Daily Calories for a Female Lifter in a Defecit... Help!

thatjulesgirl
thatjulesgirl Posts: 200 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I'm wondering if some clever cookie out there can help me figure out if I'm eating enough / too many calories each day.

I started MFP around 2 months ago and, after selecting 1.5lbs / week desired weight loss, I was initially put on a daily calorie quota of around 2120. Since then, I've lost 12kgs and also started lifting heavy (NROLFW).

My losing has stagnated since I started lifting, which I sort of expected. On days after I lift I seem to go up in weight by about 200 - 500g, which I assume is water and fluid. I'm starting to get a bit frustrated that I'm not losing anything so I wanted to check that my food is on point. Considering the changes in my body, I recalculated my BMR using a few different calculator, including MFP's, all of which suggests it is 2180.

I've heard a thousand different theories all over MFP and now I'm thoroughly confused. Especially while I'm lifting... should I be eating my BMR as a minimum? Should I be eating more than that? Does it matter if I'm not eating as much as my BMR - because to be honest, I'm on 1950/ day at the moment, and I often struggle to eat enough to make that much!

Sorry if all of this seems silly, I've just taken in so much information in the past two months that it's all meshed together and now I'm completely confused. Thanks for your help!

Replies

  • beerbomber
    beerbomber Posts: 184 Member
    Im kind of confused, said your a lifter are you trying to put on muscle to become a better lifter or your lifting to tone up and lose weight?
  • konerusp
    konerusp Posts: 247 Member
    Change your setting to lose 1 or .5 lb per week,you body will let go of fat easier when there isnt much deficit.are you doing any cardio?do you seat well during your lifting sessions?are you taking measurements/photos?
  • mercymarque
    mercymarque Posts: 450
    I believe she's lifting to tone. Are you doing any cardio? You may want to try to eat a little more. Make sure u have protein with every meal. See if that helps.
  • beerbomber
    beerbomber Posts: 184 Member
    Well if your lifting to lose weight then you shouldn't be lifting light weights many reps because at a calorie defcit your not going to really gain muscle, I would supplment with some BCAA's to help maintain muscle you have and then kill cardio at end of your lift.
  • thatjulesgirl
    thatjulesgirl Posts: 200 Member
    Im kind of confused, said your a lifter are you trying to put on muscle to become a better lifter or your lifting to tone up and lose weight?

    Sorry! - Trying to build muscle to aid weight-loss. I have a lot to lose and want to add the muscle so my skin isn't too saggy and I'm nice and strong and fit as I lose.
    Change your setting to lose 1 or .5 lb per week,you body will let go of fat easier when there isnt much deficit.are you doing any cardio?do you seat well during your lifting sessions?are you taking measurements/photos?


    Yes, sorry - should've mentioned. I lift on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and I do light cardio (usually swimming) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Might go for a walk on the weekend, but usually weekends are rest days. I make sure I hit the protein hard on my lifting days and I took measurements ages ago, but need to buy a tape measure!
  • beerbomber
    beerbomber Posts: 184 Member
    Yeah its pretty hard to gain muscle and be on a calorie defcit some would say impossible, because your muscle needs the fuel and if your body is not getting the fuel it will burn muscle/fat to get it.
  • jennajocummings
    jennajocummings Posts: 104
    Bump!
  • thatjulesgirl
    thatjulesgirl Posts: 200 Member
    Yeah its pretty hard to gain muscle and be on a calorie defcit some would say impossible, because your muscle needs the fuel and if your body is not getting the fuel it will burn muscle/fat to get it.

    Yeah that's my worry - I can feel / see that they're definitely stronger and a bit bigger, my biceps especially... I know you can build muscle in a defecit but it can't be a very big one...
  • imjessly
    imjessly Posts: 140 Member
    It's definitiely possible to gain muscle on a deficit when you still have a decent amount to lose. Your arms can get bulkier from the muscle under the fat, but once the fat reduces on your arms they look less bulky. I think what you're doing is fine, just keep at it, you're still new to lifting :)
  • jennajocummings
    jennajocummings Posts: 104
    Yeah its pretty hard to gain muscle and be on a calorie defcit some would say impossible, because your muscle needs the fuel and if your body is not getting the fuel it will burn muscle/fat to get it.

    Yeah that's my worry - I can feel / see that they're definitely stronger and a bit bigger, my biceps especially... I know you can build muscle in a defecit but it can't be a very big one...

    I know I am going to get screamed at here... But I think it depends on how much fat you have to lose. A year ago I weighed 260. I started lifting heavy and I eat at a deficit. I have lost 38 lbs so far... It;s slow but I believe I'm gaining muscle too. Some will argue but I know I am... I can feel it in my biceps, pecks, legs, and butt totally. And I've seriously increased my max weights over the last year.
  • thatjulesgirl
    thatjulesgirl Posts: 200 Member
    Yeah its pretty hard to gain muscle and be on a calorie defcit some would say impossible, because your muscle needs the fuel and if your body is not getting the fuel it will burn muscle/fat to get it.

    Yeah that's my worry - I can feel / see that they're definitely stronger and a bit bigger, my biceps especially... I know you can build muscle in a defecit but it can't be a very big one...

    I know I am going to get screamed at here... But I think it depends on how much fat you have to lose. A year ago I weighed 260. I started lifting heavy and I eat at a deficit. I have lost 38 lbs so far... It;s slow but I believe I'm gaining muscle too. Some will argue but I know I am... I can feel it in my biceps, pecks, legs, and butt totally. And I've seriously increased my max weights over the last year.

    That's soooooo awesome to hear. I'm heavier than you when you started to I figured it had to be doing something - if you don't mind my asking... how big was your defecit? What was your daily calorie goal when you started lifting?
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    If you aren't losing any more then you need to reduce the cals a bit or up the activity. If you've lost 12kg already then you're BMR/TDEE will have decreased so what you are eating now could be closer to maintenance cals. Drop the cals by 250 I'd say. I'm also not sure if you're talking gross numbers in the OP or that is you're base target and then you're eating exercise cals back.

    Regardless, you will need to reduce a bit to continue the fat loss. (and great stuff that you are lifting to try and preserve LBM :smile:)
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Are you making progress?

    If so, don't worry about it.
  • jennajocummings
    jennajocummings Posts: 104
    Yeah its pretty hard to gain muscle and be on a calorie defcit some would say impossible, because your muscle needs the fuel and if your body is not getting the fuel it will burn muscle/fat to get it.

    Yeah that's my worry - I can feel / see that they're definitely stronger and a bit bigger, my biceps especially... I know you can build muscle in a defecit but it can't be a very big one...

    I know I am going to get screamed at here... But I think it depends on how much fat you have to lose. A year ago I weighed 260. I started lifting heavy and I eat at a deficit. I have lost 38 lbs so far... It;s slow but I believe I'm gaining muscle too. Some will argue but I know I am... I can feel it in my biceps, pecks, legs, and butt totally. And I've seriously increased my max weights over the last year.

    That's soooooo awesome to hear. I'm heavier than you when you started to I figured it had to be doing something - if you don't mind my asking... how big was your defecit? What was your daily calorie goal when you started lifting?

    It depends on the day but, I normally eat between 1500-2000. I really don't even log my strength training only my cardio. I do between 400-600 minutes per week and I lift 4-6 days normally. Make sure within 45 minutes (some will argue 2 hours) after you lift you take in a simple sugar IE.. an apple, and a protein source is.. a protein drink. Also, I eat between 100-150 grams of protein daily. I have learned to listen to my body and I'm using food to fuel it now rather than just pigging out. It's taken a long time to get to this point but you will get there. =)
  • thatjulesgirl
    thatjulesgirl Posts: 200 Member
    The BMR I quoted in my OP was recalculated today, after my 12kg weight loss. I'm still, obviously, very heavy, so I wasn't surprised that it's up past 2000 cals per day. When I first started (+ the 12kgs) it was closer to 2400. Initially my daily calorie goal (which included a 500 cal deficit) was around 2100 - which is now my current BMR. I've since lowered my daily goal to 1950 which is now below my updated BMR... I guess I was just worried that if I wasn't eating enough, especially while lifting (and my weights are increasing quite rapidly - amazed at how strong I'm getting, actually :happy: ) I would actually be *sabotaging* my muscle-building / fat loss. Obviously, if I'm going to lose fat I'll need to be in some sort of defecit, I just don't want to be losing too much LBM at the same time. That being said, I don't want to be eating more calories than I need to build muscle and adding fat or at leas inhibiting fat loss.

    I always sucked at math... :ohwell:
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
    Probably a stupid question, but have you tried using the calculations for how much to eat that is in the NROL4W book? They work for me.
    But yeah you can't build muscle in a deficit. But you can gain strength, and maintain muscle whilst losing fat.
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
    Bumping because Beans might be able to help with her handy calculations.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    I think probably the best advice I can give is to follow the methodology here:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/682138-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    All of Dan's advice on this is solid. I would aim to get 1 gm protein/lb LBM, or 1 gram protein per kg bodyweight, and 0.38 gm fat per lb bodyweight to start, as minimums, and fill in the balance however you like- carbs, more fat, more protein are all fine. Since you are heavier, getting a good estimate of your body fat% will be helpful in determining your nutritional needs, as well as the best way to gauge your progress. Pick one of the calculators on fat2fitradio.com and stick with it. Don't stress too much about the actual number, all the calculators based on circumference measurements will be different and none of them is particularly accurate, but they will help you track progress over time. As long as the number is going down, you're winning!
  • thatjulesgirl
    thatjulesgirl Posts: 200 Member
    Thank you, thank you, thank you!
  • runfreddyrun
    runfreddyrun Posts: 137 Member
    use that XLS spreadsheet from Heybales. it's a little confusing but it will tell you exactly what you should be eating. do you know your body fat %? that would help. if you can can get it from a bod pod or dexa scan it will be very accurate.

    body fat, weight, height, activity level all factor in.

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