I am stuck in my weight gaining. I am 42 years old, 5 feet 9 inches and now weigh 147 pounds with a body fat of 9.5%. During the day I work at a desk, but I am always running around the office and at night I lift weights 4 times a week, 2 hours each night. I do very little cardio exercise, but I consider myself active.
What should my calorie intake be and how many grams of fat, protein, and carbohydrates per day and meals do I need to start gaining again? What is the formula to figure it out myself as my weight goes up? Thanks for any help you can give.
Your calorie needs to maintain your weight at 147 pounds is about 2340 calories, 78 grams of fat (30% calories from fat), 59 grams protein and 351 grams carbohydrate. The calories and grams (fat, protein, and carb) can be equally divided among 3 meals. This was based on the activities you listed. Have you tried my Healthy Body Calculator®? Using your physical data, it will calculate your individual Calorie Goal as well as fat, protein, and carbohydrates grams.
BTW, you are within your healthy body weight for height and congratulations on the lean body fat. Don’t worry so much if your weight goes up and your body fat stays constant because you could be adding on muscle with your weightlifting. A healthy weight for you is 132 to 162 pounds. I would suggest you re-do the Healthy Body Calculator® after every 10-pound weight gain as your Calorie Goal will increase.
If you would like a customized healthy eating plan, try my HELP Healthy Eating For Life Plan®. HELP will ask what kind of milk you want, meat or not, beans or not and snacks or not. Print your custom eating plan and check off foods as you eat to ensure you are eating enough food to gain weight.
I would encourage you to include aerobic exercise enough to break a sweat in your program. It would help keep your body fat stores low.
