Determined but struggling with Food need advice

delongMisty

I workout 5-6 days a week.. I go beast mode💯 all in at gym ..I started out 250 lbs went down 195 lb now I’m back up to 210 lbs which I no muscle weight more than fat cause I lifting some heavy weight ..I wanna bulk up but no to much .. I started my journey 1 yr ago .. I’ve downloaded apps , I had this one since day one .if y’all don’t mind I need help with a Meal plan and workout s and calorie intake you name it lol. I appreciate it thanks ..

PAV8888

How tall and how old are you? gender? are you using a specific lifting program at the gym? What does it mean to YOU to "bulk up"? Are you trying to build up net muscle mass? Are you trying to make your muscles more defined and visible? Are you trying to hit specific lifts and more heavy PRs?

AnnPT77

A good thread on strength workout programs:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

If you want advice on cardio-type workout programs, some more info about what you like doing would be helpful. If you like to run, there are couch to 5k programs, for example; and similar training programs for some other activities.

Your MFP set-up should give you a calorie goal. That's a good starting point. Use that calorie recommendation, logging carefully for a full menstrual cycle (since your profile says you're female) to compare bodyweight at the same relative point in two different cycles. That will give you the information you need to know whether you need to adjust your calorie goal going forward.

Eating plans are very personal and individual. This is what I did, using my calorie goal here, to lose weight then maintain a healthy weight, while active:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

That won't work for everyone - there's no one perfect universal approach - but it's one to consider. Others here have used a similar approach successfully, but lots of different eating approaches are represented among successful MFP users, too.

With your goals, you might want a more nuanced protein goal. This would possibly be a useful source:

https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/
https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

I hope some of that may help. Wishing you success!

PAV8888

I would still like some clarification @AnnPT77 because I'm not yet sure if the ultimate goals of the OP are best tackled by programming in gym or by troubleshooting and perfecting weight management.

AnnPT77

PAV8888 wrote: »

I would still like some clarification @AnnPT77 because I'm not yet sure if the ultimate goals of the OP are best tackled by programming in gym or by troubleshooting and perfecting weight management.

Absolutely! I don't disagree with any of that at all, @PAV8888. I hope she'll answer, which would let you and others give more tailored advice. Her questions or so broad and generic, I imagined - perhaps incorrectly - that offering some information resources might help her focus the questions a bit.

Stay friends, I hope? 😉😊

PAV8888

I don't think our thinking is *THAT* far apart that I would worry!🤞😍😘 In fact you're probably one of the best people to provide advice to someone who performs well athletically while at a higher than health optimal weight, if that's the case

delongMisty

I appreciate everyone s response thanks .. I’m new to things . Im just trying to figure out what I can do and learn to help get my body in good shape ..I Am female 43 yrs old ,5”6 , i use different workouts that I find on web .. I had a hysterectomy 12 years ago . I have always went up and down in weight before that ..I’m trying to build more muscle and definitely would like them to be more defined and visible . Yes Im trying to hit more heavier weights …

delongMisty

I been told it’s my diet , which I no it is and I work hard at gym but can’t tell it my muscles aren’t defined . It’s discouraging but I still get up go hit gym 5-6 days a week

kshama2001

delongMisty wrote: »

I been told it’s my diet , which I no it is and I work hard at gym but can’t tell it my muscles aren’t defined . It’s discouraging but I still get up go hit gym 5-6 days a week

Probably not your diet per se. You gained 15 pounds back instead of continuing to lose because you took in more calories than you burned.

There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

PAV8888

Have you seen the people who participate in the various strongman competitions? They tend to carry a lot of weight and be very strong as an absolute value.

Even though I have my own thoughts about likelihood of injury when pushing for time at the expense of form, have you seen how most CrossFit Games competitors look and perform? They tend to be much leaner and in terms of strength they offered handle weights that are more multiples of their own body weight.

Going to the gym and engaging in a strength building program, especially if you're engaged in a structured program that automatically regulates how much and how often you lift based on your progress, or lack of progress, will, with your effort, help you build strength. And a coach could help you set up such a program of course and correct your form etc.

But objectively at 210 lb on a 5ft 6" frame you will feel stronger, look more defined, and reduce weight related health risks by reducing your total weight closer to the green zone https://www.smartbmicalculator.com

And most of your success on that will be defined by how you handle your daily/mid and longer term energy intake and expenditure.

Performance at the gym will contribute to your well-being and will also help you play with more calories in your day.

But as the saying goes... abs are made in the kitchen

What you're doing, building a lot of muscle mass at a high weight, can be done with an incredible amount of work.

I actually have a friend who used to be active on MFP who has done exactly that over the past 7 years. She still has lost some weight but she has built muscles and strength that are amazing to behold.

But hard as it may be to lose weight and maintain weight loss, recompositioning at a BMI in the obese category is I believe harder still.

And you will be able to perform better and feel better at a lower weight.

And our friend @AnnPT77 has included some incredibly useful links for you to go through...

AnnPT77

delongMisty wrote: »

I been told it’s my diet , which I no it is and I work hard at gym but can’t tell it my muscles aren’t defined . It’s discouraging but I still get up go hit gym 5-6 days a week

I'm around your height - I'm 5'5" - and also female (but older).

Muscle definition involves two things: Having some muscle mass, and reducing body fat percent enough so that the muscle shows, to the desired extent (what that appearance is will differ according to a woman's preferences).

I've been very active for quite a long time, starting long before I lost weight . . . around 12 years before. When I started working out, I was about your current age, around 45 or so in my case. Frankly, when I was overweight (class 1 obese, techically), I looked doughy or blobby, not at all defined. When I lost weight, it turned out there were some tiny li'l ol' lady muscles under the fat layers, built during all those years of working out 6 days most weeks.

Now, everyone is going to vary, in appearance. How much muscle vs. fat one has is different, as well as where the fat likes to cling. (There's a woman here who usually weighs 20-30 pounds more than I do, at a similar height, and is way, way more defined looking than I am. She has much more muscle, less body fat, because she works hard to get that way, and I'm not that committed or energetic.)

Just as an illustration of generally what I'm saying, even though the specific weight numbers won't apply to you, this is the difference in 5'5" me's appearance, at around 183 pounds, and at around 125 pounds, when I did not gain any perceivable muscle in between the two photos, just lost fat by managing the calories in my eating.:



I think I have pretty much no visible muscle definition in the left-hand photo, and a little bit, I think enough to notice (though maybe I flatter myself), in the right-hand photo, with the difference just being fat loss, not muscle gain. (Yes, I'm flat chested, though born physically female, in case you're wondering: I had bilateral mastectomies for breast cancer, no reconstruction.) My profile photo, next to my post, is my shoulder and arm, at about the same weight as the right-hand photo.

My point is general, not to suggest any specific appearance goals or body weight to you: The point is that looking defined is a combination of building muscle, and having low enough body fat for the muscle to show. Eating choices can affect both those things.