Nutrition advice for rebuilding lost muscle

126sarahw
126sarahw Posts: 10
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I am looking for some advice on a healthy way to eat to optimise muscle building. MFP suggests 1700 calories a day to maintain my weight and I have my goals set 55, 25, 20 - is this about right? To build up muscle should I be eating more carbs? more protein? more fat?

Ideally however I would like to gain weight through building back up the muscle (rather than fat storage), as I have muscle wastage from poor diet/eating habits caused by stress/depression (and I have been to doctors etc and I'm under control now).

I eat wholefoods as much as possible, wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, couscous, quinoa etc..
What foods should I eat? I am eating healthy fats - eggs avocados nuts, and eating porridge, pulses, beans, cottage cheese, lean protein (chicken turkey ham prawns tuna etc)

Is there anything else I can do?

Would gentle toning exercises help to build up the right muscles, if so what kind of exercise? I do a fair amount of walking (at least 30-40 mins a day)

I hope this all makes sense.

Many thanks for any help or advice you can offer

Replies

  • BigRich822
    BigRich822 Posts: 681
    I personally would be eating more protein I would say 1 1/2 gram per pound of body weight. Then lift heavy with weights. Keep the rep range in 8-10. If what you are saying is true then you need to build some muscle.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    Eating a diet high in protein with sufficient carbs at a slight calorie surplus combined with a good strength training program (starting strength by Rippetoe for example) will get you down the right path.

    You will gain a little fat with the muscle and it will take a very long time.

    You -can- gain a small amount of muscle in a deficit if your body fat is high and you are jsut starting out. Eventually, though..
  • Jeff807346
    Jeff807346 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm over 40 trying to gain muscle without too much success, I've added a little mass but actually lost weight as I do running about twice a week at 10-15km per run. Also going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week. Thinking about trying creatine as it can add muscle size without side affects. Going to change my routine so I do Quads & Biceps for Monday (1 hr), Chest & Shoulders Tuesday (45min), Wednesday Rest/Run, Quads & Biceps Thursday (1 hr), Back & Calves Friday (45min) and rest Saturday and then a longer run Sunday. For warm up usually do 20 min cardio before weights, tying higher reps (12-20 for large muscles up to 100 for smaller) and 5-10 second per rep motion, not sure if my testosterone could be naturally low, but have enough energy to keep up this routine and even added biking in summer sometimes once a week too. I changed my diet to remove some sugars and most refined processed carbs and added more of spinach, blueberries, vine tomatoes, greek yogurt, canned tuna, steel cut oats and poached eggs. I seem to have the same size chest, biceps, legs, over the last year other than adding inch on chest and legs and with my waist lost 3 inches (32" could go to 31" by end of summer). Would like to gain two inches on all three (Goal chest 42", biceps 16", legs 24" at 170lbs) but not sure if it's possible (naturally). Tired protein and some supplements but didn't feel its worth the money, trying to see if maybe over a long period (decade) might see slow results by then (gain few ounces per year), trying vit E, and magnesium is good for recovery and glucosamine for joints.
  • 126sarahw
    126sarahw Posts: 10
    At the mo im sticking to 235g carb, 38g fat, 107g protein (55, 25, 20) should I alter these?
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    I personally would be eating more protein I would say 1 1/2 gram per pound of body weight. Then lift heavy with weights. Keep the rep range in 8-10. If what you are saying is true then you need to build some muscle.

    This.

    Lifting light weights or "toning" will not build muscle. Also, to build muscle you have to feed muscle. I would change your ratios to 40/30/30 or 35/35/30.
  • 126sarahw
    126sarahw Posts: 10
    so definitely need to increase my protein, and eating good fats with the protein? - olive oil, avocados, eggs, nuts etc.
  • 126sarahw
    126sarahw Posts: 10
    Should I be eating more calories than my maintenance to build muscle?
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    Should I be eating more calories than my maintenance to build muscle?

    I would eat at 40/30/30 and I was told for females to build to eat 150-250 above maintence. Some eat much more but this is a starting point they recommend for females.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories