Should i eat a lot?

fightdem

Hey guys,

I'm 18 years old, my height is 175 cm and i weight 62 kg atm. As you now, i'm still a teenager and they say this is my prime time to eat a lot and exercise. But, i'm still scared about getting fat because of my past. I was overweight as a kid, because i eat a lot like they say and end up getting fat (it's my fault, because i eat junk food). And so, should i eat a lot again to gain muscle and be healthy? Can i just eat my rda of protein and just stay on my maintanence calorie just to get the muscle and avoid fat? Thanks before.

verhunzt

Heck yeah you can eat maintenance to tone up. Though you should try to eat back at least half of your exercise calories. If you find yourself losing weight - increase your intake. See how it goes, how you feel.
Take it slow, you don't have to eat 3000 calories right on in order to build muscle. Listen to your body, if it needs more fuel, give it more fuel. I wish you the best.

SideSteel

Hey guys,

I'm 18 years old, my height is 175 cm and i weight 62 kg atm. As you now, i'm still a teenager and they say this is my prime time to eat a lot and exercise. But, i'm still scared about getting fat because of my past. I was overweight as a kid, because i eat a lot like they say and end up getting fat (it's my fault, because i eat junk food). And so, should i eat a lot again to gain muscle and be healthy? Can i just eat my rda of protein and just stay on my maintanence calorie just to get the muscle and avoid fat? Thanks before.

What are your goals?

fightdem

Verhunzt : Thanks for the reply !

Sidesteel : I'm trying to get some muscle, but not too big like a heavyweight fighter. Basicly like getting more lean, while adding more muscle

SideSteel

See here's the tricky thing: The advice I'm going to give you is not going to be easy to hear since it basically goes against the way you're currently wired up given that you were once overweight.

You are 18 years old. You are quite low body-weight for your height. Given these factors, and assuming you are relatively new to weight training, it's really in your best interest to do what you can to try to cope with the idea of gaining small amounts of fat so that you take advantage of the previously mentioned factors (age, weight, training experience) and get a nice foundation of muscle mass.

Get on a solid resistance training program based primarily around compound movements like the bench press, squat, deadlift, etc. Choose a pre-written program such as Starting Strength or All-Pros (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843)

I'd suggest setting your protein intake somewhere in the neighborhood of 1g/lb LBM and your fats anywhere in the .35-.5g/lb bodyweight, fill the rest of your diet with carbohydrate up to a small caloric surplus such that you gain somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 4lbs/month. 2 if you're going bananas over fat gain, 4 if you learn to accept some extra fat in order to maximize growth (I should note that the only reason I'm recommending 4 as a ceiling would be my assumption about your age and training experience -- you should have greater growth potential than an intermediate or advanced athlete).

Read this first:
http://www.jcdfitness.com/2009/10/the-former-fat-boy-syndrome/

Also read these:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Now finally, to answer your question of "could I just eat the RDA in protein and eat at maintenance"

I don't think it's optimal or even a good idea, but yeah you could do that. If you train intelligently you'll still make progress but you would be limiting the rate of progress.

You get out what you put in with respect to your training and diet. Now this doesn't mean you need to do everything perfect -- there's validity in the idea that "optimal" depends entirely on the individual and his or her preferences, lifestyle, etc. You may simply not be in a place mentally where you are ready to intentionally gain weight.

The above post in it's entirety is intended to point you in the right direction when you are ready to do so.

fightdem

See here's the tricky thing: The advice I'm going to give you is not going to be easy to hear since it basically goes against the way you're currently wired up given that you were once overweight.

You are 18 years old. You are quite low body-weight for your height. Given these factors, and assuming you are relatively new to weight training, it's really in your best interest to do what you can to try to cope with the idea of gaining small amounts of fat so that you take advantage of the previously mentioned factors (age, weight, training experience) and get a nice foundation of muscle mass.

Get on a solid resistance training program based primarily around compound movements like the bench press, squat, deadlift, etc. Choose a pre-written program such as Starting Strength or All-Pros (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843)

I'd suggest setting your protein intake somewhere in the neighborhood of 1g/lb LBM and your fats anywhere in the .35-.5g/lb bodyweight, fill the rest of your diet with carbohydrate up to a small caloric surplus such that you gain somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 4lbs/month. 2 if you're going bananas over fat gain, 4 if you learn to accept some extra fat in order to maximize growth (I should note that the only reason I'm recommending 4 as a ceiling would be my assumption about your age and training experience -- you should have greater growth potential than an intermediate or advanced athlete).

Read this first:
http://www.jcdfitness.com/2009/10/the-former-fat-boy-syndrome/

Also read these:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Now finally, to answer your question of "could I just eat the RDA in protein and eat at maintenance"

I don't think it's optimal or even a good idea, but yeah you could do that. If you train intelligently you'll still make progress but you would be limiting the rate of progress.

You get out what you put in with respect to your training and diet. Now this doesn't mean you need to do everything perfect -- there's validity in the idea that "optimal" depends entirely on the individual and his or her preferences, lifestyle, etc. You may simply not be in a place mentally where you are ready to intentionally gain weight.

The above post in it's entirety is intended to point you in the right direction when you are ready to do so.

Thanks a lot for the info, it really helps ! I didn't know i have a former fat boy syndrom xD