Should I eat less to gain muscle mass?

[Anonymous]

Hello i'm shaye (:
5'0 feet tall, 90 lbs ( 40.9 kg, 6.5 stone)
Recovering from anorexia nervosa, and want to gain healthy muscle mass (mostly on my stomach).
I read up a lot on it and i'm getting mixed signals... I've red that I should eat more calories for growing mucles but.. if I do that won't I gain fat? and i've red that I should eat less.. but won't I lose muscle/fat? I was told that I should eat 13-15 calories per pound. so okay I calculated that and it's only 1,260 calories a day. I was recommended 1,800 calories a day by my doctor. please help? i'm very confused): should I eat more or less or just normal amount (around 1,800). What did you guys do to gain muscle mass and lose fat?

[Xfitchick]

Its all different things. The 1800 calories won't be that much wrong, certainly if you are going to workout to build muscle. But make sure its healthy calories. So good slow burning carbs like in brown bread, ... No sugar or sweets. That is your energy fuel. Further you need proteins to build muscle. It can be animal proteins or vegetable replacements if you are veggie. Spread the proteins over 5 small portions a day since your body will discard all excesses. And to build muscle, you need weigths. Good weigths, not tiny ones.

[Xfitchick]

thanks, go for it

[bente2]

You don't gain fat through calories if you eat regularly, healthy and not too much.
I get it's difficult for you, but you really should try and actually GAIN weight. So eating what your doctor recommends or more is what I would do. You can't gain muscle mass without exercise anyways.

[anonman32]

i would increase my protein intake and limit my carbohydrate intake. carbs are converted to energy, the energy that is not burned becomes fat, but proteins cannot be stored as fat mass, and they are the building blocks of your muscles. so if you seek to gain some muscle mass protein is important and carbohydrates should be limited. most common carbohydrates are bread, cookies, rice, potatos and stuff like that. of course use your brain dont limit the carbohydrates too much and dont over indulge in protein. i hope this helps.

[Asker]

what about fruit? because fruit is high in carbohydrates also

[anonman32]

this depends on which fruit. bananas are a starchy fruit, they contain many carbohydrates and they make you feel full quickly. many fruits are high in carbohydrates and the best time to eat them would be before or after an exercise as the carbs inside of them would be used immediately as energy, or after the workout used to restore energy more quickly.

i would not eat any fruits before going to bed. although you burn calories in your sleep it is not enough to burn up the energy, they will be to the fat in your body as energy storage.

many fruits also contain micro nutrients such as vitamins which are also very good for the body. but as with anything fruits are best eaten in moderation.

[WeaponZero]

Adding mass to your body, whether in the form of fat or muscle, means eating at a calorie surplus. That means eating MORE than the amount required to maintain your present weight/eating to gain weight.

A good general rule of thumb is take whatever number your doctor gave you and add 250 per day for that if you are engaging in the kind of strength training activities needed to add muscle mass to your body.

[Fearless_banana]

It's impossible to eat at a caloric deficit and gain muscle mass. You need to eat at a caloric surplus to gain muscle mass. Your question kind of reminds me of this lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vFvZthqAMg

[06CuriousMind]

Lmao. This video.

[Fearless_banana]

@06CuriousMind lmfao me too.

[Asker]

Totally agree with the nutritionist in the video, people think that if you eat fat you'll gain fat. I more fat then my mother and father together and i'm underweight

[Marstalk]

Eating more calories does not necessarily make you fat. Eating an excess of calories does. Personally I prefer to go a little heavy of the fat content. It makes food taste better and with a good work out routine using weights and cardio I can maintain a good body weight and fat percentage.

The issue is how your body reacts. Some do better with high fat diets other with high carb diets.

Go by the 1800 at least. There is a reason your doctor recommends that.

[Asker]

I usually have a very high fat diet, healthy fats of course, like avocados, coconut oil, nuts/seeds. things like that. it gives me a good energy boost (:

[meatballs21]

You want to gain muscle mass? You need a good, nutritious diet high in protein.

Building muscle needs strength training. Losing fat needs cardio.

As you are recovering from an eating disorder, I would ask your doctor for a referral to a nutritionist to discuss what you want to accomplish and what you should be eating.

[666threesixes666]

eat more. ignore the scale numbers, muscle weighs 3x fat, if you lose weight usually its muscle or water. not good. you'll gain fat and muscle. your weight will go up rapidly but you'll appear the same.

eat when you're hungry, if you don't you'll slow down your metabolic rate. i can eat 9 absurd meals a day and not put on a single pound. the other night my dinner was 2 1/4lb burgers and a 1/2 lb burger, and 3 sodas. i woke up a pound lighter than the day before.

[Harbor]

This question doesn't make much sense.

Muscle is made up of mainly aminco acids and water. You should aim to eat a high protein diet with lots of water especially since your muscles are made up of mostly just that i. e eat more.

[Intraluminal]

You're aware that

1 you should be following your doctor's advice, not ours.
2 you are still fixated on food control and your weight
3 your aim should be to gain weight.

[Fearless_banana]

A general physician doesn't know shit about nutrition or building muscle lol.

[Fearless_banana]

She would have to go to a professional nutritionist to get solid answers.

[Intraluminal]

@Fearless_banana
While you are correct, a GP is not the *first choice* for nutritional advice, you're making an assumption that the doctor she's referring to is a GP. That was not state. Further, while nutritionists may be ideal, this is a very clear -cut issue. She needs to gain weight. The exercise crap is just another way for her to perseverate about her diet.

[Asker]

I go to a holistic doctor, not saying she knows more then the general physicians but she's holistic and is very wise about peoples nutrition and health needs.

[Intraluminal]

Then you already know what you should be doing.

[alice55]

eat more. Meat, veggie and amand in more. That help to buy muscle. Eggs and banana are good too.

[Melcart23]

That's actually the exact opposite of what you should do

[Asker]

which one? eat more or eat less?

[Melcart23]

You're SUPPOSED to eat more. Let's just say for example you take in 2,000 calories a day. In order to put weight on, you need to increase the caloric intake, not decrease. The trick is, you have to do it the right way with the right foods. You can't just go eat chips and Oreos and say "hey, I got my extra calories",,, lol

[Polocrew]

You can't do it all at once if you are beggener and that too wild be your Noob gains OP, eat

[Mesonfielde]

You should probably eat MORE

[lime_rampljuset]

Nope, but you should eat properly.

[Decentguy]

you should eat healthy and mostly protein.