Caloric intake.

I've been reading Eat Right to Train Right by Chris Carmichael, and he recommends something like 3600 for me in the Preparation phase (6'2", 242)..... That seems like a lot to me, but I've actually never sat down and listed everything I ate and figured out the cal and Carb/prot/fat percentages. However, nothing I have read indicates it's anything but total body weight.

I am having a hard time figuring out the balance between a caloric deficit to lose weight and enough fuel to do 30-60 minutes + cardio and weights (and not go into "starvation" mode)

Let me know when you find the answer

Chris

What are you basing the 4000 calories on?

My calculations show you should be more like 3000 calories, if you want to slowly lose weight and still fuel your workouts.

BTW most people go by total bodyweight because lean mass is too hard for the average person to figure out.

Edited by Gatsby 2004-11-08 6:17 PM

3000 seems a bit more doable. I dont feal hungry though and have pleanty of energy. Is it really important to wantch the calories or is it ok to just eat when I am hungry. I have noticed I ocasionally crave something like peanut butter or oatmeal. When that happens I eat. For the most part though I eat untill I am full and when I feal hungry again I eat again.

Pigpen, 3,000 is probably too high if you want to cut. I am 5'11' and started cutting at 245 (I am now down to 205). I started my cut by eating 2,200 clean cals per day. That put me on pace to lose 2 lbs per week, which is healthy.


One way to calculate your caloric requirement is with the Harris-Benedict Formula:
the following formula is for males:

66 + (6.3 x body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

This gives you your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Now that you know your BMR, multiply your BMR by your activity multiplier from below:

Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job

Your BMR X Activity Level = Calories Needed for maintenance : what you need to sustain your body at status quo. If you want to lose weight, subtract 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound per week. Subtract 1000 to lose 2 pounds per week. It is not recommended to go below a 1000 calorie deficit. It is also not recommended to go below 2000 calories a day if you are trying to maintain / build muscle mass. I recommend you start out a fat loss program at a 500 calorie deficit, try that for a couple of weeks, then, if you aren't getting the results you want, cut 250 off, try that for a couple of weeks, and repeat until you find the level that works for your body. After a few months, change it; your body will become accustomed to a caloric level and needs it to be altered once in a while.


Let me know if this helps.

Have you tried tracking your grams of fat per day?

You are possibly eating a lot of high fat foods.

Here are the steps I used to go from 215 to 180 pounds over the past 6 months:

First step - spend a couple weeks cutting out as much fat out of your diet as possible. Read all nutrition labels and if the fat calories are more than 20% of the total calories - don't eat it! You don't need dietary fat if you have enough body fat to use.

Second step - spend a couple weeks cutting out high-calorie junk food. Things like jelly donuts, cake, pie, chips, etc.

Third step - Cut out high glycemic carbohydrates - like bagels, potatoes, corn flakes, etc.

Fouth step - Monitor protein - a 220 pound person who works out regularly should be getting about 150 grams of protein a day, spread out throughout the day.

So what do I eat? Chicken breast, fish, brown rice, oatmeal, non-fat yogurt, skim milk, beans, fruits, vegetables, yams.

Taking it in steps made it possible for me to do. Incremental progress really adds up in the long run.

Thanks... It looks like I will try the 3000 calories for a few weeks. I have noticed that the more I work out the more I want to eat... I have already cut out all the jelly donuts and "crap" foods. I still eat some Pizza or something bad but I dont want to feal like I al punishing myself. Just starting such a agressive workout program has been quite a adjustment, and I can already see changes in how my clothes fit which is good. I think I will just try what you said and continue to make small incremental changes untill I am eating like a pro! 8-) Thanks for all your help. I will let you know how it go's!

Just rememer, losing body fat is 80-90% nutrition and 10-20% exercise. Here is an article on body fat. Be sure to read the section on "Why exercise doesn't burn many calories".

http://www.mikementzer.com/bodyfat.html

Calories in vs. calories out make the real difference.

Interesting article - but I do not agree with this statement about exercise that it makes:

"An hour of jogging will burn only about 150 calories above your basal metabolic rate"

According to some research that I've done and various Internet sites, Treadmill machines, etc... this is way low.

Today at the Gym I ran on the treadmill for 50 minutes, covered 6 miles and according to the display I burned around 700-800 calories. Which is in-line with the various other sources of caloric expense calculators that are available.

I started running 2 miles about 3 days a week back in July. That was as far as I could run. At this point I'm upto 25-30 miles a week. I have lost a total of 20-25 pounds (205 or 210 - 185) I didn't weigh when I started all of this, but have bounced from 205-210 for the last 3 or 4 years.

I have lost 4 inches from my waist line.

Basically, I have run it all off. I haven't changed too much about my eating, except I'm eating more now that I ever have.

So, I can't agree with the statement of the jogging thing, unless we are talking about a person that is about 100 lbs and is jogging at a 12 min/mile pace.

I took the advice and am eating about 3000 mostly clean calories a day, and have droped 10 LBS since the first... most of that in the last 2 weeks. Its funny as soon as I started eating more the weight just fell off. I hope it dosent stop, I ma getting faster, and trimer and I feel great! 8-)

I don't agree with everything in the article either. I too have lost a bunch of weight (40+ pounds) and my biggest point is calories in versus calories out are what matters most. Each person's individual basal metabolic rate plays an important factor. You cannot simply lose weight by running alone. I am sure you made some minor adjustments to your eating habits.

Dr. McGuff makes a pretty good point here:

"Think about it...if we were so metabolically inefficient as to burn 300 calories at the rate the exercise equipment says you do, would we ever have survived as a species. The calories burned hunting and gathering would have caused us to die of starvation before we could ever have found anything to eat. At that rate of calorie burn, we would barely have enough metabolic economy to survive a trip to the grocery store. Most people have accepted blindly the information displayed on exercise equipment and as such have turned exercise into a form of guilt absolution. Have dessert (600 calories of pie) and feel guilty? Just go to the health club and work on the stepper until 600 calories tick by on the screen. Other than the fact that this simply seems pathetic, it also just doesn't work."


Just something to think about. Overall, proper nutrition combined with a good fitness programs is the key to successful weight loss.

Agreed -

I thought about it later - although I have lost several lbs and inches by running a bunch, I have changed the WHAT I eat. I do eat MORE food than I did before, but the change in food is probably what counts the most as you stated before I believe.

Typical day last year

Morning - Grandma's cookies
Lunch - 2 double meat cheeseburges from MickyD's and fries
Snack - Snicker bar or equivalant
Dinner - As much food as I wanted (home cooked meals)
Late night snack - 2 bowls of cereal

Plus no exercise


Now this is what I'm eating in a typical day:

Morning - 2 portions of Grits with toast or two bowls of cereal
About 9 am - Some wheat thins or fruit (grapes, banana)
About 10:30 am - 1 sandwich (usually turkey or ham on regular or wheat bread, if it is real fresh)
About 1:30 pm - Another sandwich (same as before)
About 3:30 pm - Large size peanut bar
Dinner - As much food as I want
Late night snack - Fruit

It seems like I'm eating all the time - which is great, but WHAT i'm eating is keeping my caloric intake to below 3000 a day - but still burning on average 3500.

I'd say you dramatically changed the quality of your calories and you are eating 5-6 meals which helps your metabolism. You are now eating much less saturated fat and low impact carbs. That's what I call quality fuel ;-)