Muscle building/Calorie advice!?

thesophierose

Hello!

I am 18. I have reached my goal weight of 112lbs, well I am not 111lbs. Now I want to focus more on toning and building muscle. I am mostly muscle as it is, and my BMI is 20.0 so I am in a healthy range. I started off being close to 200lbs so I am pretty pumped to be at this point now!

Though, my journey has been bumping. I told myself I had to basically starve and kill myself working off every calorie I ate... I did that and basically... that was not pretty and no I am not proud of that. I started to eat more, mind you at this point I can tell you it still was not enough especially with weight decrease. I ate around a steady 1000-1100 and did bootcamps 2 days a week and that leaves me where I am today.

I go to curves 5 days a week and I plan on getting a legit gym membership pretty quick here. These past two weeks I have eaten between 1300-1800 which is a big step for me... but I think I need to do a steady number and increase my calories weekly. I want to tone so badly.

The point to this is, I was wondering if any of you had tips? I know to build you have to eat. But at the moment, I don't know if curves does much so I don't want to go all out an raise my calories to a high level. MFP has me set at 1720, and I have been trying to get to that with what I have. Mind you, after dieting... eating causes you to be mega stuffed haha. Anyways.

So I would love any advice and to hear personal stories? like how you got to where you are and how much you eat to build or maintain?

My Stats:

age: 18
height: 5'4
weight: 111lbs
BMI: 20
BMR: 1200. Well, the calculators on here say 1355 but last time I checked by scale it was 1247 and I weighed 119 at that point.

Got_Discipline

Take supplements! Go to GNC and tell them what you want to do they will give you tons of advice and probably load you down with a couple hundred dollars worth of Stuff.

Point you obviously know that in order to put mass on you must take in more calories than your body burns and you can get there by eating anything. However that is not recommended. Stay away from fried foods.......... You need an excess of protein. Drink multiple Protein shakes a day. You may also wnat to buy a carbohydrate supplement. Eat lots of Meat Chicken and fish all are packed with protein. You also need to make sure that you are eating enough veggies.

Do some research on bodybuilding.com they have tons of great information.

psuLemon

Do you actually want to build more muscle or just get stronger? Because toning (or cutting body fat) means more weight loss because it's not really to add mass and cut fat. You can get stronger and cut body fat with a moderate deficit (1/2 lb per week) but since you are at low end of the acceptable weight for your height, it means you also have very little muscle mass. Usually this will hinder the ability to get a good amount of definition and a true bulk phase (followed by a cut) will enable this.

thesophierose

I eat like a crap load of protein, plus I use protein powder.

I always go over according to this site but I am usually under the 1720 mark. But I will check out GNC again and talk to them about muscle building.

And I know that I am at a low end, it's because at the beginning I went about weight loss all wrong and I have to put up with that now. But I do want to get stronger, and I don't really have fat to lose anymore and with that being said I don't know how to go about gaining the muscle I wish to have. Or how much I should eat and if I should eat more than 1720.

Like, I don't want to be an actual body builder or anything but I just want that feminine muscular strength look?

waldo56

Raise your cals slowly in 100 or so cal bumps every couple weeks until you are gaining fairly regularly, but at a slow pace (0.5lb/wk is a good pace). Finding your sweet spot intake for gaining takes a bit of trial and error.

Protein is more important when cutting than when bulking. Sure elevated protein is important, but not to the degree it is when cutting. Dietary protein is more anti-catabolic (prevents muscle loss) than anabolic (promotes muscle growth).

cwolfman13

To put on a bit of muscle you're going to have to eat at a surplus of maintenance calories. That's not going to make you look like a body builder either...use a calculator like this:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

and determine your TDEE as per your total activity (including working out) and eat. Should be around 250 calories over maintenance.

Otherwise, just eat to maintenance and lift...get going with a good program...for aesthetics, go with reps in the 8-12 range. Your program should be progressive in nature. Eating to maintenance and lifting will very slowly build some muscle while very slowly cutting body fat. It is generally more efficient to do a bulk and cut as noted above. And again...don't be fooled by the word bulk...you're not actually going to bulk...you're going to increase your LBM a little.

psuLemon

It would take years and probably steroids to get the body of a body builder. Gaining 10-20 lbs of muscle through a few bulk and cut cycles will help give you a lean look. Keep in my that muscle is lean. Also keep in mind you can slow bulk to 10 lbs, follow it by a cut to eliminate gained fat (~50% usually) and reevaluate how you look. This does mean weight gain but the benefits are worth it. Google staci and nerdfitness and you will see what I mean. She has photos after 10 lbs of muscle growth and 20 lbs. She is your height too but now weighs 140. She also eats 3000 or 4000 calories a day and power lifts.. tell me if you think she is bulky.

psuLemon

Btw, you dont need to go to gnc and buy anything.. you can gain mass with just eating real food.

sexymuffintop

Don't worry you won't get the female body builder look by accident. As a female if you want to build muscle noticeably you have to be prepared to work hard and get your diet on point. You won't pile on muscle by any means, you don't have the testosterone to make that happen.

I'm not sure Curves would be the ideal place to begin a weight training programme, I may be wrong but I thought Curves was more suited to the traditional idea of women wanting to 'tone up'. You might need to look elsewhere if you are serious about lifting. But....I fully admit I have never been in a Curves gym. I am just going off what I have been told about them....

thesophierose

Oh i want to get into an actual gym, curves was just on hand at the time. Plus the body weigt things i do at home. It says my tdee us like1600 so would eating what mfp told me be an okay place to start?

I am dedicated to building muscle i just want to go about it the right way rather than what i did at first to lose the initial weight.

kill3rtofu

Try and find a serious workout program if you are really want to gain muscle the right way. Ask a friend who you trust if they can help you out, or even ask someone on here if they will write you one.

As for supplements, you can gain and build muscle naturally without supplements (easy on the wallet), but it's up to you. Eating right will do the job just as well.

thesophierose

Thank you for the tip! I will ask.

psuLemon

You can start with 1600 but it seems a bit low. If you dont see weight gain within 3 or 4 weeks then you will need to up calories. Also, there are a few programs to look into... stronglift 5x5 or beginner lift 5x5 are good. Nerdfitness.com or bodybuilding all have too beginner workout programs too.

thesophierose

You can start with 1600 but it seems a bit low. If you dont see weight gain within 3 or 4 weeks then you will need to up calories. Also, there are a few programs to look into... stronglift 5x5 or beginner lift 5x5 are good. Nerdfitness.com or bodybuilding all have too beginner workout programs too.

That's what I was thinking because a 'nutritionist' whom I didn't care for said for me being 18 almost 19, I need at least 1800-1900. So that my metabolism can revive itself and so I can build up from that.

Angelikajohnston

NIICCEE!!! Good job!!
Healthy living is really important for everybody. It's also important to watch what eat. Good food can help us to live healthier.

thesophierose

NIICCEE!!! Good job!!
Healthy living is really important for everybody. It's also important to watch what eat. Good food can help us to live healthier.

My whole diet consists of:


Lean Proteins: (cottage cheese, egg whites, Greek yogurt, chicken breast/turkey, Bison, fish, protein powder, etc...)
Good carbs: (Brown rice, Quinoa, Oats, Veggies and fruit etc...)
Fats: (Olive oil, Almond butter, almonds, avocados, etc...)

I try to eat as clean as possible. Have been trying since day one really. It's just eating enough that I have an issue with and eating back what I burn haha.

psuLemon

You can start with 1600 but it seems a bit low. If you dont see weight gain within 3 or 4 weeks then you will need to up calories. Also, there are a few programs to look into... stronglift 5x5 or beginner lift 5x5 are good. Nerdfitness.com or bodybuilding all have too beginner workout programs too.

That's what I was thinking because a 'nutritionist' whom I didn't care for said for me being 18 almost 19, I need at least 1800-1900. So that my metabolism can revive itself and so I can build up from that.

its quite possible that you suppressed your metabolism. This is why I suggest slowly increasing calories. Also, this gives you time to get used to a good lifting routine.

h9dlb

no need for wasting money on supplements just eat clean, above maintenance and lift heavy

This woman should inspire you

http://www.stinaschoice.com/