How do i train newbie needs help

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WernerZiegler1
WernerZiegler1 Posts: 37 Member
edited November 2023 in Food and Nutrition
Hello guys, I’m from Austria not vienna though and new to this community. Yes, as the title shows, I want to start with bodybuilding and live healthy and nutritious i'm going to the gym for almost 1 month now even started with a 3 split training

I’m 31 years old,
180cm tall,
91.25 kg heavy

i look fat or rather chubby have a round belly


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My biggest problem, where I feel completely lost, is nutrition and creativity in cooking i always feel like i'm eating the wrong stuff even though i don't i track my calories + macros since 3 days eat 2200 kcal stopped drinking coke and other drinks with sugar only water here.

My macros are

225 g Carbohydrates
163 g Protein
72 g Fats

So my questions are
How much weight should i lose, i was thinking around 10 Kg
How do ensure myself that i eat the right stuff?
Can i turn fat into muscles?

Because some people told me that i shouldn't lose weight, instead focus on building muscles yet still eat healthy so the fats gets turned into muscles.

My end goal is to have a nice musculuar body so just losing weight becoming lean is not my only goal.

Regards :)

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,398 Member
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    With so little to lose set your weightloss goal to half a pound per week to maximum 1lbs per week. It sounds like you want to do a recomp, which is going to be slow. I'm sure some other people will chime in on that in a moment.

    One thing: no, you can't turn fat into muscle. It's a totally different kind of tissue. In order to lose bodyfat you need to be in a calorie deficit, in order to build muscle you need to eat enough food as you can't create muscle out of nothing. So that's your challenge. Waiting for others :)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    No one can tell you how much weight to lose. If you lose some fat, you'll know when you're where you want to be, so just stop losing fat then, and continue working on muscle gain. (Bonus: Muscle gain will go better when you can eat in a small calorie surplus. I'd suggest not doing that now, because you do have some body fat to lose, as I understand your goals.)

    MFP asks you to put in a goal weight, but what you enter there makes no difference in the calorie goal it will give you. (MFP uses it for some supposedly encouraging messages to you along the way.) You can set your goal weight to 10kg less than current weight to start, and adjust later if needed. That'll work fine.

    Fat doesn't turn into muscle. Fat can provide some of the energy (calories) needed for building muscle, but you also need to be eating enough protein and getting good nutrition in other ways. You need nutrients and calories both to build muscle. Of course, you also need a good progressive strength training program that you perform faithfully.

    To eat the right stuff, start logging your food and see how it stacks up against your macro and calorie goals. Adjust your eating until your calories, protein and fats are close to your goals on average over a small number of days. (It doesn't need to be exact.) I'd suggest spending most of your remaining calories/carbs on eating lots of varied, colorful veggies and fruits every day, for micronutrients and fiber.

    Patience will be required, too. Muscle mass gain is fairly gradual, especially so while losing fat.

    Best wishes!
  • WernerZiegler1
    WernerZiegler1 Posts: 37 Member
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    yirara wrote: »
    With so little to lose set your weightloss goal to half a pound per week to maximum 1lbs per week.

    Mate i wanna lose 10 Kg that's 22 lbs what do you mean little to lose?

    What would you or how would you do it if you were in my shoes what should be my plan?
    Would you change anything in my calories or macros?

    Btw I don't use myfitnesspal i use other tracking apps.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
    edited November 2023
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    Your goal is clearly weight loss, so your focus should be on how to get there. That means calorie deficit. By all means lift weights, but temper your expectations of how much muscle you'll build while focused on weight loss.

    If you want to lose 20 pounds, that is relatively close to lean. Remember that a lot people come here with 50+ or 100+ pounds to lose.

    The less you have to lose, the longer it takes, because the smaller you are, the lower your BMR is.

    Track your inputs, track your weight loss. That'll give you a better estimate of your TDEE than any online calculator.

    Yes, you can build muscle while in a deficit, but the best setup for that is if you tick all these boxes:

    1. New lifter.
    2. Small calorie deficit.
    3. Not close to lean.

    Your fastest route to your goal is focus on your diet and deficit. Lift too, start that journey, learn the exercises, start building strength, etc. And by the time you've lost a decent amount of fat you'll be in a good position to return to at least maintenance calories and start building a lot more muscle.

    Get plenty of protein too. About 0.7g - 0.8g per pound daily is a good target.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    My input: Forget about losing weight right now and work on building muscle. Do a concise program geared to hypertrophy. It's usually a high volume, moderate reps and progressive overload. As you continue to improve, you'll likely lose some fat along the way if you're eating close to maintenance.
    There are lots of programs out there but if you feel you want something more concise, then you can message me.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • WernerZiegler1
    WernerZiegler1 Posts: 37 Member
    edited November 2023
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    Okay, Forget about losing weight, how is this going to work out?
    I can't build muscles while staying fat, can i?
    Even if it works i think it wouldn't look good, i just don't wanna look bulky like a security guy or something.
    I wanna have visible muscles, breasts, abs full program without looking lean.

    I already do lift it's not like i just do cardio in the gym
    How would you do it if you were in my place
    Should i eat more than 2200 calories?
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
    edited November 2023
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    You need to decide what your priority is. To put it simply, how quickly do you want to lose your belly?

    Option 1. Lose the belly fast.
    Solution. Focus on calorie deficit, 500 per day is a good target, that would be one pound per week. Lift too, but don't expect to build a lot of muscle. Do a bit more cardio. You should be able to retain the muscle you have.

    Option 2. Lose the belly slower.
    Solution. Recomp. Eat at maintenance or very small deficit, say 100-200, that would be about 0.25 pounds per week weight loss. Lift. You'll be able to build muscle. It will take a LOT longer than option 1, but you won't need to seriously diet.

    If you choose option 1, you don't have to do that until you're as lean as you want to be. If you don't want to diet or are anxious to build more muscle, switch to option 2 whenever.

    To estimate your TDEE, use MFP's Goals page, but note it expects you to add estimated additional calories for workouts. Lifting weights doesn't burn a lot during the workout.

    This is faster:
    https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
  • WernerZiegler1
    WernerZiegler1 Posts: 37 Member
    edited November 2023
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    I would like to do Option 1 but what do you mean don't expect to build a lot of muscle well obviously i don't wanna look like The Hulk but i also wanna have a good muscle mass

    How do i calculate my daily maintance how much calories i burn and need for maintance?
    if i lose weight from 90 to 80 kg do i also lose muscles?

    If i drop to 80 Kg what bodyfat should i expect and after that i can still build up muscles by increasing my calories right i think it's called bulking?
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
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    I gave you two options already for how to calculate your TDEE.

    I say don't expect to build much muscle doing option 1 because a large deficit is not a good setup for the body to build muscle. That is why bodybuilders do bulk and cut cycles.

    If you drop 10kg without doing any lifting or increasing protein, yes you'll lose some muscle along with the fat. You can mitigate that with lifting and protein. That's what bodybuilders do when cutting.

    Bulking is about gaining weight, yes. The more calories above maintenance you go, the higher portion of those will end up as fat.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I would like to do Option 1 but what do you mean don't expect to build a lot of muscle well obviously i don't wanna look like The Hulk but i also wanna have a good muscle mass

    How do i calculate my daily maintance how much calories i burn and need for maintance?
    if i lose weight from 90 to 80 kg do i also lose muscles?

    If i drop to 80 Kg what bodyfat should i expect and after that i can still build up muscles by increasing my calories right i think it's called bulking?

    You can't really build much meaningful muscle in a calorie deficit to lose weight because you are in a catabolic state and building muscle is an anabolic process
  • WernerZiegler1
    WernerZiegler1 Posts: 37 Member
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    About what weight you think i could start bulking then?
    When do i know that i can stop losing weight?

    When i start bulking how much calories and protein are necessary?
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
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    When you're happy with your body fat %.

    Maybe that's 10 pounds, maybe 15, maybe 20, you get the idea. That's up to you.
  • WernerZiegler1
    WernerZiegler1 Posts: 37 Member
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    But what Bodyfat is good?
    And can i still lose Bodyfat while bulking and building muscles?
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
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    This is going in circles.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    But what Bodyfat is good?
    And can i still lose Bodyfat while bulking and building muscles?

    The body fat you like when you see and feel it: That's a good bodyfat.

    You don't need to know right now what specific number that is. Knowing that number doesn't materially change your tactics - what you need to do now.

    Bulking = gaining weight, a mix of fat and muscle, ideally more muscle than fat . . . but there will be some added fat.

    You can potentially gain muscle while staying weight stable, but it will likely be slower than if gaining weight. That would be "recomposition", not "bulking".

    Since you do have some bodyfat to draw on, you might be able to add some muscle while slowly losing weight and fat (calorie deficit), but the muscle mass gain would be even slower than recomposition, if it happens at all.

    Those are all statements about what's probable, not what's definite. Genetics matter, along with a bunch of other stuff.

    Oversimplifying, you're asking to gain weight (muscle) while simultaneously losing weight (fat). Do you see why people are saying there's a narrow likelihood of success, and why it would be slow if it does happen?

    I suspect your best route to improve appearance would be fat loss while continuing to lift, then a focus on muscle gain once you're closer to a good body weight (not necessarily ideal body fat percent right away). But I'm no expert. Some of those who've commented above are more knowledgeable.
  • WernerZiegler1
    WernerZiegler1 Posts: 37 Member
    edited November 2023
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    Thanks for your help guys! <3
    @Retroguy2000 you have a problem with me? :'(
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,515 Member
    edited November 2023
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    No problem at all. Although, after I give you a couple of ways to estimate your TDEE and then in the next post you ask how to calculate your TDEE, it makes me think, "What?"

    Only you can decide if you'd prefer to lose fat slower or faster. Doing it faster will get you to a good muscle building phase (maintenance or small calorie surplus) sooner, and lose much of your belly faster, but in the interim it's more effort than a small calorie deficit and focusing on lifting.

    Only you can decide what body fat % works for you.