How to eat while building muscle?

trustymutsi

I've been using the fitnesspal app, as well as doing "30 Day Shred" and jogging (I switch between the two exercises every day).

Should I be eating a certain way to build muscle? Also, should I still be counting calories when exercising? I assume I should.

I've been finding I'm feeling weak a lot. That could just be because I'm getting over a cold. And I have been making sure to make up the calories I burn exercising when counting calories.

Thanks for any help!

Acg67

With utensils such as a knife and fork or your hands

But more seriously, eat in a slight surplus, focusing on mostly whole nutrient dense foods and getting in adequate amounts of fats and protein

ninerbuff

Eating on a calorie deficit doesn't build muscle. To build muscle means to add tissue which means added weight. You normally need a good surplus for this.

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

Determinednoob

You can find all the info you need to get started building muscle in the link below. One of the links it contains specifically tells how to contruct a nutrition plan for losing fat or building muscle.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/686963-large-collection-of-info-for-beginners

BerryH

30DS and running are both cardio. You need to do some resistance training to build muscle, with weights you can't do more than 8 reps per set with, and surplus calories rather than a deficit.

That aside, the cold could have a lot to answer for, so long as you have MFP set to lose no more than 1lb a week - more than that would leave anyone feeling run down.

joejccva71

What both ACG and Niner have stated.

trustymutsi

Hmmm... maybe I'm trying to do too much too soon. My first goal is to lose all my flab (spare tire, etc) and get toned.

Will 30DS get me toned, or do I need to do more?

Should I tone myself up before I focus on building muscle?

To be honest, the idea of REALLY bulking up scares me, as it seems like it would become too expensive for my current budget

Determinednoob

Hmmm... maybe I'm trying to do too much too soon. My first goal is to lose all my flab (spare tire, etc) and get toned.

Will 30DS get me toned, or do I need to do more?

Should I tone myself up before I focus on building muscle?

To be honest, the idea of REALLY bulking up scares me, as it seems like it would become too expensive for my current budget

Well I am biased towards heavy lifting and against fad workouts. Based on that my recommendation is to lift on a proper routine while eating at maintenance and then re-evaluate when you stall at around 3-4 months. The link in my first post will tell you all about it.

PeterThompson

eat food that are high in protein and high in good calories and fruits as well

wazross

Hmmm... maybe I'm trying to do too much too soon. My first goal is to lose all my flab (spare tire, etc) and get toned.

Will 30DS get me toned, or do I need to do more?

Should I tone myself up before I focus on building muscle?

To be honest, the idea of REALLY bulking up scares me, as it seems like it would become too expensive for my current budget

First things first: building big, bulky muscles is long, hard work. I know a few people who are afraid of getting "bulky" through muscle development, but the reality is that it's nearly impossible to wake up one morning and suddenly realise you have "too much muscle".

That said, I think you are on the right track in terms of priority: aim to lose fat first before you focus directly on muscle development. It's important, however, to eat so that you do not sacrifice muscle as the same time. To do that you need to consume enough protein (the current thinking is 1g protein per pound of body weight per day) and make sure that your calorie deficit is reasonably small, no more than 20%, which should let you drop body fat while maintaining or even seeing a small increase in muscle mass. This has worked well for me, and you can always adjust as you monitor your progress.

BerryH is right: you must do resistance / strength training as well, if muscle retention / development is your goal. I do my weight training in circuits, using lots of compound movements like squats, pull-ups etc. - basing my programme on metabolic resistance training principles, but any form of weight training in between your cardio sessions is better than none.

"Toning" is really just a term to describe the combination of fat loss and muscle development that creates a leaner, more appealing physique. In other words, toning entails building or at least maintaining muscle while shedding fat, so make sure you lift weights!