Ladies who eat high calories to tone

mrau719

If you want to BUILD muscle you must eat in a surplus. Approximately 200-500 calories over your maintenance I believe. And NO cardio and hit the weights heavy.

Definition and building muscle aren't the same so it depends what you're really wanting....

qtiekiki

You cannot gain muscle in a calorie deficit - you must be in a slight surplus I'm afraid, which means you will gain some fat too. this is why serious muscle building requires cut and build cycles.

If you just want to continue to lose a little fat and not really gain *much* muscle but just look tauter - which is kinda where I am, then you can reduce your deficit or eat at maintenance. I'm trying a 250 deficit from my FitBit TDEE of 2050 - so eating at 1800. My understanding is that I should lose fat at this level, albeit slowly, whilst benefiting some from t being a relatively new lifter and getting a tiny bit of extra muscle.

This is very controversial.

I eat at a deficit and muscle definition is def evident. I however was eating more than if I was just doing cardio.
When I original lost weight I was doing all cardio and eating 1200 cals

Now I do crossfit and lifting and eating anywhere from 1400-2000 cals depending on the amount of exercise. I eat back a good portion of my exercise calories because of the exercises I'm doing. Lifting heavy needs fuel

My photo is proof. And my weight has not changed.

**FYI I recently lowered my cals and will be running more to lean out a bit**

I think having muscle definition doesn't necessary mean that one is gaining muscle; it could just mean that one is losing body fat and letting the muscle shows. At least, that is the argument that I've heard.

To OP - I would eat at your TDEE and start weight lifting. I find that full body exercises and plyometrics to work well for fat loss. And make sure you get enough protein.

This is my before and after... I weigh the same, but I am more "toned"

Abells

You cannot gain muscle in a calorie deficit - you must be in a slight surplus I'm afraid, which means you will gain some fat too. this is why serious muscle building requires cut and build cycles.

If you just want to continue to lose a little fat and not really gain *much* muscle but just look tauter - which is kinda where I am, then you can reduce your deficit or eat at maintenance. I'm trying a 250 deficit from my FitBit TDEE of 2050 - so eating at 1800. My understanding is that I should lose fat at this level, albeit slowly, whilst benefiting some from t being a relatively new lifter and getting a tiny bit of extra muscle.

This is very controversial.

I eat at a deficit and muscle definition is def evident. I however was eating more than if I was just doing cardio.
When I original lost weight I was doing all cardio and eating 1200 cals

Now I do crossfit and lifting and eating anywhere from 1400-2000 cals depending on the amount of exercise. I eat back a good portion of my exercise calories because of the exercises I'm doing. Lifting heavy needs fuel

My photo is proof. And my weight has not changed.

**FYI I recently lowered my cals and will be running more to lean out a bit**

Muscle definition and muscle gain aren't the same thing.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

True -- I meant my "controversial comment" as in the fact that many a people on here are gonna comment on that...(should have clarified)

My strength has definitely increased and definition like stated eating at a good amount of calories but still in deficit.

lorie_hall80

Calories all depends upon you and your body hard to tell someone eat this until you have experimented for yourself. Say you were at 1600 and still able to maintain what you have i would bump up your calories by about 100. You would actually be amazed at what 100 calories can do. Trying to build muscle is hard unfortunatley. It will be a constant battel in the gym but you will start to see results and it will be motivating. Instead of normal long distance cardio try HIT ( high intensity traing). The difference is like looking at a long distance runner compared to a sprinter. A sprinter has more muscle tone and able to maintain it because the muscle and your body are not eatting away at your muscles while you are trudging along for miles one end. Try getting on a treadmill and setting the pase to where you are a a sprint hop on for 20 sec. push as hard as you can then step off to the sides of 10 sec. for a quick firing your muscles like this helps you to gain muscle. Also if you only have 8 weeks to your holiday you should try working one body part a day (i.e. chest on monday, back on tuesday, legs on weds, and so on) this will allow you to completely kill that muscle group so that it can grow. Also try doing three sets with reps at 12 the first set 10 the next set and 8 the last set. It will be hard work but it will def. be worth it!:happy:

withervein

I've had a lot of luck eating at a "lose .5 pounds a week" calories, lifting (squats, dead lifts, bench press as heavy as I can 4-5 sets of 5) and kickboxing/kettlebells 3 times a week. I eat my calories back daily and maybe a smidge more occasionally.

I've seen the most improvement since I went from "lose 1.5 pounds" to "lose .5" I'm not going to talk in calories because that's going to vary based on your height/weight and activity level.

I've gone from a size 16 to a 10, from 210 to 173. I'm kinda leveling out on weight loss at this point and I'm very happy with the way I look, but I would like to improve my performance this summer so I may start eating slightly over maintenance to make some gains then drop back to what I'm currently eating at. I avoid drastic changes in my diet as my partner has to adjust as well and he is just not as into managing food as I have become.

yesthistime

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/2744-skinny-fat-to-fit
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/17-women-eating-2-000-calories-per-day

Tattoos_and_Tea

Wow! Thank you all so much for your replies! Im going to up my calories to 1400 as of Monday and I have booked a personal trainer to help me with affect from Friday 27th