Help clear up a little confusion

Irishcrx

Hi Lads,

Before I posted this I actually have done quite a bit of reading around the forum and the net but still just a little confused on 1 or 2 things. I also downloaded myfitnesspal which seems like a great app but some of the macros its asking me to hit don't match what I'm reading online.

First off I better give some details. I'm 28 , 5'8 and weigh 10.7 stone or 150 pounds , so I'm slim enough , have kind of long legs and around 14-15% body fat. I'm quitting smoking and want to improve my diet and add some muscle hoping to get to around 12 stone which would be perfect for me.

I do a good bit of cardio, football 3 times a week and I'll run 3 - 5 km once or twice a week with the dogs. I joined a gym yesturday so want to get my diet and training plan in place before I start next week. I don't really want to 'bulk' as such I want to do weights training and cardio while eating the right amount of nutrients required/calories and am happy to do this even though the process is slower. So the hard truth...my diet is awful right now, so much so that I don't know how I'm so slim.

Breakfast - Cappuccino x 2

Lunch - Chicken wrap , swiss cheese , mayo , boiled egg & glass of milk

Dinner - Steak , Pork , Burkers , Meat balls , Chips , Potatoes , Pasta , Rice it'll be on of those combinations.

Snack - Cookies , biscuits , chocolate etc

I can only imagine I've kept the weight off with a mix of genetics and cardio but I'm open to changing this now, I don't eat fruit or much veg but also open to changing this now.

According to what i've read , I'll need 1 gram of protein pure pound of weight so is that 150? (Current weight) or 168 (Goal wieght) according to the app it says 130 or 20% of my daily intake which seems low. I've read up on the food sources etc that I should be taking but it's such a minefield.

My plan for the gym is 5 days a week , 3 days on weights and two in the pool (Pool is mainly for my shoulder and it's flexibility from a football injury) and I still want to play ball 3 times a week. I know that's a lot of activity but it works for my schedule and I don't want to drop my cardio I enjoy it.

Advice? Should I get under the desk?

Alf Veedersane

The targets for calories and macros on MFP can be a bit off. Most people just use it to log what they eat and tailor what they eat based off what it tells you is in what you've eaten.

So, if you start out and you're looking to hit 2500 kcals with a 40/40/20 C/P/F breakdown, for example, and you plug in your days food and drink and get 2750 kcals with a macro breakdown of 50/20/30, then you look at what to tweak to hit your goals.

Don't just use what MFP gives you as targets. Its one of its limitations. But it's brilliant at tracking what you do eat.

Edit: the protein calculation is based on current weight not target weight.

Irishcrx

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The targets for calories and macros on MFP can be a bit off. Most people just use it to log what they eat and tailor what they eat based off what it tells you is in what you've eaten.

So, if you start out and you're looking to hit 2500 kcals with a 40/40/20 C/P/F breakdown, for example, and you plug in your days food and drink and get 2750 kcals with a macro breakdown of 50/20/30, then you look at what to tweak to hit your goals.

Don't just use what MFP gives you as targets. Its one of its limitations. But it's brilliant at tracking what you do eat.

Edit: the protein calculation is based on current weight not target weight.

Ok thanks man , so I should be hitting 40/40/20 and doing so with proper sources of protein , complex carbs and good fats right? What about Cardio, say I'm taking in 2,500 calories in a day but I'm doing an hour cardio (Football) do I need to eat an extra 300 or whatever I lost on top of that to keep up?

Alf Veedersane

Irishcrx wrote: »

Ok thanks man , so I should be hitting 40/40/20 and doing so with proper sources of protein , complex carbs and good fats right? What about Cardio, say I'm taking in 2,500 calories in a day but I'm doing an hour cardio (Football) do I need to eat an extra 300 or whatever I lost on top of that to keep up?

I'm not saying you should use a 40/40/20 split. I just gave it as an example.

First you need to get a rough idea of how many calories you burn in a typical day. Here's a decent calculator. Your TDEE is the figure you want to know.

Then you use MFP to calculate what you're taking on board. See what the difference is and in which direction.

If you play a lot of football, you'll be expending a lot of energy so you need to eat accordingly.

You can change your macro settings on MFP to reflect what your own goals are.

Irishcrx

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I'm not saying you should use a 40/40/20 split. I just gave it as an example.

First you need to get a rough idea of how many calories you burn in a typical day. Here's a decent calculator. Your TDEE is the figure you want to know.

Then you use MFP to calculate what you're taking on board. See what the difference is and in which direction.

If you play a lot of football, you'll be expending a lot of energy so you need to eat accordingly.

That's helpfull thanks for that. I have an idea of what I need to be aiming for now. I'll make up a weekday meal plan while I'm training and a lower carb one for the weekends when I'm not.

The mental battle will be the toughest for me , having never touched fruit or veg before...all in the mind Irishcrx...it's all in your mind