calories when lifting

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brookebelcher
brookebelcher Posts: 18 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
how many calories should i be EATING?
i've been at about 2000-that's with lifting and running about 6 miles 4 times a week.
i'm just interested in losing fat (not really weight).
5'6
130-135 ish
workout at least 5 days a week

any advice?
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Replies

  • nturner612
    nturner612 Posts: 710 Member
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    i have NOOOO clue! :) Anytime i do weights, whether bodypump class (1hr) or free weights (35min) i give myself a 100 cal burn. I know im not right because i pulled that number out of thin air but id rather be under than over...i hope im not over..... :)
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
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    applejack_notsureifserious_display.png
  • womacje
    womacje Posts: 1
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    I base my lifting off of heart rate. I'll do Push ups, pull ups, situps, dips, and bent over rows all the while checking my heart rate. At the end I record the amount of time I was at an elevated HR and mark it down as aerobics in MFP.

    My $.02
  • brookebelcher
    brookebelcher Posts: 18 Member
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    applejack_notsureifserious_display.png



    what...? why?
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    Lower cals to 1700 and give it a few weeks. If that doesn't work, lower them to 1500.
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    how many calories should i be EATING?
    i've been at 1900-that's with lifting and running about 6 miles 4 times a week.
    i'm just interested in losing fat (not really weight).
    5'6
    130-135 ish
    workout at least 5 days a week

    any advice?

    Hey dude we have matching toilet pictures ahh!
  • nturner612
    nturner612 Posts: 710 Member
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    okkk totally misread your post. i thought u meant how many cal u were burning while lifting.... but to answer ur real question....im still clueless. sigh. story of my life.
  • xiamjackie
    xiamjackie Posts: 611 Member
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    how many calories should i be EATING?
    i've been at about 2000-that's with lifting and running about 6 miles 4 times a week.
    i'm just interested in losing fat (not really weight).
    5'6
    130-135 ish
    workout at least 5 days a week

    any advice?

    I don't understand your post. You run 6 miles 4 times a week... and "workout" 5 days a week? Does this mean you lift 5 days a week in addition to running that much? If you are serious about lifting, that is not nearly enough recovery time for your muscles. Essentially, you could be burning muscle along with fat doing this much cardio PLUS lifting that often. Just doesn't make sense.
  • brookebelcher
    brookebelcher Posts: 18 Member
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    how many calories should i be EATING?
    i've been at about 2000-that's with lifting and running about 6 miles 4 times a week.
    i'm just interested in losing fat (not really weight).
    5'6
    130-135 ish
    workout at least 5 days a week

    any advice?

    I don't understand your post. You run 6 miles 4 times a week... and "workout" 5 days a week? Does this mean you lift 5 days a week in addition to running that much? If you are serious about lifting, that is not nearly enough recovery time for your muscles. Essentially, you could be burning muscle along with fat doing this much cardio PLUS lifting that often. Just doesn't make sense.



    My workouts are 5 days a week TOTAL.
    So I run 3-4 times and lift about 3 times meaning I lift on the same day as my runs about twice a week.
    I need to run because I have a half-marathon in February..I am just trying to incorporate more strength training into my routine.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    how many calories should i be EATING?
    i've been at about 2000-that's with lifting and running about 6 miles 4 times a week.
    i'm just interested in losing fat (not really weight).
    5'6
    130-135 ish
    workout at least 5 days a week

    any advice?

    I'm around your weight, much older, a little shorter, and somewhat less active than you are, and I eat about 2300 a day to maintain (though I'm still getting leaner). I run 3x a week (between 10-15 miles a week) and lift heavy 3x a week (stronglifts).

    You should be able to eat as much or more than I am.
  • wswilliams67
    wswilliams67 Posts: 938 Member
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    Try a lifting split of 2 days on, 1 day off. NO MORE THAN 40 minutes of cardio a day. Drop your calories to 1700, then 1500 as you plateau. Never go below 1200 calories EVER! Never go below 50g carbs/day EVER. Eat clean.

    It's all a fine balance. If you exercise a lot and you aren't consuming enough calories to support your BMR and exercise your body will shut down, trust me.
  • brookebelcher
    brookebelcher Posts: 18 Member
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    how many calories should i be EATING?
    i've been at about 2000-that's with lifting and running about 6 miles 4 times a week.
    i'm just interested in losing fat (not really weight).
    5'6
    130-135 ish
    workout at least 5 days a week

    any advice?

    I'm around your weight, much older, a little shorter, and somewhat less active than you are, and I eat about 2300 a day. I run 3x a week (between 10-15 miles a week) and lift heavy 3x a week (stronglifts).

    Oh okay wow so you think I should be eating more?
    I didn't realize I was under-eating. It actually seems I am eating more often than most of the people on here.
    Thank you :)
  • brookebelcher
    brookebelcher Posts: 18 Member
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    I'm getting conflicting advice here....hmmm...

    Thanks everyone :)
  • hiker359
    hiker359 Posts: 577 Member
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    It sounds like you're eating right around the correct amount of calories, assuming the 2,000 cal number in your OP. I wouldn't go below 1,800 calories / day unless you want to jeopardize losing muscle. Where you look as lean as you do, you may want to eat *more* in order to let your body know that it can let go of what little fat you have without it thinking there's a scarcity of food. Just make small adjustments of 100 cals or so either way from that 2,000 and see how things go. Look for a trend of two or three weeks before making any further adjustments.

    how many calories should i be EATING?
    i've been at about 2000-that's with lifting and running about 6 miles 4 times a week.
    i'm just interested in losing fat (not really weight).
    5'6
    130-135 ish
    workout at least 5 days a week

    any advice?
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    I'm no expert on this stuff, but from my understanding, its difficult to combine strength training and excessive amounts of cardio. I might get reamed for this or you might hate the idea entirely, but I would suggest running less often. Maybe only run twice a week on non-workout days.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    You could choose a small deficit. (~250 below maintenance) This way the calories should be high enough to keep strength gains progressing, your muscle mass maintained, while still losing fat / weight. Personally, this is the option that I would choose if you still have fat you want to lose.

    You could also choose maintenance though, in which you may be able to recomp your body (losing fat while gaining a little muscle) but this will be quite a slow process. IMO you'd be better off going in a small deficit, and if you want to gain muscle from lifting, focusing on that at another time, (either before or after the fat loss) by having a small calorie surplus.
  • hiker359
    hiker359 Posts: 577 Member
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    I'm no expert on this stuff, but from my understanding, its difficult to combine strength training and excessive amounts of cardio. I might get reamed for this or you might hate the idea entirely, but I would suggest running less often. Maybe only run twice a week on non-workout days.

    I hardly think that ~6/week could be considered excessive. It actually sounds like a pretty good blend to me.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    i think youre at a good spot - eat halfway between your BMR and your TDEE i think is the rule of thumb.
  • McBully4
    McBully4 Posts: 1,270 Member
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    I'm getting conflicting advice here....hmmm...

    Thanks everyone :)

    LorinaLynn is legit listen to her
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    I'm no expert on this stuff, but from my understanding, its difficult to combine strength training and excessive amounts of cardio. I might get reamed for this or you might hate the idea entirely, but I would suggest running less often. Maybe only run twice a week on non-workout days.

    I hardly think that ~6/week could be considered excessive. It actually sounds like a pretty good blend to me.

    6 miles? 4 times a week? Running?

    Did you read the post. Her TDEE on those days has to be like 3000+ calories. Deep deficits require a use of fat stores and protein stores... protein stores are muscle. It's counter-productive if you are lifting.

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