what amount of cal and protein to lose fat and gain muscle?

TheSwiwi
TheSwiwi Posts: 16 Member
in Food and Nutrition
okay so my long term goal is to be able to define myself as a bikini-bodybuilder, which looks like:
http://www.naturalbodybuilding.com/bikinidivas/bikini_sideview.jpg
http://cdn.simplyshredded.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/36.jpg
clear definition, but not overboard. i want to start building up to this now, because i know muscle and strength take time, as well as muscle having the benefit of aiding fatloss

however, im still quite overweight, so as well as trying to gain muscle, im trying to cut bodyfat. right now im on a 1200cal/day diet. i know that this is far too little to be gaining muscle or even working out much at all!- which i want to be doing, so i went to bodybuilding.com which said i require:

Calories 2561-2988 total calories
Protein 224-261 grams
Carbs 288-336 grams
Fat 57-66 gram

i cant see myself losing weight on that, as well as the fact it is for people who are doing full on routines

so with my medium intensity (im still working up) full body strength, and cardio routine how many calories and protein should i be having, so that i can workout and have muscle gains instead of losses. or is this not really feasible until i get a little smaller?

my stats are:
166cm (5ft 5.5inches)
97kg (214lb)
female
20years old
walk >40mins/day, plus gym 7days (1-2 days much lighter work)
vegetarian

tl;dr
what amount of calories and protein grams per day will i have to consume to lose fat, and still gain muscle? approximately

Replies

  • Unknown
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  • TheSwiwi
    TheSwiwi Posts: 16 Member
    iv been a vegetarian my whole life. but my parents made really bad eating habits for me, and they were really strict about me eating what i was given. (they are also vegetarian) So now after i have finally left home, im trying to fix my habits and get the body i want :]

    so is what youre saying, that i cannot safely (without risk of muscle loss) gain muscle until im eating surplus of my maintenance calories?
  • Unknown
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  • TheSwiwi
    TheSwiwi Posts: 16 Member
    bad habits as in, large portions, lots of pasta rice and potato, small amounts of vegtables and leafy greens, as well as low protein and iron.

    i dont want to stop going to the gym, because i really love it there, so what should i be doing there, to ensure i dont have muscle wasteage?

    at what point should i start a formal muscle building routine? (in terms of weight, or BMI, or bodyfat%)

    should it be when im happy with my fat%, and all i want to gain is muscle? it just seems like such a long time away that it will be the case - another 35-40kg loss
  • Unknown
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  • mortuseon
    mortuseon Posts: 579 Member
    Eat sufficient protein and lift now - you'll help to preserve the muscle mass you already have, which will make building muscle after your loss less of a challenge.
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
    At this point your focus should be on stripping the fat, but still train hard! The best thing you can do while dieting is to lift heavy, this gives your body the stimulus it needs to hang on to your muscle and target fat for energy. You may build a small amount of muscle if you are very new to lifting but you wouldn't even notice it if you did.

    The most important thing is to train consistently. While you wont add any appreciable amount of muscle you will retain what you have and get stronger in the process.

    As for your intake, I'd suggest around 1800 cals per day to begin with + exercise, or 2000 per day if you are going for a consistent intake.

    Note: If you have been on 1200 for a while, I'd suggest upping the calories slowly (100 cal/day increase each week until you get to around this number or until fat loss stalls). That would look like: week 1 - 1300 cals/day, week 2 - 1400 cals/day etc.

    Of that, you'll want a decent amount of protein (always important when in a deficit). Again as a basis I would say something like 190P, 200C, 50F would be a good starting point for a 2000 cal diet. Feel free to add a little more protein or fat if you'd like, and subtract from the carbs, you can play around and see what your body responds best to, but this will be a good a place as any to start.
  • Fuzz610
    Fuzz610 Posts: 16 Member
    It won't hurt a thing to start lifting and getting cardio in, you will be toning and speeding up you're metabolism.
    I would try to eat more protein than carbs in whatever diet and calorie count you decide on. Good luck!

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