How many calories do you need to stay lean?

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marisaleib5086
marisaleib5086 Posts: 16 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi! I’m 5’1 and I currently weigh 110 pounds. I strength train 5 days a week for about 50 minutes, and I usually do one 45 minutes session of cardio on Saturday and then Sunday is my off day. I have struggled to determine how many calories I should be taking in each day. My current goal is to build lean muscle but I need help in figuring out how many calories to eat in order to fuel my body and build muscle. Any advice is appreciated!

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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    edited August 2018
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    If you're already lean, you need to be in a calorie surplus to build muscle. Being in a surplus will come with fat gain but you can keep this to a minimum by keeping your surplus small (maintenance plus a bit... You decide how much a bit is)

    If you're at goal weight but want to get leaner, you could eat at maintenance and do recomp - very slowly losing fat as you very slowly gain muscle.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    What does MFP suggest for maintenance calories for you? What’s your activity like besides the purposeful exercise?
  • marisaleib5086
    marisaleib5086 Posts: 16 Member
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    I have been thinking that I need to be in a calorie surplus to actually gain the muscle that I want, but I am afraid of gaining weight!

    MFP suggest that I consume around 1800 calories for maintenance. I also am not very active currently because I have an office job so I reley on my strength training for basically all of my activity. I’ve tracked my calories and I consume around 1700 calories a day, but I am hungry when I go to bed and when I wake up, so it does make it difficult to have the energy to get through my workouts.
  • marisaleib5086
    marisaleib5086 Posts: 16 Member
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    I should also note that when I signed up for MFP I did say I was active and then my maintenance calories were 1800, but I don’t add my daily workouts to my log because there’s not a good option for adding strength training workouts
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited August 2018
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    marisaleib5086 wrote: »
    I should also note that when I signed up for MFP I did say I was active and then my maintenance calories were 1800, but I don’t add my daily workouts to my log because there’s not a good option for adding strength training workouts

    Read the recomp thread linked above. You can recomp (maintain your weight while building muscle), but it will be s-l-o-w. You have to be prepared for that. If you want quicker, you can eat in a small surplus, but you will gain weight, including some fat.

    You also should make sure you are working a well-designed program to get optimal results.

    No one can tell you the exact right amount of calories. Your best bet is to use the MFP goal and if after 6-8 weeks you have gained a little, dial the number back. You shouldn't be afraid of gaining a few lbs - it all comes down to calories so you can always lose a few lbs if you need to by again tweaking that calorie goal. 1800 sounds to me like as good a place to start as any!

    The MFP activity level is for your day-to-day activity. So if you are active every day, you can go with active and not log your exercise, or drop down to the activity level without exercise and log your workouts. There is an entry for strength training under cardio that a lot of people use.

    Honestly, it's all about trial and error. Think of it as a science experiment :smiley:
  • SweatLikeDog
    SweatLikeDog Posts: 272 Member
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    14-15 cals/lb. for women, 15-16 for men is a ballpark estimate for maintenance.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    SweatLikeDog wrote: »
    14-15 cals/lb. for women, 15-16 for men is a ballpark estimate for maintenance.

    wouldnt work for me using this formula. I tried 15x140lbs(where I want to be) anad it gave me a maintenance amount higher that what Im maintaining on now at 178 lbs. I would gain on 2100 calories right now
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
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    I'm close to your stats and activity level. I don't log anymore, but I've logged an occasional day here or there to guesstimate that I recomp around 2000-2500 calories. Don't be afraid to put on weight. I've added about 10lbs in the past two years and my measurements have stayed the same (except for glutes growing) and I'm visibly leaner.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    marisaleib5086 wrote: »
    I should also note that when I signed up for MFP I did say I was active and then my maintenance calories were 1800, but I don’t add my daily workouts to my log because there’s not a good option for adding strength training workouts

    Yes there is.

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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    marisaleib5086 wrote: »
    I should also note that when I signed up for MFP I did say I was active and then my maintenance calories were 1800, but I don’t add my daily workouts to my log because there’s not a good option for adding strength training workouts

    i'd start with 1800 and go for recomp and see how that feels, and what the scales do over the next 3-6 months.
  • ab1442952
    ab1442952 Posts: 2 Member
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    Macro Calculator

    https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macronutrients_calculator.htm

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