How many calories do I need to consume per day to burn belly fat and keep building mu

[hakimo2]

I have been working out for 8 months and have gained 15 kilograms. I take in 5000 calories a day. That sounds like a lot, but it's due to the 2300 calories from my mass gainer. I'm starting to see some fat in my belly (15.5%). How many calories do I need to take in to reach my goal? I take 2 doses of mass gainer per day (2300 calories). Should I take only one or not take any more? I imagine that if I don't take any more, my weight will decrease but I'm afraid that my muscle mass will also decrease. I want to continue to grow while burning my fat. Is this possible?

[SuffolkPunch]

Yeah, you are gaining weight much too fast. Your body only needs something like an extra 200 calories per day to grow muscle, the rest will mostly be fat.

Ditch the mass gainer, eat slightly below maintenance and you should be able to continue to make progress in the gym while trimming off some of that weight.

[xsquid99]

First things first, you can't lose belly fat and gain muscle at the same time while eating in a large calorie surplus.

Mass gainer is perhaps the worst, most useless supplement on the market. Gaining 15kg in 8 months you can be sure that at least 80% of that is fat and not muscle. If you really want muscular gains you only need a very small surplus, 200-300 cals a day at most. And many people won't even need that if they're carrying enough stored bodyfat to fuel gains.

[TolerantLactose]

How many calories do I need to take in to reach my goal?

We're not mind readers. What is your starting weight? Your current weight? Your height? What is your training and what is your progress? What is your goal in more precise terms than "more muscle, less fat".

[hakimo2]

We're not mind readers. What is your starting weight? Your current weight? Your height? What is your training and what is your progress? What is your goal in more precise terms than "more muscle, less fat".

Sorry I didn't give enough details. I started at 57 kilos and now I am 72 kilos so I have gained 15 kilos. I am 173 cm tall. I have a body fat percentage of 15.5% (weighed yesterday). My goal is to continue to grow and have big arms. I train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday (Wednesday and Sunday off). My session lasts 1.30h (2 muscles and 45 minutes for each muscle, very intense session). My arms, chest, shoulders and back are fine but I think I have to remove some fat from my stomach even if after the workout you can see my abs a little. Should I continue to gain volume without worrying about the fat and then dry out? and if I dry out now, will I continue to grow? I'm a little confused. I'm afraid that if I stop using mass gainers, my muscle mass will decrease.

[SuffolkPunch]

I think you could continue to grow muscle at maintenance for a while. Just use your progress in the gym as a yardstick. If this halts then you may need to increase your calories again - but in small increments.

It's easy to fool yourself that you are piling on muscle when actually you are just accruing fat - which will increase your chest and arms measurements - not just you stomach. I'm fairly sure this is why many people think you have to bulk - because actual muscle gain is very slow and they are impatient...

[tadpole25]

Giving us your height, current weight and goal weight would help. But 5000 calories is wayyyyy too much.

You should probably be at 3500 at the very most. There are some bodybuilders who do 4000+, but they've been doing it for 5-10 years. With just 8 months in, I doubt you have nearly enough lean mass to demand that many calories.