Aarrggh!!! Confused about calories and macros

Carolyn2017mfp
Carolyn2017mfp Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Can anyone help please.
I'm 5ft 2 and 110lb. I mfp has me on 1200 calories a day. I want to gain more muscle and loose the loose skin (normal place, the tummy).
Last year I worked extremely hard (and it was hard work) and I went down to 104lb and gained the abs and felt more muscly.
Fast forward this year and Im seriously not sure whether to up my calories to 1750 like last year and sort my macros out. Not sure how to do that either.
In the last 3 weeks I've lost 3lb (I was 113lb) but I don't feel fitter, more tired tbh.
I started the Stronglifts 5×5 last week 5 days a week for around 45 minutes to an hour and I know it's only 3 weeks but food and calorie counting is on my mind and I feel more bloated than I've ever done on just 1200 calories. I'm drinking loads of water but shall I just take in more calories
What to do?

Replies

  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    1200 is awfully restrictive. If you are able to lose at a higher intake, you should go with that. Since you aren't overweight, you should be aiming for less than a pound a week anyway.
  • Carolyn2017mfp
    Carolyn2017mfp Posts: 16 Member
    edited June 2017
    Yeah that's what I thought. I tried the 1200 calories for 2 weeks and it's not sustainable for me.
    I'm not sure about my protein and carb intake either.
    Is it 1lb per lb of lbm or 1lb per lb of body weight or 0.7 or what? For protein.....
    Thanks for the replies
  • KickboxFanatic
    KickboxFanatic Posts: 184 Member
    Protein and fat macros will vary based on cutting/bulking cycles and should be computed using your lean body mass. My favorite macro calculator is here (don't have to use the carb cycling at the bottom if you don't want to): https://rippedbody.com/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/
  • Carolyn2017mfp
    Carolyn2017mfp Posts: 16 Member
    Thanks.
    Although according to that site my average daily intake of calories are only 1286
    Training day calories 1543
    Resting days 1028
    These are way to low for me except for the training days
    But I'll take on board the protein ratio
  • KickboxFanatic
    KickboxFanatic Posts: 184 Member
    yeah, don't worry about the carb cycling calorie intakes it gives you, that's only if you're going to use the carb cycling approach. But it should give you your recommended protein and fat intake and you can just fill in the rest of your calories with carbs.

    You said in your original post that you wanted to gain muscle. Is the 1286 (or 1200 MFP) for weight loss? You'll need to eat at maintenance or over to gain muscle.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    KickboxFanatic wrote: »
    yeah, don't worry about the carb cycling calorie intakes it gives you, that's only if you're going to use the carb cycling approach. But it should give you your recommended protein and fat intake and you can just fill in the rest of your calories with carbs.

    You said in your original post that you wanted to gain muscle. Is the 1286 (or 1200 MFP) for weight loss? You'll need to eat at maintenance or over to gain muscle.


    This. You ain't gonna build muscle on 1200 calories a day.

  • Carolyn2017mfp
    Carolyn2017mfp Posts: 16 Member
    edited June 2017
    Yes it gave me 1200 as I put on it wanted a 1lb weight loss per week.
    I can see now I really need Muscle gain.
    So I've reset it all and it's now 1490 calories a day, which is at maintenance atm.
    Once I get started back to the gym which will be end of this week I'll up the calories if I feel I need to on the days I train. Hopefully gradually increase to 1750 a day like I was last year when I started to see results.
    It's just getting your head around the figures, eat more to loose fat and gain muscle, when your brain thinks eat less to loose weight and I never think about the muscle

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