Ladies who eat high calories to tone

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Tattoos_and_Tea
Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Morning all (or aftermoon/evening depending on where in the world you live)!

I just wondered if there were any ladies on here who are eating a high number of calories in order to tone up but not to lose weight? Ive recently hit my target weight and am looking to now tone up. I have 8 weeks until I go away so would like to work hard for that.

My questions are, how many calories do you eat a day, do you eat back your exercise calories, what sort of foods do you eat, what work outs do you do and have you gained the results you are wanting?

Stories and advice welcome :-)
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Replies

  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    so to define toning..means showing muscle definition.

    the horrible thing about where you are now..is you should have been focused on retaining muscle mass while losing body fat. now its going to be even harder to 'tone'. as we eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy to build muscle, we also will put on a little fat. i ate around 2000 calories to 'bulk'. right now i try to stick to 1700 while lifting and running at least 1.5 miles after ever lifting workout. it took me a while to find the optimal calorie and workouts to build muscle and lose fat.

    everyone is different. i dont eat back, never have. i'm 126 ish lbs now, 5'2". my poundage has stayed the same, yet i've lost inches and notice more muscle tone. i know i'm gaining muscle because i can see changes and i'm getting stronger. like i said, i eat around 1700 calories.

    and 8 weeks is nothing..i've been lifting for probably a year and half to try to build muscle..its a slow process.
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
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    Thanks for the info there. And yeah, when I say tone I mean muscle definition. Ive had a really long and hard journey battling with my weight from having a borderline ED to where I am now. Im determined to get myself into shape but what with my shady past and lack of knowledge i feel like a noob that needs to ask these kind of questions.
    I understand that I will gain 'weight' but it will be muscle weight, right now i'm more focused on losing the inches.
    Like you, I dont eat back my exercise calories either, its just something that ive never felt the need to do and I dont see the point in forcing myself to eat those calories if i'm not hungry.
    I was going to start my calories at 1800 and see what happens.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    You cannot gain muscle in a calorie deficit - you must be in a slight surplus I'm afraid, which means you will gain some fat too. this is why serious muscle building requires cut and build cycles.

    If you just want to continue to lose a little fat and not really gain *much* muscle but just look tauter - which is kinda where I am, then you can reduce your deficit or eat at maintenance. I'm trying a 250 deficit from my FitBit TDEE of 2050 - so eating at 1800. My understanding is that I should lose fat at this level, albeit slowly, whilst benefiting some from t being a relatively new lifter and getting a tiny bit of extra muscle.
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
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    Thank you. This is all so confusing. All I want to do is lose inches and not gain too much weight :(
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    Where does the 1800 come from - is it your maintenance or is there still a deficit built in?

    Why not give it a try for a few weeks and see what happens. If you gain weight you can always lose it again.
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
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    My journey is a little different as I am gaining as well as trying to tone and build muscle. I have been underweight my whole life so I do need to gain so I have something to turn into muscle. I'm lucky I'm not that worried about a little extra fat (yet) though I do have a little bit of mummy pudge I want gone. I eat pretty high 1900 min but usually over 2000. I eat back all my exercise cals, or at least try to. It was tough when I was trying to gain more. I plan to gain and maintain, gain and maintain till I get to a better weight. Am planning to continue to always eat back my exercise cals though as I can lose weight again very fast. I'm about a month in now and def seeing muscle definition. So it's working for me.

    Meg
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
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    Where does the 1800 come from - is it your maintenance or is there still a deficit built in?

    Why not give it a try for a few weeks and see what happens. If you gain weight you can always lose it again.

    Helloitsdan said my BMR is 1285 and my TDEE is 1767. We agreed that I should be eating 1950 each day to tone up. I dont want to physically bigger before my holiday in 8 weeks, i want to look toned and tight x
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
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    Really glad its working for you Meg :) Im hoping to see a change in my size as aposed to what the scales day. Hopefully I can get rid of my all over excess flab and look defined.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    I would eat at your TDEE then, I think.
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
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    Thanks :)
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
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    Really glad its working for you Meg :) Im hoping to see a change in my size as aposed to what the scales day. Hopefully I can get rid of my all over excess flab and look defined.

    I'm still a work in progress that's for sure! Just take your time, you'll see results, I can't wait to see bigger (photo worthy) changes either! (and get rid of the damn belly!!)
  • Abells
    Abells Posts: 756 Member
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    You cannot gain muscle in a calorie deficit - you must be in a slight surplus I'm afraid, which means you will gain some fat too. this is why serious muscle building requires cut and build cycles.

    If you just want to continue to lose a little fat and not really gain *much* muscle but just look tauter - which is kinda where I am, then you can reduce your deficit or eat at maintenance. I'm trying a 250 deficit from my FitBit TDEE of 2050 - so eating at 1800. My understanding is that I should lose fat at this level, albeit slowly, whilst benefiting some from t being a relatively new lifter and getting a tiny bit of extra muscle.

    This is very controversial.

    I eat at a deficit and muscle definition is def evident. I however was eating more than if I was just doing cardio.
    When I original lost weight I was doing all cardio and eating 1200 cals

    Now I do crossfit and lifting and eating anywhere from 1400-2000 cals depending on the amount of exercise. I eat back a good portion of my exercise calories because of the exercises I'm doing. Lifting heavy needs fuel :)

    My photo is proof. And my weight has not changed.

    **FYI I recently lowered my cals and will be running more to lean out a bit**
  • DixiedoesMFP
    DixiedoesMFP Posts: 935 Member
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    Try to eat at your TDEE and lift as heavy as you can. You won't build muscle per se but your existing muscle will look much better.
  • AggieCass09
    AggieCass09 Posts: 1,867 Member
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    i dont like the word "tone" but i am eating high calories to get RIPPED

    i'm 5' 7.5" and currently am at 159 lbs.

    I eat 1600-2700 calories net a day and exercise 300-800 calories either during a crossfit work out, spinning, zumba, tennis, or running. I've just kind of arrived at this number by a year of trial and error starting with calorie approximations on freedieting.com (zig-zag calculator) and fat2fitradio.com

    I have seen excellent results from this ... down about 2 lbs but have lost 10 inches and most remarkably am down 12% body fat in the last year!!! I have found that eliminating grains has helped with my gluten allergy, bloating, and being able to see some abs!
  • DixiedoesMFP
    DixiedoesMFP Posts: 935 Member
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    ^^^ I like ripped better too!

    And I forgot to add, I was eating 1800 calories. Now eating around 2000 (just started that) because I was feeling hungry and sluggish.
  • MommaFuhrer
    MommaFuhrer Posts: 214 Member
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    Saving to read later!! :flowerforyou:
  • Jillk1023
    Jillk1023 Posts: 121 Member
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    intresting subject - bumping til later!
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    I eat between 1800 and 2000 my TDEE is about 2300. There are studies that say you can eat at a slight deficit and gain muscle but no more than 500 below your TDEE. There are actually studies on both side of the issue, you have to experiment and use your personal data to find what works for your body.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    You cannot gain muscle in a calorie deficit - you must be in a slight surplus I'm afraid, which means you will gain some fat too. this is why serious muscle building requires cut and build cycles.

    If you just want to continue to lose a little fat and not really gain *much* muscle but just look tauter - which is kinda where I am, then you can reduce your deficit or eat at maintenance. I'm trying a 250 deficit from my FitBit TDEE of 2050 - so eating at 1800. My understanding is that I should lose fat at this level, albeit slowly, whilst benefiting some from t being a relatively new lifter and getting a tiny bit of extra muscle.

    This is very controversial.

    I eat at a deficit and muscle definition is def evident. I however was eating more than if I was just doing cardio.
    When I original lost weight I was doing all cardio and eating 1200 cals

    Now I do crossfit and lifting and eating anywhere from 1400-2000 cals depending on the amount of exercise. I eat back a good portion of my exercise calories because of the exercises I'm doing. Lifting heavy needs fuel :)

    My photo is proof. And my weight has not changed.

    **FYI I recently lowered my cals and will be running more to lean out a bit**
    Muscle definition and muscle gain aren't the same thing.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ladykaisa
    ladykaisa Posts: 236 Member
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    bump for later

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