Girls that lift heavy!

saruuhm · March 2015

How many calories do you eat a day?

Im 5'2, 135 pounds and I eat 1697, is this too much or too little? I train 5-6 times a week. I want to get my free squat up to 215 but im stuck at 185.

I haven't been training for definition lately, more strength.

Sweet_Heresy · March 2015

I eat around 2000...but I'm also 5'8" and 195.

Did you use a calorie counter? Are you trying to lose or just maintain?

jemhh · March 2015

5'6" 149 lbs. Currently reverse dieting and have been maintaining at 2500 calories lately. I lift 4x/wk and do some cardio 2x/wk.

saruuhm · March 2015

Ryudori wrote: »

I eat around 2000...but I'm also 5'8" and 195.

Did you use a calorie counter? Are you trying to lose or just maintain?

Lose fat, increase muscle. Im trying not to focus on the scale number!

Im just going off mfp told me to eat, I think it's 170 carbs, 148 protein and 40 fat

I might be wrong with the fat though

michael2884 · March 2015

Try increasing protein and carbs some, if you lift heavy that few of calories isn't going to help you add muscle. I'd say do 180 protein and 220 carbs. (This shouldn't add any extra BF if you're hitting the gym hard$ This app doesn't calculate calories burned during weight lifting so you also have to consider that.

kpw818 · March 2015

I'm 5'2, 113 and eat 1800 a day doing TDEE (Don't log exercise in MFP and average out elsewhere). I only lift 2 days a week and primarily run, so that probably makes a difference.

I would recalculate your TDEE or what you are expending. Look up lean massing for help on ways to build muscle without gaining excess fat.

Definitely eat some more proteins. I need to do that myself

ladtgertrude · March 2015

I have heard that muscles tend to burn more calories. So, should I assume that Lifting Weights helps to burn lots of calories ?? And how many times per week do you lift ?? And do you switch different exercises each day ??

DawnEmbers · March 2015

Since I'm lifting on a deficit geared towards 1lb loss per week, I eat from around 1400-1600 depending on the day. I'm also only 4'11.5". Protein is definitely a good focus. I've been working on 80 per day but next goal is to bump it up to 90 (challenging due to some dietary restrictions/allergies). If you're getting what you think it recommends then that should be pretty good it would seem. Most posts I've seen on the topic recommend .8-1 per lean body mass, though some say as high as 1.5.

Part of it will be diet and part will be the actual lifting program you're using. After a certain point it does become harder to increase, though 185 squat sounds pretty awesome to me. So, depends in part on your lifting program.

Good luck with your goals.

saruuhm · March 2015

DawnEmbers wrote: »

Since I'm lifting on a deficit geared towards 1lb loss per week, I eat from around 1400-1600 depending on the day. I'm also only 4'11.5". Protein is definitely a good focus. I've been working on 80 per day but next goal is to bump it up to 90 (challenging due to some dietary restrictions/allergies). If you're getting what you think it recommends then that should be pretty good it would seem. Most posts I've seen on the topic recommend .8-1 per lean body mass, though some say as high as 1.5.

Part of it will be diet and part will be the actual lifting program you're using. After a certain point it does become harder to increase, though 185 squat sounds pretty awesome to me. So, depends in part on your lifting program.

Good luck with your goals.

I think I have mine set to losing a pound a week as well, I just want to turn my fat into muscle! I've heard that too, I struggle reaching my protein goal because I try to get most of it from foods not powders.

Thanks for your help! Goodluck with your goals!

saruuhm · March 2015

ladtgertrude wrote: »

I have heard that muscles tend to burn more calories. So, should I assume that Lifting Weights helps to burn lots of calories ?? And how many times per week do you lift ?? And do you switch different exercises each day ??

Yeah I think that's right! It's hard because you can't log your weight training just cardio on here. Before I was eating 1200 calories and training hard at the gym, not thinking i was pretty much starving myself and my muscles so I bumped it up to 1697. I lift 5-6 times a week for probably an hour to two hours. Yeah, I do. I have a chest day, leg day, back day etc.

saruuhm · March 2015

kpw818 wrote: »

I'm 5'2, 113 and eat 1800 a day doing TDEE (Don't log exercise in MFP and average out elsewhere). I only lift 2 days a week and primarily run, so that probably makes a difference.

I would recalculate your TDEE or what you are expending. Look up lean massing for help on ways to build muscle without gaining excess fat.

Definitely eat some more proteins. I need to do that myself

Awesome thank you so much!

saruuhm · March 2015

michael2884 wrote: »

Try increasing protein and carbs some, if you lift heavy that few of calories isn't going to help you add muscle. I'd say do 180 protein and 220 carbs. (This shouldn't add any extra BF if you're hitting the gym hard$ This app doesn't calculate calories burned during weight lifting so you also have to consider that.

Have you ever tried carb cycling? I don't really know much about it, but like a high carb day and a low carb day?

Yeah, I wish this ap did that so I could know!

auddii · March 2015

Since you sound like you want to work on recomposition and not losing scale weight I'd suggest eating at maintenance and lifting. Figuring out the appropriate calories will depend on your activity level, so try a few online calculators and start there. You may need to adjust if you continue to lose weight.

SonyaCele · March 2015

i eat about 2000-2500 a day, and its too much, i've been gaining but i dont wanna cut cause i love food. i'm gnona add cardio as soon as my PT says i can jog

DawnEmbers · March 2015

I have mine set at 1 in large part because I'm not close to final goal weight. I've lost over 40 so far but still have about 10 in order to reach the overweight category for my height as opposed to being labelled as obese. I had it at 1.5 but after losing a fair amount, the daily calorie recommendation dropped to 1200 and I told it no. lol So, I switched to 1 lb a week instead in order to get a little more calories per day.

For recomp, slowly lose fat while gaining some muscle, I do believe the others that posted about it are right from what is often recommended. You would need to eat closer to maintenance along with having a decent amount of protein. If have less than a 20 to go on a scale goal, most recommend only going for .5 per week instead of 1 lb as well, if going with a deficit before worrying about gaining mass.

SJ46 · March 2015

After a five month hiatus I am lifting again. Currently I am following Starting Strength.

I am 5'2" about 120 and eating about 1554 calories a day (155 carbs, 52 fat, 116 protein). I used iifym.com to determine the numbers.

My number one goal right now is to shed body fat that I slowly gained since last summer. I would love to also see my strength increase but I am feeling impatient as swimsuit season is right around the corner so that will most likely not be as fast.

OP, keep in mind that if you are cutting calories your strength gains will tend to be diminished.

amongstthewildflowers · March 2015

I'm 5'3, 160 lbs. I weight lift 4 times a week and do cardio 2 times a week. I'm still trying to lose weight so I eat anywhere from 1500-1800 calories, just depending on what my body needs for the day. I probably should stay around the 1400-1500 range to lose weight but with how much I train I don't know how I could cut my calories anymore then I already have.

mkakids · March 2015

I lift 3xs per week. 5'5" 206#, I average 1800 cals before exercise cals.

JoRocka · March 2015

Lift: 3 x week ~ 1.5- 2 hours per lift
Dance: 4-6 days a week at 1-4 hours a pop
Recently (Feb) Started Cardio 2x a week.

I eat between 1600-1800 calories a week and I am just JUST barely losing weight.
I'm 5'8" and 165 pounds.

sengalissa · March 2015

I lift 4x/week. Have tried all kinds of calorie limits (while and after losing 30lbs). Now I am 130lbs at 5'4", have been lifting for a year, so newbie gains are all on (and look great).
I now decided to ditch the scale and to eat 1750cals. Because on a deficit, there is NO progress in lifts and I hate it. I think I'd rather stay a size 4 and get stronger than restrict myself much longer!
So, technically, I am recomping now. I think.

I guess we're in the same ball park.

However, I am doing strong curves, so my focus is more hip thrusts (230lbs 5 reps) than squats (way less, and I do 3x10 reps, so lower weight due to lack of equipment).

pzarnosky · March 2015

You can accomplish all of your goals, but probably not at once. You lose fat when you don't intake enough cals for your body to sustain its daily functions. You build muscle when you exercise them and have excess calories (and other stuff) to cause protein synthesis. This is the basic idea of the bulking/cutting phase. The bulking phase is when you see the most results in how much weight you can move. Lifting while cutting is about maintaining your gains and losing the fat around them to see your gains. That said, you absolutely can still gain strength on a deficit, but it will be slower.
I'm in a cutting phase now and have my macros at 40% protein, and 30 for carbs and fat. I'd drop the carbs lower but I'm training for a 25K and lift 4-5 days a week.

Girls that lift heavy!

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