Lifters, how long did it take you...

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt

to up your caloric intake? Was it incremental to match gains/ other? I'm looking forward to eating more and would like to hear from anyone whose experienced this already.

drwilseyjr

Doing this is one of the hardest things to figure out. For me, I wanted to eat enough to make gains, but not so much as to put on excess fat. I'm not opposed to a bit of extra fat, but didn't want to get huge.

Anyway, I think I started upping my intake about three months in. And I did it incrementally by about 200 calories at a time. I've ended around 3,000 calories daily. I may actually up this again, but I'm going to give it another month or two.

SonyaCele

lifting doesn't automatically mean you up your calories. Calorie levels are all determined by your goals. Are you trying to bulk? eat more. ARe you trying to lose weight? eat less. Are you trying to maintain? eat the same. Usually people eat more when lifting because they want to build muscle but that also adds fat.

arditarose

Never? I upped my calories when I was bulking, but even changing my body fat% (gaining muscle) did not allow me to really raise my calories that much for maintenance. Even when doing high volume blocks, it doesn't allow for many more calories.

TheRootofGroot

I'd say it depends on how much you're working out.

If you're going from a typical three times a week routine to a six day split then obviously your TDEE will go up significantly and your maintenance calories along with it.

My maintenance is about 3150 and I workout four days a week.
I personally enjoy calorie cycling as it permits me two 3400 days a week and two 3600 days a week.

SonyaCele

my TDEE doesn't go up significantly when i'm lifting. I do get hungrier and sometimes eat a few hundred cal more, but that puts me over maint and i'll slowly gain if im not careful. The only time i can eat a little more without gaining is if i am doing a lot of cardio, but i hate cardio so i never do it.

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt

Thanks everyone. I get so hungry after my lifting days but figured I'd only be able to eat a bit more after I built some muscle. I wasn't too sure, so thanks for the answers!

kwtilbury

Keep in mind that lifting in and of itself doesn't burn a ton of calories. Consuming more calories will result in weight gain.

SonyaCele

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I get so hungry after my lifting days but figured I'd only be able to eat a bit more after I built some muscle. I wasn't too sure, so thanks for the answers!

you can try adjusting your macros so you have a more protein heavy diet, i do that when i lift. That helps to keep me not feeling starved. Also timing when i eat my meals helps with my hunger level. I like to eat chicken or turkey right after lifting, and i eat pounds and pounds of non starchy fiber rich vegetables all day long just to stay full feeling.

cgvet37

I increased my caloric intake because I had lost a considerable amount of weight, and I was starting to fizzle in the gym. I mainly increased my carb intake to help with my energy levels. This was after 7'ish months.

sijomial

For lifting the calorie count is too small to make a really significant difference, probably not much more than 100 - 130 a day? Increased some of lifts by 50% without any noticeable difference in calorie needs so would say my answer would be "never".
Adding a few pounds of muscle over a period of months will make an insignificant difference to your TDEE too, lets say 6 - 10 cals a day for each pound of muscle added.

Cardio on the other hand is (or can be...) a big calorie burn and your needs are immediate.

Personally I find it easier to maintain a moderate calorie deficit or maintain my weight while eating more calories earned through exercise rather than just by food restriction.

jemhh

When I used an MFP-generated calorie goal, I just ate the number of calories that I logged as strength training. Even at my current weight, 75 minutes of strength training is 252 calories, which is not a small increase in my book. When I was eating in a deficit that would be well over 10% of my calories for the day. At maintenance it is slightly over 10%. If I were to run for 30 minutes I would get 269 calories and walking 45 minutes gets me 191 calories. For me, lifting is very comparable on a per session basis, with my typical runs/walks. I've never agreed with the whole "lifting doesn't burn many calories" line here on MFP.

arditarose

jemhh wrote: »

When I used an MFP-generated calorie goal, I just ate the number of calories that I logged as strength training. Even at my current weight, 75 minutes of strength training is 252 calories, which is not a small increase in my book. When I was eating in a deficit that would be well over 10% of my calories for the day. At maintenance it is slightly over 10%. If I were to run for 30 minutes I would get 269 calories and walking 45 minutes gets me 191 calories. For me, lifting is very comparable on a per session basis, with my typical runs/walks. I've never agreed with the whole "lifting doesn't burn many calories" line here on MFP.

I think the issue here is a matter of consistency. When I started losing weight, I picked an activity level, logged my cardio, and never logged weight training. I lost at about the rate I chose. One thing I did differently is I ate ALL of my exercise calories back, rather than a portion which is often suggested here.

If I were to suddenly add calories for weight training it wouldn't make any sense. I already know my TDEE and how training comes in to play.

I think it comes down to picking an appropriate activity level, and then kind of feeling it out as far as how you want to log extra calories, based on your own data and how fast you are losing. It's also important to be honest with yourself and the work you're putting in.--Hitting up the machines for light reps of 12, for 15 minutes, shouldn't be logged for 200 calories.

VeryKatie

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I get so hungry after my lifting days but figured I'd only be able to eat a bit more after I built some muscle. I wasn't too sure, so thanks for the answers!

Eating more fat really helped me with the lifting hunger.

5K85

I get hungry after weight lifting and upper strength training as well.