Eating to gain muscle not fat...help!

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jbrewer49
jbrewer49 Posts: 4
edited January 28 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been eating fairly healthy & exercising 4-5 times a week steadily for 2.5 years. I've been eating around 1200 cals/day avg. Now I can only exercise 4 days a week which includes cardio each day along with 2 days weights and 1 day Pilates. I'm really cleaning up my diet even more (cutting out most added sugar ...my weakness). My question is how many calories should I be eating to gain muscle. By eating clean I hope to keep the fat gain to a minimum. I don't feel like I need to lose lbs but firm up instead. Everything I've been reading or calculating (Cunningham equation) says I need over 2000 cals/day. I haven't hit 1700 today and I've been forcing myself to eat. Suggestions??

Replies

  • drop_it_like_a_squat
    drop_it_like_a_squat Posts: 377 Member
    Have you been eating 1,200 cals a day during those 2.5 years? In total or net?
    Were you losing or maintaining?

    I would suggest you to add 100 calories to your daily total per week & keep an eye on your weight to adjust your target if needed.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    There are a lot of threads in the forums addressing proper calorie counts and macro breakdowns to build muscle. Search the forums and you should find them. If you're having trouble eating enough calories, try more calorie dense foods. They'll give you more bang for your buck without leaving you feeling stuffed to the gills. Protein powders can also help meet your needs.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/28482-list-calorie-dense-foods/
  • gem5639
    gem5639 Posts: 90
    you need at least 2000 a day to gain muscle, can't be at a deficit...
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is how many calories you burn through the day, with exercise as well as just normal living. To gain muscle mass, you need to be eating over that number. Online calculators will help you estimate that number (2000 doesn't sound unreasonable) although if you've been eating 1200 calories a day for 2.5 years, you may find that your TDEE is a bit less than calculators will predict.

    If it feels like you have to "force" yourself to get to 1700, aim for more calorie dense foods like seeds, nuts, eggs, cheese, full fat dairy, avocadoes etc. Add oil to cooking and salads. Drink smoothies, protein shakes, milk, nut milks etc. In you diary you have things like fat free milk, fat free cream cheese, low fat yoghurt and reduced fat feta - switching to the full fat versions will easily add calories without making you feel more full. As you gradually get more calories in, you'll probably find that your appetite increases anyway.

    If you are gaining muscle mass, then you will very likely gain at least some fat as well. That's just how it works, and that's why bodybuilders do bulk and cut cycles - eat more to gain the muscle and then eat less to get rid of the fat that came along with it.

    I don't mean this to sound patronising, but do you definitely want to gain muscle mass? If you're just looking for more muscle definition, then it might be more a matter of reducing body fat % so you can see the muscle you already have. You might be better off eating more (close to, but not over your TDEE), and lifting heavy weights. A lot of people have seen good results doing that, but it takes time. If your profile picture is current, then it looks like you're already a healthy weight. Having too large of a calorie deficit now means you risk losing more lean mass, which probably won't help you get the look you're after.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    TDEE + 200 to 300 calories.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Have you been eating 1,200 cals a day during those 2.5 years? In total or net?
    Were you losing or maintaining?

    I would suggest you to add 100 calories to your daily total per week & keep an eye on your weight to adjust your target if needed.

    This.


    TDEE + 200 to 300 calories.

    And this.



    Just as an fyi... It's likely to be way more than 1200 cals, probably double that. So be ready for some serious eating.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    TDEE + 200 to 300 calories.

    agreed.

    i am half impressed that you managed to eat only 1200 cals for 2 and a half years.... and half feel really bad for you!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    how long have you been around 1700 for? You might want to try just reaching 1700 for four to six weeks and see how your body responds....

    Like other said losing body fat and working out with heavy weights will make you appear more "ripped" and if you are eating an extra 500 calories a day you should see some gains with your work outs..

    what kind of work outs do you do? If you are do a lot of cardio - more than three times a week - you might want to back off that and increase the lifting portion of your regimen.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Like others have said, to gain muscle you need to eat more than your TDEE and lift heavy.

    But to address the other part - I just had a glance at your diary - you are still eating "diet" food - skim milk (I get some people get used to it and prefer it but if its in a shake you should be able to up the fat content without noticing too much), low carb yogurt, 90 calorie brownies. Switch out your low cal/low fat foods with the full version and you will find it easier to get your calories in. Fat is not bad. High calorie does not necessarily mean bad.

    Also keep in mind that fat gain while bulking is inevitable even if you eat "clean". That is why people do bulk and cut cycles.

    ETA - good point also by NDJ about cardio while bulking.
  • jbrewer49
    jbrewer49 Posts: 4
    Thanks guys. I'll start changing some of the foods I'm eating to help get the calories in. I calculate mt TDEE to be around 1775. I don't necessarily want to bulk up, just get more muscle definition. I'm fairly muscular as is but I feel like you can't see it. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to become more defined bc clearly what I have been doing isn't working. I've been maintaining for almost 2 yrs. So I guess I should try eating around 1775 cals/day and do heavier lifting?
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