When do you guys like to increase calories?

dpr73

So I have been noticing a small dip in my weight and am not trying to lose weight! So, I know I need to increase calories. I am considering starting with 100 a day. However, I am questioning whether to start tomorrow (Friday) or begin the increase after the weekend on Monday (I tend to loosen counting on (at least part of) the weekends as I often am out and about e.g. eating at restaurants). Do any of you have a preference? Am I being to intricate here?

Exercise 5 days a week (3 days of 45-60mins lifting and 2 days of at least 3 miles running), eating between 2400-2450 on the weekdays. I have no idea what I eat on the weekends, but I tend to save about 1300 calories for one big meal (like a burger and fries with one or two pints of beer) at a restaurant out. 67 in, 135-140lbs, 23, male.

pinggolfer96

I wouldn’t do a 100 everyday. I’d do a 100 every 4-7 days or 250 a week PAST your maintenance. So find your maintenance then add 250 if you’d like to gain weight at a lean surplus

fb47

Not sure if you're a male or female (I didn't click on your profile). All I know is that when I have 2-3 weeks in a row where I don't gain weight, I usually add 125 calories (sometimes 200 if I am actually losing too much weight) to my calories and check after 2-3 weeks what happens. Rinse and repeat until I see the results that I am looking for.

dpr73

fb47 wrote: »

Not sure if you're a male or female (I didn't click on your profile). All I know is that when I have 2-3 weeks in a row where I don't gain weight, I usually add 125 calories (sometimes 200 if I am actually losing too much weight) to my calories and check after 2-3 weeks what happens. Rinse and repeat until I see the results that I am looking for.

I am male and currently on 2400-2450. So increase at least to 2550? Do you typically wait until a fresh week? I know this weekend will be more lax with counting anyway

fb47

dpr73 wrote: »

fb47 wrote: »

Not sure if you're a male or female (I didn't click on your profile). All I know is that when I have 2-3 weeks in a row where I don't gain weight, I usually add 125 calories (sometimes 200 if I am actually losing too much weight) to my calories and check after 2-3 weeks what happens. Rinse and repeat until I see the results that I am looking for.

I am male and currently on 2400-2450. So increase at least to 2550? Do you typically wait until a fresh week? I know this weekend will be more lax with counting anyway

I start with my new calories after my week has ended since I weigh myself every day and use weekly weight average. If I would start mid week, it would *kitten* up my data for the week.

By the way, I am 5'9 and do no cardio, I usually cut at 2400 calories, so if your stats are similar to mine, it may be because you're indeed eating little or I have a better metabolism (Higher NEAT).

dpr73

fb47 wrote: »

dpr73 wrote: »

fb47 wrote: »

Not sure if you're a male or female (I didn't click on your profile). All I know is that when I have 2-3 weeks in a row where I don't gain weight, I usually add 125 calories (sometimes 200 if I am actually losing too much weight) to my calories and check after 2-3 weeks what happens. Rinse and repeat until I see the results that I am looking for.

I am male and currently on 2400-2450. So increase at least to 2550? Do you typically wait until a fresh week? I know this weekend will be more lax with counting anyway

I start with my new calories after my week has ended since I weigh myself every day and use weekly weight average. If I would start mid week, it would *kitten* up my data for the week.

By the way, I am 5'9 and do no cardio, I usually cut at 2400 calories, so if your stats are similar to mine, it may be because you're indeed eating little or I have a better metabolism (Higher NEAT).

I 100% agree that 2400 is too little. I'm just finding that out now. I am relatively new to running so am not used to the extra calorie burn it provides. I probably underestimated how much it adds.
I agree with starting midweek. It just would mess me up. My weight loss scares me, though it isn't profound yet, which is why I was asking the question.

fb47

dpr73 wrote: »

fb47 wrote: »

dpr73 wrote: »

fb47 wrote: »

Not sure if you're a male or female (I didn't click on your profile). All I know is that when I have 2-3 weeks in a row where I don't gain weight, I usually add 125 calories (sometimes 200 if I am actually losing too much weight) to my calories and check after 2-3 weeks what happens. Rinse and repeat until I see the results that I am looking for.

I am male and currently on 2400-2450. So increase at least to 2550? Do you typically wait until a fresh week? I know this weekend will be more lax with counting anyway

I start with my new calories after my week has ended since I weigh myself every day and use weekly weight average. If I would start mid week, it would *kitten* up my data for the week.

By the way, I am 5'9 and do no cardio, I usually cut at 2400 calories, so if your stats are similar to mine, it may be because you're indeed eating little or I have a better metabolism (Higher NEAT).

I 100% agree that 2400 is too little. I'm just finding that out now. I am relatively new to running so am not used to the extra calorie burn it provides. I probably underestimated how much it adds.
I agree with starting midweek. It just would mess me up. My weight loss scares me, though it isn't profound yet, which is why I was asking the question.

Well if you're losing over 1 lbs per week, I suggest adding 200-250 calories, that should at the very least limit the losing weight part....however it may bring you to maintenance or you may gain some weight because of water weight since you will be eating more food and getting glycogen.

mmapags

pinggolfer96 wrote: »

I wouldn’t do a 100 everyday. I’d do a 100 every 4-7 days or 250 a week PAST your maintenance. So find your maintenance then add 250 if you’d like to gain weight at a lean surplus

That small an amount wouldn't likely yield any useable info. I agree with others based on the info provided. 200-250 per day for a few weeks and see.

pinggolfer96

mmapags wrote: »

pinggolfer96 wrote: »

I wouldn’t do a 100 everyday. I’d do a 100 every 4-7 days or 250 a week PAST your maintenance. So find your maintenance then add 250 if you’d like to gain weight at a lean surplus

That small an amount wouldn't likely yield any useable info. I agree with others based on the info provided. 200-250 per day for a few weeks and see.

I don’t agree.....that’s a 1400-1750 additional calories PER week. That’s an insane jump unless your goal is to gain fat.....
Increase 250-500 past maintenance weekly If you want to minimize fat gain while putting on muscle

mmapags

If the OP were at maintenance, 200 to 250 per day would result in 1/2 lb per week gain. As he said, he is dropping weight.

dpr73

So to summarize, if I were to try to put some lean weight on I should try 2700 daily. Seeing as I currently eat about 2400-2450 calories, that has me at 250-300 above what I'm eating now (with weekends more lax on counting). Of course, right now I'm slowly losing weight, probably 0.25lbs per week, but really it's so slow I can't count it even.

mmapags

dpr73 wrote: »

So to summarize, if I were to try to put some lean weight on I should try 2700 daily. Seeing as I currently eat about 2400-2450 calories, that has me at 250-300 above what I'm eating now (with weekends more lax on counting). Of course, right now I'm slowly losing weight, probably 0.25lbs per week, but really it's so slow I can't count it even.

There is no such thing as totally lean weight. It is always some mix of fat and muscle. You can minimize the fat and keep the gain as lean as possible by only being 200 to 300 above maintenance and resistance training. First you have to have a decent idea of your maintenance. We can never get it exact and that isn't really important. But a reasonable approximation.

Then monitor the scale and the mirror as it sounds like you are doing now.

dpr73

mmapags wrote: »

dpr73 wrote: »

So to summarize, if I were to try to put some lean weight on I should try 2700 daily. Seeing as I currently eat about 2400-2450 calories, that has me at 250-300 above what I'm eating now (with weekends more lax on counting). Of course, right now I'm slowly losing weight, probably 0.25lbs per week, but really it's so slow I can't count it even.

There is no such thing as totally lean weight. It is always some mix of fat and muscle. You can minimize the fat and keep the gain as lean as possible by only being 200 to 300 above maintenance and resistance training. First you have to have a decent idea of your maintenance. We can never get it exact and that isn't really important. But a reasonable approximation.

Then monitor the scale and the mirror as it sounds like you are doing now.

Perfect. So based off my weight trend, adding 300 is a worthy place to start. In the past, I have struggled with seeing these bulks through, due to fear of fat gain. But assuming that a minimal increase will cause some but nothing too damaging then I will do my best to follow through this time.

mmapags

dpr73 wrote: »

mmapags wrote: »

dpr73 wrote: »

So to summarize, if I were to try to put some lean weight on I should try 2700 daily. Seeing as I currently eat about 2400-2450 calories, that has me at 250-300 above what I'm eating now (with weekends more lax on counting). Of course, right now I'm slowly losing weight, probably 0.25lbs per week, but really it's so slow I can't count it even.

There is no such thing as totally lean weight. It is always some mix of fat and muscle. You can minimize the fat and keep the gain as lean as possible by only being 200 to 300 above maintenance and resistance training. First you have to have a decent idea of your maintenance. We can never get it exact and that isn't really important. But a reasonable approximation.

Then monitor the scale and the mirror as it sounds like you are doing now.

Perfect. So based off my weight trend, adding 300 is a worthy place to start. In the past, I have struggled with seeing these bulks through, due to fear of fat gain. But assuming that a minimal increase will cause some but nothing too damaging then I will do my best to follow through this time.

Yes, I think you're fine. That's a little over 1/2 per week if your maintenance is accurate and if your logging is dead accurate. Close enough. Monitor and adjust accordingly after a few weeks.