Wasn’t sure if this went in the beginner forum or the nutrition forum. I’ve started tracking my calories eaten/burned in Fitday… How much of a caloric excess should I shoot for if trying to gain muscle? Graph attached. Am I doing okay or should I eat even more? What kind of gains should I expect?
Some more details: 6’1, 166 lbs [my all time low ], starting madcow 5x5 after quite awhile away from lifting. This eating thing is tough – if I don’t think about it, I’ll maybe eat 1800-2000cal/day of pretty clean stuff.
No wonder you are 166… at your height I would consider 2000kcal a diet! Eat, pick up heavy stuff, eat some more, wait, eat some more. Eat every 2-3 hours. Even if it’s before bed!
EDIT:Btw I don’t have a clean answer for ya sorry, but it def is not as simple as calories in vs calories out. If only it were!
I think it is as simple as cals in versus cals out. Excess will be more than what you burn during a day. Obvious. If you haven’t already, consume an additional 300-500 kcals per day for two weeks. One week isn’t enough time to determine if it is working.
Did you gain weight?
Yes - good; either maintain that amount or increase depending on your goals.
No - increase by another 300-500 for two more weeks.
Eventually you will find a range that will allow you to gain weight.
I never saw that calories easten vs burned chart. It’s interesting.
I just add up my macros for the day and keep it consistent. When I stopped gaining weight I added 200 calories of carbs. I’ll see how it goes and adjust accordingly. I think when you eat consistently it’s easy to tell what’s working for you. I keep my macros and calories consistent and listen to my body. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to use the chart though. I’m just saying what has been working for me so far.
Cool, thanks all for the advice. Will post new charts in a couple weeks. This is from the Fitday software version, not the web site version, which has a couple extra features I think. You can even put the calories eaten/burned chart (or a chart that just shows the caloric excess/deficit) right above the weight chart to visualize the relationship… Pretty cool.
If I were you, I would increase caloric intake by 200-250 calories if your current diet isn’t adding weight. I’d be careful about getting 500 calories like some of the other guys are saying. You’re bound to put on extra poundage regardless, but increasing in increments of 500 calories is going to make you put on some fat.
], starting madcow 5x5 after quite awhile away from lifting. This eating thing is tough – if I don’t think about it, I’ll maybe eat 1800-2000cal/day of pretty clean stuff.