, and fill the rest in with carbs.
to get more carbs fuel up on things like oatmeal, bagels, pasta, rice, ice cream, etc.
repeat until you hit your goals.0 -
Agree with njd. A structured weight lifting program that is focused on compound lifts and is progressive in nature is ideal to for gaining new muscle (and since you are a women it wont be hulk like muscles).
Second, when trying to gain muscle you want to ensure you get rest as that is where your muscles grow. So if you workout every day might be ok, you dont want to blast the same groups daily. So if you feel the urge, maybe have a few light days.
Third, learn how to stop categorizing foods as good or bad, clean or unclean because when you are bulking, calories and especially carbs make the difference. From my understanding its ideal to replish glycogen fairly quickly post workout to allow for the majority of amino acids (found in protein) to rebuild muscle fibers. So getting foods that are high in dextrose (like gummu bears) can be ideal.
And last? Read the stickies at the top. They are very good.0 -
didn't read OP
I'm here for the carbs-1 -
It sounds like you've recognized possibly have anorexia nervosa, and you're going to just graduate to orthorexia.tristamdavis wrote: »I do not want to eat anything that isn't clean, which I consider to be containing any artificial sugars or refined carbs like white flour.
Do you have any reason to avoid these things as guidance from a medical professional?0 -
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OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.0
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OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.
if OP wants to bulk and gain muscle then her carb intake is going to need to be higher than protein and fats….assuming, that is what OP wants to do.0 -
I agree, but if she's going off the standard MFP recommendations (aren't they like 50c/30f/20p or something?), she may be able to readjust her macros to make them easier for her to hit. In any event, macros aren't going to matter if she can't hit her calories.OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.
if OP wants to bulk and gain muscle then her carb intake is going to need to be higher than protein and fats….assuming, that is what OP wants to do.
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I agree, but if she's going off the standard MFP recommendations (aren't they like 50c/30f/20p or something?), she may be able to readjust her macros to make them easier for her to hit. In any event, macros aren't going to matter if she can't hit her calories.OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.
if OP wants to bulk and gain muscle then her carb intake is going to need to be higher than protein and fats….assuming, that is what OP wants to do.
not sure what the standard setting is…it has been about three years since I had it ..LOL
I get what you are saying though.0 -
I agree, but if she's going off the standard MFP recommendations (aren't they like 50c/30f/20p or something?), she may be able to readjust her macros to make them easier for her to hit. In any event, macros aren't going to matter if she can't hit her calories.OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.
if OP wants to bulk and gain muscle then her carb intake is going to need to be higher than protein and fats….assuming, that is what OP wants to do.
not sure what the standard setting is…it has been about three years since I had it ..LOL
I get what you are saying though.
Interesting enough the mfp settings are based on USDA recommendations which might actually work. IIRC its 50% carbs, 30% fats and 20% protein.
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I agree, but if she's going off the standard MFP recommendations (aren't they like 50c/30f/20p or something?), she may be able to readjust her macros to make them easier for her to hit. In any event, macros aren't going to matter if she can't hit her calories.OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.
if OP wants to bulk and gain muscle then her carb intake is going to need to be higher than protein and fats….assuming, that is what OP wants to do.
not sure what the standard setting is…it has been about three years since I had it ..LOL
I get what you are saying though.
Interesting enough the mfp settings are based on FDA recommendations which might actually work. IIRC its 50% carbs, 30% fats and 20% protein.
I thought the FDA didn't have percentages - like they put protein at just a straight 50 grams across the board.0 -
I agree, but if she's going off the standard MFP recommendations (aren't they like 50c/30f/20p or something?), she may be able to readjust her macros to make them easier for her to hit. In any event, macros aren't going to matter if she can't hit her calories.OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.
if OP wants to bulk and gain muscle then her carb intake is going to need to be higher than protein and fats….assuming, that is what OP wants to do.
not sure what the standard setting is…it has been about three years since I had it ..LOL
I get what you are saying though.
Interesting enough the mfp settings are based on FDA recommendations which might actually work. IIRC its 50% carbs, 30% fats and 20% protein.
I thought the FDA didn't have percentages - like they put protein at just a straight 50 grams across the board.
I realized i did a typo. I believes its usda that does the rda standards.
Edit: looking at the mfp article it just references US rda standards
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ice cream and peanut butter0
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first - what is lean muscle? Can you explain to me how it is different than muscle?
Sheesh, you never heard of fatty muscle?!? /s
OP, please stop the clean eating non-sense. It is pure broscience. You need carbs to put on muscle. Carbs are muscle-sparing and keep your body from using muscle for calories. Carbs fuel better workouts. Carbs keep your mood in a happy place. Eat some carbs, dangit! The only thing that matters is calories in vs. calories out.0 -
first - what is lean muscle? Can you explain to me how it is different than muscle?
Sheesh, you never heard of fatty muscle?!? /s
OP, please stop the clean eating non-sense. It is pure broscience. You need carbs to put on muscle. Carbs are muscle-sparing and keep your body from using muscle for calories. Carbs fuel better workouts. Carbs keep your mood in a happy place. Eat some carbs, dangit! The only thing that matters is calories in vs. calories out.
This. Combined with being underweight, it seems like you may not have the healthiest relationship with food. Food isn't good or bad, it's just food. Foods with refined flour or sugar can be incorporated into a healthy overall diet by using moderation and getting the majority of your calories from nutrient dense food. Fill in with "junk" (however you choose to define that). Junk food isn't necessary, but if you're having problems hitting your macro and calorie goals, it might be worth adding some of them back into your diet.0 -
I agree, but if she's going off the standard MFP recommendations (aren't they like 50c/30f/20p or something?), she may be able to readjust her macros to make them easier for her to hit. In any event, macros aren't going to matter if she can't hit her calories.OP, what are your current calorie and macro targets? I'm wondering whether you really do need a ton more carbs, or if you can put some more into protein/fat so you're hitting your calorie target. If you're not hitting your calories, nothing else is going to matter. You won't gain weight if you don't hit your calories, so you need to do whatever you can do to hit that target, no matter what.
if OP wants to bulk and gain muscle then her carb intake is going to need to be higher than protein and fats….assuming, that is what OP wants to do.
not sure what the standard setting is…it has been about three years since I had it ..LOL
I get what you are saying though.
Interesting enough the mfp settings are based on FDA recommendations which might actually work. IIRC its 50% carbs, 30% fats and 20% protein.
I thought the FDA didn't have percentages - like they put protein at just a straight 50 grams across the board.
They base everything on a 2000 calorie diet though, right?. So do some division and you get the percentage they recommend. So they don't explicitly recommend percentages, but yeah...
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Regarding percentages, and sorry if this is off topic, but is there added value to setting macros as a percentage of calorie target? I have typically set protein and fat based on body weight, and let the rest fall to carbs to meet calorie target.0
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mantium999 wrote: »Regarding percentages, and sorry if this is off topic, but is there added value to setting macros as a percentage of calorie target? I have typically set protein and fat based on body weight, and let the rest fall to carbs to meet calorie target.
the advantage is that it's free, and you have to pay for MFP Premium to set goals in grams
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