Ladies - Nutrition and Cardio

DesignatedGinger

I know that these questions I am about to ask are re-hashed over and over, but I would love your advice. If you know of a good forum post that already successfully addresses my question, please paste the link! I was looking through the previous forum posts and was seeing some items that were helpful, but thought I'd create a post to help with gathering information.

1. I have been kind of bouncing back and forth in this grey area of what my calorie intake should be to build muscle. I know recomp is a slow process, but I'm happy to take things slow rather than feel like I'm yo-yoing between major bulking and cutting. I'm currently at 139 lbs at 5'9." My measurements are: 36", 25.5", 39.5". I think I'm still stuck in that "fear of the surplus" mindset. But to maintain, MFP shows I should be at 1790. For context, I do a full body weight routine for about 45 minutes with jogging on my off days for about 25 minutes. From what I've seen others post, should I be increasing my caloric intake (of course keeping in mind the macros)?

2. Coupled with my 25 minute jogging sessions I do walk about 40 minutes five days a week. My job is sedentary so I like to try and get up and move. Could this type/amount of cardio be hindering my muscle building goals?

All you lovely ladies, lend me your advice!

PPumpItUp

Just keep your protein high, around 1g-1.2g/lbs, and have a good resistance training routine. Doing this you can set your deficit whatever you want, keep in mind, even with MyFitnessPal people underestimate the volume of food they consume.

McMaster University did a study where they had several groups of people, one group was on a 40% calorie reduction from maintenance but their protein was high. They lost fat and gained a good amount muscle. Do not worry about metabolic adaptation, once you hit your desired weight and go to maintenance calories it will bounce back. The more aggressive your deficit is the quicker you reach your goal.

steph2strong

Based on your stats and post it doesn't really sound like you need/want to be eating at a deficit?

You can trial eating more. I am 5'6, 120 lbs. I used to be 110 lbs. to get to 120 I had to eat about 3200 calories a day. I gained the 10 lbs of mainly muscle over 8 months. I definitely didn't get fat. Now I maintain around 2850. I usually get about 220- 250 gm protein a day (I know some people might think that's high but it's just the way I eat). I do a lot of cardio, it didn't hinder my muscle building.

There is no one on here who can tell you exactly what amount of calories you need in a day. The only way you are going to figure out what works for you is by trial and error. Don't be afraid, if you do things in a slow and measured approach you are not going to get spontaneously fat overnight. The scale might bounce around a bit as you eat more.

rybo

Play around with your calories and see how the results go. As already stated, I wouldn't be in a deficit. Eat to a certain level and track weight trends. Up/down or level and adjust if needed.
As for point 2, that's not much cardio, at all so you have no worries about it hindering your muscle building goals

ndj1979

DesignatedGinger wrote: »

I know that these questions I am about to ask are re-hashed over and over, but I would love your advice. If you know of a good forum post that already successfully addresses my question, please paste the link! I was looking through the previous forum posts and was seeing some items that were helpful, but thought I'd create a post to help with gathering information.

1. I have been kind of bouncing back and forth in this grey area of what my calorie intake should be to build muscle. I know recomp is a slow process, but I'm happy to take things slow rather than feel like I'm yo-yoing between major bulking and cutting. I'm currently at 139 lbs at 5'9." My measurements are: 36", 25.5", 39.5". I think I'm still stuck in that "fear of the surplus" mindset. But to maintain, MFP shows I should be at 1790. For context, I do a full body weight routine for about 45 minutes with jogging on my off days for about 25 minutes. From what I've seen others post, should I be increasing my caloric intake (of course keeping in mind the macros)?

2. Coupled with my 25 minute jogging sessions I do walk about 40 minutes five days a week. My job is sedentary so I like to try and get up and move. Could this type/amount of cardio be hindering my muscle building goals?

All you lovely ladies, lend me your advice!

so you want to re-comp then? If yes, then eat at maintenance follow a structured lifting routine, and keep protein high.

if you want to bulk then figure out a 250 calorie surplus and eat to that number and continue to follow a structured lifting program...