Please take a look at my diary entry today.

DJ7203
DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
edited February 21 in Food and Nutrition
I'm only talking about today's entry. I'm trying to lose fat & gain muscle. Does this seem like a good diet to follow in order to accomplish that? Or should I get rid of or add some things? Thanks!

Replies

  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    bump
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    You are not going to gain muscle while doing a diet very low in calories.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Whoa, that's a lot of protein! Which is pretty great but why is your fat set so low?

    Indeed you won't gain muscle in a calorie deficit but you can keep what you have. Do you do any weight/resistance work as part of your fitness regimen?
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

    http://body-improvements.com/2013/09/04/can-you-build-muscle-and-lose-fat-at-the-same-time/

    http://body-improvements.com/2012/08/22/qa-how-can-i-go-about-building-some-muscle/

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html
  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    You are not going to gain muscle while doing a diet very low in calories.

    I already have a good amount of muscle, I do want to put on more. But honestly more than anything I want to lower my body fat.
  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    Whoa, that's a lot of protein! Which is pretty great but why is your fat set so low?

    Indeed you won't gain muscle in a calorie deficit but you can keep what you have. Do you do any weight/resistance work as part of your fitness regimen?

    I;m happy to keep what I have & just lower my body fat. Yes, I lift weights 6 days a week heavy as I can & I continue to go heavier every few weeks. I do cardio as well.
  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

    http://body-improvements.com/2013/09/04/can-you-build-muscle-and-lose-fat-at-the-same-time/

    http://body-improvements.com/2012/08/22/qa-how-can-i-go-about-building-some-muscle/

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html

    Thanks for the links!
  • RunnerStephe
    RunnerStephe Posts: 2,195
    Are you working out?
  • mlyn0812
    mlyn0812 Posts: 31
    You are not going to gain muscle while doing a diet very low in calories.

    I already have a good amount of muscle, I do want to put on more. But honestly more than anything I want to lower my body fat.
    If your trying to build muscle calories are too low, but since you plan on cutting it looks fine.
  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    Are you working out?

    Yes I do 6 days a week of 30 mins cardio & 45 mins lifting.
  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    You are not going to gain muscle while doing a diet very low in calories.

    I already have a good amount of muscle, I do want to put on more. But honestly more than anything I want to lower my body fat.
    If your trying to build muscle calories are too low, but since you plan on cutting it looks fine.

    Exactly, I just want to cut & show all this muscle I have hiding under the excess fat.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    I actually misinterpreted your fat intake, 43g goal not 43 calories. The former works out to about 30% of calories which seems alright. Exercise will earn you more calories which will contribute to a higher calorie target for the day. You should plan on eating some or the extra calories to fuel your workouts and yourself in general

    How heavy do you lift ? (Numbers?)
  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    I actually misinterpreted your fat intake, 43g goal not 43 calories. The former works out to about 30% of calories which seems alright. Exercise will earn you more calories which will contribute to a higher calorie target for the day. You should plan on eating some or the extra calories to fuel your workouts and yourself in general

    How heavy do you lift ? (Numbers?)

    Depends on what I'm doing. For example on leg day I'm pushing around 350 pounds on the leg press, 100 pounds for squats. Arm days like shoulders & arms I use 20 to 40 pound weights for a lot of my exercises.
  • mlyn0812
    mlyn0812 Posts: 31
    I actually misinterpreted your fat intake, 43g goal not 43 calories. The former works out to about 30% of calories which seems alright. Exercise will earn you more calories which will contribute to a higher calorie target for the day. You should plan on eating some or the extra calories to fuel your workouts and yourself in general

    How heavy do you lift ? (Numbers?)
    I'm probably going to be slammed for saying this but I disagree with eating exercise calories back. For me at least that has always been counterproductive to getting results. And 30 minutes of cardio only really burns 400 calories at most and that's not a whole lot to get worked up about. I am not the law and I can only speak from my personal experience but I think it's best to stick to a consistent calorie number and to be consistent every day.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
    I actually misinterpreted your fat intake, 43g goal not 43 calories. The former works out to about 30% of calories which seems alright. Exercise will earn you more calories which will contribute to a higher calorie target for the day. You should plan on eating some or the extra calories to fuel your workouts and yourself in general

    How heavy do you lift ? (Numbers?)
    I'm probably going to be slammed for saying this but I disagree with eating exercise calories back. For me at least that has always been counterproductive to getting results. And 30 minutes of cardio only really burns 400 calories at most and that's not a whole lot to get worked up about. I am not the law and I can only speak from my personal experience but I think it's best to stick to a consistent calorie number and to be consistent every day.

    Eating back at least a portion of exercise calories is something that should be considered on a case-by-case basis. People who follow MFP recommendations would be best suited to eat back the exercise calories because that is how the calorie recommendation is set. People following the TDEE method would eat at a static calorie amount because the exercise is wrapped into the TDEE amount. I personally follow the TDEE method so I don't have to worry about what my exercise calories are and just eat what I need to.

    The OP's diary for Saturday indicated a calorie range of 1200-1300. If that is a typical day (I didn't go back farther), 1 hour 15 min of activity a day 6x/week is probably more than enough and larger burns from additional cardio could end up being detrimental to her goal of losing fat while preserving lean mass. Too big of a deficit makes preserving lean mass difficult and adding even more cardio onto the current deficit would just make it that much more difficult. Sometimes less activity or more calories (or both) can be the answer to achieving the desired results. Finding the right activity to intake balance takes some experimentation and time, but can lead to a more efficient fat loss rate.
  • mlyn0812
    mlyn0812 Posts: 31
    I actually misinterpreted your fat intake, 43g goal not 43 calories. The former works out to about 30% of calories which seems alright. Exercise will earn you more calories which will contribute to a higher calorie target for the day. You should plan on eating some or the extra calories to fuel your workouts and yourself in general

    How heavy do you lift ? (Numbers?)
    I'm probably going to be slammed for saying this but I disagree with eating exercise calories back. For me at least that has always been counterproductive to getting results. And 30 minutes of cardio only really burns 400 calories at most and that's not a whole lot to get worked up about. I am not the law and I can only speak from my personal experience but I think it's best to stick to a consistent calorie number and to be consistent every day.

    Eating back at least a portion of exercise calories is something that should be considered on a case-by-case basis. People who follow MFP recommendations would be best suited to eat back the exercise calories because that is how the calorie recommendation is set. People following the TDEE method would eat at a static calorie amount because the exercise is wrapped into the TDEE amount. I personally follow the TDEE method so I don't have to worry about what my exercise calories are and just eat what I need to.

    The OP's diary for Saturday indicated a calorie range of 1200-1300. If that is a typical day (I didn't go back farther), 1 hour 15 min of activity a day 6x/week is probably more than enough and larger burns from additional cardio could end up being detrimental to her goal of losing fat while preserving lean mass. Too big of a deficit makes preserving lean mass difficult and adding even more cardio onto the current deficit would just make it that much more difficult. Sometimes less activity or more calories (or both) can be the answer to achieving the desired results. Finding the right activity to intake balance takes some experimentation and time, but can lead to a more efficient fat loss rate.
    I'm more for the TDEE method also. I think it's too much guesswork to accurately determine how many calories your truly burning, and I think it's easier to stick to one plan day in and day out then several depending on the day. That just seems like more work. Plus if you stick to something on a consistent basis it's easier to tell that x y and z is working. 1300 calories does seem a bit on the low end so your right she would probably do better increasing it slightly. 1400-1700 would be a rough estimate of what would be healthier. Then there's always scooby's tdee calculator.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Eating back exercise calories or TDEE method really just amount to the same thing: consuming enough to fuel your physical activity. I would agree that however one chooses to go about that would get it done
  • DJ7203
    DJ7203 Posts: 497 Member
    Thanks everyone for the input. I haven't been tracking my calories lately. But when I sat down & thought of some days I had I was probably eating closer to 1400-1800 calories daily & I have been maintaining my weight on that. No loss, no gains. So I'm going to put this new plan into play this coming week & see what happens. See how I feel, see if I lose any weight & take it from there. :smile:
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