Need help matching settings to goals (muscle gain)

navybr09

Hey everyone,

I downloaded the app this morning. I think it will be really useful for me, especially to track what I eat, but if I'm gonna use the information it tells me about what my daily eating goals should be, I think I need some help configuring my settings. Right now, I'm skeptical that the app understands what I'm looking for.

I currently have a desk job. In the future, I will be starting a job that is more physical, and comes with certain physical requirements. It will all take care of itself once I start, but I'm trying to make it as easy as possible on myself by getting in the right shape in the mean time.

Basically, I need to be in great athletic shape--ripped instead of jacked, no fat, but with strength / muscles. I am currently in good shape, lean and athletic. I need to keep those things up--low fat, in good cardio shape--and improve on them. That's the easy part. The hard part is that I also need to get stronger. I have always had a good workout schedule, and have a good build, but I am on the thin side. I have gone through phases of intentional weight gain and muscle building in the past, so I know a decent amount about the nutrition involved in my situation.

My question for MFP is whether I should tell it that I want to maintain my weight or to gain weight. (Either way, it seems like the suggested fat intake is pretty high. I understand I need to eat a decent amount of fat to fuel muscle creation.) Because the app is mostly used for people looking to lose weight, I am not sure what it means when you tell it you want to gain weight--is it just trying to eat enough calories so that you gain any weight, or is it trying to get you to gain weight the healthy way, by building muscle?

Any MFP advice, diet advice, life advice, etc., is appreciated. Thanks a lot.

ScottShep

No expert by any means, but in your situation I'd plumb in that you want to gain weight at a rate of around 0.5lb per week (even that is a bit much for muscle I believe, but as a rough guide). If you want to gain weight - whether it is muscle or fat - you need to eat more than you would to maintain your current weight, but muscle comes on much more slowly than fat can so don't gain too fast, else it will be mostly fat! You certainly want to gain weight though if you want to add muscle and not change your body fat %.

With regards to macros, personally I put in 40% carb 40% protein 20% fat, which I feel is a reasonable balance, the default is something like 50/10/40 which I find is wrong for me, as otherwise not enough protein is consumed to gain muscle.

I'm in a different situation to you (still trying to lose weight before adding muscle) but I think this is relevant for you, and I hope it helps!

Good luck with the new job.
Scott

navybr09

Thanks Scott. I will set it back to gain 1/2 pound a week. I agree that that is unrealistic when it comes to only adding muscle. I guess I'll just use a critical eye to the suggestions and mentally work it toward my own goals of lower fat and higher protein.

You mentioned being able to do that through a macro? I looked through settings but couldn't really find anything about that. I'm doing this on my phone, by the way.

ladyraven68

Thanks Scott. I will set it back to gain 1/2 pound a week. I agree that that is unrealistic when it comes to only adding muscle. I guess I'll just use a critical eye to the suggestions and mentally work it toward my own goals of lower fat and higher protein.

You mentioned being able to do that through a macro? I looked through settings but couldn't really find anything about that. I'm doing this on my phone, by the way.

he is referring to macronutrients - Fat/protein/carbs, not computer programme macros.

ScottShep

Thanks Scott. I will set it back to gain 1/2 pound a week. I agree that that is unrealistic when it comes to only adding muscle. I guess I'll just use a critical eye to the suggestions and mentally work it toward my own goals of lower fat and higher protein.

You mentioned being able to do that through a macro? I looked through settings but couldn't really find anything about that. I'm doing this on my phone, by the way.

he is referring to macronutrients - Fat/protein/carbs, not computer programme macros.

I apologise for not being clearer: where you set your goals, you can customise the contribution of each (protein/carb/fat) as a percentage of your daily calories to show in your food diary. On your phone, I'm not sure if you can do that (someone else chime in if you know).

navybr09

Thanks Scott. I will set it back to gain 1/2 pound a week. I agree that that is unrealistic when it comes to only adding muscle. I guess I'll just use a critical eye to the suggestions and mentally work it toward my own goals of lower fat and higher protein.

You mentioned being able to do that through a macro? I looked through settings but couldn't really find anything about that. I'm doing this on my phone, by the way.

he is referring to macronutrients - Fat/protein/carbs, not computer programme macros.

I apologise for not being clearer: where you set your goals, you can customise the contribution of each (protein/carb/fat) as a percentage of your daily calories to show in your food diary. On your phone, I'm not sure if you can do that (someone else chime in if you know).

Thanks to you both. I'll do it from a computer sometime later. Anyone else who is or has been in this situation and uses MFP feel free to add some additional insight. Thanks.

bizco

To customize your macros (from a computer) go to My Home>>Goals>>Change Goals>>Custom. Save your changes.

navybr09

To customize your macros (from a computer) go to My Home>>Goals>>Change Goals>>Custom. Save your changes.

Thanks/