Counting calories and gaining muscle

keetes5468

So basically I want to loose weight and gain muscle, I have researched a lot into Whey Protein Shakes and I will be purchasing some on my next pay day! Although by figuring out the calories etc in them (I know there's not too many) I will be going over my calorie allowance for the day! I am currently on 1,200 a day so is it wise for me to increase my daily calories so I can have my protein shakes or do something else entirely?! I don't want to increase my calorie intake if this means I won't be loosing weight - am I just fighting a loosing battle?!

I'm just not really sure what I should do, I want to have muscle and be toned and not be ''just skinny'', I also know the more muscle I have the fat gets burned through out the day a lot more.

Any advice will be appreciated and sorry in advance if this hasn't made any sense to anyone! But please help!!

RGv2

Well...

You're not really going to gain muscle and lose weight. They are really opposite of themselves. You might put a little bit on initially (noob gainz or if you're a returning athlete). Those gains can be pretty miniscule and after those you won't see much more mass gain.

Gaining muscle takes hours of progressive overload work in the gym, an on point diet (that would include a surplus of calories), and genes........for guys. It's exponentially harder for women to put on muscle.

What you're explaining that you need is muscle retention. When you eat at a deficit you lose water, fat, and muscle. To combat that muscle loss you eat at a moderate deficit (1200 net is "probably" too low for your net), getting your protein, and lifting heavy to maintain that muscle mass. That way you lose mostly fat and water and retain as much muscle as possible. Doing this the scale won't move as fast since you're losses are mostly water and fat, but the tape measure and mirror would be the indicator you're losing. Also, when you add a new workout regime, or up the intensity of a current one you're body will retain water for muscle repair. You need to make sure you don't let this deter you (another way the scale lies) as once you adapt the water will flush and the scale will drop (meaning what you see on the scale wouldn't be muscle gain).

4legsRbetterthan2

You're not really going to gain muscle and lose weight. They are really opposite of themselves. You might put a little bit on initially (noob gainz or if you're a returning athlete). Those gains can be pretty miniscule and after those you won't see much more mass gain.


What you're explaining that you need is muscle retention. When you eat at a deficit you lose water, fat, and muscle. To combat that muscle loss you eat at a moderate deficit (1200 net is "probably" too low for your net), getting your protein, and lifting heavy to maintain that muscle mass.

Good info there. Usually ladie who are given the 1200 cal/day goal are trying to lose at a rate that is too fast for their personal goal. Your profile says you want to lose 24 lbs so you should be shooting for 0.5-1lb a week.

Sarahsteve7kids

Well...

You're not really going to gain muscle and lose weight. They are really opposite of themselves. You might put a little bit on initially (noob gainz or if you're a returning athlete). Those gains can be pretty miniscule and after those you won't see much more mass gain.

Gaining muscle takes hours of progressive overload work in the gym, an on point diet (that would include a surplus of calories), and genes........for guys. It's exponentially harder for women to put on muscle.

What you're explaining that you need is muscle retention. When you eat at a deficit you lose water, fat, and muscle. To combat that muscle loss you eat at a moderate deficit (1200 net is "probably" too low for your net), getting your protein, and lifting heavy to maintain that muscle mass. That way you lose mostly fat and water and retain as much muscle as possible. Doing this the scale won't move as fast since you're losses are mostly water and fat, but the tape measure and mirror would be the indicator you're losing. Also, when you add a new workout regime, or up the intensity of a current one you're body will retain water for muscle repair. You need to make sure you don't let this deter you (another way the scale lies) as once you adapt the water will flush and the scale will drop (meaning what you see on the scale wouldn't be muscle gain).

Good answer! I've been losing weight really fast eating 8400 calories per week (1200 per day) but need to start lifting heavy to avoid losing muscle over fat! Thank God I love lifting!

SugaryLynx

You're not really going to gain muscle and lose weight. They are really opposite of themselves. You might put a little bit on initially (noob gainz or if you're a returning athlete). Those gains can be pretty miniscule and after those you won't see much more mass gain.


What you're explaining that you need is muscle retention. When you eat at a deficit you lose water, fat, and muscle. To combat that muscle loss you eat at a moderate deficit (1200 net is "probably" too low for your net), getting your protein, and lifting heavy to maintain that muscle mass.

Good info there. Usually ladie who are given the 1200 cal/day goal are trying to lose at a rate that is too fast for their personal goal. Your profile says you want to lose 24 lbs so you should be shooting for 0.5-1lb a week.

^100% to both of those.

I lost my weight at 1650 net at about 1 lb a week. Don't want to lose weight too quickly or you risk muscle loss. Find a deficit that has you losing about .5-1 lb a week and eat about 1g per pound of lean body mass in protein. Lift heavy!

mayfrayy

Eat with your deficit and lift heavy. You wont gain muscle per say, but you will gain a lot of strength if you are a beginner (cns and whatnot).