How to figure out what I need to eat

[mandy2007]

Hey so I’m trynna gain muscle and lose weight. I’m a person who tends to store a ton of fat in my chest and belly. About two years ago I was what you’d call a skinny fat I was 5’9 (still am) and 114lbs id look like a really skinny guy but wo shirt u could see bit of fat excess in my torso nonetheless I wanted to get a bit bigger so I started “bulking” basically eat a fxck ton of everything and a ton of junk food. Fast forward 8months I’m now 153lbs I barely have cloths that fit now. But my issue kinda grew too I even have fat in my cheeks lol again I look like a fit guy until I take my shirt off. To the point where it’s messing w my self esteem so I want to lose fat but gain muscle or at least keep as much as possible but have no idea how, what do I need to eat how much of each thing I go to the gym every weekday at night, play soccer every Sunday and planning to do some cardio workout in the mornings. But I seriously have no idea how to figure out what I need to eat. Might b much to ask if someone could tell me or at least how to figure it out if there’s a formula or something, I seen tiktoks about macros, protein and calories but have no clue about what to do with that.

TL;DR even tho I look fit I have a high fat percentage it’s messing with my self esteem and want to keep or gain muscle while losing fat but have seriously no clue how

 

[gnandstein]

@mandy2007 I don't have a huge amount of detail to work with but assuming you're a 24-year old guy, at your height and weight and activity level, my calculator says your total daily energy expenditure would be around 2,500 calories.

If you want to lose weight eat less than that, but not lower than 2,000 calories, and if you want to keep bulking, eat more.

If you are in the gym five times a week and doing cardio then I'd imagine you know what you're doing around fitness and it's just your diet you need to sort out.

Aim to get at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight and 20% of your calories from fat. I work on a 20% fat, 35% protein and 45% carb macro breakdown, but I drop carbs and increase fat and protein when I start to plateau.

Good luck!

 

[monkish]

@gnandstein Yeah just try this OP, and if after a couple weeks you’ve made no fat loss progress, drop 250ish calories and try again.

 

[mandy2007]

@monkish Ight thanks guys really means a lot, but I forgot to mention I’m 18 lol not sure if that’d change something

 

[monkish]

@mandy2007 Not really. Might just have an easier time

 

[jeffwilly001]

@mandy2007 Fat is distributed according to genetics and rate of caloric surplus. Spot reduction is a falsehood, you lose fat anywhere by losing fat everywhere. Imagine a pool with a shallow end and a deep end. When you fill the pool, the deep end will be completely submerged before the shallow end level changes. Correspondingly, when you empty the pool, the shallow end will be completely empty before the deep end level changes. So you lose fat in a specific area by adhering to the principles of fat loss over a long enough period of time.

By focusing on protein intake and caloric deficit, you can continue strength training to gain muscle while also losing fat. This is called recomping and can take longer than a traditional bulk-cut cycle but it may be more suitable for some people.

• Beginner weight resistance strength training program
• Beginner cardio training program
• Beginner isometric stretching program

To gain muscle:

1) Follow a full body strength training program encompassing progressive overload on compound exercises

2) Aim for ~1g of protein per 1lb of bodyweight per day (source)

3) Try to get 9 hours of sleep per day (source)

Concurrent strength training and cardio training is optimal for fat loss (source). Comparatively, strength training is superior to cardio training for the purposes of fat loss (source). Building muscle mass increases your metabolism which means you burn more calories just sitting around (source). HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and MICT (Moderate Intensity Continuous Training) are virtually identical in terms of fat loss and fat-free mass gain, so cardio modality is a matter of preference (source). However, exercise is not the optimal way to lose fat. Further reading: https://physiqonomics.com/fat-loss/#training-for-fat-loss

To lose fat:

1) Eat at a caloric deficit. Google "TDEE calculator" to estimate your daily caloric usage, then aim for approximately ~200-500 calories subtracted from this.

2) Download a calorie tracker app and track your meals.

3) Then adjust values based on the cause-effect relationship between your individual efforts and your individual results over a ~3-4 month period.

Focus on whole foods such as meat (red, white, fish), eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, legumes, grains, etc. Prioritize high protein and high fiber. Avoid sugar and processed foods. For a more specific nutritional goal, try Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen Checklist.

A high protein diet aids in fat loss (source 1, source 2), and increased protein intake can beneficially affect recovery times (source) and reduce soreness (source). High protein intake has no adverse effects across a wide range of clinical parameters in healthy subjects, and does not negatively influence kidney function in healthy adults (source 1, source 2, source 3). For strength training goals, there are no significant benefits of higher carbohydrate intake on performance (source).

 

[mandy2007]

@jeffwilly001 Damn that’s quite something, thanks man

 

[jeffwilly001]

@mandy2007 You can do it, just keep your head up and stay moving forward

 

[biblicalbro]

@jeffwilly001 Great post and explanation. You have my respect.

 

[stepmominpain]

@mandy2007

I was 5’9 (still am)

Laughed way too hard at this. Like you're disappointed you haven't grown yet. I don't know what's wrong with me.

 

[dinafrancis]

@mandy2007 Hopefully you've learned junk food isn't the way to go!

Start logging your calories. Use a TDEE calculator for a starting point and go from there. If you aren't losing weight, decrease the number of calories you eat. Your weight for your height isn't awful, so I wouldn't go on too much of a deficit really. Keep working out and lifting heavy and you should be able to recomp and gain some muscle.

As for what to eat, focus on the protein, have some with every meal. I don't bother tracking the others. But I personally avoiding eating processed carbs as this avoids sugar and makes me feel better (aka, no bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, etc). All my carbs come from veggies or things like rice and oatmeal. I put a focus on clean eating, everything I have is fresh. But this is extreme for a lot of people. It allows you to eat more volume of food (in veggies) than you'd be able to eat with caloric dense junk.

 

[mandy2007]

@dinafrancis I did lmao I’d sometimes eat pizza like 3x per week appreciate the advice

 

[dinafrancis]

@mandy2007 That'd be a lot of calories for sure (but tasty hah). But best of luck dude