PLEASE HELP--the calorie question is slowly driving me mad

[evilqueen]

One thing about BB is that there are no shortage of opinions. But, as a beginner, I am way confused. I'm hoping the more experienced among you can help me.

As I said on an earlier post, I'm, 5'2", 120 pounds, 20 percent bf. My goal is to get to 15 percent bodyfat. Right now, I do 60 minutes of low-intensity cardio 3-4 times a week (after the great women here advised me to quit doing hard cardio) and am on a new lifting program of 4 times a week (also as they suggested). Which is:

biceps/triceps
back/hamstrings
chest/abs
quads/glutes

I do 4-6 exercises per bodypart, 3-4 sets, 8-12 reps.

NOW.....

How the fuck many calories should I be eating? My BF tells me I need at least 1700, with 30 percent protein. Someone here told me 1,600. But my gut tells me that that many will make me fat. NYM had said to Existentia (sp?) that 1800 calories was too much for her 5'5", 116-pound body. Well, I'm an inch shorter and 4 pounds heavier, although I'm pretty hard for someone who has 20 percent bf.

My diet is VERY clean, with a 40/30/30 split. But really, how many calories? Help me before I slowly lose my mind.

Thanks so much...

Julia

 

[diamonddiceclay]

you should add more protein(do 40carb 50pro,10fat)if you want to keep muscle

 

[Temple]

EQ - I went back and read your other posts. You say that you have been training about a year. In that year what have you seen happen to your body? Where did you start in comparison to where you are now?

 

[evilqueen]

I guess it was really last summer, around July, that things kicked into high gear. I'd gone through a breakup, wasn't eating at all, and dropped to 112 pounds. You could see every ab (now I can just see the "4-pack.") I was lifting not as heavy as I am now, but I was deinitely hard. And I was defined even then, so I'm not sure why the "eating more" rule really applies--I was eating nothing, exercising hard, and looked cut (well, more cut than the average woman, which I know isn't saying much).

I was also boxing (real boxing) last summer, so my arms and shoulders got big. They still are--my shoulders and biceps are quite large. I can do triceps dips with a 1-0-pound weight attached to my waist (3 sets of 12). I'm going to start boxing again next month, so that will be the bulk of my cardio.

In other words, my body really started to change last summer. Now, though, my goals have changed--although I look perfectly fine and very fit now, I want to go a bit more extreme, and I'm willing to work my ass off. My weight routine has already changed--I'm lifting as heavy as I can, and have split my routine instead of doing the upper body/lower body thing.

BTW: I'm a mesomorph, and seem to add muscle fairly quickly (I think).

This may be way more info than you need, but I wanted to be thorough...I'm a reporter by trade.

 

[Temple]

Yeah, that is kind of what I wanted to know. If you have a 4 pack I don't think your bfp is as high as you think that it is. The reason that we are recommending more food is that we can get you back to where you were last summer with no food and training your ass off but the minute you let up even a bit you will pack the fat back on really fast. When you do that you lose muscle as well as fat and that in turn slows your metabolism. Eventually you will end up doing more and more cardio and eating less and less just to stay even.

In order to get things back on the right track you need to rework your metabolism so that when you get lean you can stay that way without having to do and extreme amount of exercise. Many of the women on here stay pretty lean with little or no cardio and only add it when they are getting ready for a contest.

If you just want to get to where you were last summer you can do what you did initially to get there but it will be hard to maintain. If you want something that is ultimately more maintainable then I would focus first on adding some lean mass and worry about the fat loss later.

Here is the link to a really great mass building program. When I was not "on" I took out the high set and the low set. I went heavy enough so that I needed a spotter as I was hitting failure.
You will need nutritional support to do this. You can either gradually raise the calories or just take a leap of faith and start eating a min of 1800. IMO the magic number for mass gain will probably be higher than 1800 but most gals have a hard time just with that in the beginning. If you find that you are having severe DOMS (muscle soreness) or are showing signs of overtraining then you need to up the calories

http://209.11.101.244/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71483&highlight=mass+monster

One other thing. When you first start eating your body will probably retain water for about 3 weeks as this is how long it will take your metabolism to begin to increase. Don't get overly upset by it as it will come back off quickly.

 

[missyd143]

hey spatt> what is your fat grams on training and/or non training days?

 

[Hannibal]

As for overtraining, I would like to add that I don't think it's nearly as big a probelm as UNDER recovering. There are so many things you can do to help your body recover faster. Working with resistance bands (active recovery), and eating properly are great starts. Throw in some glutamine, and you're coookin with fire. I recently took on a training structure more geared toward power lifting, and I train 6 days a week. I never feel "overtrained" because I'm constantly using active recovery techniques.

Damn W6 is gonna be pissed at me....I have brainwashed another one.

 

[Hannibal]

Wish I understood how they work.

Never satisified...

Just glad it is working for you.