Switching from cardio only to STRENGTH TRAINING. Do I modify my calorie intake and/or macros ratio ?

KrystinaMTL

Hi !
43 year old woman here
5'5
Starting weight: 225 on Jan 12th 2016
Actual weight: 198
Goal weight : 140

So I have been doing quite good with sticking to my 1200-1400 calorie intake and 5-6 x a week cardio sessions. Started with Cize, then moved to Turbo Fire. Loved both. Now I have finally decided to start building muscle by strength training. I plan to start the Burn Phase of Chalene Extreme on MOnday. Quite excited to get out of my comfort zone actually. That's where we grow right ?

Question is...
Read somewhere that I should up my Protein to 40% of my total intake, (with 40% carbs and 20% Fat)
Should up up my calorie intake too ?
Obviously my goal is to lose weight so...
You know...

I would love all your suggestions and input !

Thanks !

rainbowbow

KrystinaMTL wrote: »

Hi !
43 year old woman here
5'5
Starting weight: 225 on Jan 12th 2016
Actual weight: 198
Goal weight : 140

So I have been doing quite good with sticking to my 1200-1400 calorie intake and 5-6 x a week cardio sessions. Started with Cize, then moved to Turbo Fire. Loved both. Now I have finally decided to start building muscle by strength training. I plan to start the Burn Phase of Chalene Extreme on MOnday. Quite excited to get out of my comfort zone actually. That's where we grow right ?

Question is...
Read somewhere that I should up my Protein to 40% of my total intake, (with 40% carbs and 20% Fat)
Should up up my calorie intake too ?
Obviously my goal is to lose weight so...
You know...

I would love all your suggestions and input !

Thanks !

Read somewhere that I should up my Protein to 40% of my total intake, (with 40% carbs and 20% Fat)

No. This is totally unnecessary. You really only need between .8-1.2g of protein per pound of lean body mass. Considering your current size i'd say you really don't need more than 130g of protein per day.

Should up up my calorie intake too ?

No. You still have 50 pounds to lose.

If for some reason you just really feel like eating a ton more protein my general suggestion is to eat in a manner that you ENJOY and can be maintained long term. As long as you are hitting that minimum you should be fine.

You have your goal confused right now. You don't want to "build muscle". You already have muscle mass. You want to retain as much muscle as you can as you continue to lose body fat. You want to condition the muscle mass you already have.

Remember that as you lose weight the muscle mass you have will be more defined as it is currently covered by a layer of fat. Also remember that as we lose weight we lose a combination of water, muscle, and fat tissue. To look your best when you hit your goal weight you will want to retain as much muscle as you can by following these two things: 1.) Hitting your minimum protein goal and 2.) performing resistance training regularly.

best of luck to you and i hope i helped!

EvgeniZyntx

rainbow bow wrote: »

You don't want to "build muscle".

What?

KrystinaMTL

I have my MFP settings on 40%Protein 40%Carbs and 20% Fat right now and that gives me 120grams of Protein daily so... I guess it is right after all.

Why don't I want to build muscle ?

Thanks for your input

rainbowbow

EvgeniZyntx wrote: »

rainbow bow wrote: »

You don't want to "build muscle".

What?

Her goal is to lose weight. 50 lbs of it to be exact.

You need to pick one or the other. It requires a calorie surplus as it takes energy to build muscle mass.

Why don't you want to build muscle? Because she still has a lot of weight to lose and I imagine she doesn't want to put that off.

rainbowbow

KrystinaMTL wrote: »

I have my MFP settings on 40%Protein 40%Carbs and 20% Fat right now and that gives me 120grams of Protein daily so... I guess it is right after all.

Why don't I want to build muscle ?

Thanks for your input

Because you already have muscle. It's just covered in fat. You want to retain as much as possible while you lose weight. Re-read my post for further clarification.

Monkeyman41333

As a lifetime bodybuilder and fitness trainer some of the information you are being provided is not correct. A muscular body is much more efficient at burning calories. Why people think that you can't lose weight and still retain/gain muscle is beyond me and been disproven. It is a much slower process, but with proper training and eating habits it is possible. My advice is to research Bodybuilding.com and read articles there for advice regarding weight training. A 40-40-20 diet is a very good protocol and one which I follow both during off season and in preparation for contests. As you probably already know Carbs should be derived from things such as Rice, Potatoes, Oatmeal cruciferous vegetables and other complex carbs. Stay away from High Glycymic Index foods. Fruits are very high in these and will really through your insulin sensitivity for a loop.
Despite what so called experts say, I believe 1 gm of protein per lb at minimum is required if you ate working out strenuously with weights. However, you will certainly be nutritionally sound as long as you consume.at least .8 gm per lb of bodyweight. Saying a person already has muscle is a little vague, as everyone has a different level of muscle. As a women you will not develop muscle like a man as you do not have the Testesterone levels of a male. As you can see, this is a topic that is not going to be resolved on this blog. I really suggest you continue to read and research everything you can. Myfitness Pal is a fantastic app, and I use it faithfully, BUT it is not a substitute for proper instruction and assistance. Broscience is not always correct and can be extremely confusing.
Good luck with your training. Weight training is vastly underrated in the goal of weigh loss.

KrystinaMTL

Thank you MonkeyMan !
I really appreciate the feedback!

I am on Day 3 and it's going great so far
Not easy to hit 120g of protein when you are not used to it but it is doable right !
Just do it as they say

nordlead2005

Monkeyman41333 wrote: »

As a lifetime bodybuilder and fitness trainer some of the information you are being provided is not correct. A muscular body is much more efficient at burning calories. Why people think that you can't lose weight and still retain/gain muscle is beyond me and been disproven. It is a much slower process, but with proper training and eating habits it is possible. My advice is to research Bodybuilding.com and read articles there for advice regarding weight training. A 40-40-20 diet is a very good protocol and one which I follow both during off season and in preparation for contests. As you probably already know Carbs should be derived from things such as Rice, Potatoes, Oatmeal cruciferous vegetables and other complex carbs. Stay away from High Glycymic Index foods. Fruits are very high in these and will really through your insulin sensitivity for a loop.
Despite what so called experts say, I believe 1 gm of protein per lb at minimum is required if you ate working out strenuously with weights. However, you will certainly be nutritionally sound as long as you consume.at least .8 gm per lb of bodyweight. Saying a person already has muscle is a little vague, as everyone has a different level of muscle. As a women you will not develop muscle like a man as you do not have the Testesterone levels of a male. As you can see, this is a topic that is not going to be resolved on this blog. I really suggest you continue to read and research everything you can. Myfitness Pal is a fantastic app, and I use it faithfully, BUT it is not a substitute for proper instruction and assistance. Broscience is not always correct and can be extremely confusing.
Good luck with your training. Weight training is vastly underrated in the goal of weigh loss.

You mean bro science like "Despite what so called experts say, I believe 1 gm of protein per lb at minimum is required if you ate working out strenuously with weights."

Or, how about suggesting potatoes and then immediately saying to stay away from high glycemic foods? Same with white rice which also has about the same glycemic index as table sugar. This is like someone telling me to stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup because Fructose is evil and then suggesting Agave Nectar.

While I agree that what rainbowbow is saying is slightly misleading it is still mostly correct. OP will not be building any appreciable amount of muscle while eating 1200 calories and trying to lose 50lb, especially on a program like Chalene Extreme. I'm well aware that overweight individuals can build muscle while losing weight, but the studies I'm aware of were of men. An educated guess would say you would get less muscle built in women. The important part is strength training to build/maintain muscle with a realistic mindset while losing weight. In other words, you aren't going to hulk up, but you can at minimum maintain 100% of what you have now if you do it right.

kwtilbury

Keep your caloric intake constant and see where you're at after a month or so. You likely won't lose weight as quickly, but that's OK. You're building muscle.

Here's my rule of thumb for macro splits:

Protein - 0.8 to 1.0 grams per pound of goal body weight (in your case, 140 pounds).
Fat - 0.4 to 0.5 grams per pound of goal body weight
Carbs - Remainder of your calories

KrystinaMTL

Thanks for all this feedback.

I am still aiming at 1200-1400 cals a day.
Like @kwtilbury said, I am starting with this am will reasses after my first one month phase.
Eating more protein is sustaining me longer which helps a whole lot when trying stay within my calories.
Anyway, I eat when I am hungry (and have for the last 80 days as of today). When my body asks for food, I feed it as opposed to my head wanting whatever. Making a big difference.
SO what I mean to say is, I aim for 1200-1400 but if my body wants more, it will get it.

I am already really enjoying weight training.
I couldn't believe last night when I read my HRM indicating I burned 335 caloris during my 35 minute session. That is pretty damn close to what I burn doing hard cardio !

ONe day at a time
Getting stronger, leaner, fitter, faster and loving it

Will keep you all posted if you like

sijomial

Don't use a HRM for strength training, that estimate is dreadfully exaggerated - your heart rate will be no indication of actual calorie burn.

KrystinaMTL

@sijomial
Really ?
Why would that be ?

WilsonFilson

I suggest you read a bit from Mike Matthews. In fact, do yourself a favor and just buy his book Thinner Leaner Stronger.

Go here for a starting read re macros and calories: http://www.muscleforlife.com/macronutrient-calculator/

KrystinaMTL

Thanks @WilsonFilson
I'll look into it

sijomial

Basic HRM's estimate calorie burn from HR as a proxy for oxygen uptake.
That's a rough estimate at best taking into account people's different fitness levels and exercise HR.

As strength training isn't an aerobic exercise there simply is no correlation between HR and oxygen uptake. You can hit the same HR doing a small isolation exercise as you would lifting x10 in a big compound lift - it's moving mass over distance which is the real calorie equivalent.

Better to use MFP's estimate which is based on METS - log in CV section of diary as "strength training".
You are more likely to have burned 100 cals in your 35 minute workout than over 300.

KrystinaMTL

Even though I was literally dripping wet ?

MichelleLea122

OP what exactly does your program entail? I know you said Chalean Extreme Burn Phase, but from the looks of an example plan I found online it seems to be more of a cardio routine with strength training components. I think everyone on here is assuming you mean pure strength training, which will change the accuracy of their responses quite a bit.

KrystinaMTL

@MichelleLei1
The first one month phase is 3 days of heavy lifting max 12 reps to failure. About 35-45 minutes. 2 days of intervals between 1m30 max cardio and 2mins low weights many many reps (for endurance) 2 other days are Rest days where I chose to do Cardio on one and rest the other.

Do you think the responses make sense with this info ?
Thanks for caring !

kellyj0729

I can't help you with the science of bodybuilding, but I am in the last week of Push phase with Clalean and will begin Lean phase on Monday. The difference in my body is incredible. I lost over 20 lbs 2 years ago cardio only but was not happy with my results. I wish I had done research regarding importance of strength training. I am currently at 129 lbs and actually LOOKING FORWARD to get my progress pics taken this weekend. I am a vegetarian and struggle to meet protein goals some days, eating 1,300 calories a day. I don't even log calories for strength training because I have no idea really. Good luck to you!

MichelleLea122

It depends what you're defining as heavy lifting. I think a lot of people were assuming you were doing the traditional bench/squat/deadlift things one normally associates with strength training. What weight are you using?