Should I be eating more calories?

brittanydaniel79
brittanydaniel79 Posts: 226
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone,

I've added to my workout routine, so I was wondering if I should increase the intake. Currently, I eat till I'm full. And I make sure that I make good choices. But I'm eating 1280 cals or fewer. I remain full almost all the time--more so than before MFP when I ate like junk.

However, now that I've added strength training to my running, do my muscles need more fuel than my stomach thinks they do? I'm doing the September Challenge [Bushmen series], and it's pretty much the first consistent strength routine I've ever tried. It's HARD, but I can make it through most of the exercises. If you'd like to see what exercises I'm doing with this, take a look at my blog--that's where I log that info. I log my cardio normally.

Anyway, thank you for looking into this for me! I'm at a loss when it comes to strength training!

Thanks!
Brittany

Replies

  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    Well, do you eat back your exercise calories?
  • Tonnina
    Tonnina Posts: 979 Member
    Sub in some extra protein... 1280 is a great amount of calories if you are trying to loose lbs. Muscles need protein so add an egg or two to your daily intake (70 calories an egg so it's great!) Cheese is a great way to get extra protein without extra calories! You can also take 100% whey Protein powder, but I've heard it can taste pretty bad and make you spend extra time on the toilet, if you catch my drift.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    TL,DR. Yes.
  • vettle
    vettle Posts: 621 Member
    yes. you're fooling yourself if you think you're not losing muscle by eating to little.

    MFP works it out so you have to eat back your calories burnt. if you go to any other site and plug in your numbers and activity level, it would tell you eat way more for how you exercise (and not eat them back).
  • Jaded_GRL
    Jaded_GRL Posts: 42
    1200+ is good... but you should eat your exercise calories or your metabolism may drop to "Survival" mode. If you increased your calorie burn but not given your body enough fuel it could actually slow progress. There is a good article on here somewhere about how your body burns certain energy sources first and stored fat is actually hard for it to process DURING exercise - it usually moves to those stores after exercise. So a higher carb snack is good 20minutes or so before your workout. Then your muscles use protien to repair themselves after a workout, so a protien snack is good right after the workout.
  • NaomiLyn15
    NaomiLyn15 Posts: 388 Member
    Do you eat back you exercise calories? If you don't then you definitely need to find ways to add calories into your diet. With strength training you should definitely add protein. Peanut butter, nuts, eggs, etc are a good way to do this (and to get some extra cals in). I drink a whey protein shake after working out because protein helps to heal the micro tears that your muscles get when lifting.
  • stanley12345
    stanley12345 Posts: 12 Member
    Judge from your muscle soreness.. If recovery time for any body part is more than 1.5 to 2 days, you need to be eating more protein
    You can maintain the calories but try eating protein the equivalent of your weight in gms .. if you weigh 100 lbs, eat 100 gms of protein
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    the deficits i see on this forum...

    you're nearly eating at a 500 cal deficit to your BMR
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
    lifting weights doesnt burn many calories and its an anareobic exercise, hence not condusive to weight loss.

    if you want to make sure you dont lose much muscle mass while losing fat, then its important to lift more than it is eating a lot, since you will inevitability lose muscle mass with fat loss. but you still must eat to help mimimize muscle loss. and it all depends on your T.E.E.

    from there dont reduce more than 500 cals. so that way you can still lose fat and maintain some muscle mass.

    i dont cardio much, and mostly i lift. i'm trying to build muscle. i eat 2000 cals. i'm 5'2" and weigh 120 lbs. i lift heavy and do a split routine. legs one day, chest/bis one day, and back/tris another.

    ps muscle soreness is NO indicator to anything.
  • Erindipitous
    Erindipitous Posts: 1,234 Member
    Eat back your exercise calories, and it's recommended to up your protein to at least 1g/lb-- Which can be tough, but protein shakes are a great way to help meet this goal.
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    I would completely reverse your carbs and protein percentage ---definitely up the protein - -especially if you're working out.
    Also, 1280 is pretty low --- especially if you're not eating your exercise calories back. I think 1280 is probably ok as long as you're really eat that NET ---
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