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How to Set Up Your Calories to Gain Muscle/Lose Fat
All the information floating around regarding calories and macros can be super overwhelming. This blog will help you filter through the mess and get you on the right track to achieving your goals!
Energy Balance: The Basics
So, what are calories? Calories are actually units of energy, hence the term "energy balance." The concept of energy balance basically states that to lose weight, you need to burn more energy (calories) than you take in, and to gain weight you need the take in more energy than you burn. If your goal is to maintain, then you would take in the same amount of energy that you burn. Imagine this as a scale with energy burned on one side and energy taken in on the other.
Setting Up Your Calorie Intake
Just to set the stage, I want to ask you a question. Take a wild guess even if you have no clue what the answer is.
How many calories does your body need just to be alive? This isn't taking into account walking, talking, exercise, or any other daily activities; just breathing, laying down in your bed doing nothing.
100? 500? 750?
The answer is actually to take your body weight and multiply it by 10. Let's take my weight, 200lbs, as an example. My body needs 2000 calories simply to be alive. This question highlights that a considerable amount of people are actually under eating for their caloric needs. If you are in this position, increasing your calories will likely help you to reach your goals.
Exactly how much should you increase your calories? Without more background information, like a food log and an assessment form on your nutritional background, it's difficult to say.
What I can offer are some general guidelines that work for a majority of people. Here are daily calorie ranges for a variety of fitness goals:
Fat Loss: 10-14x your bodyweight in calories
Maintenance: 14-16x your bodyweight in calories
Muscle Gain: 16-18x your bodyweight in calories
How to go About Reaching This Caloric Intake
So, you might be wondering "How can I possibly eat 3000 calories per day if I'm only eating 1800 now?!?"
Take it slow.
It doesn't need to happen overnight. I would recommend increasing your calories in increments of 250cals per week until you hit the desired caloric intake.
If we look at the science, it honestly doesn't matter in the long run if you add in all the calories at once or take it slowly using the method above. The downside of doing it all at once is that there is a chance that you actually gain fat before your metabolism adapts, whereas if you go slowly, you allow your metabolism to adapt as you increase the calories, mitigating most, or all, of the fat gain.
Takeaways
Establishing a daily caloric intake gives you a plan to lead you towards your fitness goals
A large amount of people today are actually underrating, and accidentally slowing down there metabolism
Use the above guidelines to determine your daily caloric intake
If you are currently way below that number, increase your calories in increments of 250cals per week until you are at your desired caloric intake.
Thank you all for taking the time to read my first blog! If you have any feedback, or would like to suggest future topics, please feel free to email my at tclarknutrition@gmail.com or reach me via Instagram DM at @tclarknutrition.