How much should I eat?

[bud_2005]

I weigh 200 lbs and I have love handles and a little bit of a belly. I've been lifting for 2 weeks and I haven't really seen any results as far as weight loss or muscle gain. I would like eventually to get down to about 160-170 lbs. So I want to put on quite a bit of muscle because I have small arms and am fairly weak. I think I consume about 2,000-2,500 calories a day and only get about 100 grams a protein a day. I take protein shakes but only one a day because they taste awful. So how many calories about should I take in for muscle gain and fat loss?

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Search the forum for Diesel's cutting guide.

 

[simon]

I weigh 200 lbs and I have love handles and a little bit of a belly. I've been lifting for 2 weeks and I haven't really seen any results as far as weight loss or muscle gain. I would like eventually to get down to about 160-170 lbs. So I want to put on quite a bit of muscle because I have small arms and am fairly weak. I think I consume about 2,000-2,500 calories a day and only get about 100 grams a protein a day. I take protein shakes but only one a day because they taste awful. So how many calories about should I take in for muscle gain and fat loss?

Just down the shakes, you'll get used to them.

Use the tool at http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=7783 to find out EXACTLY how many calories and protein you're taking in a day.

Other guys will be able to tell you more about the calorie situation, but I stick to 20calories/lb of body weight.

 

[EFFORT]

Its a good idea to let go of the bulking/cutting mindset. I know Alex tried hard to rid people of that concept. Just think of it as gaining muscle while staying at a reasonable bodyfat. So train correct and follow what i wrote below.


Protein- 400g
Carbs- 250-300 (no carbs after 6pm)
Low Intensity cardio 4-5 days a week for 1hr
Green Tea
Sesathin 3 servings a day
1 Gallon of water

 

[bud_2005]

Its a good idea to let go of the bulking/cutting mindset. I know Alex tried hard to rid people of that concept. Just think of it as gaining muscle while staying at a reasonable bodyfat. So train correct and follow what i wrote below.


Protein- 400g
Carbs- 250-300 (no carbs after 6pm)
Low Intensity cardio 4-5 days a week for 1hr
Green Tea
Sesathin 3 servings a day
1 Gallon of water

Ok thanks for the advice but a couple things what you said go against what I've heard. The first one is carbs. I've heard that if you keep them under 100 grams a day it will promote fat loss. The other is low intensity cardio. Most people say you should only do high intensity cardio in bursts like cardio, not hour-long treadmill runs.

Another thing if I'm consuming 20 calories/lb, how could I consume 4,000 calories unless I'm eating fast food. I'm not a good cook so I eat a lot of deli subs and salads and lean cusuines.

 

[TheChicGeek]

You're crazy. I LOVE protein shakes. They are so yummy. Esp. all those flavored protein powders you can get. MMmmmmm.....

 

[bud_2005]

The reason I hate shakes is because the powder doesn't mix very well. On the box i says use 4 oz for a scoop but I use 10 oz of water and there are still little globs floating around. No matter how much I stir it the powder won't dissolve into the water. So I'm pretty much eating the powder while drinking bad tasting water. I use Nitrotech by the way.

 

[TheChicGeek]

Yuck, don't use water. No wonder. Use fat-free milk. Adds a few more calories, but tastes much much better. Also, mixes much better.

 

[grr]

It won't clump if you use a blender, though I don't mind the clumping when I shake it instead. Nice thing about the blender is you can add ice and other cool foods like bananas : )

 

[simon]

If you don't have a blender, just mix up the shake with water or whatever, (I use water and it's fine) and let it stand for 5-10 minutes. The lumps should disappear after that.

 

[EFFORT]

Ok thanks for the advice but a couple things what you said go against what I've heard. The first one is carbs. I've heard that if you keep them under 100 grams a day it will promote fat loss. The other is low intensity cardio. Most people say you should only do high intensity cardio in bursts like cardio, not hour-long treadmill runs.

Another thing if I'm consuming 20 calories/lb, how could I consume 4,000 calories unless I'm eating fast food. I'm not a good cook so I eat a lot of deli subs and salads and lean cusuines.

Lots of things promote fat loss. There tons of different carb manipulation diets that you can do. Carb cut off diets are very simple to do and allow you to still gain muscle while taking off fat. To make it work you have to stick to the cut offs and hit your cardio first thing in the morning.

As for cardio, if doing high intensity cardio or HITT work for dropping fat and it doesn't mess up your muscle gains then by all means do it. The thing with high intensity cardio is it doesn't use fat as a fuel like low intensity cardio does. To burn fat requires you be aerobic (oxygen present), doing sprints and burst is anaerobic (without oxygen). A lot of people on this forum don't like the idea of low intensity cardio for fat loss and i'm sure they'll chime in on this thread. Low intensity works great though, get on the treadmill set the speed 2.5-3mph with an incline and walk on it for an hour 4-5 times a week, works great for fat loss and won't have negative effects on your muscle gains.