Gaining weight

Ktjc2016
Ktjc2016 Posts: 37 Member
Hi all I have a fear of getting fat. I have been reducing calories for a long time but have managed to go back up to 1800 for the last 4 months. Now I wish to gain some muscle but am scared of getting fat. Can anyone suggest how many calories I will need to gain muscle and how do I do this without getting fat? I am 49 kilos and 5"6

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    edited February 2016
    Hi all I have a fear of getting fat. I have been reducing calories for a long time but have managed to go back up to 1800 for the last 4 months. Now I wish to gain some muscle but am scared of getting fat. Can anyone suggest how many calories I will need to gain muscle and how do I do this without getting fat? I am 49 kilos and 5"6

    First, it is impossible to gain muscle without gaining fat. You can minimize it by having a small surplus (10% of your maintenance calories or 250 calories over). But at the end of a bulk, you will have to cut back to lower your body fat.

    You will want a progressive overload lifting program (strong curves, stronglifts, NROL4W) to help ensure that you will be gaining some muscle.


    Are you still losing or maintaining at 1800
  • richln
    richln Posts: 809 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    Hi all I have a fear of getting fat. I have been reducing calories for a long time but have managed to go back up to 1800 for the last 4 months. Now I wish to gain some muscle but am scared of getting fat. Can anyone suggest how many calories I will need to gain muscle and how do I do this without getting fat? I am 49 kilos and 5"6

    First, it is impossible to gain muscle without gaining fat. You can minimize it by having a small deficit surplus (10% of your maintenance calories or 250 calories over). But at the end of a bulk, you will have to cut back to lower your body fat.

    You will want a progressive overload lifting program (strong curves, stronglifts, NROL4W) to help ensure that you will be gaining some muscle.


    Are you still losing or maintaining at 1800

    Sorry for the pedantry, just don't want the new poster to get confused.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    richln wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    Hi all I have a fear of getting fat. I have been reducing calories for a long time but have managed to go back up to 1800 for the last 4 months. Now I wish to gain some muscle but am scared of getting fat. Can anyone suggest how many calories I will need to gain muscle and how do I do this without getting fat? I am 49 kilos and 5"6

    First, it is impossible to gain muscle without gaining fat. You can minimize it by having a small deficit surplus (10% of your maintenance calories or 250 calories over). But at the end of a bulk, you will have to cut back to lower your body fat.

    You will want a progressive overload lifting program (strong curves, stronglifts, NROL4W) to help ensure that you will be gaining some muscle.


    Are you still losing or maintaining at 1800

    Sorry for the pedantry, just don't want the new poster to get confused.

    I don't know what you are talking about, lol.



    Fricken typos
  • Ktjc2016
    Ktjc2016 Posts: 37 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    Hi all I have a fear of getting fat. I have been reducing calories for a long time but have managed to go back up to 1800 for the last 4 months. Now I wish to gain some muscle but am scared of getting fat. Can anyone suggest how many calories I will need to gain muscle and how do I do this without getting fat? I am 49 kilos and 5"6

    First, it is impossible to gain muscle without gaining fat. You can minimize it by having a small surplus (10% of your maintenance calories or 250 calories over). But at the end of a bulk, you will have to cut back to lower your body fat.

    You will want a progressive overload lifting program (strong curves, stronglifts, NROL4W) to help ensure that you will be gaining some muscle.


    Are you still losing or maintaining at 1800

    Hi I am managing to maintain weight but id say just and no more.

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    psulemon wrote: »
    Hi all I have a fear of getting fat. I have been reducing calories for a long time but have managed to go back up to 1800 for the last 4 months. Now I wish to gain some muscle but am scared of getting fat. Can anyone suggest how many calories I will need to gain muscle and how do I do this without getting fat? I am 49 kilos and 5"6

    First, it is impossible to gain muscle without gaining fat. You can minimize it by having a small surplus (10% of your maintenance calories or 250 calories over). But at the end of a bulk, you will have to cut back to lower your body fat.

    You will want a progressive overload lifting program (strong curves, stronglifts, NROL4W) to help ensure that you will be gaining some muscle.


    Are you still losing or maintaining at 1800

    Hi I am managing to maintain weight but id say just and no more.

    Have you ever lifted? Or do you have a current lifting routine?
  • Ktjc2016
    Ktjc2016 Posts: 37 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    Hi all I have a fear of getting fat. I have been reducing calories for a long time but have managed to go back up to 1800 for the last 4 months. Now I wish to gain some muscle but am scared of getting fat. Can anyone suggest how many calories I will need to gain muscle and how do I do this without getting fat? I am 49 kilos and 5"6

    First, it is impossible to gain muscle without gaining fat. You can minimize it by having a small surplus (10% of your maintenance calories or 250 calories over). But at the end of a bulk, you will have to cut back to lower your body fat.

    You will want a progressive overload lifting program (strong curves, stronglifts, NROL4W) to help ensure that you will be gaining some muscle.


    Are you still losing or maintaining at 1800

    Hi I am managing to maintain weight but id say just and no more.

    Have you ever lifted? Or do you have a current lifting routine?

    Yeah so I do weights but mostly kettle bell, squats lunges etc with a 12 kilo kettle bell and weights circuits with Dumbbells for my arms
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    If you haven't figured out your maintenance yet just keep adding 100 calories per day each week till you start seeing small gains on the scale consistently. Then add another 100 calories to maximize gains; a 250 to 500 calories per day surplus is what you are shooting for. I think all of us that lost a sizable amount of weight are afraid at first when we start to see the fat coming back, but you can always cut later and you already know how to do that.

    Also, definitely get on a lifting program so that you can maximize muscle gains.
  • Ktjc2016
    Ktjc2016 Posts: 37 Member
    If you haven't figured out your maintenance yet just keep adding 100 calories per day each week till you start seeing small gains on the scale consistently. Then add another 100 calories to maximize gains; a 250 to 500 calories per day surplus is what you are shooting for. I think all of us that lost a sizable amount of weight are afraid at first when we start to see the fat coming back, but you can always cut later and you already know how to do that.

    Also, definitely get on a lifting program so that you can maximize muscle gains.

    Thank you for the advice this sounds a good idea I've been eating 2000 calories and doing weight training, do I need to lift heavy or if hurting the next day is that adequate enough to build muscle?
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
    Stop overthinking it. Do the work. Find a good, proven program and stick to it religiously for 2 months. Adjust calories as needed at that point.

    SO MANY PEOPLE on these boards waste tons of time trying to figure out exactly what they should be doing. Stop it. No one can tell you precisely what to do, because all of the numbers you get from MFP are approximations. All anyone on earth needs to do is this:

    1) Find a program that suits your goals. This should literally be a 10-second google search, because the answer will be 5x5, New Rules of Lifting, or some activity like swimming or running or crossfit or boxing.

    2) Do that program consistently.

    3) Pick a sensible number of calories and eat that much consistently.

    4) In 2-3 months, reevaluate the # of calories you're eating vs. your weight loss/gain and adjust as needed.

    5) (optional) Skip one of these steps and then start a new thread on MFP about how you just can't lose/gain weight no matter what you do.


  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    If you haven't figured out your maintenance yet just keep adding 100 calories per day each week till you start seeing small gains on the scale consistently. Then add another 100 calories to maximize gains; a 250 to 500 calories per day surplus is what you are shooting for. I think all of us that lost a sizable amount of weight are afraid at first when we start to see the fat coming back, but you can always cut later and you already know how to do that.

    Also, definitely get on a lifting program so that you can maximize muscle gains.

    Thank you for the advice this sounds a good idea I've been eating 2000 calories and doing weight training, do I need to lift heavy or if hurting the next day is that adequate enough to build muscle?

    To build muscle you need adequate stimulation, rest and food. Soreness isn't a great guide to knowing if stimulation was adequate but generally you should avoid working the same muscle groups hard for about 48 hours to allow adequate recovery. Soreness can last 3 to 5 days.
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