Almost there - now what??? HELP!

Posts: 171 Member
I've been running about 5-6 times / week since January 6, run about 7-10 km (4.4 - 6.2 mi) each time, burning between 700-1000 calories each run, and have lost 35 kg (77 lbs), down from over 135 kg (298 lbs) - yes, I'm pushing myself to the EXTREME (with doctor's consent), eating about 1200 cals / day - yes, I'm a guy and should be eating more, but it's worked for me so far, with no fatigue and my progress is something I'm pretty darn proud of. I have about 5-10 kg left to lose (10 according to bmi but I'm a big guy and can't imagine being SO skinny as BMI tells me I should be, so I'm asking the mirror for when I'm finished).

But the transition to maintenance mode is TERRIFYING me.

My new goals:
- Build muscle, especially upper body (all the running gave me great legs already ;) )
- get stronger
- reduce my body fat % even though my weight says "normal"

The last 4 months I've gotten so used to the 1200 calories, that I have NO IDEA how much I SHOULD be eating when I go into maintenance/building, and WHAT to eat, as well as WHEN to eat it.

My diet has been high protein, and low fat and carbs (it varies, but usually over 100 g protein daily, around 50 g carbs and about 20 fat). It's worked. I eat my proteins more around my running, to make sure my muscles get what they need... And no carbs after 7 pm...

But I want to convert some of my cardio into strength training to balance out what's left over, and take care some of the loose skin. I don't have much, but muscles WILL help. But I'm not sure HOW or exactly WHAT I should be doing. I don't want to be EITHER a cardio guy or a weight lifter, I'd like to be a bit of both.

Oh who am I kidding? I want to look good naked.

Any ideas/advice?


P.s. I hope I posted this in the right forum??

Replies

  • Posts: 3,982 Member
    When you eat will not matter. Being that active, you will have to eat much more to build muscle and maintain weight. I'm 5'10.5", 165 lbs, and I will eat 3000 cal on the days I'm doing a 10k training run. I do runs and weights as well. You must surely be eating more protein/fat/carbs that what you have listed. That only adds up to 780 calories. I would suggest you start upping your intake gradually now if you are that close to your goal weight. Running a heavy deficit for as long as you have can slow your metabolism.

    As far as setting your protein/carb/fat and calorie goals, this is a great start:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.