Looking for insight

slove2718

Hi there! With so many informative and knowlegable posts I have seen on here, I'm hoping that you all might be able to provide me with some feedback regarding my current situation. But first, a little on my background... I began working with a trainor approximately 3 months ago; my focus was to gain strength and tone everything up a bit. Prior to that, I pretty much only did cardio. In the beginning, my stats were ~115-117 lbs, BMI of 20.6, and BF % of 23.6. Also, I'm just over 5'2". I aim to workout 5-6 days a week, and spend 2 days cardio kickboxing, 3-4 days strength training. Fast forward to early June, and at this point my stats had changed to about 107.6lbs, BMI of 18.9, and BF % of 18.8. Here, my trainor made sure to adjust my macros, and working towards a slow bulk (or so I thought). As of yesterday, my weight has dropped to ~106lbs. I've been working to hit all of my macros consistently (1600 calories, 140C/120P/62F), and honestly my workouts have felt good and strong! I am however, also experiencing amenorrhea (though I can also contribute some personal stress to this as well I believe). Thoughts??? Any and all insight and opinions are appreciated!

staticsplit

Clearly 1600 isn't enough. If you're meant to be bulking you should be eating over maintenance. Your maintenance is probably at least 1800-1900 with your activity levels, so you're still eating below maintenance. So I'd eat more if I were you.

As for the amenorrhea, it could be overexercise. I'm in the same boat--I haven't had a period since December when I went off of birth control. Have had two rounds of blood work to look at my hormones and have a GP appointment on the 4th to figure out if they have any theories. I eat enough and I'm not underweight, so it might just be my body sorting itself out after being on hormones for years. Or I'm still working out too much.

Eating more might help kickstart that for you.

slove2718

staticsplit wrote: »

Clearly 1600 isn't enough. If you're meant to be bulking you should be eating over maintenance. Your maintenance is probably at least 1800-1900 with your activity levels, so you're still eating below maintenance. So I'd eat more if I were you.

As for the amenorrhea, it could be overexercise. I'm in the same boat--I haven't had a period since December when I went off of birth control. Have had two rounds of blood work to look at my hormones and have a GP appointment on the 4th to figure out if they have any theories. I eat enough and I'm not underweight, so it might just be my body sorting itself out after being on hormones for years. Or I'm still working out too much.

Eating more might help kickstart that for you.

Thanks for the reply! I struggled with amenorrhea previously in my early teens as well, though at that point it was certainly not exercise related. For years (like 13 years!) I was put on/taken off of birth control before my system was regulated again. The past few recent years have finally been okay, so it's just frustrating to have this come up again now.

puffbrat

I agree that 1600 calories is way too few for that amount of exercise when you are trying to bulk. It's possible the amenorrhea is from your bf% dropping too low.

GaryRuns

Goal: Lean/moderate bulk
Current status: Losing weight
Solution: Eat MORE!

kimny72

I plugged the info you gave into a TDEE Calc and guessed the other stuff, and 1600 would barely be your TDEE at "light exercise". And that's at your lower weight now, it would've been higher when you were 115, and you are doing more than light exercise. As others have said, your TDEE is probably more like 1800+ so you need to eat more. Macros are great to track, but calories are what determines which direction your weight is headed!

slove2718

Hmm..thanks everyone! I definately trust my trainor, but value what other's insight and thoughts may be as well. This may seem like a silly question, but what do you all recommend for bumping up my calories a bit, but staying within my macros? In plain sight this seems simple, but I feel like it's becoming a balancing act.

sardelsa

This thread can help you bump up the calories

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

You will have to play around with what foods you need to hit your macros. I think your protein is fine so that can stay, you can add some extra fats and carbs typically not as filling especially when combined.

GaryRuns

Macros aren't that important as long as you're getting the right minimum amounts to support your activity. For example, approximately 0.8-1g of protein per pound of body weight to support muscle growth. And enough fat that weird things don't start happening to your hormone levels. Fat is a little less clear as far as the amount you need. I've seen recommendations saying that anywhere from 20-35% of your calories should come from fat. Personally, I try to stay on the low side of that, 20%, but that's probably due to a mental block I have about fat because I grew up in the whole "fat-is-bad" generation.

After getting the protein and fat macros right the rest is about getting what you need in calories in order to gain weight at a rate of about 0.5-1% of your total body weight every week or two, and, possibly, finding the right split to avoid feeling hungry all the time. For example, some people find eating more fat and less carbs make them feel less hungry given the same number of total calories. Or, some find eating more protein has that effect.

And remember the whole calorie counting thing is a guessing game and based on averages. It's going to vary, sometimes significantly, between individuals. You use the TDEE calculators and exercise calories as an estimate for a starting point and then you're going to have to, in all likelihood, adjust those to your specific situation. So in this case since you want to gain weight, and at the calorie level you're consuming that's not happening, just eat more.

slove2718

Thanks again everyone! I will definately make sure to keep everything in mind Sometimes I find myself struggling to hit my macros even now (I felt like I was going to explode the first few days after my carbs were increased). Just feel like I'm ALWAYS eating!