Building muscle using this app..

Options
saraiii322
saraiii322 Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hello, I’ve recently lost 30 pounds and now my goal is to build muscle with the help of this app. I am concerned about my carb intake and wanted to get some input from others who are more advanced in this area so here is my info:

30 years of age
5’1
100 pounds

According to this app I should be consuming 174 carbs a day.. I’m not as active at the moment as I’d like to be so should I be going by this number?

Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    Options
    You should be worrying about your total calorie intake. This will depend on your goal.

    Is your goal to bulk (gain weight as muscle and fat) or to improve your body composition and look more defined?
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Options
    When you say you aren't as active, what do you mean? If your goal is to build muscle you will want to start some kind of progressive lifting if not already, otherwise most, if not all your weight gained will be fat.

    As mentioned total calories are what matters most. Unless you have insulin resistance or are diabetic, carbs are your friend when trying to build muscle.

    What do your calories and the rest of your macros look like?

  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
    edited July 2018
    Options
    This app is designed mainly to help people manage their diet and lose weight.

    You can use this app to gain weight but simply gaining weight does not mean you will gain muscle unless you eat sufficient protein and exercise in a manner to do so. If you don't do this, just eating more will make you fat (again, assuming that you were overweight and lost weight using this app b4).
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Options
    Have you seen the below link:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    It lists a lot of canned programs....strong curves is a very popular program with the ladies, but it may or may not help you accomplish what you are trying to do. It is unclear to me what exactly you are trying to do.

    MFP - typically - helps people with their Caloric Intake and the composition of their intake. Geek-speak for:

    1. How many calories a day do I consume
    2. How are those calories broken down (into Protein, Carbs, Fats).


    As a very general guideline, lots of people use the defaults that MFP provides (and I - for full disclosure - do not use MFP to log anything so I do not really know what the default is....) and have success. As others have suggested, your caloric intake (whatever that might be based on your goals at the moment) is the most important thing. If you are looking to gain weight then you need to be in a caloric surplus (where CI > CO). If you are looking to lose weight then you need to be in a caloric deficit (where CI < CO). If you are looking to maintain, then you need to be in maintenance (where CI = CO).

    Just in case, "CI" is "Calories In" and "CO" is "Calories Out".

    It seems - since your clearly state in the first sentence - that you are looking to do a recomp or a bulk (as you have recently lost a total of 30lbs.....congrats on that!!!). A recomp is slow and steady and you eat at maintenance and you follow a progressive overload lifting program. A bulk would be where you are in a caloric surplus and you follow a progressive overload lifting program.

    For the recomp, since you are eating at maintenance your body weight, technically, will not change but the way you look will. The most common analogy here is that your clothes will fit differently. Your 100lbs will be a bit more toned. Not bulky.....please don't make that assumption...most women will just not ever get bulky (and those that do.....well, let's just say that they have some help....with a needle in their glutes!).

    For the bulk, you will gain weight (since you are in a caloric surplus) and some of that weight will indeed be body fat. Can't do much about that. That is what a caloric surplus does. But, you will get stronger (just like you will in the recomp) because of the progressive overload lifting program.

    There are a few ladies here who have done absolutely amazing work over the years. One of them has responded to your quesiton. :-)

    We await your reply.....always glad to help people!

Categories