Is MFP good for tracking calories while bulking?

moya_rargh

I'm in the middle of a cut at the moment, trying to get below 11st and as close to 10.5st as possible.
After this, I am bulking back up to 13st at a planned rate of gaining at 0.5lbs a week to try and minimise fat gain along with the muscle.

Is MFP as good for calorie tracking while gaining weight as it is while losing it?

GymTennis

Of course it is

moya_rargh

Of course it is

Thanks, that's all I need to know

Please forgive me if my questions seem a little insulting to the intelligence, I've only been using MFP for a month.

GymTennis

You're welcome... Well I only switched to MFP two months ago from loseit.com and some other apps..I don't know what took me so long.. Anyway, just go to my home>goals>change goals ..You can either choose MFP to guide you or you can customize your goals and macros yourself.. Good luck

Barbellgirl

Yep, it's great to make sure you're hitting your calories and the macros you've set up. :drinker:

Sarauk2sf

Already answered - but yes. You just need to set your intake appropriately. I would not use the macro percentages but over-ride and use more specific targets however.

Generally, as a rule of thumb, get at least 1g of protein per lb of LBM but I would suggest to get nearer to 1g per lb of body weight as a CYA. Fats - generally about 0.35g per lb of body weight as a minimum, or between 15 - 25% of total intake. The rest should be geared towards carbs for energy. [Note: these are 'rules of thumb' and may not be optimal based on individual factors].

moya_rargh

Wow, great advice guys!

With regards to macros, I'll be aiming to gain 0.5 lbs a week so a decent protein to fat ratio is what I'm looking at. Cheers for the tip.

PS - Your flat stomachs are tremendous! My battle with my middle-aged spread is only just starting to tip in my favour, but I'm not quitting!

Barbellgirl

Well we both have several years on you so if we can do it, you can too! Wishing you the best! :drinker:

moya_rargh

Well we both have several years on you so if we can do it, you can too! Wishing you the best! :drinker:

Yearse! That's just given me a huge dose of hope I feel past it at 39 most days hehe!

Sarauk2sf

Wow, great advice guys!

With regards to macros, I'll be aiming to gain 0.5 lbs a week so a decent protein to fat ratio is what I'm looking at. Cheers for the tip.

PS - Your flat stomachs are tremendous! My battle with my middle-aged spread is only just starting to tip in my favour, but I'm not quitting!

Thank you. You can get there. I gained quite a bit of weight due to illness and resulting inattention, crappy energy levels and other shiz when I was in my early 40s. I started on here a bit before my 45th birthday. It took about a year to get down to a BF% I was happy with, and since then have done a bulk, a cut and am now starting another bulk. It's a process. The trick is to make it as fun as possible.

moya_rargh

Wow, great advice guys!

With regards to macros, I'll be aiming to gain 0.5 lbs a week so a decent protein to fat ratio is what I'm looking at. Cheers for the tip.

PS - Your flat stomachs are tremendous! My battle with my middle-aged spread is only just starting to tip in my favour, but I'm not quitting!

Thank you. You can get there. I gained quite a bit of weight due to illness and resulting inattention, crappy energy levels and other shiz when I was in my early 40s. I started on here a bit before my 45th birthday. It took about a year to get down to a BF% I was happy with, and since then have done a bulk, a cut and am now starting another bulk. It's a process. The trick is to make it as fun as possible.

I was in decent shape and was in a car crash in 2008 when a car pulled out of a side road without looking. I went into the windscreen and knackered my shoulder. I couldn't train at all and the weight piled on - my then partner didn't help either as she didn't train and liked her 'relationship creature comforts.'

I was at my worst in 2010 and I decided to shame myself into actin by taking a phot of myself with my top off, fat exposed. I've been gradually training (frustrating at first as I had to train lightly for months after physio) and hitting it hard again this year. My photo on my profile shows the change from June 2010 to this week, and how much fat I still have to get off my waist before my abs show.

This year, a relationship breakup, my impending 40s and a woman I liked severing all ties with me due to being that offended at the thought of me fancying her have caused me to 'opt out' of that side of things completely and work on improving my shape as much as I can.

I'm loving this place, I wish that I'd have discovered it earlier.

NRBreit

I actually find MFP even more useful for bulking than weight loss. I'm usually way under on cals when I try to guesstimate the 3,000-3,500 cals you'll consistently need on a bulk. On a side note, I find it easier to use the TDEE method and not have varying calories and macros every day. It helps with planning so you're not always chasing a moving calorie number. But MFP works great for that too - just set up custom goals for protein/carb/fat ratios and then zero out your exercise cals if you log exercise. Good luck!

JoRocka

I actually find MFP even more useful for bulking than weight loss. I'm usually way under on cals when I try to guesstimate the 3,000-3,500 cals you'll consistently need on a bulk. On a side note, I find it easier to use the TDEE method and not have varying calories and macros every day. It helps with planning so you're not always chasing a moving calorie number. But MFP works great for that too - just set up custom goals for protein/carb/fat ratios and then zero out your exercise cals if you log exercise. Good luck!

this. helps me plan better if I've been low one day or knowing I'm going to have a heavy day the next day. Easy to balance out if I have an actual ball park what I am eating.

moya_rargh

Thanks, folks. So how does this TDEE thing work?

Sarauk2sf

Thanks, folks. So how does this TDEE thing work?

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): The number of calories you burn at complete rest.
EAT (Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): Caloric requirements of training, or training expenditure.
NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis): Caloric requirements of activity that is not planned exercise. Vacuuming, driving, brushing your teeth, for example.
TEF/DIT (Thermic Effect of Feeding or Diet Induced Thermogenesis): Caloric expense of eating/digestion.
TDEE: (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) = Sum of the above. BMR+EAT+NEAT+TEF



TL;DR: it's your maintenance calories - i.e. how many you would eat to stay at the same weight.

89nunu

here are lots of tdee calculators on the web. My go to one is scoobysworkshop.com, you pop in all your stats and it gives you an estimate. But of course it's just a calculation, so you watch what's happening and tweek it accordingly