I have my gym workout how do I build my nutrition plan?

raymondsabal7

I'm a 24 year old male I weigh about 142 I've been going to the gym for 3 weeks but haven't been eating or for the most part sleeping right and I need some tips on how to build a good nutrition plan with how many calories and how much protein I should eat a day

AnnPT77

The MFP defaults aren't a terrible starting point for most people, as long as they're not trying to lose weight super quickly. (I'm thinking you may not be trying to lose weight at all? Or only a small amount, depending on height?)

MFP will give you default macronutrient, micronutrient, and calorie goals. Since you haven't said whether you're trying to lose weight, gain weight, or stay close to your current weight while building muscle, we can't really advise you about what weight gain/loss rate would be good for you to target.

Long run, it will be more precise IMO to set protein and fat goals in grams. Those are both "essential nutrients" in the sense that our bodies can't manufacture all their necessary subcomponents out of any other intake, so we have to eat some.

This is a research-based protein needs estimator (and guide) from a site generally regarded as neutral (such as they don't sell supplements!):

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

I think 0.3-0.45g fat per pound of healthy goal weight is a reasonable minimum, with women more likely to need more toward the higher end of that range. I like to think about a balance of mono- and polyunsaturated fats to saturated fats, and some balance of Omega-3s to Omega-6s.

Some people prefer to limit carbs, whether because they find carbs spike their appetite, or because they have a health condition that requires doing so (such as diabetes or insulin resistance). Other people find that they need higher carb intake in order to keep energy level strong. Individuals may need to experiment to find their personal best carb level, and for sure there's variability in the nutrient density of carb sources to consider. Obviously, if someone elects to limit carbs, it will be necessary to eat more protein or fats in order to hit reasonable calories. (Usually, it's fats that increase the most for those eating low carb or keto.)

Micronutrients and other things (such as probiotics, fiber, etc.) are also important for well-rounded nutrition. Personally, I find that if I eat large amounts of veggies and fruits, fiber and micronutrients fall into place reasonably well without much explicit attention. (I prefer to eat at least 400g daily of varied, colorful veggies & fruits, and ideally more like 800g or more.)

A fair fraction of people here are less structured about it than that, but that's my personal view.

One observation: It's never essential to be exactly exact every single day on any given nutrient. Pretty close, on average over a small number of days - that should be fine. Protein is probably the most important to get close to consistently, but even then, plus or minus 10% or so of goal ought to be fine . . . and it's certainly OK to be over.

It's also not necessary (and probably not realistic) to get everything perfect all at once. It's fine to look at how your nutrition stacks up (by logging a few days of your current eating), then set some priorities about what to work on improving first, next, etc. Gradually remodeling your eating routine is fine, and can help with building good habits for the long term. IMO, the only exception might be someone who starts with a diagnosed nutritional deficiency or a health condition that requires certain dietary improvements.

Just my opinions throughout, though.

Best wishes!

Corina1143

Just start.
Log what you eat all day. Look at it tomorrow and challenge yourself to do better than you did yesterday.
Same with sleep. Make a note of how long and how well you slept last night. Think of how you can do better. Then do it. (close the blinds? Eye mask? White noise? Ear plugs? Go to bed earlier? Or just the same time each night? All electronics off 30 minutes before bedtime? temperature? )