Calories?

swanke17

Those of you ladies who lift weights...about how many calories do you eat in a day? I know it varies for everyone depending upon the training you are doing and your body. But ball park? I am going to follow the workout here: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/womans_lean_sexy_bible.htm.

And according to this site, my nutrition should be about as follows:

Height: 5' 2"
Weight: 131.5 lbs

Calories: 1578-1841
Protein: 138-161 grams
Carbs: 177-207 grams
Fat: 35-41 grams

What does everyone think? Does this seem reasonable? I am looking to gain muscle/lose fat.

I was thinking about trying to hit about 1650 calories a day. And that would be with lifting/steady state cardio 4x a week and HIIT cardio 2x a week.

Any advice would be great! I'm having a hard time figuring out the food part!

Thanks!

starizzle87

That seems reasonable to me as long as you are meeting approximately the calorie goals on this site. I'd say increase your calories if you are going beyond that goal with your cardio sessions. I would do a normal week of workouts and then look at your total calories burned/Calorie goal ratio

I'm not an expert but from my research if you're serious about gaining muscle to look lean, you have to do it gradually and eat REALLY clean (as little processed foods as possible). The clean eating and the calorie deficit should help you lose fat but what really helps gain muscle is the speed at which you do it + your strength training/lifting sessions + your macronutrient intake ( meet minimum protein requirements with some healthy carbs before workouts).

I would love to hear other people's take on this Thanks for posting!

UpperBodyLowerBody

I'm eating 1400 calories a day with 140g of protein, 108 g carbs and 45 g fat about. I'm trying to cut a good amount of fat though. By eating so much protein, I've found that it is very difficult for me to keep eating anymore. It's so filling, lunch can come and go and I totally forgot because I consume so much protein for breakfast. I am literally shoveling my face with food at night because I failed to reach the caloric goal during the day.

And anybody that says you can't make gains/put on muscle while cutting fat is clueless. I've continuously upped my lifts while on this fat loss plan. I bench more now at 131 than I ever did at 150.

Oh... and I don't really do cardio. I run here and there but never more than 2 miles, and I don't consider it cardio... just staying active on the days I'm resting from lifting since it is only a 20 min run at most.

H: 5'4"
W: 131
GW: 124

starbucksbuzz

That sounds really reasonable. Do some research on your macros though. Check out iifym.com <more in depth calorie calculator than MFP. My problem is I love sweets and working out makes me really ravenous, and if I try to limit what I eat too much I get really hangry. >_> I just try to eat good things first and make sure I have lots of nutrient dense foods around that are high in protein.