caloric intake/macro help...

samfuturefit

Hi guys,

I know plenty of people ask for this sort of help, but I'm sort of thrown for a loop. I am currently about 103 lbs and 5'0", so my goal isn't to lose weight as much as lose FAT and gain muscle. I have searched threads for people asking for similar help, however we are all unique!

Currently, MFP says I should eat 1200/cal a day, however some days I KNOW this is not enough and I go over (usually in a healthy manner if i can help it!). After reading other threads I saw that people were guided to find out their BMR and TDEE to calculate where about they should be in terms of daily intake. Others have said to just make sure fats and proteins are on point and allow the other numbers to lie where they may. Can someone (or several someone's) give me their opinions based on my current stats:

Age: 25
Starting weight: 106 lbs
Current weight: 103 lbs
BMR: 1267.55
TDEE: 1955
Net Calories Consumed / Day: 1200
Current Macros set at: 35% (105 g) carbs / 40% (33 g) protein / 25% (120 g) fat

I am doing ChaLEAN Extreme currently which is a mixture of heavy lifting / cardio 5-6 days a week while also adding in my own cardio as well (usually the Insanity warm up and a long walk with the dog at night).

I'm worried to up my caloric intake because I have actually seen some progress with 1200 cal/ day, but since ChaLEAN Extreme is weight lifting I'm not sure I should keep up eating 1200 cal/day. I don't want to harm myself more than help or create an overeating monster for the future. PLEASE HELP!

Sarauk2sf

The first thing to clarify is that you cannot lose fat and gain muscle at the same time (as I assume you will not have newbie gains and as you are not overweight).

There are two ways to gain muscle and lose fat

- a recomp where you calorie cycle. Eat at a surplus on lifting days and at a deficit on non-lifting days. The benefit is that you do not gain fat, but the negatives are that is is very inefficient, slow and hit and miss.

- a bulk/cut cycle. You eat at a surplus, and gain fat and muscle. You then cut to decrease your body fat, while maintaining the muscle (assuming appropriate strength training routine, deficit and protein levels).

You will need to pick one and then work out your calorie goals from there.

samfuturefit

Thank you for your help Sarauk!

I think I may look further into the bulk/cut cycles to see how much I need to change my routine in terms of strength training and see how much I can increase my calories from there.

Thanks again!

The first thing to clarify is that you cannot lose fat and gain muscle at the same time (as I assume you will not have newbie gains and as you are not overweight).

There are two ways to gain muscle and lose fat

- a recomp where you calorie cycle. Eat at a surplus on lifting days and at a deficit on non-lifting days. The benefit is that you do not gain fat, but the negatives are that is is very inefficient, slow and hit and miss.

- a bulk/cut cycle. You eat at a surplus, and gain fat and muscle. You then cut to decrease your body fat, while maintaining the muscle (assuming appropriate strength training routine, deficit and protein levels).

You will need to pick one and then work out your calorie goals from there.

Sarauk2sf

To address your prior comment re 1,200 calories - what is your average gross calories over the say last 8 weeks and what has your weight loss done over that period.