How many calories to eat when lifting?

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cjv428
cjv428 Posts: 124
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi! So I am a petite female (5'2) and I have been successfully losing weight for the past two months or so by typically eating between 1000-1200 calories per day and netting much less on days when I do cardio (playing squash, but not every day). I try really hard to eat 1200 every day, but I have a relatively small appetite and really enjoy lots of low calorie foods (raw veggies, Greek yogurt, quinoa, and beans are my staples). It's been working fine for me and I've been eating a varied diet of healthy, real foods, but I want to move into weight lifting and began the New Rules of Lifting for Women program today.

I am unsure about how many calories to eat while on this regimen. I definitely still want to lose weight/fat. I was thinking of maybe upping my calories to 1500 on weight lifting days and 1200 on off days, but those are completely arbitrary numbers that I chose for no other reason than they seemed to make sense in my head. I'd appreciate some advice from those more knowledgeable about such matters. Thanks!
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  • xosmsox
    xosmsox Posts: 119
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    Heavy lifting will be too exhausting and virtually useless on 1000-1200 calories. I ate at my maintenance calories for 4 weeks upon brgining my heavy lifting experience. In those 4 weeks I lost 3lbs but shrunk an ENTIRE pants size. I went from a tight 10 to a comfortable 8 in those few short weeks. In my opinion you should set your goals to only lose 1/2 lb a week or just put them on maintenance for a few weeks then go back into a deficit. Good luck! I love heavy lifting I hope you do too! :flowerforyou:
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    Thanks for your advice. My net calorie goal is 1300 when I set my weight loss goal at 1/2 lb per week and 1500 when I set it to maintain so my estimates don't actually seem too far off. Do I have the right idea that I want to eat more on days when I lift and less on days when I don't?

    I had a great experience today for my first time ever lifting weights. I'm really excited to become stronger, especially since I've always been petite and weak.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    5'2" is 1600+ calories daily.
    Protein about 30%.
    Fat about 30%.
    Carb up on lifting days and fat up on rest days.
  • xosmsox
    xosmsox Posts: 119
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    Thanks for your advice. My net calorie goal is 1300 when I set my weight loss goal at 1/2 lb per week and 1500 when I set it to maintain so my estimates don't actually seem too far off. Do I have the right idea that I want to eat more on days when I lift and less on days when I don't?

    I had a great experience today for my first time ever lifting weights. I'm really excited to become stronger, especially since I've always been petite and weak.
    Absolutely you must eat more on lifting days. I would also suggest a recovery protein shake for after your workouts. As helloitsdan said I would agree yo resetting your macros to 40c 30p and 30f. But if you're like me and struggle to keep your protein levels up from food alone-protein shakes have been a godsend to my macros! Haha feel free to add me. I lift heavy 3-4 days a week using The New Rules of Lifting.
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    Thank you as well for your advice. I used this calorie calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and your estimate of 1600 was right on. 1600 it is! I'm a little scared to up my caloric intake so much, but a little experimentation never hurt anybody and I'm hoping it will lead me to a much healthier, fit body.

    If anyone has any other info, please feel free to chime in! I can use all of the advice I can get.
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    Thanks for your advice. My net calorie goal is 1300 when I set my weight loss goal at 1/2 lb per week and 1500 when I set it to maintain so my estimates don't actually seem too far off. Do I have the right idea that I want to eat more on days when I lift and less on days when I don't?

    I had a great experience today for my first time ever lifting weights. I'm really excited to become stronger, especially since I've always been petite and weak.
    Absolutely you must eat more on lifting days. I would also suggest a recovery protein shake for after your workouts. As helloitsdan said I would agree yo resetting your macros to 40c 30p and 30f. But if you're like me and struggle to keep your protein levels up from food alone-protein shakes have been a godsend to my macros! Haha feel free to add me. I lift heavy 3-4 days a week using The New Rules of Lifting.

    How much more should I be eating on days that I lift? I guess it isn't as simple as hovering around 1600 consistently... Darn.
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
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    Have you looked at the calculations in the book?
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    Have you looked at the calculations in the book?

    I did. It put me at ~1800 for fat loss while doing active workouts, but that seemed really high to me. Maybe 1600 on non-lifting days and 1800 on lifting days? I have to admit, I'm pretty hesitant about that.
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
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    I would try what it says, and then adjust from there if you feel you need to, it does say in the book you can take a Max of 300 cals, off, I take it you have already done this? It is scary starting to eat so much more I know, I started last week, but I find I have been surprisingly hungry.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    How much body fat do you have?
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    I would try what it says, and then adjust from there if you feel you need to, it does say in three book you can take a Max of 300 cals, I take it you have already done this? It is scary starting to eat so much more I know, I started last week, but I find I have been surprisingly hungry.

    Yep, I subtracted the 300 calories for weight loss. I feel you on the surprisingly hungry thing. I tried to eat more during the day in anticipation for lifting tonight and I was still ravenous afterwards... I ended up at around ~1500 calories for the day because I was so hungry after working out (even though I had eaten dinner before working out), which incidentally is pretty darn close to perfect.
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    How much body fat do you have?

    I've never measured but I'd say a pretty large percentage compared to muscle. I weigh 116 lbs at 5'2 and I'm pretty soft/flabby. :(
  • billthekill
    billthekill Posts: 90
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    Good for you :)
    Weight training is an awesome step to take.

    Your Calories variation looks good. At the very least it's a pretty good starting point. You can adjust it later on if needed.

    One thing you definetly want to do is to take body measurements. Since lifting weight will increase your muscle size and overall weight the scale won't give you a full picture of what is going on.
  • billthekill
    billthekill Posts: 90
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    How much body fat do you have?

    I've never measured but I'd say a pretty large percentage compared to muscle. I weigh 116 lbs at 5'2 and I'm pretty soft/flabby. :(

    There are lots of site that estimate body fat on measurment of: Waist, Neck, and Hips.

    Here is one of them:
    http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/body-fat-percentage-calculator.php
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    How much body fat do you have?

    I've never measured but I'd say a pretty large percentage compared to muscle. I weigh 116 lbs at 5'2 and I'm pretty soft/flabby. :(

    There are lots of site that estimate body fat on measurment of: Waist, Neck, and Hips.

    Here is one of them:
    http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/body-fat-percentage-calculator.php

    Thanks! I got 24.15%. Well, that's pretty terrible, haha. At least I now know I have some serious work to do.
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
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    Thanks! I got 24.15%. Well, that's pretty terrible, haha. At least I now know I have some serious work to do.

    You are in a good range. Here:
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    Thanks! I got 24.15%. Well, that's pretty terrible, haha. At least I now know I have some serious work to do.

    You are in a good range. Here:
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php

    True. Thank you. I'd just like to become more fit and less 'skinny fat.' It's all a process though and I'm excited to see how these new changes affect it.
  • wabrody
    wabrody Posts: 202
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    Thanks! I got 24.15%. Well, that's pretty terrible, haha. At least I now know I have some serious work to do.

    You are in a good range. Here:
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php

    True. Thank you. I'd just like to become more fit and less 'skinny fat.' It's all a process though and I'm excited to see how these new changes affect it.


    You will see a difference over time. A good example is that I went in 2 belt notches in the first month when I really started hitting the weights. I find that I have more energy on days I lift in the morning. Oh and you may gain some weight. I gained 2 lbs the first month, but I also dropped 2% in body fat.
  • billthekill
    billthekill Posts: 90
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    Thanks! I got 24.15%. Well, that's pretty terrible, haha. At least I now know I have some serious work to do.


    That's not too bad at all.

    Just my opinion but, I think a female looks best at around 18%. So you not that far from that.

    Here are some examples of what various bf% looks on a female:
    http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages
  • cjv428
    cjv428 Posts: 124
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    Thanks! I got 24.15%. Well, that's pretty terrible, haha. At least I now know I have some serious work to do.


    That's not too bad at all.

    Just my opinion but, I think a female looks best at around 18%. So you not that far from that.

    Here are some examples of what various bf% looks on a female:
    http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

    Thank you for all of your help. 18% looks like a great goal for me.

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