New member + calorie questions

vashnic

Hiya!

I joined MFP a couple weeks ago to get a better understanding of my eating habits and maybe switch out some fat for muscle. Now, it is my understanding that you can either lose body mass (hopefully fat) or gain body mass (hopefully muscle), but not really both at the same time due to the nature of their caloric requirements.

So! I am aiming to lose a few pounds of fat on a deficit before going up to maintenance levels and doing strength exercises to build muscle. 30 Day Shred has been my motivating workout so far.

MFP currently has me eating~ 1200-1300 cal a day, which is a little sad for me but mostly amounts to a couple fewer cookies per day. I've lost around 4-5 pounds since i started, which may be water weight? But seem pretty consistent so far during consecutive morning weigh-ins. The Fat2Fit calculator puts me eating 1600-1800 at deficit, however; maybe I should bump up my intake? Student/desk job, but no car--light activity is what I have down.

Height: 5'8"
Weight (as of this morning): 125

And as best as I could self-measure-
Neck:11.5"
Waist: 25.2"
Hips: 35.4"

Any input would be great!

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

vashnic

Ah, thank you.

Hmm, alright, bodyfat estimator gives ~19% and roughly 1650 cal per day allowance, which happily corresponds with MFP bumped down to 0.5 lbs. per week. Upped calories = more room for protein yay, which looks like I'll need ~120g(omg!) per day to gain muscle.