Newbie Question - Caloric intake
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ironband
Posts: 157 Member
Hi all,
I'm a newbie to this weight training stuff. I started MFP back in June at 260 lbs and doing a ton of cardio and very light weights (EA Sports Active resistance bands are...weak) along with eating healthier I achieved my "goal" weight of 205 lbs, which at 6'4" puts me at the high end of a healthy BMI. I can see why - There is still a bit of flab in the middle and a fair amount of love handle remaining. Long story short - I decided before I hit that goal that the next phase needed to involve building up some muscle as I'm sure I've lost not just fat, but lean mass as well in getting down to this weight. I've read a bunch of stuff and ultimately decided to go with a modified version of the workout routine in the "Ultimate Guide to Building Muscle" at http://www.acaloriecounter.com/building-muscle.php . I really like this article, btw - it seems very common sense based. Anyway, I've been doing the program for about 4 weeks now. I've changed out a few exercises since I'm working out at home and have limited equipment (barbell, dumbbells, weight bench with leg attachment, but no squat rack etc.), but so far I'm enjoying it.
The first couple weeks I was still at a slight (250 under maintenence) caloric deficit as I was trying to lose a couple of pounds to get to that magical healthy BMI. Now that I've achieved that, I've been eating at maintenence while continuing to lift heavy. The reason is based on the statement in that guide:
"If you ARE new to weight training (less than 4-6 months or never at all), you should eat at about maintenance level (rather than a surplus) and train like you are trying to build muscle. As mentioned a second ago, since you are a beginner, you have the magical ability to both lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Use it while you can."
What I'm unsure of is how long this "magical ability" will last, and what my weight is supposed to do during this phase. Is it supposed to go down? up? stay constant? I need to know so I can figure out if I'm eating the "right" amount, and so I'll know when it is time to up the calories and start eating a surplus.
Anyway, I appreciate this group and hope that the knowledgeable among you can give me some guidance.
Andre
I'm a newbie to this weight training stuff. I started MFP back in June at 260 lbs and doing a ton of cardio and very light weights (EA Sports Active resistance bands are...weak) along with eating healthier I achieved my "goal" weight of 205 lbs, which at 6'4" puts me at the high end of a healthy BMI. I can see why - There is still a bit of flab in the middle and a fair amount of love handle remaining. Long story short - I decided before I hit that goal that the next phase needed to involve building up some muscle as I'm sure I've lost not just fat, but lean mass as well in getting down to this weight. I've read a bunch of stuff and ultimately decided to go with a modified version of the workout routine in the "Ultimate Guide to Building Muscle" at http://www.acaloriecounter.com/building-muscle.php . I really like this article, btw - it seems very common sense based. Anyway, I've been doing the program for about 4 weeks now. I've changed out a few exercises since I'm working out at home and have limited equipment (barbell, dumbbells, weight bench with leg attachment, but no squat rack etc.), but so far I'm enjoying it.
The first couple weeks I was still at a slight (250 under maintenence) caloric deficit as I was trying to lose a couple of pounds to get to that magical healthy BMI. Now that I've achieved that, I've been eating at maintenence while continuing to lift heavy. The reason is based on the statement in that guide:
"If you ARE new to weight training (less than 4-6 months or never at all), you should eat at about maintenance level (rather than a surplus) and train like you are trying to build muscle. As mentioned a second ago, since you are a beginner, you have the magical ability to both lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Use it while you can."
What I'm unsure of is how long this "magical ability" will last, and what my weight is supposed to do during this phase. Is it supposed to go down? up? stay constant? I need to know so I can figure out if I'm eating the "right" amount, and so I'll know when it is time to up the calories and start eating a surplus.
Anyway, I appreciate this group and hope that the knowledgeable among you can give me some guidance.
Andre
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Replies
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if your eating at maintenance your weight should stay the same!0
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stop using BMI to measure your progress. it's a joke of a number.0
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I know BMI is a joke (especially for 6'4" me) Personally, I don't care about BMI - but my life insurance company does
Just got myself re-weighed so I could get a lower premium...and now I can bulk without worrying about it. 0 -
BMI is not a joke. Statistics demonstrate that a large group of people with a BMI between 20-25 will live live healthier and longer (i.e. morbidity and mortality if you like the fancy words) than people with BMI of 25-30. BMIs of 20-25 will have far better M&M than BMIs of greater than 30. Best BMI group for longevity? BMI of 15 to 20.
It is true that BMI is far crueler to men than it is to women.
LOL
BMI of 15 for a 6'2" individual says you should weight 117 lbs (BMI of 20 is 156 lbs)
i guess i need to lose approx 80-100 lbs to be live longer. thanks Doc, but i'm going to pass on that.0 -
BMI is not a joke. Statistics demonstrate that a large group of people with a BMI between 20-25 will live live healthier and longer (i.e. morbidity and mortality if you like the fancy words) than people with BMI of 25-30. BMIs of 20-25 will have far better M&M than BMIs of greater than 30. Best BMI group for longevity? BMI of 15 to 20.
It is true that BMI is far crueler to men than it is to women.
LOL
BMI of 15 for a 6'2" individual says you should weight 117 lbs (BMI of 20 is 156 lbs)
i guess i need to lose approx 80-100 lbs to be live longer. thanks Doc, but i'm going to pass on that.
I'll pass too. I'd much rather a bigger muscle mass to decrease my chances of osteoporosis & decrease my body fat than worry about starving myself by eating 1200 calories a day to fit into the perfect BMI.
OP, general rule is that in order to increase your muscle mass, you need to eat more. There is an exact science of this and numerous posts on here about it too. You could try bodybuilding.com, I've gotten lots of handy tips there0 -
I'm new to this too - so take my advice with a pinch of salt if you like!
I tried the pilosophy you mentioned, even tried losing weight as well as gaining muscle. The idea being that beginners don't have low body fat, so can lose some body fat whilst still building muscle. More experienced lifters are likely to have low body fat, so will find it harder to lose or maintain weight. I still think it can be done, but by doing both, the progress is alot slower than picking one or the other. You might find similiar if you are just going to MAINTAIN your body weight.
From what I have read it seems that if you don't have a surplus, your body will burn up protein in maintenance (and even breakdown muscle if under maintenance) and then it would not be avaialble for muscle growth. Therefore an excess is needed, both in carbs (to replace those lost during worout and so protein isn't used as an alternative) and protein (needed for muscle growth). All this points to an surplus calorie need.
However, surplus calories through McDonalds will just add fat. It needs to be mainly high protein and carb foods, with some fat (as fats are still needed, just not in excess).
Also, protein is not stored well by the body (unlike carbs and fats), so you need to spread the intake throughout the day into 6 equally nutrient balanced meals
Hope helps!0
