Calorie/macro help

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tylamariah
tylamariah Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
im 18 years old and weight 125. I do personal training 3x a week and then do my own stuff the rest of the day. I workout 6-7 times a week. And im eating almost 1200 calories a day. 40%protein 40%carbs and 20%fat. I've been doing this for a while now and I feel my body is not changing. I think I need to up my calories because my body might be thinking im starving it? But im unsure. Could someone help me figure out the best nutrition for me to follow so I can achieve the best results.

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  • tylamariah
    tylamariah Posts: 4 Member
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    * do my own stuff the rest of the week(trying to follow Kayla itness guides)
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
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    How tall are you? What are your goals? Gain muscle, lose fat?
  • tylamariah
    tylamariah Posts: 4 Member
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    tylamariah wrote: »
    im 18 years old and weight 125. I do personal training 3x a week and then do my own stuff the rest of the day. I workout 6-7 times a week. And im eating almost 1200 calories a day. 40%protein 40%carbs and 20%fat. I've been doing this for a while now and I feel my body is not changing. I think I need to up my calories because my body might be thinking im starving it? But im unsure. Could someone help me figure out the best nutrition for me to follow so I can achieve the best results.

  • tylamariah
    tylamariah Posts: 4 Member
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    Im about 5'5. And well definitely gain muscle because I know I don't have a ton of fat to lose. Just a wee bit. I just wanna look more slim but toned.
  • lisaloolovesblue
    lisaloolovesblue Posts: 30 Member
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    How tall are you? 125 seems very low to me. (But I'm taller.) You need to make sure your weight goals are in line with what is healthy, not just an ideal number you have in your head.

    1200 calories is also very low. That's the number of calories for someone living a sedentary lifestyle and trying to lose weight. First of all, you probably don't need to lose weight. But second of all, if you're working out every day, your body needs more than 1200 calories!

    I'll use myself as an example. I'm 5'8, weigh 135, 21% body fat (which is on the line between athlete and fitness). I'm on the lower side of the healthy weight range. I have a moderate activity level, so like walking around campus every day, and a couple short workouts every a week.

    For me to maintain my weight, I should be eating around 2,000 calories. If I'm to do more workouts besides the "moderate activity" I have described, I would need to eat back those calories.

    For me, it doesn't make sense that someone your weight and activity level would be eating 1200 calories. Maybe you just need to rethink your goals.
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    edited January 2016
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    So you'll probably want to recomp or lean bulk.

    Recomp is eating at maintenance (what does mfp give you for calories if you set it to maintain current weight?)

    Lean bulk would be eating 250 calories above maintenance level while lifting weights with a progressive overload. During bulks you will add muscle and fat, then cut the fat and try to retain as much muscle as possible.

    Recomp is probably closer to what you want. It's slower than a bulk/cut though.

    As for macros you want 0.8 grams of protein for each pound of bodyweight. And for fat you want at least 0.4 grams for each pound of bodyweight. To maintain healthy hormones etc.
    So:
    0.8 x 125 = 100g protein
    0.4 x 125 = 50g fat
    Fill in the rest with carbs. It's ok to go over on protein and fat as they are minimums. Just manually set mfp to the % that gets you as close to the grams for each.
  • AnabolicKyle
    AnabolicKyle Posts: 489 Member
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    If you're really eating 1200cal a day you will lose weight. Starvation mode is a myth, the less calories you eat the more weight you will lose.
  • thehoss316
    thehoss316 Posts: 125 Member
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    @tylamariah up the calories a bit for a few days...you're doing bare minimum calories on what sounds like fairly intense physical activity. Try a 40-40-20 or Zone macro balance as well.
  • muscleandbeard
    muscleandbeard Posts: 117 Member
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    errollm wrote: »
    So you'll probably want to recomp or lean bulk.

    Recomp is eating at maintenance (what does mfp give you for calories if you set it to maintain current weight?)

    Lean bulk would be eating 250 calories above maintenance level while lifting weights with a progressive overload. During bulks you will add muscle and fat, then cut the fat and try to retain as much muscle as possible.

    Recomp is probably closer to what you want. It's slower than a bulk/cut though.

    As for macros you want 0.8 grams of protein for each pound of bodyweight. And for fat you want at least 0.4 grams for each pound of bodyweight. To maintain healthy hormones etc.
    So:
    0.8 x 125 = 100g protein
    0.4 x 125 = 50g fat
    Fill in the rest with carbs. It's ok to go over on protein and fat as they are minimums. Just manually set mfp to the % that gets you as close to the grams for each.

    This ^
    AnabolicKyle wrote: »
    If you're really eating 1200cal a day you will lose weight. Starvation mode is a myth, the less calories you eat the more weight you will lose.

    And this ^
  • tillerstouch
    tillerstouch Posts: 608 Member
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    Go to iifym fantastic site that will help you get your calories and macros right.

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