Losing weight / gaining muscle - female

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2

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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    You're talking 1200-1300 a day net, right?

    nope....
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
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    Can i ask - do you all have a cheat meal?
    All the people i have trained with havea cheat meal - will this be detremental? They all seem to work well with this....

    What are your thoughts on this?

    Thank you

    Be careful with a cheat meal or a cheat day. It can bump your weekly deficit right up to maintenance or a surplus.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Can i ask - do you all have a cheat meal?
    All the people i have trained with havea cheat meal - will this be detremental? They all seem to work well with this....

    What are your thoughts on this?

    Thank you

    Be careful with a cheat meal or a cheat day. It can bump your weekly deficit right up to maintenance or a surplus.

    the OP has 9lb left to lose and a daily deficit of over 900cals... i dont think that's going to be a problem, or thats one HELL of a cheat meal!!!!!
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
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    Can i ask - do you all have a cheat meal?
    All the people i have trained with havea cheat meal - will this be detremental? They all seem to work well with this....

    What are your thoughts on this?

    Thank you

    Be careful with a cheat meal or a cheat day. It can bump your weekly deficit right up to maintenance or a surplus.

    the OP has 9lb left to lose and a daily deficit of over 900cals... i dont think that's going to be a problem, or thats one HELL of a cheat meal!!!!!

    You never know what one's cheat meal might consist of.

    And with only 9lbs to lose, why such a large deficit?
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    You're talking 1200-1300 a day net, right?

    nope....

    louie.gif.pagespeed.ce.OGOzv0j_cM.gif
  • toshie333
    toshie333 Posts: 295 Member
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    To ensure I still lose with cheat meal?

    In theory, 400 cal in the bank per day for cheat, 500 cal for loss.
    Even if I was to eat 3000 cals on cheat meal i should still lose as I banked the 500 cals a day on top.

    Perhaps I'm wrong- just tryin to suss out the best way :-)
    Thank you
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    Everyone is telling you and I will repeat. Your daily deficit is to big. Not only will you NOT gain muscle you will probably lose some.

    Adding one "cheat" day can balance weight change but not body composition. That one day of surplus will be stored as energy and will not undo the lean body mass loss.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Can i ask - do you all have a cheat meal?
    All the people i have trained with havea cheat meal - will this be detremental? They all seem to work well with this....

    What are your thoughts on this?

    Thank you

    Be careful with a cheat meal or a cheat day. It can bump your weekly deficit right up to maintenance or a surplus.

    the OP has 9lb left to lose and a daily deficit of over 900cals... i dont think that's going to be a problem, or thats one HELL of a cheat meal!!!!!

    Meh. I can easily eat 1500-2000 in one sitting at dinner. Given the typical likely hood to underestimate calories eaten and over estimate calories burned- it's not unreasonable to see a cheat meal throwing your weekly average off.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    Can i ask - do you all have a cheat meal?
    All the people i have trained with havea cheat meal - will this be detremental? They all seem to work well with this....

    What are your thoughts on this?

    Thank you

    Be careful with a cheat meal or a cheat day. It can bump your weekly deficit right up to maintenance or a surplus.

    the OP has 9lb left to lose and a daily deficit of over 900cals... i dont think that's going to be a problem, or thats one HELL of a cheat meal!!!!!

    Meh. I can easily eat 1500-2000 in one sitting at dinner. Given the typical likely hood to underestimate calories eaten and over estimate calories burned- it's not unreasonable to see a cheat meal throwing your weekly average off.
    Same here. To me, that's all the more reason to figure out what your TDEE is exactly (including exercise) through a month's logging/measuring and weighing. Then (if I were trying to lose 9 pounds) I'd take 250 off the top of that, and use that as my calorie goal, and I wouldn't do a "cheat meal/day". But then I also wouldn't go nuts if I went over my calories every so often either. Easy for me to say though, since I'm not actively trying to cut fat right now.
  • toshie333
    toshie333 Posts: 295 Member
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    so is this still correct if i want to lose body fat % and gain some muscle through weights?
    I am aiming for that lean muscular look....
  • toshie333
    toshie333 Posts: 295 Member
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    Im slightly confused between weight loss & gaining muscle vs changing body composition.....

    I want to drop body fat and gain some lean muscle. is this possible how i am training?
    I thought i would lose fat anyway through heavy lifting as it requires calories to fix them once torn etc.
    Should i be dropping the fat first then building the muscle after?
    Ive heard that doing both at the same time is one of the hardest hence why im eating at a defecit. (although im not sure i trust such a big number!)

    3 sessions of HIIT x 20-25 min.

    Not sure if i should be doing 3-4 full body weight lifting sessions or split upper/lower?

    I am eating at a defecit to drop fat. apparently my TDEE is 2190 (however this is a scary number)
    BMR around 1350-1400.


    Currently weigh 132lb.
    female. 24 years. 5.4ft

    Protein is high (as in 150g a day)
    Fat is about 50g
    Carbs under 60g...
    around 1200 cals eating clean.

    Thank you all again !!!
  • kerrence88
    kerrence88 Posts: 5
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    1200 calories is way too little with all that exercise. I would personally increase your calories to about 1600 which would leave you with a net of 1200-1300. You need to fuel your body properly to be able to build muscle. I am currently in Stage 6 of The New Rules of Lifting for Women and I have lost fat and built muscle while eating 1600-1800 calories a day.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    Im slightly confused between weight loss & gaining muscle vs changing body composition.....

    I want to drop body fat and gain some lean muscle. is this possible how i am training?
    I thought i would lose fat anyway through heavy lifting as it requires calories to fix them once torn etc.
    Should i be dropping the fat first then building the muscle after?
    Ive heard that doing both at the same time is one of the hardest hence why im eating at a defecit. (although im not sure i trust such a big number!)

    3 sessions of HIIT x 20-25 min.

    Not sure if i should be doing 3-4 full body weight lifting sessions or split upper/lower?

    I am eating at a defecit to drop fat. apparently my TDEE is 2190 (however this is a scary number)
    BMR around 1350-1400.


    Currently weigh 132lb.
    female. 24 years. 5.4ft

    Protein is high (as in 150g a day)
    Fat is about 50g
    Carbs under 60g...
    around 1200 cals eating clean.

    Thank you all again !!!
    "Eating clean" doesn't matter. Your macronutrients and total calories are what matters when dealing with body recomposition.

    Protein and fat sound fine. There's no need to restrict your carbs so low. You need some to fuel your workouts. You won't get as strong if you can't lift as much! Your body will be just fine keeping your energy level low too, so that you're too pooped to destroy it too much.

    Dropping the fat first (while preserving muscle mass) and then building muscle after is usually the most efficient way it's done. You won't be gaining muscle on such a deficit. If you're in that much of a deficit, your body will just sacrifice that muscle tissue and not expend the energy and raw materials to repair it. This has the added "benefit" (from your body's self-preservation perspective) of lowering your BMR. More calories it can devote to protecting things like brain, heart, and other organs.

    You will gain some water if this workout routine or this level of intensity is new to you.

    The workout split won't affect your body recomp. Only losing fat will do that.

    TL;DR: workout sounds fine, macros sound fine except for carbs, eat slightly more calories (1600-1800) and have more patience.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Do you follow the recommendations mfp gave you? In my case the amount of calories where way to low. I took two weeks to find my basal metabolic rate and subtracted 500 cals. If you don't loose or gain any weight on 1700 cals the 1200 cals you chose should work just fine.
    I'm not a huge fan of low carb because I think you're losing to much strength in the process. If you don't have any negative experience with it, go ahead. As long as you consume less calories than your body needs to maintain weight you'll lose weight, no matter what you eat.
    As for your workouts, definitely keep lifting heavy. I don't know why people suddenly switch to small weights when they want to cut.
    Additionally heavy weights will definitely favor fat oxidation due to an elevated metabolism.

    EDIT: You don't even need to do HIIT, consume less calories than your body needs and you'll loose weight. If you want to eat mor however, HIIT is a good thing because it will get you "extra calories to consume". ;D

    I think you mean TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Your BMR is your baseline caloric needs - the absolute minimum you need to eat to survive.
  • rkquade
    rkquade Posts: 17
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    Check out the 6 Week Shortcut to Shred plan on Bodybuilding.com. I followed the plan pretty closely for 6 weeks and dropped bodyfat and am more defined and I never ate less than 1,800 calories a day. The plan is macro based, so sounds like the plan you are looking for to lose the fat and gain muscle.
  • Rogiefreida
    Rogiefreida Posts: 567 Member
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    OP, check out Jamie Eason's Livefit trainer on Bodybuilding.com. She lays out a very specific mealplan aimed at exactly what your goals are. I started it 9 days ago along with her lifting program. Not saying you need to follow her program, but her nutrition recommendations fit the goals you've described (they're my goals as well). I find that it fits my macros perfectly and is a really good guideline for someone still learning about nutrition like myself. It's got a great 12 week lifting plan as well. Worth checking out anyhoo.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    I think you mean TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Your BMR is your baseline caloric needs - the absolute minimum you need to eat to survive.
    Yep, we caught that on page 1.
  • AmmeJayne2
    AmmeJayne2 Posts: 26
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    This is what i am trying to do, tone up as well as losing weight.
    You gotta remember your weight will go up and down a little bit.
    Have you thought about doing these challenges that you can do?
    More protein in your diet will also help a lot too

    xx
  • mantium999
    mantium999 Posts: 1,490 Member
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    To the OP, a quick question to help the folks around here give you better guidance. Per your posting history, you have been defending your choice of eating between 1200-1300 calories per day, while you are constantly being given the advice to up your calorie intake, since July of 2012. So, out of curiosity, in the last 18 months how much weight have you lost? You didn't have much to lose to begin with, so if you are not close to your target by now, maybe you need to reassess your plan rather than seeking validation of it?

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