Lifting and Eating????

JustJennie13

I just recently stepped into the lifting world. I am currently eating 1668 calories a day and my break down is 55% Carbs, 25% Fat, 20% protein as recommended for proper nutritional needs. I previously did cardio 5 days a week. I have lost sucessfully with this plan but in the past I had very gently waded into the "low weight, high rep" and liked the way my body looked (cardio just doesn't produce that!). I won't say that I am lifting "heavy" I guess it is heavy for me.... I choose weights that I can do 10 reps through 3 sets. For example right now I am benching 95lbs... Anyway... long story short I am looking for more experienced lifters to advise whether the current eating plan is sufficient or if I should adjust? The dietitian I see is very pro-cardio so she isn't exactly helpful when I want to talk about needs for cardio with lifting (provided by the military and is FREE ..... I don't pay for this advice). I have ran my numbers for TDEE what I came up with using lightly active 3x weekly was TDEE - 20% = 1739 so this is not far off from my nutritional needs plan... Diary is open and suggestions are welcome

JTick

At the very least, you'll need to up your protein to a number probably around 30%. I'll let the more experienced help with calorie numbers.

christopherdunne547

Personally I stick with 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight, I often exceed this though. I try to get most of my fats from sources such as nuts and fish, basically sticking to monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. My carb intake is usually highest in the morning with things like oats and then I cut it back later in the day getting most of my carbs from green veg.

Everyone is unique don't be scared to experiment and see what works best for you, if you're endurance training you'll need a lot more carbs than I personally eat, as it's the fuel for your workouts, and I personally don't do cardio very often. Try to stick to whole grain sources though for your carbs

Good luck.

mustgetmuscles1

Not sure how many gram of protein you are getting but 20% might be little low. Might want to try and get at least 100grams/day.

Also you dont seem to have much to lose TDEE-20 might be a bit aggressive. Have you been losing weight with this amount? If so how much.

JustJennie13

Not sure how many gram of protein you are getting but 20% might be little low. Might want to try and get at least 100grams/day.

Also you dont seem to have much to lose TDEE-20 might be a bit aggressive. Have you been losing weight with this amount? If so how much.

I am currently eating about 80 grams of protien a day. I have MFP at custom settings to follow the plan that I am on. According to the site I should be losing about .8 lbs a week... I am 5'9" I currently weigh 167 pounds. I would love to be about 145 but I am now over the numbers on the scale deal... I have the "hour glass figure" and my measurements are 36, 29.5, and 40. Like every other girl I was hung up on numbers. I changed my focus and now I just want to look "sexy" and be healthy.

***** Edit to add **** When first starting my "nutritional needs plan" I started at 1704. After getting under 170 I changed my goals as advised to 1668. The first month I lost 8 pounds and averaged about 2 pounds a week. This has slowed down. I have been on the "nutritional needs plan" for 56 days and have lost 9 pounds.

mustgetmuscles1

Not sure how many gram of protein you are getting but 20% might be little low. Might want to try and get at least 100grams/day.

Also you dont seem to have much to lose TDEE-20 might be a bit aggressive. Have you been losing weight with this amount? If so how much.

I am currently eating about 80 grams of protien a day. I have MFP at custom settings to follow the plan that I am on. According to the site I should be losing about .8 lbs a week... I am 5'9" I currently weigh 167 pounds. I would love to be about 145 but I am now over the numbers on the scale deal... I have the "hour glass figure" and my measurements are 36, 29.5, and 40. Like every other girl I was hung up on numbers. I changed my focus and now I just want to look "sexy" and be healthy.

Sounds like a good plan then. I would still add a little more protein. Along with the strength training it helps preserve muscle. The most common recommendation is 1 gram per pound of lean body weight.

JustJennie13

Not sure how many gram of protein you are getting but 20% might be little low. Might want to try and get at least 100grams/day.

Also you dont seem to have much to lose TDEE-20 might be a bit aggressive. Have you been losing weight with this amount? If so how much.

I am currently eating about 80 grams of protien a day. I have MFP at custom settings to follow the plan that I am on. According to the site I should be losing about .8 lbs a week... I am 5'9" I currently weigh 167 pounds. I would love to be about 145 but I am now over the numbers on the scale deal... I have the "hour glass figure" and my measurements are 36, 29.5, and 40. Like every other girl I was hung up on numbers. I changed my focus and now I just want to look "sexy" and be healthy.

Sounds like a good plan then. I would still add a little more protein. Along with the strength training it helps preserve muscle. The most common recommendation is 1 gram per pound of lean body weight.

Thanks for the advice. I will change my plan from 55% carbs to 50% and Protein from 20% to 25% and give that a go. Since I am not running as much as I was previously I don't believe I will need the extra carbs and I rarely met my macro goal on carbs anyways so maybe I will with this change

WisiPls

if you're trying to put on muscle mass, find your caloric maintenance, then raise your calories 300-500, whichever you feel more comfortable with. Start there, with compound lifts and eating at a caloric surplus you will put on muscle, you can cut away any fat you want later down the road when you're more experienced and have more muscle mass

JustJennie13

Personally I stick with 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight, I often exceed this though. I try to get most of my fats from sources such as nuts and fish, basically sticking to monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. My carb intake is usually highest in the morning with things like oats and then I cut it back later in the day getting most of my carbs from green veg.

Everyone is unique don't be scared to experiment and see what works best for you, if you're endurance training you'll need a lot more carbs than I personally eat, as it's the fuel for your workouts, and I personally don't do cardio very often. Try to stick to whole grain sources though for your carbs

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice.

JustJennie13

At the very least, you'll need to up your protein to a number probably around 30%. I'll let the more experienced help with calorie numbers.

Thank You!

JustJennie13

if you're trying to put on muscle mass, find your caloric maintenance, then raise your calories 300-500, whichever you feel more comfortable with. Start there, with compound lifts and eating at a caloric surplus you will put on muscle, you can cut away any fat you want later down the road when you're more experienced and have more muscle mass

\

I am not trying to gain I would be completely happy with keeping what I have got and being very lean. Thanks for the advice though.

obsidianwings

Personally for macros I follow this
- Your bodyweight in pounds x 1.2-1.5 = Protein per day

- Your bodyweight in pounds x 0.45+ = Fat per day

- Fill the remaining calories up with carbs

As far as cutting goes I usually knock around 300 calories off my TDEE and eat that.

Huffdogg

^^