weight lifting and calories help

Figuring out calories and protein while weight lifting is a complicated subject and if you look around the web you will find almost endless opinions about it. It really is a question of the type of lifting you are doing and what you want to accomplish with it. The following is my experience.

I am an obese man. I started training in power lifting with personal trainers. In power lifting the goal is to be as light as possible and to lift as much as possible. Notice how this is different from body building, where the goal is to be defined as possible in a balanced way. It is all about how you look but how much you can lift is unimportant.

I trained very hard, lifting heavier and heavier weights and ate very lean protein rich foods. I gained lots of muscle, grew very strong, and lost little to no fat. I killed myself with cardio workouts and was still fat. Everyone suggested I eat more protein and less of everything else. Still I was fat.

Finally my doctor sent me to a nutritionist. She looked at my diet, ripped it up, and told me I was eating way too much protein. She raised my vegetable intake 400%, reduced my protein by 75%, and added some fruit, starches and fats. I lost 20 pounds of fat in two months without really trying.

What I learned is this. Protein is important to help build muscles while weight lifting. But unless you are trying to really bulk up, and this would involve really pushing the weight up, you do not need anywhere near the amount of protein that is suggested. The reality is that women generally can't bulk up. No matter how hard you try (assuming you are not using testosterone) your muscles will not grow drastically. You can lose weight so your muscles are much more defined, and you can become stronger and feel great. If you have any doubt about the amount of strength that is possible for women I encourage you to look online for female powerlifters. I know a few women who can squat almost three times their body weight.

If you are using light weights and high reps to help tone and improve strength you will probably do fine with the amount of protein MFP suggests or a little more. If you are drastically trying to improve you strength and really pushing the weight up you will need more. If you increase your protein remember that it has a caloric value. If you increase it lower those calories somewhere else.

Lifting weights is fantastic for you and I find the rewards and satisfaction I gain from it is priceless. But know what you want to accomplish and do what works to achieve that.

My current belief is to leave the extremes alone and focus on balance. It seems to be working.

I am not a doctor or an expert. This is just my opinion based on what I have experienced and seen.

Hope that helps.

Adios