No idea what to do!!

Options
Silkysausage
Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'm new to weightlifting, around a few months.

I started on the resistance machines with almost immediate beginners gains. I'm female, 5 foot 3 inches and weight 117 pounds. I did start off at 119 pounds but have lost 2 pounds.

I go to the gym 4 days a week and include 10 minutes of rowing before lifting and twice a week include 45 minutes of Functional Training before lifting. I want muscle gains, so I need to increase my food intake and have become bamboozled by all the info there is on the matter.

I have just set MFP to gain 0.5 pounds per week and my activity level at lightly active as a massage therapist 3 days per week but I do all chores around the house, cooking, cleaning etc.

1. Am I 'Lightly active' or 'Active?
2. Do I add another 250 cals to the 1,870 calories on MFP orr is this only for TDEE calculations?
2. When do I 'cut'?


Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Options
    Use MFP and set it to gain 0.5lb per week.

    Eat back intentional exercise cals as well.

    See what the scales do after 4 - 6 weeks and tweak as necessary.
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
    Options
    I've never eaten my exercise cals as MFP seems a little confused when inputting certain exercise terms? Anyway, thank you so much guys for your input!
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
    edited November 2017
    Options
    Put yourself as lightly active as your 3 day a week job has you on your feet a lot (general housework is included in sedentary).

    Getting between .8-1g protein and .35-.45 fat is a good macro goal, carbs fill in the rest.

    Start eating back your exercise calories. Use MFP numbers (or an activity tracker), monitor your gain for a full menstrual cycle, then adjust your exercise calories up or down by 25% as needed.

    (MFP has always been pretty accurate for my cardio and lifting)

    If you are using machines here is a good programme. I would encourage you to move to free weights if/when you are comfortable, or at least work some into your machine routine.

    Cheers, h.

    https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ultimate-beginners-machine-workout-for-women.html

    ETA: for your weight routine look under the 'cardio' section, ithas an entry for weight lifting. Just enter the total time you spent on weights, including rest periods. It won't give you a lot of calories, but as you are gaining every little bit helps.
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
    Options
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    Put yourself as lightly active as your 3 day a week job has you on your feet a lot (general housework is included in sedentary).

    Getting between .8-1g protein and .35-.45 fat is a good macro goal, carbs fill in the rest.

    Start eating back your exercise calories. Use MFP numbers (or an activity tracker), monitor your gain for a full menstrual cycle, then adjust your exercise calories up or down by 25% as needed.

    (MFP has always been pretty accurate for my cardio and lifting)

    If you are using machines here is a good programme. I would encourage you to move to free weights if/when you are comfortable, or at least work some into your machine routine.

    Cheers, h.

    https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ultimate-beginners-machine-workout-for-women.html

    ETA: for your weight routine look under the 'cardio' section, ithas an entry for weight lifting. Just enter the total time you spent on weights, including rest periods. It won't give you a lot of calories, but as you are gaining every little bit helps.

    Can I adjust these values on MFP?
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
    Options
    Arggh! I can change the values but to set to grams MFP wants me to pay premium..how do I work out the percentages instead?
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
    Options
    I found that setting to 40 carb, 30 protein, and 30 fat was close enough.

    See how that does for you. No need to go premium, just look to getting close- perfection isn't needed.

    Cheers, h.

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Options
    Silkysausage wrote: »
    Arggh! I can change the values but to set to grams MFP wants me to pay premium..how do I work out the percentages instead?

    Just put the percentages as close to the number as you can, it doesn't really matter that much
  • Johncalvinfields
    Johncalvinfields Posts: 179 Member
    Options
    znvugq27h1sm.png
    What worked for me is weight loss then gaining muscle mass. I’m 50 years old, 5’8” was 226lbs in April this year. Since being at the gym ( roughly 5 days a week averaging 45 minutes to an hour each day ) I’m now 200 lbs , but building muscle from lean protein, low carbs but some good fats. It’s a trial and error progress for each individual
  • ejikslonik
    ejikslonik Posts: 10 Member
    Options
    I’m also so confused with this calorie thing

Categories