Protein and Carbs for Women Who Lift

Jane717

Hello everyone!
I have a question for my fellow female weight-lifters. I currently weight-train 4 times per week (biceps+triceps/chest+shoulders/legs + glutes/abs) and do one day of cardio only. I've been worried lately that I'm eating too much protein and too little carbs, because I'm not trying to lose weight, just trying to tone up. I don't want to be unhealthy. How much protein and carbs do you girls recommend? Because according to MFP, I'm always over my protein amount (set to the default 15%) but it really doesn't seem like enough. And as for the carbs, I don't want to be eating too little so that my body starts breaking down the muscle mass that I'm trying to build.
Thank you!

jukyu

The way I gauge whether or not I'm taking in adequate carbs is my performance. I hit the wall fast when my carbs are too low. What are your macros like?

EmoJew

I balance mine equally. 35% each, and 30 fat. Makes me happy that way.

kdiamond

Add me to the balanced crew - 35, 35, 30. I try to get 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight I have, which is around 100 grams per day. It doesn't happen every day, and some days I am over, but I try.

ItsCasey

MFP's protein suggestion is ridiculously low, so definitely set your own.

You say you don't want to lose weight, but you want to "tone," which I take to mean that you want to lose body fat while adding muscle mass (if you don't want to gain any muscle but you do want to lose body fat, then you are still in a weight-loss mode). So your protein needs to be up there. I have to 10 to 15 more pounds of fat to lose. I have my macros set at 40 % protein, and 30% each on carbs and fat. I tend to go a bit lower on carbs/higher on fat on rest days.

kinman23

you should do between .5-1.3 grams per pound of body weight. 1g is a great amount to help built muscle.

shar140

The way I gauge whether or not I'm taking in adequate carbs is my performance. I hit the wall fast when my carbs are too low. What are your macros like?

MFP's protein suggestion is ridiculously low, so definitely set your own.

You say you don't want to lose weight, but you want to "tone," which I take to mean that you want to lose body fat while adding muscle mass (if you don't want to gain any muscle but you do want to lose body fat, then you are still in a weight-loss mode). So your protein needs to be up there. I have to 10 to 15 more pounds of fat to lose. I have my macros set at 40 % protein, and 30% each on carbs and fat. I tend to go a bit lower on carbs/higher on fat on rest days.

This and this.

The first one, it's a trade off: which one is my goal at the time. I lose better with lower carbs, but yes, then my performance suffers (I play rugby, too). So it depends on where I am in my training schedule, which one is my goal.

The second one, I aim for at least 100g/protein/day (110g/day would be ~1g/lb LBM for me), usually exceeding that unless I'm pretty sedentary that day (and I too try for less carbs/higher % fat). On days I lift heavy, I crave protein like mad the next day (and more food in general). My macros tend to fall around 50% fat, 25% protein & carbs. Though lately the percentage of carbs has been lower, and higher percentage protein, since I didn't need to focus so much on my performance the past couple of weeks.

Jane717

MFP's protein suggestion is ridiculously low, so definitely set your own.

You say you don't want to lose weight, but you want to "tone," which I take to mean that you want to lose body fat while adding muscle mass (if you don't want to gain any muscle but you do want to lose body fat, then you are still in a weight-loss mode). So your protein needs to be up there. I have to 10 to 15 more pounds of fat to lose. I have my macros set at 40 % protein, and 30% each on carbs and fat. I tend to go a bit lower on carbs/higher on fat on rest days.

I have around 2 more pounds of fat to lose, but it's really stubborn fat around my hips so that's why I've already started weights to build muscle gradually instead of continuing on just cardio

Jane717

The way I gauge whether or not I'm taking in adequate carbs is my performance. I hit the wall fast when my carbs are too low. What are your macros like?

Around 40% Carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat

Lammerchops

1. Customize your daily intake and macros on MFP. Don't pay attention to the defaults. That's all they are. Up your protein to about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. And for ppl who will reply and say "Don't you mean LEAN body mass?" No, I don't. A 40/30/30 split is a good start, but everyone responds differently to different macro breakdowns, and macros are definitely SECONDARY to overall daily caloric intake. Intaking 30% protein instead of 40% won't be the difference between meeting and not meeting your goal.

2. I'm going to follow a previous poster and assuming "tone up" means that you'd like to lose body fat. Fat loss requires a caloric deficit. You need to burn more than you eat. Calculate your BMR calories, then add cals according to your daily activity level. Then subtract 10-20% from this number and eat that every day. Do not eat back exercise calories, and do not do too much cardio that will create too much of a caloric deficit, spike your appetite, and generally make you a crabby human being.

3. Lift weights. Lift heavy. This will MAINTAIN your muscle mass. Although you may see strength gains, you can't GAIN lean muscle mass on a caloric deficit. In order to gain lean muscle mass, you need to eat in a caloric surplus.

Conclusion: Choose from 1 of the following: fat loss, or muscle gain, and then eat accordingly with whatever macros make you most comfortable.

niseynisey

35% Carb, 40% Protein, & 25% Fat have been working for me this year! Still losing weight, body fat, & it hasn't affected my performance when lifting