What should i be eating?

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vickipower84
vickipower84 Posts: 3
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I am looking to drop my body fat down and tone up/gain muscle and have been told i need to put on weight and therefore eat more in order to do so - around 2300 cals per day. Am really struggling to eat that much! Any tips on what to eat? I don't want to just gain for the sake of it; i am not underweight, nor do I have an eating disorder, so don't want to just eat crap...i am lifting weights with a workout designed for me, with kettlebells, body weight exercises etc. thanks!

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  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Which is your goal, to drop body fat or to build muscle. You will not accomplish either very well if you attempt to do both at once. The answer to your question will largely depend on what you really wish to focus on.
  • vickipower84
    vickipower84 Posts: 3
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    Thanks vismal, primary aim is to drop body fat %, currently 22 would ideally like to bring this down to under 20...
  • F00LofaT00K
    F00LofaT00K Posts: 688 Member
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    I'll let somebody else chime in with the details on building muscle since I'm not familiar with lifting, but to drop BF% most effectively, you should be eating at a small caloric deficit and begin a weight lifting regimen to retain the muscle you already have. If you're using the muscle you already have and eating a small deficit, you will not lose much muscle as you drop weight. It will be primarily fat. The larger your deficit, the more muscle you will lose along with the fat. Make sure you are getting between .8g-1g of protein per pound of lean body mass (LBM) to feed the muscle you have while losing fat. You will need at least a decent estimate of your current BF% to figure out your LBM. If your BF% is 30%, then 70% of your weight is LBM.

    Once you are at an appropriate BF%, you should increase your intake of calories and start a lifting regimen. This is where I don't know the details. I have no idea how much protein to eat during, how large your calorie surplus should be, etc. Hopefully somebody else comes along to help you out!
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    I'll let somebody else chime in with the details on building muscle since I'm not familiar with lifting, but to drop BF% most effectively, you should be eating at a small caloric deficit and begin a weight lifting regimen to retain the muscle you already have. If you're using the muscle you already have and eating a small deficit, you will not lose much muscle as you drop weight. It will be primarily fat. The larger your deficit, the more muscle you will lose along with the fat. Make sure you are getting between .8g-1g of protein per pound of lean body mass (LBM) to feed the muscle you have while losing fat. You will need at least a decent estimate of your current BF% to figure out your LBM. If your BF% is 30%, then 70% of your weight is LBM.

    Once you are at an appropriate BF%, you should increase your intake of calories and start a lifting regimen. This is where I don't know the details. I have no idea how much protein to eat during, how large your calorie surplus should be, etc. Hopefully somebody else comes along to help you out!

    Fairly accurate; last year I dropped 22 pounds from February thru end of September; BF went from 30 to 21.7; LBM dropped two pounds. I ate at a deficit of 15%, then the last 3 months about 10%, had 4 weight plateaus(no movement of BW for 3 weeks), and ate 100-120 grams of protein, on average each day. Be patient, the trend over time is more important then a day or week. Feb thru June cardio 3x's a week, slowly incorporated free weights and machines from June thru Sept and some swimming. Hope this helps.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    protein in large amounts. some fat. carbs. minimal sweets snacks junk food just so you can stay the course.
  • iriemama85
    iriemama85 Posts: 6 Member
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    Avocados, peanut butter, almond butter, nuts in general are good source of protein/fat. Also eggs, whole milk, cheese and butter.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    Avocados, peanut butter, almond butter, nuts in general are good source of protein/fat. Also eggs, whole milk, cheese and butter.

    If you take the word protein out the first sentence you have a strong first sentence first post. Traditionally the items you listed are good sources of fat...period.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    so don't want to just eat crap
    Don't eat out of the toilet and you'll do fine.
    No, seriously; you'll see a lot of people with 'shredded' bodies regularly eating ice cream and all sorts of similar things.

    The only 'crap' is people trying to divide foods up like that :).

    As above, generally you will get quickest/best results having separate 'bulking' and 'cutting' phases.

    Bulking to gain muscle. Cutting to lose fat.
    Doing both at once will generally lead to doing neither well.

    First I would decide on the calories you need for your bulk/cut.
    Then protein - about 1g/lb of lean body weight when cutting and a bit less when bulking - just looked it up and I got a chunk over that most of the time, but I also get *loads* of carbs too, so not too worried (564g of carbs today, I've hit my protein target and have 900 calories left to eat :) )
    On a cut, I wouldn't worry TOO much about fat/protein ratios. With a calorie surplus, I would try and limit fat to some degree.
  • earthboundmisfit
    earthboundmisfit Posts: 192 Member
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    I would try eating nuts and nut butters, they have concentrated calories, good fats (especially walnuts) and protein. They'll help you increase muscle weight and almonds have calcium, too. It's a pretty nutritious way to add calories.
  • vickipower84
    vickipower84 Posts: 3
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    Thanks everyone!
  • Jashaleysmummy
    Jashaleysmummy Posts: 3
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    I lost nearly 2 stone 2 years ago and just started running...I always go to weight watchers meeting as I'm at goal and I've started slowly putting weight on and my leaders advice was "eat high pointed stuff" and told me to eat cake....bounes!
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    I would try eating nuts and nut butters, they have concentrated calories, good fats (especially walnuts) and protein. They'll help you increase muscle weight and almonds have calcium, too. It's a pretty nutritious way to add calories.
    How will they help over other forms of protein?
    To build muscle you need, that I know - protein and carbs.
    Fat is more about regulating your hormones and so on.

    From what I've seen nuts and nut butters don't have that high levels of protein ( I don't like nuts, so it's not been of concern to me. )

    Apart from trans fat, there is no 'bad fat' as far as I'm aware?

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