how much should I eat??

[vicky the vikin]

hi guys,
I'm 5.4.5 and 125 lbs, training hard 5 days.
I'm trying to lose a little fat still around my middle (wanna see them abs!)
has anybody please got a clue how many calories, protein/carbs/fat I should be eating (if I want to gain muscle at the same time)???
I've REALLY tried to figure it out by myself from the articles but, one part said 40/40/20 another said 50/30/20!
THEN to make matters worse,
there is an article (and calculator) which says I should have about 1850 calories a day (one site said I should have MORE!!! eek!)
But, just now, in a womans article, it said for my height/weight I should only have 1250 calories a day, HOW the hell will I build muscle on that!!???
i'm doing the 5/6 meals a day thing:
all good stuff, oats, eggs, turkey, veggies, salmon, soya shakes (cant have whey!)
and i'm weighing and keeping a food diary, but im darn confused AGAIN! LOL
*I do 4 days weights (broken up into different body parts) and 10 minutes cardio after each weight session
PLUS 25-30 mins cardio twice a week
is that or is'nt it enough??
dont wanna lose TOO much weight everywhere you see,
JUST MY MIDDLE & GLUTES, lol !
* If anyone can take a look my avi pic you might know what I mean
thankyou soooo much, you're all WONDERFUL!

[jimbop99]

Try this.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm

There is a calculator at the end of the article.

[Hibiscus09]

Hi Vicky! We're about the same size, so I'll try to help. I'm not sure where you are as far as body fat is concerned, but when I started with my nutritionist/trainer for my competitions a couple of years ago I went in at 121lbs and 19.3% body fat. At the time, I was having between 1,300 and 1,500 calories a day, which she did not think was enough to build lean mass. She moved me on up to 2,100 calories and I gained weight -- up to 129lbs, but lost body fat -- down to 15%. My body measurements (waist, hips, etc.) came down. After that she slowly progressed my calories downward and my cardio upward -- I ended up competing at 8.8% body fat.

Anyway, my point is that you can increase your metabolism by eating more.

The last time I went to see her -- just to get back to eating healthy, maintaining or building lean mass and losing body fat, she suggested these numbers:

125P/200C/55F which across 6 meals is 20.8P/33.3C/9.2F and is 1,795 calories. She also said I should do three 30 minute sessions of cardio a day (not prebreakfast) and to continue with those numbers until my body fat got down to 16%. For me, I generally lose .5 to 1% bodyfat per week on that type of plan -- but more often closer to the .5% than the 1%.

At that point, I'm sure she planned on making adjustments somewhat like she did for my contests.

For your purposes, I would just at that point add another 30 minute cardio session per week until you get to five times a week and then, add five minutes a week until you get to five times a week for 45 minutes. If you still want to get leaner after that, you can start incorporating pre-breakfast cardio (3 X a week for 30 minutes -- you can increase as needed), but this should be done at a lower heart rate (around 120bpm) to avoid losing lean mass.

If you plateau along the way, you can start playing around with the calories -- decreasing them by say 50 per week until you get to about 1,500 -- but I don't see any reason to go any lower than that. Another helpful thing that many people do when they plateau is cycle carbohydrates. There are articles on this site which explain how to do that, or when you get to that point you could just ask question.

As far as the abs showing up, when that happens body fat wise varies by the individual. I see obliques at around 15% and even at lower percentages didn't see much by way of the horizontal ab lines. There's a photo of my abs in my bodyspace. I would think the horizontal ab lines would begin to show up if they're going to at around 12% body fat.

You should start a journal in the journaling section and people can offer suggestions along the way.

[vicky the vikin]

thanks so much dianne for the above (you have really helped alot, now I feel clearer about cardio/carbs etc)
I looked at your Avi, (YOU LOOK AWESOME, BY THE WAY!)
i'm definatley gonna give this a try, (i've copied it all down) and am feeling positive this morning!!!!!!!!
thanx again

THANX jim!

[Hibiscus09]

You're welcome!

So I'm clear on the cardio, I'll type up an example schedule:

Week 1 through about 16% body fat = 30 minutes three times a week
Then you begin to progress by week something like the following:

Week #: 4 times a week X 30 minutes
Week #: 5 times a week X 30 minutes
Week #: 5 times a week X 35 minutes
Week #: 5 times a week X 40 minutes
Week #: 5 times a week X 45 minutes

Next, you can either go to Week #: 6 times a wee X 45 minutes or you could just start incorporating morning cardio in addition to the above if needed. If you're lean enough by then, don't bother. There's not many people out there who enjoy double sessions of cardio.

Morning cardio if you decide to add it:

Week # 3 times a week X 30 minutes
Week # 4 times a week X 30 minutes
Week # 5 times a week X 30 minutes, etc. I suppose at this point how you make the increases is clear. I was just worried it didn't make sense when I read what I had typed yesterday.

For contest prep, I had to keep on going but I was heading to an unhealthy level of leanness. It's no man's land for me and I don't want to return there.

Good luck to you!!

[vicky the vikin]

aww thankyou , this is GREAT info!!! your a STAR!!!!