Strength training and calorie consumption

rondabug

I have reached my goal weight after having gastric sleeve surgery May '13, and am focusing more heavily on strength training. I lift fairly heavy. I do strength training 3x a week, and cardio 3x a week.

I need some advice as I am having problems finding the formula to make this work...

Given that I want to BUILD muscle, how much should I be eating a day? My nut told me 1200 calories per day, but if I stick with that, I really don't feel I get enough protein (I'm aiming for about 100+ a day). I have bumped it up to around 1400 calories a day.

The scale has started to climb a little-I don't know if, given my workouts-I should be eating more or less! I had my body fat measured about a month ago and my BMR is 1647. My TDEE is 2353.

I'd appreciate any guidance anyone can provide to help me figure out how to 'do this right' and maximize the effort I'm putting in.

Thanks All!

rpyle111

Congrats on reaching your goal!

I can't answer your question with experience, but my *hope* is that I will become like a non-VSG person asking that question after reaching goal.

From my reading on the main forums, this is an exercise in really understanding your BMR/TDEE and finding a calorie level which sets you at maintenance with a macro balance that fuels your weighlifting needs. I am not sure how surgery complicates that, but this is my hope for the out years after I reach goal. There are plenty of topics on this in the Fitness and Maintenance forums.

I am very interested to see how others who have experienced this will answer.

Rob

stroynaya

Don't worry so much about the scale creeping up. If you are doing heavy lifting, you are gaining muscle which weighs more than fat.

It's hard to give advice not knowing all your individual particulars. I think you should probably consult your nut again. Explain your concerns, goals and how active you are. Ask them to explain the 1200 cal restriction if they still come back with that number. Also, discuss the balance between carbs/protein. You need both for the exercise you are doing. Other than that, I would suggest active awareness of how full you are when you are eating, so that you don't overeat.

Dannadl

I disagree with the advise not to worry about the scale creeping up a little. Are you male or female. If you are female you simply are not going to put on significant weight through building muscle unless you are taking steroids or hormones. 5-7lbs maybe but in all honestly not much more than that. And, I work out A LOT. I lift weights, I run, I do boot camp, I spin etc. I work out around 2 hours a day and I lift pretty heavy weights. I did 90 push ups this morning along with 150 squats, 30 burpees, 60 box jumps 120 squat thrusts and running 3.5 miles this morning before 8am. That being said, I also wear a body bugg and track my calories burned. So, that workout burned only about 1,000 calories.

katematt313

I disagree with the advise not to worry about the scale creeping up a little. Are you male or female. If you are female you simply are not going to put on significant weight through building muscle unless you are taking steroids or hormones. 5-7lbs maybe but in all honestly not much more than that. And, I work out A LOT. I lift weights, I run, I do boot camp, I spin etc. I work out around 2 hours a day and I lift pretty heavy weights. I did 90 push ups this morning along with 150 squats, 30 burpees, 60 box jumps 120 squat thrusts and running 3.5 miles this morning before 8am. That being said, I also wear a body bugg and track my calories burned. So, that workout burned only about 1,000 calories.

Agreed.

asia1967

I disagree with the advise not to worry about the scale creeping up a little. Are you male or female. If you are female you simply are not going to put on significant weight through building muscle unless you are taking steroids or hormones. 5-7lbs maybe but in all honestly not much more than that. And, I work out A LOT. I lift weights, I run, I do boot camp, I spin etc. I work out around 2 hours a day and I lift pretty heavy weights. I did 90 push ups this morning along with 150 squats, 30 burpees, 60 box jumps 120 squat thrusts and running 3.5 miles this morning before 8am. That being said, I also wear a body bugg and track my calories burned. So, that workout burned only about 1,000 calories.

Dannadl:
That is great that you do all the above exercise! What I would like to ask is did you increase your calories and if you did by about how many calories. I have just begun to do Kettlebells and loving it. On the days I work out hard I do eat at my max calories the dietitian allows and on days I work out but not as intense I eat at the lower end on my allowed calories. I have just been trying this recently, so I am hoping it works out. Thanks for any info you are willing to share. :flowerforyou:

rondabug

Hi Asia-Are you willing to share your "high & low" calorie levels as well as how tall you are? If you prefer, you can send me a private msg if you're willing to share the info. Thanks a million!

stroynaya

I disagree with the advise not to worry about the scale creeping up a little. Are you male or female. If you are female you simply are not going to put on significant weight through building muscle unless you are taking steroids or hormones. 5-7lbs maybe but in all honestly not much more than that.

Although you are right about women not putting on significant weight through building muscle, my advice stands. The OP is TRYING to gain muscle, and since the OP is already tracking other things like body fat percentage, they should not worry about the scale so much. Now if the scale is doing more than creeping a little, I might have different advice.

Dannadl

No. I didn't increase my calorie intake with the increase in exercise. I'm at about 1200 cal as a day. I'm 5'7", 167lds and 46 years old ( female). I recently read an article about diet, err exercise and weightloss,did you know that the average person only burns 2600 calories running a full 26.2 mile marathon?

asia1967

No. I didn't increase my calorie intake with the increase in exercise. I'm at about 1200 cal as a day. I'm 5'7", 167lds and 46 years old ( female). I recently read an article about diet, err exercise and weightloss,did you know that the average person only burns 2600 calories running a full 26.2 mile marathon?

No way! Really?

Dannadl

Really. Doesn't that suck? You just can't outrun your fork....even running a marathon. I swear it's 80%+ about what you put in your mouth and 20% - exercise. I'm training for a 1/2 marathon (running 3x's a week), I work out with weights, I do bootcamp 4 days a week, I spin 2 days a week, and I'm training for another race, the Bisbee 1000. The 1000 is 1000 stairs throughout the 4 mile course --12 or so staircases built into the sides of the hills around the town. So I'm doing the stair machine at the gym 2x's a week for 30-40 min. But if I go above 1200 calories by weight loss stops. I'm trying to lose my last 30-40lbs.

asia1967

That does suck!! I can't believe you do all that exercise and can't eat more than 1200 calories. That also sucks!!