How many calories

[ShanYin]

5'10"
188 pounds

I'm trying to lose fat and gain muscle, I wanna be lean get back my 6 pack and get toned.

I do starting strength and a decent amount of cardio, thinking of switching to interval training.

People say for gains you need to eat over your maintence, which I'm guessing mine is around 2500 for the amount of excersize I do. Lifting 3 times a week cardio 5 times a week.

And they say eat under your maintenence for losing fat.

Judging by when I used to count calories I think I would have a really hard time eating over.

You get the idea, what should I do? Eat over but eat a really controlled lean diet?

[AlwaysTryin]

You made a thread already and were given links to help you. Stop ignoring them

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=150300023

[ShanYin]

OK fair enough. People seem to believe that has the answer on there: (besides calorie calculations):

- To ADD weight: ADD 10-20% calories to the total above
- To LOSE weight: SUBTRACT 10-20% calories from the total above

So in order for it to be (u)possible(/u) to gain weight I'd have to add 10-20? My goal is both. Can I still burn fat doing this? Some people do cycling or something I don't think I'm doing that right now.

Any replies or tips would be appreciated. I've been through that thread 3 times now.

[layarph]

OK fair enough. People seem to believe that has the answer on there: (besides calorie calculations):

- To ADD weight: ADD 10-20% calories to the total above
- To LOSE weight: SUBTRACT 10-20% calories from the total above

So in order for it to be (u)possible(/u) to gain weight I'd have to add 10-20? My goal is both. Can I still burn fat doing this? Some people do cycling or something I don't think I'm doing that right now.

Any replies or tips would be appreciated. I've been through that thread 3 times now.

Do you know what cycling is?

Are you new to lifting?

If you are new to it, you have the "noob gain" phase where it is possible to eat at a deficit to lose fat, and gain muscle at the same time. This phase can last anywhere from 3 months to a year probably, and usually lasts somewhere in between.

There is a reason people told you to either bulk or cut ...

If you are not new to lifting, you can only choose one goal... you can't have it both ways (unless you want to choose the illegal, unnatural path ... if that is the case this is not the place to ask).

[ShanYin]

Do you know what cycling is?

Are you new to lifting?

If you are new to it, you have the "noob gain" phase where it is possible to eat at a deficit to lose fat, and gain muscle at the same time. This phase can last anywhere from 3 months to a year probably, and usually lasts somewhere in between.

There is a reason people told you to either bulk or cut ...

If you are not new to lifting, you can only choose one goal... you can't have it both ways (unless you want to choose the illegal, unnatural path ... if that is the case this is not the place to ask).

Well I suppose cycling just means picked some months to cut, some months to bulk. So adjusting your diet accordingly and your routine to probably less reps or something. My friend told me to start with cutting, cut then bulk then cut bulk ect. I currently do starting strength and alot of cardio.

As far as being new ummm... last year (2011) I probably did 3 months working out then this year about 6 months ago 1 month now I've been doing it for a few weeks.

Whats the prognosis doc.

[layarph]

Well I suppose cycling just means picked some months to cut, some months to bulk. So adjusting your diet accordingly and your routine to probably less reps or something. My friend told me to start with cutting, cut then bulk then cut bulk ect. I currently do starting strength and alot of cardio.

Right. Cycling in that sense, is bulking and then cutting. That is correct, yes. But that is gaining weight, then losing weight in different periods which is what you didn't want to do. To gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, it is highly likely that type of cycling being referred to was illegal substance cycling. Because once you've passed the noob gain phase, that is the only efficient way to do that.

As far as being new ummm... last year (2011) I probably did 3 months working out then this year about 6 months ago 1 month now I've been doing it for a few weeks.

Whats the prognosis doc.

Firstly, you need to ask yourself, why am I constantly quitting? There is clearly something in the lifting or the diet that you don't enjoy. So whatever you were doing before in one of those areas, you need to address it. IMO It is more than likely that you were eating foods you didn't enjoy but thought you had to because they are "good bodybuilding foods". Am I far off?

In terms of the "prognosis", at 5ft10 188 pounds I'd say watch this video to decide whether you should clean bulk or not: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=148733753

Have you actually calculated your TDEE and macro needs yet any way?

[ShanYin]

No I havn't calculated that yet What's that stand for? I'm reading the sticky for the right formula to use.

Food? I don't have a problem with eating lean stuff whatever that may be. But you might have a point. However I'm in charge of my kitchen now as I live on my own and don't mind a variety of foods. I'll be sure to keep in mind why I keep quitting. I had a trainer and it was boring as crap one time. The other time I think I drank so much achohol and didn't see much difference that I stopped. I think. It may in fact have been the opposite you described, besides the fact that I can find it boring to go 5 times a week or difficult to maintain doing a 5 day lifting routine with different muscles, I was worried that because I wasn't dieting properly and seeing much results I was wasting my time. I also used to drink alot of achohol. However like I said I'm in charge of my kitchen now and am doing starting strength and am actually starting to enjoy it all. If I ever get a full time job or go to school full time I can imagine alot of challenges so I want to make use of the time I have now.

Thank you ur being helpful

[WonderPug]

Food? I don't have a problem with eating lean stuff whatever that may be.

Do you have trouble eating foods that aren't "lean"?

[layarph]

No I havn't calculated that yet What's that stand for? I'm reading the sticky for the right formula to use.

The reason people kept posting that link was for you to use it man. use the Katch McArdle formula.

Food? I don't have a problem with eating lean stuff whatever that may be. But you might have a point. However I'm in charge of my kitchen now as I live on my own and don't mind a variety of foods. I'll be sure to keep in mind why I keep quitting. I had a trainer and it was boring as crap one time. The other time I think I drank so much achohol and didn't see much difference that I stopped. I think. It may in fact have been the opposite you described, besides the fact that I can find it boring to go 5 times a week or difficult to maintain doing a 5 day lifting routine with different muscles, I was worried that because I wasn't dieting properly and seeing much results I was wasting my time. I also used to drink alot of achohol. However like I said I'm in charge of my kitchen now and am doing starting strength and am actually starting to enjoy it all. If I ever get a full time job or go to school full time I can imagine alot of challenges so I want to make use of the time I have now.

Read http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=149661773

Starting Strength is the best program for you to use.

But seriously, if you think you can't consume your macro and calorie needs each day (ie just eat food), and can't spare 1 hour for the gym 3-4 times a week, simply because you will have a full time job or are at school full time, you don't stand a chance in hell. What do you think the rest of us are doing? You don't think 95+% of people in this forum don't have full time jobs or are studying full time? You seriously can't eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with foods you enjoy, track them and go to the gym 3-4 times a week? That honestly blows my mind.

No offence, but it really sounds to me like you're lazy.

Calculate your cal and macro needs, track your intake each day with myfitnesspal.com / app, and bust your ass in the gym using the Starting Strength routine.

[ShanYin]

Do you have trouble eating foods that aren't "lean"?

In general I'm cool with eating anything. Low cal or high cal. I do the obvious stuff like avoid mcdonalds and soda. Not sure what lean vs non lean would be to be honest. Maybe I could find a good guide to eating on the net as I usually cook easy to cook stuff like pasta and chicken and burgers (suppers) and I'm not sure if I should be eating sort of greasy stuff like pizza out of a box or w/e. I ate a nice breakfast today though, instant oatmeal, 2 scoop whey shake, an orange and toast with peanut butter. Think I'm going to keep doing that.

[layarph]

In general I'm cool with eating anything. Low cal or high cal. I do the obvious stuff like avoid mcdonalds and soda. Not sure what lean vs non lean would be to be honest. Maybe I could find a good guide to eating on the net as I usually cook easy to cook stuff like pasta and chicken and burgers (suppers) and I'm not sure if I should be eating sort of greasy stuff like pizza out of a box or w/e. I ate a nice breakfast today though, instant oatmeal, 2 scoop whey shake, an orange and toast with peanut butter. Think I'm going to keep doing that.

Nothing obvious about it when people do it all the time, including when they're on cuts, and get incredibly physiques. read the link I posted above.

[ShanYin]

I guess this might be going out of nutrition but... if I decide to bulk should I cut down on cardio? I do it almost everyday because I really want to get rid of my little bit of belly fat because I had abs for a long time growing up and it was nice to have.

[WonderPug]

I do the obvious stuff like avoid mcdonalds and soda.

Avoiding foods based on their names or the names of the eateries that sell foods is not logical.

I ate a nice breakfast today though, instant oatmeal, 2 scoop whey shake, an orange and toast with peanut butter.

A single meal, outside the context of total daily nutrition, is largely irrelevant.

[ShanYin]

Good point and very motivating thank you. I guess it's not that big a deal. Fair enough. I've never tried it but yeah I am lazy I take heavy meds, in fact the ones I used to take made me gain alot of weight and I slept 14 hours a day (Zyprexa) so that was probably a big part I feel tired alot. But that was a motivating post if anything

[ShanYin]

Avoiding foods based on their names or the names of the eateries that sell foods is not logical.



A single meal, outside the context of total daily nutrition, is largely irrelevant.

lol ok ok ;P