I was strength-training but not getting stronger — eating more helped

The moment I picked up a barbell in 2019, I fell in love with squats and became a committed lifter. I bought extra-padded barbell pads and creatine, signed up for my first strength program, and expected to see muscle quickly. In reality, it took years to notice changes because I hadn’t recognized my nutrition as the problem.

My hair began falling out, I felt constantly fatigued and cold, and a micronutrient blood test revealed deficiencies in vitamin D, zinc, and copper. The doctor told me my diet was most likely to blame, so I started tracking calories on Fitbit and discovered I’d been eating 1,200 to 1,400 calories a day — barely enough for someone sedentary.

My resting metabolism burned about 1,457 calories daily, and with workouts I needed around 2,000 to maintain weight, so I wasn’t fueling muscle growth. Following guidance from MacroFactor, I began eating at least 2,000 calories a day and 120 grams of protein, aligning with the 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram recommended to maximize hypertrophy.

strength training, squats, barbell, creatine, calories, protein, hypertrophy, vitamin d, zinc, metabolism