how much calories do you really need? whats the deal with the carbs?

[ana banana]

hey i hope someone answers me this because i think i might be not eating correctly i mean undeating which is just a sin, anyway, so the question is, i am 20 5'6 and 130 but i wanna go back to my initial 120 (college brough about the change) and although lot of that's probably my newly acquired muscle which is just fantastic to be able to shape one's body like that, ive gained fat with it...anyway, so how many calories do i REALLY need, ive been told never go below 1200 which fair enough i never would, so i usually aim for about 1400. Anyway, the question is HOW DO I DEAL WITH THE CARDIO and the gym overall? i mean surely i burn like 800 kcals at the gym and i got 5 times a week, so,

DO I ADD in the 800 to my initial 1400? and eat 2200 kcals a day??? ANd if thats the formula then how much does one burn lifting weights for say an hour and not too intensely? i mean i know that thats not enough info, but a rough estimate of the range??

Also, i have been eating six times a day, or 5 roughly depending on lectures and the like, but

how many calories should i aim per meal???? AND its confusing this whole carbohydrate low carb debate for meals because on one side ive been told to stick carbs in ALL meals, and then another side to eat all carbs pre and post workout and try not to eat as many at night? I just dont know what to go by, and if i need roughly 90-100 g's of carbs a day, is that too little?

I hope someone replies because well its all very confusing, my goal is to drop in fat of course as i bet everyone does, and not lose my hard worked for muscle but build on to it......

Also this questions sounds stupid well it did to me when my boyfriend 'swore' its truth, that because of doing a lot of ab exercises your muscles thicken up and you apear to have "a stomach", i laughed because well you need to do them to get the abs, but he said it was true, so who's right?

Oh also, (sorry about the amount of questions) is it a good idea to eat a protein bar RIGHT AFTER working out? i found the tastiest ones are myoplex light cinnamon which have err 15gs of protein and 24 of carb............

Should you keep all 5/6 meals with the SAME amount of cals or can you do one that's like 400 and another 200?

LAST one: on the cheat days, can you eat anything ALL day???

i really hope someone answers with good info because well as much as i research or ask my dad who's very much into bodybuilding and the people at the gym everyone has a different answer and i want to hear it from the pros thanks loads

[taffer]

ok im no expert on women fitness, but i would say start off at about 1500calories, and see how that goes, i think women can eat 1300-1400 a day, but not entirely sure, i would never suggest a man to go below 1800/day normally

aim for an even amount of caloires per meal, however you may wanna add more calories pre/post workout or at times when you are more active (for alot of people this means more carbs in the morning, then have your protein+fat meals later) you wanna have protein with every meal, not carbs try to eat carbs around active times, alot of people cut them out (except vegies, they are always good to eat) after 2:00, however people that do their workouts or have jobs that go later in the day, can eat them later, because they need the energy later in the day! its a very personal thing.

dont listen to your boyfriend, if you cut the fat, your stomach will have the shape of some nice abs!

protein bars are acceptable post-workout, however i reckon its cheaper just to buy a tub of whey and a bag of oats, grind the oats up, throw them in a shaker with some whey powder + water and make a shake! much tastier, and better quality carbs/protein

....and finally, you should be having cheat meals, not days! treat yourself to a cheat meal every week, a cheat day can be devistating to your diet, depending on how badly you gorge yourself! calories always count

hope this helped!

[ana banana]

ohh thank you loads! ill follow youd advice its a pity about not being able to have cheat DAYS i love high amounts of food, what do you think about alcohol? is it completely off bounds? and if i can have alcohol once a week then whats the most recomended type? Oh and, hmm the cheat meal, should it be in the morning? i would suppose yeah, but how does it really work, i mean does the body burn it anyway?? Ok well thanks again (do you think anything's wrong with seeded bread? i just love it...)