Hey nation,

 

I'm looking to build some lean muscle without too much fat, how ever i have trouble figuring out how many calories i really need. It'd be wonderful if you guys can help me out. Here is some info about me:
Male

16 years old

165 pounds (75kg)

6 foot 2 (187.5cm)

 

I have tried many online calculators and they all give me different answers. I'm a school student and at recess/lunch i play moderatly active sport, i also go to the gym 5 times a week. I want to build some muscle and not fat so i only want to slightly go above maintenance, but if one calculator says 2900 calories and the other says 3300 there's a big difference.

 

Thanks guys

Travis,

 

Online caloric calculators and other tools to calculate maintenance calories can be confusing. The basic mathematical rule of thumb to calculate maintenance calories is:

 

Multiply your weight times 14 calores if you are not active

Multiply your weight times 16 calories if you are active

 

Since you are active, your maintenance level would be 165Lbs x 16 = 2,640 calories. You are also only 16 so your hormone levels like testosterone and growth hormone will be the highest ever in your life and will be this way until about age 21. You therefore can put on significant lean muscle if you train correctly and eat a nutritious diet. At your age, it is easy to pack on the weight eating fast food, processed foods, and other junk. You will gain size and weight but the majority of it will be fat. If you resist the temptations of non-nutritious foods and are patient in your weight gain, you will be rewarded with a lean, musclular physique.

 

To follow lean gains (slowly build lean muscle with minimum fat gain), you need to eat a 250-500 calorie surplus over maintenance each day. Since 165Lbs is quite lite for someone 6'2", I would recommend 500 additional daily calories. This means each day you need to consume 2,640 + 500 = 3,140 calories

 

I would eat at least 1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean mass. At your height and weight, I would guesstimate you are probably around 10% body fat. So 165 x .9 = 148.5. So eat around 148.5 x 1.5g = 223g of protein. This will be 892 (223 x 4) calories out of 3,140. I would then eat about 30% of your calories from good fats like egg yolks, oily fish, olive oil, coconut oil, flaxseed, nuts, and avocado. 30% of 3,140 calories is 942 calories. At 9 calories per gram, this would be 105g of fat each day. Don't be worried about fat and cholesterol. They do not cause heart disease and the recommended levels are based on flawed science from the 1950's. Sugar - especially man-made and processed - is the real enemy and cause of heart disease and many other ailments and must be avoided.

 

Fill in the remaining calories (1,306) with complex carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, 100% whole wheat breads and pastas, whole fruits, and tons of fresh vegetables of all types and colors. 1,306 calories = 326 grams of carbs (1,306/4). Stay away from all simple, man-made, and processed sugars. High fructose corn syrup, fruit juice (not whole fruit), soda, pastries, white bread, white rice, white potatoes, white pasta. Anything is a box, bag, bottle, or package that has any more than 2 ingredients is processed. This junk all gets converted to simple sugars in your blood and spikes your insulin levels. Eating this stuff will not only derail your lean gains but also put you at risk for heart disease later in life when you eat higher fat amounts - not because the fat leads to disease but because sugar inflammes your arteries and internal organs at high levels and your body uses cholesterol and fats to repair the damage. This is the source of the false assumption cholesterol and fat cause heart disease.

 

Your daily macros would thus look like:

 

Protein = 223g

Fats = 105g

Carbs = 326g

Total Calories = 3,140

 

I would start off here and modify the macros based on how your training and growth is going. If you seem to be gaining more fat than muscle, cut back on the carbs and bump up the protein but keep the total still at 3,140 calories. Since protein and carbs each produce 4 calories, you can interchange protein and carbs 1:1. Fat is 9 calories so if you modify your fat intake you need to remember it is not a 1:1 exchange. Sometimes people bump up the carbs if their energy levels start dropping. If you do this, only reduce your fat numbers but keep the protein number the same. Most meal plan modifications are around the carb and fat numbers not the protein as it is needed for all growth and repair.

 

A lot of information, I know, but hopefully it will help you get started :-)

 

John

 

 

Wow, thank you so much John. This is every bit of information i'll need, i can't thank you enough.

 

Yes i am pretty light for 6'2 how ever i very much doubt of 10% body fat, i believe i would fall under the skinny-fat physique (i guestimate around 15% body fat?). here is an image of my body.

 

Travis,

 

That is OK. Glad I could help and the info was useful. I would still start out with what I have laid out as body fat percentage really has to do with protein calculation. If you do around 215 grams instead of 227g of protein, you should be fine.

 

John

Ok, thank you again, do you agree with me when i say i look around 15% bodyfat?