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I need to do what?!

Well, now I know why I haven't seen faster muscle gains. I'm not eating anywhere near enough calories and I know I've been super low on protein for a few weeks now. Just found Martin's Leangains PDF which outlines some ways to determine your daily caloric intake.

Doing his math, I need 1,500 calories a day to maintain (which I'm not eating); 1,800 calories a day on workout days (to grow and recover) which I'm not getting close to; and 1,200 calories on rest days...

Hmmm...time to head back to the kitchen. I've got some meal prepping to do! I can't believe I'm saying this, but if I want to get lean, I have to eat more!
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Anonymous said…
What about this math? :S
April 4, 2011 at 3:58 PM
Lisa@The Nourishing Homemaker said…
Jen, I am so glad you found that! I searched forever on his site. Apparently I have not been eating enough either. It makes sense b/c the few days where I'd eat more than my allotment, I'd do much better the next time on my workout. I'm sort of glad b/c lately I've been starving.
April 5, 2011 at 9:55 AM
Lisa@The Nourishing Homemaker said…
Jen, the link didn't work for me :( Does it take you to doubleyourgains.com?
April 5, 2011 at 9:59 AM
Jenn said…
http://doubleyourgains.com/musclebuildingmastermind/The_Leangains_Approach_Final.pdf
April 5, 2011 at 11:17 AM
Jennifer said…
Hi Jenn,
I stumbled onto your site after stumbling onto the Leangains site too.
I think what you're doing is awesome, and I'm looking forward to seeing your results.
You are kicking some serious butt! One of my goals is to be able to do a chin up as I am very weak with my upper body. How did you progress to doing full chin ups?

Thanks for your blog! It's inspiring!
April 5, 2011 at 1:40 PM
Jenn said…
Hi Jennifer. Welcome to my blog, I'm glad you like it. Chinups were always elusive to me so I started by doing negatives or using the assist machine at my gym. You just have to keep at it - at least twice a week when you're beginning to get stronger.

It wasn't until I started Leangains and lifting heavy when I really began to improve. Bodyweight chinups and pullups are pretty easy now, so I add weight and train in the 4-6 rep range.

Keep me posted on how you're doing!
April 5, 2011 at 2:27 PM
DS said…
Yeah, I found that a couple weeks ago and have been increasing my calorie intake on workout days. Glad it's out there as calorie intake guidelines are not obvious from Martins website.
April 8, 2011 at 8:42 AM
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