Maintaining mass with less food?

[Spine]

This is probably a newbie question, but perhaps also one with no clear answer. I'm slowly building mass through weight training (of course) and by eating more than I used to, including quite a bit more protein. I'm at about 161 pounds now, up from 155 when I started. I'd like to get to 165 and see how that feels.

 

My question is, once I reach my goal and I'm satisfied with my size, how do my nutritional requirements change? If I continue to train but I go back to eating a relatively low-cal diet without as much protein, how will that affect my muscle mass?

[Odidnetne]

I think once you're in your desired range, you should just keep track of your weight for a while and figure out what works for you over time.

[Im Your Man]

with at least 30 grams of complete protein per day you don't lose lean mass, that's a minimum standard for relatively sedentary people, with a normal amount of calories per day that don't make lose or gain weight.

You should eat more proteins (let's say 1g-2g/kg bw) if :

you train a lot, especially with weights

you reduce a lot your total calories intake

you have a huge lean mass

[Guest]

I think you need to be at a weight for a while to stabilize there. If you need to eat a ton to gain any muscle and you just stop you'll lose that muscle. I'm in the reverse. When I first made it down to 200lbs I could barely eat anything without gaining weight. Now that I've been at this weight for a while I can eat a little more food and maintain without ballooning but I've still gotta be careful...just not as careful.

[Marcina]

I'm trying to gain muscle but my body just isn't meant to eat a lot. I started writing down everything I eat, and although it feels like I eat all the time, I'm not really consuming much at all. My biggest worry is that I'm not getting all the nutrients I need because I find it so difficult to eat a lot. My meals are pretty small.. I consider a piece of toast with almond butter a meal for example.

This past week I've tried eating as much as possible and I just end up feeling bloated. What do I do?

[Guest]

I say a start is learning to eat some super foods...like sprirulina, chlorella and wheatgrass. That'll at least ensure you're getting enough vitamins. They don't have a lot of calories though.

[ChaserHUN]

I feel sometimes I can't eat more, the digestion wastes a lot of energy, and I'm tired if I eat too much, I think I will lower some of my meals and eat more fruits, and bigger=stronger? because my goal is not really to be big, I wanna be strong, and have goo performance