Hoping to gain some muscle... does this look right..

StephWieler
StephWieler Posts: 43 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just started Doing stronglifts... hoping to see some muscle... (also hoping to lose like 5 lbs of fat). I am also training to do 5K.

I am completely new to the food aspect of lifting.

I am 125 lbs, 5' 2''
BMI: approx 22.9

I am sorry if this is a dumb question :( Really appreciate the help :) Let me know if you need more details.

From the research i did i came up with this... what do you think:
1828 calories a day
carbs: 219.5 grams ... 45%
protein: 125 grams... 30%
healthy fats: 50 grams.. 25%

Does this look right to you?!? I dont want to over eat and end up gaining a bunch of weight =P

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • JoshD8705
    JoshD8705 Posts: 390 Member
    I'd lower the carbs to 40%, and up the fats to 30%. Under ideal conditions you can gain up to .25lbs a week in muscle mass, expect less though. You're gonna put on some fat to gain the muscle unless you're new to exercise.
  • StephWieler
    StephWieler Posts: 43 Member
    JoshD8705 wrote: »
    I'd lower the carbs to 40%, and up the fats to 30%. Under ideal conditions you can gain up to .25lbs a week in muscle mass, expect less though. You're gonna put on some fat to gain the muscle unless you're new to exercise.

    I am in fact new to lifting and exercise.. I've always had a fast metabolism..

  • JoshD8705
    JoshD8705 Posts: 390 Member
    StephWieler wrote: »
    JoshD8705 wrote: »
    I'd lower the carbs to 40%, and up the fats to 30%. Under ideal conditions you can gain up to .25lbs a week in muscle mass, expect less though. You're gonna put on some fat to gain the muscle unless you're new to exercise.

    I am in fact new to lifting and exercise.. I've always had a fast metabolism..

    Well being new you get a small window of time where you can eat at a deficit, burn fat, and gain muscle. I don't know exactly how much muscle you can gain in that window, but try a .5lbs cut until you reach your goal weight. Get your bf% checked before and after.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    I think a 40c/30p/30 f ratio is good too, although I'm personally more on a 40F/30C/30P right now (not losing, maintaining). I don't know what your TDEE is so I'm not sure if that's appropriate calories or not. I follow a recomp program called Eat to Perform (well, it's poplar with strength athletes and Crossfitters for fueling their workouts, really). I've lost about 10% BF this year while staying the same weight on the scale--which also means I've put on a lot of muscle. I've also added 115 lbs each to my squat and deadlift. I was lifting with machines off and on for 10 years but switched to free weights a year ago. Regarding ETP, I don't sell it. It's really just a book and a forum. They have a good macro calculator on their site or Scooby's workshop has a good, more traditional one.

    The best way to handle the calorie thing is to make your best swag (scientific wild-*kitten* guess) with a TDEE calculator and then adjust your calories up or down after a month. You may also find that you look lighter and have lower body fat at a higher scale weight, so start to find other ways to gauge your progress, like measurements, photos, and clothing sizes.

  • StephWieler
    StephWieler Posts: 43 Member
    kelly_e_montana wrote: »
    I think a 40c/30p/30 f ratio is good too, although I'm personally more on a 40F/30C/30P right now (not losing, maintaining). I don't know what your TDEE is so I'm not sure if that's appropriate calories or not. I follow a recomp program called Eat to Perform (well, it's poplar with strength athletes and Crossfitters for fueling their workouts, really). I've lost about 10% BF this year while staying the same weight on the scale--which also means I've put on a lot of muscle. I've also added 115 lbs each to my squat and deadlift. I was lifting with machines off and on for 10 years but switched to free weights a year ago. Regarding ETP, I don't sell it. It's really just a book and a forum. They have a good macro calculator on their site or Scooby's workshop has a good, more traditional one.

    The best way to handle the calorie thing is to make your best swag (scientific wild-*kitten* guess) with a TDEE calculator and then adjust your calories up or down after a month. You may also find that you look lighter and have lower body fat at a higher scale weight, so start to find other ways to gauge your progress, like measurements, photos, and clothing sizes.

    I dont know what TDEE really is... but i just used a calculator and it says 1741 calories a day... does that mean i should eat 1741 cals?!?

    I will have to check out that book, this is all so confusing!!
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    total daily energy expenditure.

    It's BMR + activity level modified by size, age, moon phase.

    It you used a calculator to determine TDEE, then eating at that number will maintain weight at current activity level. Eating below will lose, eating above will gain.
  • philwrightfitness
    philwrightfitness Posts: 122
    A little bit more information please..when are you aiming to do your 5k , how often are you prepared to train, are you able to roughly estimate your body fat percentage?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited October 2014
    StephWieler wrote: »

    I dont know what TDEE really is... but i just used a calculator and it says 1741 calories a day... does that mean i should eat 1741 cals?!?

    I will have to check out that book, this is all so confusing!!

    No one really does until you base a TDEE on results of gain or loss, and your workout program doesn't change along with daily life staying the same.

    In other words, as soon as you think you nailed it - it likely changed.

    Yes, that means you eat that much daily when you do the workout time you indicated.
    That isn't really a daily TDEE value, that is average daily based on weekly routine. MFP if used right is actually doing a daily TDEE method.

    Be aware though - the rough 5 level TDEE chart is based on exercise on top of otherwise sedentary daily life - 45 hr deskjob/commute and no kids or pets running around after, no long shopping times, ect.

    If you are NOT sedentary but really lightly active in daily life already, and your exercise is also 1-3 hrs weekly at light active - you just became Moderately Active level.

    Then take a 10% deficit as someone else mentioned.
  • JoshD8705
    JoshD8705 Posts: 390 Member
    edited October 2014
    My opinion, use mfp calculator for lowest loss per week, and eat at that calorie amount, and yes eat back exercise calories around 50% of them unless you are measuring very accurately then eat back 100%.

    Do the 5x5 stronglift program.

    Use 40c, 30p, 30f, or 30c, 30p, 40f macro depending on which you feel more energetic under.

    Stop at 5lbs loss. Then switch to maintenance.
  • StephWieler
    StephWieler Posts: 43 Member
    philwrightfitness wrote: »
    A little bit more information please..when are you aiming to do your 5k , how often are you prepared to train, are you able to roughly estimate your body fat percentage?

    I dont know my body fat percentage at the moment...
    as for the 5k, its something im just doing for myself... i am using the couch to 5k app.
  • StephWieler
    StephWieler Posts: 43 Member
    JoshD8705 wrote: »
    My opinion, use mfp calculator for lowest loss per week, and eat at that calorie amount, and yes eat back exercise calories around 50% of them unless you are measuring very accurately then eat back 100%.

    Do the 5x5 stronglift program.

    Use 40c, 30p, 30f, or 40f, 30c, 30p macro depending on which you feel more energetic under.

    Thanks for the tips!:)
  • philwrightfitness
    philwrightfitness Posts: 122
    I wouldn't get too obsessed with tdee etc, just monitor your calories, if you don't get any weight loss then just drop them by 10% every two weeks until you get to a level of weight loss that you are happy with, but I recommend 1-2 lbs a week max. Keep your protein at 1g per lb of lean mass, or at about 0.75g per lb of total mass (I'm guessing your fat percentage from your photo lol )
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
    StephWieler wrote: »
    I just started Doing stronglifts... hoping to see some muscle... (also hoping to lose like 5 lbs of fat). I am also training to do 5K.

    I am completely new to the food aspect of lifting.

    I am 125 lbs, 5' 2''
    BMI: approx 22.9

    I am sorry if this is a dumb question :( Really appreciate the help :) Let me know if you need more details.

    From the research i did i came up with this... what do you think:
    1828 calories a day
    carbs: 219.5 grams ... 45%
    protein: 125 grams... 30%
    healthy fats: 50 grams.. 25%

    Does this look right to you?!? I dont want to over eat and end up gaining a bunch of weight =P

    Thanks in advance!

    what are your stats?
    height,
    age
    weight
    how many days a week u workout?

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