How many calories should my husband be eating?

QuietBloom

Completely off-topic, but what kind of animal is this? It's driving me nuts and Google isn't working on my computer (actually isn't, no joke).

ETA: Glad I'm not the only one baffled!

aHA! It's a binturong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binturong

QuietBloom

Why isn't he doing this himself?

Because he doesn't have an MFP account? Like I said, he doesn't log yet. What the hell difference does it make in reference to this very simple question?

How does he know how much he is eating then? Are you measuring out all his portions for all of his meals?

He doesn't. That's why I asked this question - to give him a place to start.

I think people are asking because generally speaking someone who doesn't have the gumption to figure this stuff out for themselves rarely has the gumption to actually follow through with the actual work. Bulking is no easy task and I think people are just generally wondering what his level of dedication is to the process if his wife is the one figuring out what his intake should be, etc.

Ding ding ding

we have a winner :bigsmile:

Oh man. Why do the cops always have to show up?? This is why we can't have nice things.

JoRocka

Completely off-topic, but what kind of animal is this? It's driving me nuts and Google isn't working on my computer (actually isn't, no joke).

ETA: Glad I'm not the only one baffled!

so sad I can't see.

But I see someone said it's a chubacabra- that's good enough for me

TavistockToad

My husband is trying to gain a bit (but won't put much effort into counting or anything) so I just work on the basis of 'more'. He has full fat milk, a couple of slices of bread with his dinner, high calorie cereal bars, cheese as a snack, stuff like that... It's a bit tricky when I am on a cut, but I just heap up his portions!

ndj1979

are you planning on hand feeding him the excess calories?

ndj1979

Why isn't he doing this himself?

Because he doesn't have an MFP account? Like I said, he doesn't log yet. What the hell difference does it make in reference to this very simple question?

How does he know how much he is eating then? Are you measuring out all his portions for all of his meals?

He doesn't. That's why I asked this question - to give him a place to start.

ohhhhh I get it ...you want him to bulk up, but he really does not want to .....sounds like you are trying to change him...interesting..not satisfied with the finished product, are we?

Rottnme

I've thought about this long and hard and the answer is 42.

mccindy72

I've thought about this long and hard and the answer is 420.

FIFY

lisajsund

Gaining weight has never been a problem for me, to say the least, so I have no experience with this. My husband is 24, 5'9", and about 155 lbs. He lifts four days per week; no cardio.

According to my calculations, his BMR is 1685 and his TDEE is 2390. He wants to bulk, so he has upped his calorie intake and protein (1 g per lb of body weight), but he doesn't log. I'm just trying to give him a starting point.

If I add 15%, that's a little under 2800 calories per day. He just doesn't want to put on weight so fast that he just puts on extra fat. Any advice would be awesome.

Did they measure with skinfold calipers or a handheld device that measures it electronically? Caliper testing is not always accurate, but can be within 2% if done correctly.

What is his BF% Do you know it? I'm calculating his BMR at 1746. I found my TDEE was actually low on the IIFYM website.

The trainer at the gym checked his BF% a few months ago and it showed up as 4%. I think that sounds really low and I'm not convinced that's accurate, but he hasn't had it checked since. He's naturally slim, but not scrawny or bony by any means. Any number I give would be a guess, so I just won't.

lisajsund

Gaining weight has never been a problem for me, to say the least, so I have no experience with this. My husband is 24, 5'9", and about 155 lbs. He lifts four days per week; no cardio.

According to my calculations, his BMR is 1685 and his TDEE is 2390. He wants to bulk, so he has upped his calorie intake and protein (1 g per lb of body weight), but he doesn't log. I'm just trying to give him a starting point.

If I add 15%, that's a little under 2800 calories per day. He just doesn't want to put on weight so fast that he just puts on extra fat. Any advice would be awesome.

Did they measure with skinfold calipers or a handheld device that measures it electronically? Caliper testing is not always accurate, but can be within 2% if done correctly.

What is his BF% Do you know it? I'm calculating his BMR at 1746. I found my TDEE was actually low on the IIFYM website.

The trainer at the gym checked his BF% a few months ago and it showed up as 4%. I think that sounds really low and I'm not convinced that's accurate, but he hasn't had it checked since. He's naturally slim, but not scrawny or bony by any means. Any number I give would be a guess, so I just won't.

Whoops - double post.

Ask him how it was measured and we'll go from there. Or post a pic and we can try to tell from the pic.

_lyndseybrooke_

ohhhhh I get it ...you want him to bulk up, but he really does not want to .....sounds like you are trying to change him...interesting..not satisfied with the finished product, are we?

Uh, no. I couldn't care less if he got bigger. It's him that wants this. You'd know that if you read my previous post where I say he's been at the gym four days a week for the past 8 months. I can't exactly force him to do that.

I don't know why it's so hard for you to imagine someone not having an MFP account or not being the type to participate in forums like this. Can I not ask a question for him without being accused of wanting to control him or change him? I'm impressed that you seem to know so much about my marriage just from this one thread - are you a clairvoyant or something?

Feel free to move on if you can't help yourself from being an *kitten*.

Chadomaniac

2800 is a fine starting point for 5'9 155 and lifting without cardio.

Yeah


He can use this as a base then work out where to go from there by monitoring what happens to his weight at 2800 cals

SonicDeathMonkey80

I dare my future wife to ask the internet how much she should be feeding me.

_lyndseybrooke_

Jesus, people. I came here to ask a simple question about calorie intake for weight gain, not for a lecture. Doesn't everyone start somewhere? He's been doing a lot of research on his own, but I mentioned to him that he needs to start logging his calories so he knows how much he's eating. He asked me how many calories he should be shooting for and, of course, I had no clue. Hence the question. That's it.

He was big in high school (muscular, not fat) and never counted a single calorie. All he did was take a weightlifting class. So now, at 24, he's realizing it's not as easy as it was when he was 16. He's been working out 4 days per week without fail for the past 8 months, so the gumption is there. He's just not used to worrying about how much he's eating. He's gained 10 lbs and everyone tells him he's gotten bigger, but he's impatient and wants results faster than he's getting them.

Also, plenty of people manage to bulk without logging calories. MFP is not the end-all, be-all and it's not for everyone. My husband just isn't the type of person to log on to some app and input all of his food for the day. And he certainly isn't a forum type of person. Counting calories is a habit he simply doesn't have, so it'll take some time for him to be comfortable with it, if he ever does.

This is absolutely ridiculous...

Then why does it matter how many calories he should be eating? If he isn't going to track exactly then he doesn't need an exact number. He will just have to do trial and error until he figures it out.

Where did I say that he wasn't going to start? The section of my post you bolded certainly doesn't say that. He's planning on starting to count. I'm simply saying it may not stick. But that's his problem, not something for anyone here to worry about.

I'll say it one more time: I'm just getting a number to give him as a starting point. What he does with this information is up to him. No advice necessary unless it's answering my actual question.

So go use an online calorie calculator.

If you don't want people's opinions, don't start a public thread. It's 2014. You know how the internet works. It would have taken you 5 seconds to figure it out without anyone saying a word.

Once again, I'll repeat myself. He found out his BMR and TDEE online, but I asked this question here because I didn't know what percentage of his TDEE to add for weight gain. I'm only familiar with weight loss, and I didn't know whether or not it was the same 15-20%.

Excuse me for coming onto a forum for help. How dare I do something like that?

sassyjae21

I dare my future wife to ask the internet how much she should be feeding me.

Or you could just feed yourself

_lyndseybrooke_

I dare my future wife to ask the internet how much she should be feeding me.

What the hell? I don't count his calories for him, nor do I monitor what he eats or "feed him". What is with you people?

SonicDeathMonkey80

I dare my future wife to ask the internet how much she should be feeding me.

Or you could just feed yourself

That is too empowering. Will you feed me instead?

SonicDeathMonkey80

I dare my future wife to ask the internet how much she should be feeding me.

What the hell? I don't count his calories for him, nor do I monitor what he eats or "feed him". What is with you people?

mccindy72

I dare my future wife to ask the internet how much she should be feeding me.

What the hell? I don't count his calories for him, nor do I monitor what he eats or "feed him". What is with you people?

but that is how it comes across when you are the one asking these questions for him, and then that he can't be bothered to count calories for himself. You can ask all day long, but if he isn't willing to do the work or log, it's pretty pointless for you to know and him not to do it. Hence all the ridicule.