How much should I be eating? 148lb female

[kelseyclark]

Looking for some concrete advice on how much I should be eating. I am a novice on week 3 of Starting Strength and loving it! I am a 23-year-old female and weigh 148lbs.
Current lifts:
Squat 3x5 215lbs
Bench 3x5 125lbs
Press 3x5 97.5lbs
Deadlift 1x5 290lbs

I've been eating ~2300cals on workout days (160 protein, 250 carbs, 80 fat). On rest days, I usually get about 2100, dropping the carbs and upping the fat.

I don't eat right when I wake up. I go for a walk with my dog in the morning and then go to work. I eat "breakfast" at 11am, about 3 hours before I train at 2pm (usually around 500 calories), and have some fast-digesting carbs 30 minutes before I start (poptart, fruit snacks, Gatorade, etc.) I find that I usually feel good for my squats and bench/press, but almost always feel tired/hungry when I get to my deadlifts. I've tried eating another fast-digesting carb during my workout, but still feel low on energy in the last third of my workout.

My overall goal is to get stronger and see some body composition changes along the way. I'm not concerned with losing fat--just want to see more muscle on myself.

Am I getting those fatigued feelings during my workout because I'm not eating enough? Or am I not timing my meals correctly?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Kelsey

[Robert Santana]

Those are some fine numbers so excellent job there. Just for random curiosity, how tall are you??

To answer your question, you should eat some calories when you wake up before walking the dog. I go through the same morning routine and have been forcing myself to drink some kefir, eat some skyr or something of the sort before getting to my proper breakfast. Dextrose is a better carbohydrate source for intraworkout than pop tarts or fruit snacks. You are lifting some serious weight (2x bodyweight on the deadlift and approaching 300 lb) so you also have to consider that you may need longer breaks between sets and maybe even between lifts. I'd also suggest trying out upping the carbohydrates to 300 grams and seeing how that works. This is some pretty solid progress. Can you post a video of your squats and deadlifts?

[Nockian]

Heck those are impressive numbers for 3 weeks.

[kelseyclark]

Thanks for the response! I'm 5' 6''.

I was on the 'hardcore' intermittent fasting train for a long time, so it's hard for me to make myself ingest calories right when I wake up.
I'll try adding dextrose to my sessions and see how that goes. I just bought an intra-workout drink to try but it doesn't look like it has dextrose in it.. so I'll look for something else to try! I'll also try more rest in between sets.. I've been pretty resistant to more than 4 minutes of rest up to this point.

I'll post a video of squats and deadlifts later today after I train. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it!

[Robert Santana]

We are dying with anticipation!

Dextrose is the gold standard for intraworkout carbohydrates. Does not require hydrolysis and can be readily absorbed. Perfect for situations where you need immediate glucose. At the loads you are handling you'll need 5-7 minutes, if not now, very soon.

[Charlocity2]

We are dying with anticipation!

Dextrose is the gold standard for intraworkout carbohydrates. Does not require hydrolysis and can be readily absorbed. Perfect for situations where you need immediate glucose. At the loads you are handling you'll need 5-7 minutes, if not now, very soon.

Instead of going to The Vitamin Shoppe, are there any easily available foods that are high in dextrose? I do drink cold brew coffee blended with maltodextrin 90 minutes pre-workout.

[Matt James]

Fun Dip or Smarties.

[Nockian]

We are dying with anticipation!

Dextrose is the gold standard for intraworkout carbohydrates. Does not require hydrolysis and can be readily absorbed. Perfect for situations where you need immediate glucose. At the loads you are handling you'll need 5-7 minutes, if not now, very soon.

I once used dextrose as a food substitute during a time when I was cycle touring to get me up a long climb. It worked very well for about 10 minutes and then I conked out like a car having run out of fuel. Is there a limit to how much Dextrose can be processed ? It was a very weird experience to go from having a lot of energy to zero in such a short time.

[Robert Santana]

I once used dextrose as a food substitute during a time when I was cycle touring to get me up a long climb. It worked very well for about 10 minutes and then I conked out like a car having run out of fuel. Is there a limit to how much Dextrose can be processed ? It was a very weird experience to go from having a lot of energy to zero in such a short time.

That's because cycling takes longer than lifting and you are supposed to sip on it as you go. Maltodextrin would probably be a better option for an endurance event except for maybe the last leg of a long race where dextrose would be more useful

[Nockian]

That's because cycling takes longer than lifting and you are supposed to sip on it as you go. Maltodextrin would probably be a better option for an endurance event except for maybe the last leg of a long race where dextrose would be more useful

I'd guessed as much about dextrose, but what is the limit ? Could you continue to have lift throughout a 2 hour session by constant dextrose feed, or is it more suitable for one set of lifts if the energy level has dropped ? I'm assuming Maltodextrin a more complex sugar ? I didn't enjoy the after effects of a dextrose boost, it was like squirting oxygen into a pile of burning coals, there was a lot of heat and then it was worse than being just hungry-almost a hangover without the headache.