HELP! Strength Training after weightloss goal reached

sammie121403

For the past year, I have been counting cals and lost all the weight I wanted. My progress is a 2 phase one...Phase 1, lose weight, phase 2 tone and get lean. I have lost 60.2 pounds and was down to 1300 cals a day as per MFP, and it worked fine for me.

Now that I am at weight goal, i want to get lean and toned. I do Circuit Training 1-2 times a week, and have been since about mid year. I also do plenty of cardio, running, spin class, etc. But I know that I need to make adjustments to start to build up my muscle and continue to burn fat.

I am worried that if i up calories, i will gain weight. Now, I know that the scale may show a gain while i could be building muscle and burning off fat, but counting calories to lose weight was easy and I am seeing that building muscle will be so much different.

My BMR is 1419 and TDEE is 2200. Should I eat at one of these and not log cals burned and not eat them back? I know i need more protein and carbs after workouts, I got that part down, but the part that is confusing is calories needed to intake to build muscle....anyone have experience or advice!!! Thanks in advance!


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jseals121403

Another question to consider for the weight lifting gurus who may respond. We have both been at 1300-1400ish calories for 6+ months now. Our metabolism probably has already adjusted so our TDEE is much lower right? Im sure over time we need to up our intake but are nervous about jumping to our calculated TDEE+10% like most sites say as we would basically double our intake all at once. Thanks in advance everyone!

Makoce

Bump because Im in the same boat.

savlov30

Have you heard of Amenzone??? They have a dvd out that you may want to use. It is amazing workout.

The_Enginerd

My BMR is 1419 and TDEE is 2200. Should I eat at one of these and not log cals burned and not eat them back?

There are a couple of different ways to approach the calorie goal. One is to use the MFP calorie goal and then log your exercise calories. The MFP calorie goal should be between your BMR and TDEE to account for your NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenis, aka your normal daily activity). Your BMR is what you would burn if you literally sat still all day.

If your workout routine is more regular, you can use the TDEE approach where you already account for your exercise. In this case, you do not count your exercise calories. A lot of people who go this route log their exercises as 1 calorie so it does not mess with their calorie goals but it still allows them to track what they did (MFP will not allow you to enter 0 calories for an exercise).

Which you decide on is up to you. I was doing frequent work travel that affected how much exercise I could do, so I stuck with the MFP method of counting and eating exercise calories. Some people like the simplicity of the TDEE approach since your calorie goal doesn't vary everyday. Either way, you will end up eating the same amount. In your case, about 2300 calories.

I know i need more protein and carbs after workouts, I got that part down, but the part that is confusing is calories needed to intake to build muscle....anyone have experience or advice!!! Thanks in advance!

You do not need to eat protein and carbs after a workout for building muscle. Nutrient timing is basically irrelevant for most people. Eat your meals to fit your satiety and workout performance and get enough protein overall (1 gram/lb of lean body mass). I personally find my energy is better if I eat some sugar/carbs an hour or two beforehand.

There are two way to about losing fat and gaining muscle. One is to eat at maintenance while doing strength training to do a recomposition. You will slowly gain muscle and lose fat. The other approach is to bulk/cut. Bulking and cutting is faster, but some people prefer the recomp approach because they don't like putting on fat during a bulk. During the bulking phase, you put on muscle AND fat, then you lose the fat during the cutting phase while maintaining your muscle as much as possible. At the end, you end the same weight, but with more muscle and less fat. I personally am going the bulking and cutting approach.

Since you are just starting weight training and still haven't worked on maintenance, I would recommend beginning with a recomp, figuring out what your maintenance calories are, and taking advantage of newbie gains in muscle.

The_Enginerd

Another question to consider for the weight lifting gurus who may respond. We have both been at 1300-1400ish calories for 6+ months now. Our metabolism probably has already adjusted so our TDEE is much lower right? Im sure over time we need to up our intake but are nervous about jumping to our calculated TDEE+10% like most sites say as we would basically double our intake all at once. Thanks in advance everyone!

Not necessarily, and if it is lower, it won't be drastically lower. If you take your average intake (given you've been logging accurately) and weight loss over the past month, you should be able to figure out pretty close what your TDEE is at this point given that a 500 calorie a day deficit gives a 1 lb/week weight loss.

You can start by adding 100 calories/day every week until you start maintaining your weight. This will be easier than trying to jump in all at once and doubling your intake.

TDEE+10% would be the intake for bulking period with bulking/cutting. Like I said in my previous post, I would get to your TDEE first and stay there until you've worn out your newbie gains. Then at that point, you can decide if you'd prefer to stay with the recomp or move to bulking/cutting.

The_Enginerd

One more thing, you said you are currently doing circuit training. This is high rep, low weight, muscle endurance training. If you looking to put on muscle mass, move to a program with heavier weights/lower reps.

Stronglifts, Allpro, Starting Strength, and NROL/NROL4W are all popular programs.