Too many calories?

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joshbrw
joshbrw Posts: 11 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I started off my whole exercise life weighing in at 16st (224 lbs) at Age 14. I was about 6ft or so, so my BMI was rather high around 30.

I then lost around 3-4 stone and stopped exercising as I was where I wanted to be, carried on eating semi-sensibly and maintained my weight.

I am now starting again with the goal of toning up and gaining muscle, and MyFitnessPal has told me my base calorie intake for maintaining my weight is 2500, which then adding on 200-300 calories of cardio whenever I go to the gym goes to 2700-2800.

This feels like just way too many calories, but I know you have to eat a fair amount of calories to gain muscle, and I've also heard you have to eat OVER your recommended intake to build up at all.

I am also taking whey protein (just because I like to maintain a high protein diet).

Any help is appreciated! How much should I be eating?!

Replies

  • LeanneGoingThin
    LeanneGoingThin Posts: 215 Member
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    You might wanna read into bodybuilding. There's a lot of helpful stuff on gaining muscle. Indeed you need to bulk. If you want to gain muscle you're better off doing strength training instead of cardio.
  • joshbrw
    joshbrw Posts: 11 Member
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    I'm doing mostly strength training but try and fit in 15-30 mins of cardio to keep my heart healthy.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    Is your calorie intake for your strength training included in the 2500 you need to consume to maintain, then?

    I'm in a similar situation. My BMR plus my calories for strength training add up to about 3000 a day, then I can have anywhere from 500 to 1000 additional calories burned from running / walking. Having a possible goal (for maintenance) of almost 4000 is daunting, even for me. But I'm going to trust the math for a bit and see where it goes.
  • joshbrw
    joshbrw Posts: 11 Member
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    I have no idea if my strength is included in my calorie intake

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