Lifting

mtringali13

I just began a program that involves the first month just building muscle and lifting. However, I want to lose fat as well. How many calories should I be eating? Should I be in a deficit or trying to gain??

cathipa

You will probably experience some newbie gains, but if your goal is to lose fat you should be in a deficit. Unfortunately to gain muscle and lose fat (recomp) is a long slow process. To build muscle you would need to eat a surplus and with that would come some fat gain as well, but if macros are done right then this should be minimal. Without knowing your current weight, height, age and activity it is hard to tell you what your calorie goal should be. Are you focusing on just calories or macros?

TR0berts

Since you posted in your other thread that you wanted to lose weight - eat at a deficit.

How big a deficit? The answer depends on how much weight/fat you are looking to lose. So, the real question then becomes, "how much are you looking to lose?"

fitnessjustin01

You can lose fat with both a deficit or surplus of calories. Yes, one is faster than the other. Keep lifting. Muscle burns fat regardless

sijomial

A very small deficit and be patient.

mtringali13

cathipa wrote: »

You will probably experience some newbie gains, but if your goal is to lose fat you should be in a deficit. Unfortunately to gain muscle and lose fat (recomp) is a long slow process. To build muscle you would need to eat a surplus and with that would come some fat gain as well, but if macros are done right then this should be minimal. Without knowing your current weight, height, age and activity it is hard to tell you what your calorie goal should be. Are you focusing on just calories or macros?

I am focusing on macros too 40 40 20 and I am 140 lbs 5'8 and 18

mtringali13

amyrebeccah wrote: »

All of the above questions, plus, what program are you using?

I am using Jamie Eason's twelve week program

julie_broadhead

For your height, you are actually at a pretty healthy weight. If I were in your situation, I would try eating at maintenance and see what happens. You can always try a small deficit if you don't like how things are going after a month.

hill8570

julie_broadhead wrote: »

For your height, you are actually at a pretty healthy weight. If I were in your situation, I would try eating at maintenance and see what happens. You can always try a small deficit if you don't like how things are going after a month.

Ditto. At a ~21 BMI, eat maintenance (or even a bit more), and track your measurements. If you have a convenient way to track body fat %, worthwhile to do so to track progress.