Building Legs/Booty or Lose Weight First??

tangi05

Hi, so I have 2 goals: Build a booty and lose fat. Obviously I know the two cannot be done simultaneously so I need help to decide which I should focus on first, and also what my caloric intake/macros should look like. (i’m a beginner to all of this lol)

I am 19, 125 pounds, and 5foot 1 inch. I’ve gotten a variety of body fat percentages from online calculators that ranged from 23%-25%, but I don’t really mind my hips being “big”. (my waist is between a 29-30, and my hips are around 34-35).

Based on all of this information should I focus on lowering my body fat percentage and eat at a caloric deficit first, or can I increase my calorie intake and focus on building muscle? And, again, how many calories should I be eating and what should my macros look like?

Thank you so much in advance!!

sardelsa

With your stats I would run a very small deficit but continue to lift, following a progressive program with focus on the glutes (Strong Curves is a good one). You will retain what you have and might be able to build a little bit especially if you are a beginner.

Alternatively you could recomp where you maintain your weight to build muscle and lose fat over time. However that depends on how comfortable you are with your size and bodyfat. You can even lose a few lbs and then decide to recomp. Again up to you.

Macro wise you would want to aim for 0.8-1g protein per lb (or goalweight, or lean body mass) and 0.4g fat per lb bodyweight, both minimums, then rest carbs.

I would not gain or bulk right now. You would want to be fairly lean before you do that since you will gain fat too.

Chieflrg

At your waist size(29-30), literature suggest that you can either bulk, comp, or cut. No option is unreasonable. Though I wouldn't run a bulk where your waist measures higher than (31-32). So that might be a short bulk than if you were less body fat if you choose that route. No doubt the one last on the rung of choices.

Assuming you are carnivorous...

If you cut, I would aim for protein just over 1g-lb bw. Retaining muscle would be a focus and more protein is needed for this choice for optimal results.

If you recomp or bulk, its reasonable to aim 1g-lb bw.

I would suggest a I intelligently written hypertrophy program that has auto regulation and load management regardless of what choice you make.

tangi05

sardelsa wrote: »

With your stats I would run a very small deficit but continue to lift, following a progressive program with focus on the glutes (Strong Curves is a good one). You will retain what you have and might be able to build a little bit especially if you are a beginner.

Alternatively you could recomp where you maintain your weight to build muscle and lose fat over time. However that depends on how comfortable you are with your size and bodyfat. You can even lose a few lbs and then decide to recomp. Again up to you.

Macro wise you would want to aim for 0.8-1g protein per lb (or goalweight, or lean body mass) and 0.4g fat per lb bodyweight, both minimums, then rest carbs.

I would not gain or bulk right now. You would want to be fairly lean before you do that since you will gain fat too.

Okay, great! I was eating in a deficit while still lifting, and it seemed to be working okay, I just wanted to be sure.
So if I make my macros 100g of protein, 50g of fat, what would my carbs be? I'm confused by what you mean by the rest being carbs. Thank you !

sardelsa

tangi05 wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

With your stats I would run a very small deficit but continue to lift, following a progressive program with focus on the glutes (Strong Curves is a good one). You will retain what you have and might be able to build a little bit especially if you are a beginner.

Alternatively you could recomp where you maintain your weight to build muscle and lose fat over time. However that depends on how comfortable you are with your size and bodyfat. You can even lose a few lbs and then decide to recomp. Again up to you.

Macro wise you would want to aim for 0.8-1g protein per lb (or goalweight, or lean body mass) and 0.4g fat per lb bodyweight, both minimums, then rest carbs.

I would not gain or bulk right now. You would want to be fairly lean before you do that since you will gain fat too.

Okay, great! I was eating in a deficit while still lifting, and it seemed to be working okay, I just wanted to be sure.
So if I make my macros 100g of protein, 50g of fat, what would my carbs be? I'm confused by what you mean by the rest being carbs. Thank you !

It depends what your calorie goal is. Let's say it's 1500. 100g protein (100x4) is 400 calories. 50g fat (50x9) is 450 cals, then the rest of the 1500 would be carbs, so around 162-163g. Hope that makes sense!

tangi05

sardelsa wrote: »

tangi05 wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

With your stats I would run a very small deficit but continue to lift, following a progressive program with focus on the glutes (Strong Curves is a good one). You will retain what you have and might be able to build a little bit especially if you are a beginner.

Alternatively you could recomp where you maintain your weight to build muscle and lose fat over time. However that depends on how comfortable you are with your size and bodyfat. You can even lose a few lbs and then decide to recomp. Again up to you.

Macro wise you would want to aim for 0.8-1g protein per lb (or goalweight, or lean body mass) and 0.4g fat per lb bodyweight, both minimums, then rest carbs.

I would not gain or bulk right now. You would want to be fairly lean before you do that since you will gain fat too.

Okay, great! I was eating in a deficit while still lifting, and it seemed to be working okay, I just wanted to be sure.
So if I make my macros 100g of protein, 50g of fat, what would my carbs be? I'm confused by what you mean by the rest being carbs. Thank you !

It depends what your calorie goal is. Let's say it's 1500. 100g protein (100x4) is 400 calories. 50g fat (50x9) is 450 cals, then the rest of the 1500 would be carbs, so around 162-163g. Hope that makes sense!

Right now i'm eating between 1200-1300 calories a day to drop a few pounds first. What would those macros look like? And I assume 1500 calories would be my intake when I decide to recomp or bulk right? I think my BMR is somewhere around 1392-1400. Sorry for all the questions! Just want to make sure i'm doing all of this correctly.

I plan to lose a few pounds first (maybe get down to 120) before I recomp or start bulking in about a month or so. Like you said, I want to be a bit more lean before I bulk since I will gain fat during the process alongside the muscle.

sardelsa

So based on that if you kept protein at 100g, fat at 50g the rest would be carbs which would be about 88-113g approximately.

Azurite27

tangi05 wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

tangi05 wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

With your stats I would run a very small deficit but continue to lift, following a progressive program with focus on the glutes (Strong Curves is a good one). You will retain what you have and might be able to build a little bit especially if you are a beginner.

Alternatively you could recomp where you maintain your weight to build muscle and lose fat over time. However that depends on how comfortable you are with your size and bodyfat. You can even lose a few lbs and then decide to recomp. Again up to you.

Macro wise you would want to aim for 0.8-1g protein per lb (or goalweight, or lean body mass) and 0.4g fat per lb bodyweight, both minimums, then rest carbs.

I would not gain or bulk right now. You would want to be fairly lean before you do that since you will gain fat too.

Okay, great! I was eating in a deficit while still lifting, and it seemed to be working okay, I just wanted to be sure.
So if I make my macros 100g of protein, 50g of fat, what would my carbs be? I'm confused by what you mean by the rest being carbs. Thank you !

It depends what your calorie goal is. Let's say it's 1500. 100g protein (100x4) is 400 calories. 50g fat (50x9) is 450 cals, then the rest of the 1500 would be carbs, so around 162-163g. Hope that makes sense!

Right now i'm eating between 1200-1300 calories a day to drop a few pounds first. What would those macros look like? And I assume 1500 calories would be my intake when I decide to recomp or bulk right? I think my BMR is somewhere around 1392-1400. Sorry for all the questions! Just want to make sure i'm doing all of this correctly.

I plan to lose a few pounds first (maybe get down to 120) before I recomp or start bulking in about a month or so. Like you said, I want to be a bit more lean before I bulk since I will gain fat during the process alongside the muscle.

What is your current loss per week set at? To retain muscle and get any beginner gains you can, you should be set to no more than 1/2lb a week. 1200-1300 may be too aggressive depending on your activity level.