Can't eat enough food??

stonel94
stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
edited January 9 in Health and Weight Loss
So, I don't want to be skinny fat, I want to up my muscle and reduce my body fat and lose a couple more pounds. So I changed my goals on here. It says my BMR is 1515 and my TDEE is 1890 so I should eat a net of like 20% lower than my TDEE but then that is lower than my BMR....so I just put my goal at 1600, but I have issues eating 1600 calories in general, not even net. Because when I'm still under calorie I go over on protein, fat, sugar, never carbs. But I thought i was supposed to reduce carbs to lower BF%?

I changed my goals to 55% carb, 25% protein and 20% fat. Is this right? how many calories do I eat and how do I eat this amount?

I made my diary public so please look and tell me what to do, lately I've been eating more sweets but once i get back to school that won't happen as much

Replies

  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    If you want to build muscle or minimize muscle loss, most recommend at least 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass. Protein is really the only macro I worry about (though I have been slacking lately).
    Your calories should work fine for your fat loss goals, however to build muscle you need to be eating over TDEE, not under. Welcome to the wonderful world of bulking/cutting cycles.......
    EDIT**Come to think of it, I think for building muscle you may want to aim for even more protein. The .75 to 1g per pound of lbm may be for muscle retention while cutting. When I a bulking I aim more for 1g of protein per pound of body weight, not lbm.
    I'm sure somebody else will chime in.
  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
    If you want to build muscle or minimize muscle loss, most recommend at least 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass. Protein is really the only macro I worry about (though I have been slacking lately).
    Your calories should work fine for your fat loss goals, however to build muscle you need to be eating over TDEE, not under. Welcome to the wonderful world of bulking/cutting cycles.......

    Agree with above poster^^^^ 1600 cals should work OK for you. I also would only concentrate on protein in addition to your calorie goal. In order to not be 'skinny fat' you should lift as heavy weight as you can manage. Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5 x 5 and New Rules of Lifting for Women are all very good. Lifting 3 x a week and increasing your protein to at least 1g per lb of body mass will at the very least retain the muscles you do have and improve your body composition overall.
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    Okay well I don't want to bulk per say, just like lower body fat percentage, and tone.
    But..like...how do I eat that much food? Like I mindfully ate more food today and I'm only at 1371 including my dinner which I haven't eaten yet, and I plan on working out which will burn probably another 300 calories so I have to eat like 500 more calories after dinner....can you please look at my diary and tell me how to fix this.

    So is 1600 a good net, and do I need to net at that or eat it in general....

    So it doesn't matter if I go over on fat and sugar?

    look at my diary and help please
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Eat your nine servings of fruits and veggies you seem to be hitting two servings and your dairy up to three servings you only manage half that, you will then be fuller and less likely to desire sweets. Try tracking fibre for the same reason: if you reduce whole carbs you need to substantially increase nuts and seeds for the minerals and fibre. There are few nutrients in chicken breast and egg whites, be careful not to miss out.

    Why wait until you are back at school to change? Get your junk/ processed/ sugary/ refined stuff down to 10% of daily calories - you can still have a treat within a healthy diet.
  • Kennkaru
    Kennkaru Posts: 210 Member
    I have similar goals to yours. On days when I'm having trouble eating enough, or eating the right things, I make a protein shake and decide what to put in it based on what my macros look like. If I need carbs, I put in a banana, for example. It's relatively easy to make the calories add up quickly with a good protein shake. Plus, you can alter the consistency of the shake to suit your preferences. If you're feeling full and not in the mood for a thick shake, you can make it thin- more like a beverage.

    My macros are currently set to 40-30-30, carbs, fat, and protein and I've been having good results with that balance. Some days it's harder than others to get all of my protein in but I'm really never hungry and don't ever feel bloated.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,333 Member
    Okay well I don't want to bulk per say, just like lower body fat percentage, and tone.
    But..like...how do I eat that much food? Like I mindfully ate more food today and I'm only at 1371 including my dinner which I haven't eaten yet, and I plan on working out which will burn probably another 300 calories so I have to eat like 500 more calories after dinner....can you please look at my diary and tell me how to fix this.

    So is 1600 a good net, and do I need to net at that or eat it in general....

    So it doesn't matter if I go over on fat and sugar?

    look at my diary and help please

    Net that.

    Eat higher calorie but healthy items like nuts, nut butter, avocado, and olive oil. Eat whole eggs instead of whites (plus then you get ALL the nutrition of the awesome egg). Just small changes and you will have all your calories.
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    Eat your nine servings of fruits and veggies you seem to be hitting two servings and your dairy up to three servings you only manage half that, you will then be fuller and less likely to desire sweets. Try tracking fibre for the same reason: if you reduce whole carbs you need to substantially increase nuts and seeds for the minerals and fibre. There are few nutrients in chicken breast and egg whites, be careful not to miss out.

    Why wait until you are back at school to change? Get your junk/ processed/ sugary/ refined stuff down to 10% of daily calories - you can still have a treat within a healthy diet.

    Because I'm gluten free it's harder to get the carbs because I get bored of rice and quinoa all the time and stuff. And because i am gluten free and not the biggest fan of ice cream I don't really get to have sweets at school so I like to have them regularly when I'm home, and I don't eat much more than 10% anyways
  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
    Okay well I don't want to bulk per say, just like lower body fat percentage, and tone.
    But..like...how do I eat that much food? Like I mindfully ate more food today and I'm only at 1371 including my dinner which I haven't eaten yet, and I plan on working out which will burn probably another 300 calories so I have to eat like 500 more calories after dinner....can you please look at my diary and tell me how to fix this.

    So is 1600 a good net, and do I need to net at that or eat it in general....

    So it doesn't matter if I go over on fat and sugar?

    look at my diary and help please

    I looked at your diary just for today and it looks OK. I think that most of the sugar is coming from fruit etc, which is not something you have to worry about. I would ditch the diet coke for water perhaps (asparteme is not good for you, but that's another subject).

    I would try to get as near as you can to 1700 for a few weeks, and if as said before, look into lifting weights. Do some research and you will see how beneficial lifting is, especially for women losing weight.

    In relation to how do you eat that much food, it is quite simple really, Just increase your portions of the food you currently eat, which will all add up quite nicely. Then add on high calorie/low in portion size foods such as

    avacado
    nuts
    spoonful of peanut butter
    0% greek yoghurt

    These can all add over 100 calories in one shot which soon raises the calorie figure.

    You are doing fine, just looking to fine tune and we all need to keep doing that every so often. Well done:smile:
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