doesn't seem like enough calories....?

[Mumof2]

Hi, I've done a few of those online calculators that work out how many calories you need and how many from Carbs, Protein fat etc. They always seem rather low to me. Just did another from a link off bodybuilding.com. So it has me at 1180 cal for the day. I'm trying to build muscle - certainly not looking to drop weight at all. I'm 171.5 cm and have got up to 54 kgs (119lb) now from 48kg.
To do this I've certainly been eating more than 1180! lol. Want to slow the weight gain now though, but still want to gain mass. How do I work out what my macros should be? Thanks heaps for any advice

[Amanda76]

Originally Posted by Mumof2

Hi, I've done a few of those online calculators that work out how many calories you need and how many from Carbs, Protein fat etc. They always seem rather low to me. Just did another from a link off bodybuilding.com. So it has me at 1180 cal for the day. I'm trying to build muscle - certainly not looking to drop weight at all. I'm 171.5 cm and have got up to 54 kgs (119lb) now from 48kg.
To do this I've certainly been eating more than 1180! lol. Want to slow the weight gain now though, but still want to gain mass. How do I work out what my macros should be? Thanks heaps for any advice

Is that 1,200 cals missing your activities? That's WAY too low. Glad you caught that before going with it.

This isn't really about finding "perfect" numbers. Everything is an estimate. You need to find a reasonable place to start and see what happens. Knowing about what your maintenance is, is great for whether you're trying to figure out how much to eat when you're focusing on making gains or leaning up.

I maintain at a sloppy 15 x bodyweight (no cardio). I'd keep it simple, start with that as your assumed maintenance and add 200 cals to that to get you to 2,000 calories to start a slow bulk. Base where your cals go from there on your results.