GETTING DISCOURAGED DETERMINING MACROS/CALORIES

Fibrofighter13

I'm becoming discouraged with trying to determine my Macros and Calories. I've read so many contradictory articles and had an appointment with a Registered Dietician which was practically useless. She gave me a bunch of links to look at protein smoothie recipes that I could have easily Google'd myself. I am 135lbs and looking to gain muscle. I work out about 5+ days a week for about 60+ min (depending on what type of workout I'm doing). I think I'm putting in the hard work, but I'm not seeing the results (I'm pretty sure it's because of nutrition). I've been doing this since March. It seems nearly impossible to find a nutritionist that will help develop a meal plan to gain muscle. I am lost. Where should I turn for competent help? Anyone struggled with this? Suggestions?

Diatonic12

There's a wealth of information here. Use the search engine and you'll find an answer for your questions in the archives. Have you read through the stickies at the top of every category. Start with the basics and work your way through searches, the things you're interested in.

sardelsa

Are you trying to gain weight or maintain? When you say you are not seeing results are you not gaining? If you aren't gaining you aren't eating enough.

You can either set your calories on here to gain and make sure to eat back all your exercise calories ,many people prefer to use the TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) method with a goal of weight gain, so use a calorie calculator (see websites like Scoobys, Macros Inc, IIFYM, I usually enter my stats and take an average, it is just a guess anyways until you actually start logging) then enter your goal into MFP and don't eat back exercise calories since it is accounted for. If you still aren't gaining, up the calories by 100-200 each week until the scale is moving.

As for macros for muscle gain, I typically use these minimums:
Protein: 0.8-1g per lb bodyweight/lean body mass
Fat: 0.4g per lb bodyweight
Carbs: the rest of your macros.

You can start there and the tailor your macros to suit your preference. Obviously for muscle gain make sure you are following a progressive lifting program.

If you need help and have dietary issues then a dietitian that specializes in sports nutrition or a coach (coach might be helpful for the muscle gain aspect they might not be able to fully customize a meal plan depending on laws in your area but they can help guide you in the right direction )

MaltedTea

sardelsa wrote: »

Are you trying to gain weight or maintain? When you say you are not seeing results are you not gaining? If you aren't gaining you aren't eating enough.

You can either set your calories on here to gain and make sure to eat back all your exercise calories ,many people prefer to use the TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) method with a goal of weight gain, so use a calorie calculator (see websites like Scoobys, Macros Inc, IIFYM, I usually enter my stats and take an average, it is just a guess anyways until you actually start logging) then enter your goal into MFP and don't eat back exercise calories since it is accounted for. If you still aren't gaining, up the calories by 100-200 each week until the scale is moving.

As for macros for muscle gain, I typically use these minimums:
Protein: 0.8-1g per lb bodyweight/lean body mass
Fat: 0.4g per lb bodyweight
Carbs: the rest of your macros.

You can start there and the tailor your macros to suit your preference. Obviously for muscle gain make sure you are following a progressive lifting program.

If you need help and have dietary issues then a dietitian that specializes in sports nutrition or a coach (coach might be helpful for the muscle gain aspect they might not be able to fully customize a meal plan depending on laws in your area but they can help guide you in the right direction )

^^ This. I was also going to suggest that a nutritionist who helps competitive athletes (or one training to do so), could be a better fit for you. Or ask a kinesiologist or other sports therapy professional for a recommendation to a nutritionist.

Also, healthcare professionals (HCPs) are normal people which means some of them aren't going to "click" with you or be able to build rapport. If you can, give them at least two sessions before deciding whether or not to stick with them before trying another HCP.

sal10851

You do not need extra calories to grow muscle!!! Extra calories turn in to fat and upon weight gain people will confuse it with muscle growth. I'm actively losing fat while gaining muscle in a calorie deficit. Strength training is the worst exercise to burn fat that it does not justify any significant calorie increase. If you are not growing muscle you are either not training enough or incorrectly. The only thing that would limit your muscle growth is your genetic potential. So if you want to gain fat just increase your calories. If you want to grow muscle simply try harder than you did last time.

sardelsa

sal10851 wrote: »

You do not need extra calories to grow muscle!!! Extra calories turn in to fat and upon weight gain people will confuse it with muscle growth. I'm actively losing fat while gaining muscle in a calorie deficit. Strength training is the worst exercise to burn fat that it does not justify any significant calorie increase. If you are not growing muscle you are either not training enough or incorrectly. The only thing that would limit your muscle growth is your genetic potential. So if you want to gain fat just increase your calories. If you want to grow muscle simply try harder than you did last time.

While you can grow muscle at maintenance that might not be everyone's goal. If someone wants to increase in mass/size then weight gain is a fine goal and muscle growth is most optimal in a surplus. Also if someone is ultra lean or underweight they need to gain. We don't know enough about OP and their goals.

Also I've run several bulk cycles and I haven't gained all fat but some muscle and some fat and no matter how hard I work I would not gain muscle in a deficit with my current stats and experience.

Fibrofighter13

sardelsa wrote: »

Are you trying to gain weight or maintain? When you say you are not seeing results are you not gaining? If you aren't gaining you aren't eating enough.

You can either set your calories on here to gain and make sure to eat back all your exercise calories ,many people prefer to use the TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) method with a goal of weight gain, so use a calorie calculator (see websites like Scoobys, Macros Inc, IIFYM, I usually enter my stats and take an average, it is just a guess anyways until you actually start logging) then enter your goal into MFP and don't eat back exercise calories since it is accounted for. If you still aren't gaining, up the calories by 100-200 each week until the scale is moving.

As for macros for muscle gain, I typically use these minimums:
Protein: 0.8-1g per lb bodyweight/lean body mass
Fat: 0.4g per lb bodyweight
Carbs: the rest of your macros.

You can start there and the tailor your macros to suit your preference. Obviously for muscle gain make sure you are following a progressive lifting program.

If you need help and have dietary issues then a dietitian that specializes in sports nutrition or a coach (coach might be helpful for the muscle gain aspect they might not be able to fully customize a meal plan depending on laws in your area but they can help guide you in the right direction )

I'm trying to gain muscle - which essentially would be to gain weight. Honestly, I do not care what the scale says as long as I'm adding muscle and not fat. I'm pretty sure I'm not eating enough and that's been my downfall. Today, I bought some Whey protein and a bunch of things to make smoothies, because I find it very difficult to consume the 108ish grams of protein per day. You've listed some sites and information that I think will help a lot! Thank you for your response! SN: If you have any favorite protein shake recipes, I'd love hear about them.