New to the gym and counting calories help

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CarolineDesmedt
CarolineDesmedt Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey I’m new to the gym and counting calories. In the past I was an avid runner and I want to get into weight lifting. I am currently 5’6 and 128lbs. I am eating around 1,400 calories a day and am working on strength training and reducing cardio. Are there any suggestions? I don’t want to gain weight or anything from stopping my cardio. Please give me tips and suggestions

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  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 498 Member
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    If you don't want to lose weight, you need to eat more. If you want to weight train and build muscle you DEFINITELY need to eat more. Stopping cardio won't cause you to gain weight. Eating a calorie surplus will cause you to gain weight. Find out what your maintenance calories are (2000 as above sounds reasonable, but you'll need to calculate this yourself), eat that much, ensure you are getting at least 0,8g protein per lb of your weight, and find/follow a good beginner strength training program.

    Many listed here

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

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    Hey I’m new to the gym and counting calories. In the past I was an avid runner and I want to get into weight lifting. I am currently 5’6 and 128lbs. I am eating around 1,400 calories a day and am working on strength training and reducing cardio. Are there any suggestions? I don’t want to gain weight or anything from stopping my cardio. Please give me tips and suggestions

    Eat more.
  • CarolineDesmedt
    CarolineDesmedt Posts: 8 Member
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    I’m scared if I just eat more I will gain fat and be unhealthy. How do I find a balance between just eating more and not gaining unhealthy weight?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    I’m scared if I just eat more I will gain fat and be unhealthy. How do I find a balance between just eating more and not gaining unhealthy weight?

    Eat maintenance calories.
  • CarolineDesmedt
    CarolineDesmedt Posts: 8 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    I’m scared if I just eat more I will gain fat and be unhealthy. How do I find a balance between just eating more and not gaining unhealthy weight?

    Eat maintenance calories.

    How do I know what that is though? On the internet I always see different numbers. Sometimes I see 1200 sometimes I see 2000
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    I’m scared if I just eat more I will gain fat and be unhealthy. How do I find a balance between just eating more and not gaining unhealthy weight?

    Eat maintenance calories.

    How do I know what that is though? On the internet I always see different numbers. Sometimes I see 1200 sometimes I see 2000

    Your calorie requirements are dependent on your personal stats and activity level...and I'm not sure where you're see 1200 as a typical maintenance number...that is lower than the BMR of an average female.

    If you put your stats in here and select "maintain" it will give you an estimated calorie target to do so plus exercise calories after you log that. From there you adjust as per your real world results. Or you could use a TDEE calculator that would just include your exercise in your activity level and have a set calorie target.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    I’m scared if I just eat more I will gain fat and be unhealthy. How do I find a balance between just eating more and not gaining unhealthy weight?

    Losing weight additional weight could be unhealthy too and it will certainly be counterproductive to your goals of adding some muscle mass.

    Unless you are in an extreme situation fat weight is gained and lost very slowly. It takes time to gain just like it takes time to lose. You are not going to wake up 3 weeks from now with a large amount of fat and a general decline in health. You have time to keep adjusting your calories up and down until you get it dialed in. Right now you are more likely to lose than gain.

    You might want to get a weight trending app and let it help you figure out where you are headed as you start eating more. It will take about 6 to 8 weeks of data to establish a trend. Then you can adjust your eating based on your results.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
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    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    CarolineDesmedt wrote: »
    I’m scared if I just eat more I will gain fat and be unhealthy. How do I find a balance between just eating more and not gaining unhealthy weight?

    Eat maintenance calories.

    How do I know what that is though? On the internet I always see different numbers. Sometimes I see 1200 sometimes I see 2000

    You pick a number, try it for a few weeks and then adjust. As others have suggested, just put your stats into MFP, select maintain and eat that number. If after a few weeks you are still losing or are gaining, the readjust your calories. Also keep in mind that beginning a new workout routine will probably lead to bump on the scale from water retention for muscle repair.

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