Diet questions from a female doing Starting Strength

[LittleLiz]

I have been doing Starting Strength for about a month now and have been really happy with my workouts so far. I am not coming from 100% inactivity but I wasn't really the most active of girls when I started either. I am struggling a little bit with what exactly my diet should be like while doing this program as I have seen few examples of what females doing the program are eating. I am currently 5'6", 138 lbs, 24% bf. I definitely have goals of increasing my strength and being able to lift much heavier weights but at the same time I don't want to gain a bunch of fat and look terrible at the expense of those goals. I will point out that I don't think that lifting heavy weights will make me look 'bulky' like you frequently hear women say.

I have been eating roughly 1300-1400 calories a day and I have been seeing no movement in the scale or my body measurements. I was eating this before beginning starting strength. A typical day may be;

Breakfast - protein shake or eggs and a banana

Lunch - salad with grilled chicken and balsamic vinegar, apple or a chicken breast wrap with an apple

Snack - mixed nuts

Dinner - grilled meat of some kind and vegetables

If it is a workout day I have a protein shake immediately following my workout. I feel like at this point I maybe should be eating more but my boyfriend is of the mindset that if you aren't losing fat and you want to that you need to lower your calories. Are there any examples of what women are eating on is program? Anyone have some advice for a newcomer who wants to look good and be able to lift heavy things?

[hamburgerfan]

How much are you lifting?

[Gunnhild Bruno]

1300-1400 seems very low.

Can you tell us what your lifts were when you started vs. what they are now?

[veryhrm]

How much are you lifting?

+1
are you increasing the weights as prescribed?

(w/o further info i'd think you'll have to increase the cals for a while. maybe to ~2000 range but as importantly get yourself a set of small weights so you're ready for microloading)

[Tamara Reynolds]

I can't imagine how you will make progress eating that amount. Frankly, it would be unheard of. And, yes, knowing your lifts would be helpful.

[Dastardly]

If you are grilling chicken please make sure to include the skin.

Your diet also seems to have a massive lack of carbs. If you want to fuel growth of muscles through any kind of vigorous activity you shall need to eat more than the ocassional banana or apple.

[LittleLiz]

I started with the weights listed below;

Squat - 65
Overhead press - 55
Bench - 55
Dead lift - 135

I just finished today's workout and these were my numbers for this week;

Squat - 112.5
OHP - 65
Bench - 80
Dead lift - 150

All in pounds. I failed on my OHP with 5-4-4 today and Wednesday I failed on my bench with 5-4-3. I am increasing by 2.5 lbs on everything at this point. I did start doing a similar program last summer but noticed my form deteriorating so I reset and then kind of...stopped doing the program. This time I am trying to take it slow to make sure that my form stays correct.

In respect to the lack of carbs, it is an intentional thing. I really have just found with fewer carbs and more protein I tend to feel better - more full - more energy. I guess I am questioning whether I must concede to gaining a significant amount of body fat to also increase my gains.

[Tamara Reynolds]

If you are failing sets after a month, then you are most likely not doing the program. In this case, it probably means you need to eat more. I would also consider moving bench and press down to 2 lb increments.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Eat more, and also rest more between sets on the press and bench.

In respect to the lack of carbs, it is an intentional thing. I really have just found with fewer carbs and more protein I tend to feel better - more full - more energy.

Try getting small servings of high-glycemic carbs right before and right after training. In my experience, if you limit it to right around your training session, it won't mess with your energy levels.

I guess I am questioning whether I must concede to gaining a significant amount of body fat to also increase my gains.

If you want to get strong, you will sometimes be a little fatter than you want to be. But chub is not irreversible. It's not a big deal, and you may find you're one of those women who is thrilled enough about getting stronger that a little extra fluff from time to time isn't that much of a concern. Try it. If you hate it, you can stop and go back to your 1400 (!) calorie a day diet, which, I have to add, just sounds so, so very wrong. If you gain weight when your calories exceed 1400 (!), there's something weird going on with your metabolism.

[LittleLiz]

Thanks so much for the responses! You're really affirming my gut feeling, which oddly goes against everything that I see other females doing. (not here - just in general) I will definitely up my food intake. It will be nice to eat more. I work full time and then go to school in the evenings so the biggest challenge is finding foods that travel easily and actually making myself do the prep. It's worth it though, so I can work that out.

Does it seem acceptable to do an immediate increase of about 300/day and then do potential increases from there depending on my lifts, the way I feel etc? Do you think I would benefit more from a greater increase than that right off the bat? Also, are there any female training logs out there that I could keep an eye on go see where I could potentially end up at some point?