New to heavy lifting

LCowles87

So starting tomorrow I am going to start focusing on heavy lifting. I am 5'7 and currently 153 pounds. I have been lifting free weights for the last 2 weeks and although haven't lost any weight, am noticing body changes. So now I want to step up my game...

My question though is I don't know how many calories I should be eating for heavy lifting?

mirrim52

That depends on your goals.
Are trying to lose weight or looking to build muscle?
If you are looking to lose weight, I would suggest no more than a 500 calorie per day deficit, or your lifts will likely suffer.
Depending on how hungry lifting makes you, you may want to cut that down to 250/day.

GalaxyDuck

I'm 5'7 and started StrongLifts at about 155lbs. I was more focused on building/maintaining my muscle as much as possible while shedding some body fat at the same time, and having lifted weights in the past I knew I didn't really care about the number on the scale as much as the look/feel of my body composition. I set MFP to lose 0.5 lbs and eat on average around 1600 calories a day or more (especially more on lifting days). This has been a good number for me as I've been slowing losing the body fatbut still having enough strength to put myself under the bar.

My advice is to set up your MFP to match your current goals, then after eating that way and tracking your weight for a few weeks, evaluate where you are and adjust as required.

Good luck!

Deena_Bean

Welcome to SL! I love it (except squats, I don't love squats...I do however LOVE what squats do to your body!).
I'm 5' 7.5" and I had my goal set to 1660 calories, but recently bumped it up to 1775. One difference is that I eat low carb, so that affects the balance quite a bit. I don't do hungry well. I've slowly lost weight, but I notice more the change in my body than the scale moving down. I'm fine with that. I weigh somewhere around 170, but my body is fairly lean - so the number is deceiving. Granted, I have some fat left to burn (maybe 10-15 lbs it amounts to?)...but it's pretty unlikely I'll be below 160 because of my build. My vote is back the calories down slowly so you're not miserable. Good luck

LCowles87

Thanks ladies.. I am down to the last 10 or so pounds to loose and so my main focus is to gain muscles and loose a little at a time. On recommendation I bumped up my calories to only have a 500 calorie a day deficit. I am so excited to start on this!