Calories for cutting

[jroeder]

Ok guys...I've been trying to cut weight now for a little while...dropped abut 21 lbs so far..but I'm confused about calories. I've looked at several different websites and a number of different calculators...basically to maintain my weight at 259 lbs, i need to eat around 4500 cals/day....and to lose , I need 3900-4000 cals/day. I'm currently eating 1800-1900/day. Does anyone out there have some good advice on this? Thanks in advance!

[SudburyBaller]

Originally Posted by jroeder

Ok guys...I've been trying to cut weight now for a little while...dropped abut 21 lbs so far..but I'm confused about calories. I've looked at several different websites and a number of different calculators...basically to maintain my weight at 259 lbs, i need to eat around 4500 cals/day....and to lose , I need 3900-4000 cals/day. I'm currently eating 1800-1900/day. Does anyone out there have some good advice on this? Thanks in advance!

All calculators are a ball park idea at best. The best thing to do is put in some time and find your maintenance level. Experiment a little bit. Its hard work, but what isn't when it comes to building muscle and losing fat.

[legenbass25]

Originally Posted by jroeder

Ok guys...I've been trying to cut weight now for a little while...dropped abut 21 lbs so far..but I'm confused about calories. I've looked at several different websites and a number of different calculators...basically to maintain my weight at 259 lbs, i need to eat around 4500 cals/day....and to lose , I need 3900-4000 cals/day. I'm currently eating 1800-1900/day. Does anyone out there have some good advice on this? Thanks in advance!

Well, if you can get by with 1900 a day and want to lose the weight a little quicker then keep going for it. However, losing weight faster generally means you will be losing more muscle over that period compared to a slower weight loss. You could eat 3200 a day and still most likely lose over a pound a week, and you would lose less muscle at that rate. But then again it's your own body chemistry, if things are going great so far then keep it up.

[jroeder]

Originally Posted by legenbass25

Well, if you can get by with 1900 a day and want to lose the weight a little quicker then keep going for it. However, losing weight faster generally means you will be losing more muscle over that period compared to a slower weight loss. You could eat 3200 a day and still most likely lose over a pound a week, and you would lose less muscle at that rate. But then again it's your own body chemistry, if things are going great so far then keep it up.

Well...my weight loss has been slow if you ask me...i'm in the gym lifting hard 20 days a month and do cardio 6 days a week...30 min at this time. I've never tried eating more calories while cutting, but that also may be why i'm extremely fatigued and weak at times. I'm eating less than 100 carbs/day and about 250g protein. Example of my diet:

Meal 1: 1 whole egg, 5 eggwhites
3 tbsp cream of wheat
Meal 2: 2 scoops protein powder
Meal 3: 6-7 oz tilapia
1 cup brown rice
1 cup broccoli
Meal 4: 2 scoops protein powder
Meal 5: 6-7 oz tilapia
1 cup broccoli
Meal 6: 2 scoops protein powder
-If I up my calories a day, it will probably come in carb and veggie form. Thanks for the feedback

[legenbass25]

Originally Posted by jroeder

Well...my weight loss has been slow if you ask me...i'm in the gym lifting hard 20 days a month and do cardio 6 days a week...30 min at this time. I've never tried eating more calories while cutting, but that also may be why i'm extremely fatigued and weak at times. I'm eating less than 100 carbs/day and about 250g protein. Example of my diet:

Meal 1: 1 whole egg, 5 eggwhites
3 tbsp cream of wheat
Meal 2: 2 scoops protein powder
Meal 3: 6-7 oz tilapia
1 cup brown rice
1 cup broccoli
Meal 4: 2 scoops protein powder
Meal 5: 6-7 oz tilapia
1 cup broccoli
Meal 6: 2 scoops protein powder
-If I up my calories a day, it will probably come in carb and veggie form. Thanks for the feedback

Diet is pretty solid, but yeah, I would say you could up your calories a significant amount. Honestly, (keep in mind that this is for me), your current diet looks a lot like the tail end of my cut this past spring (and I was at 186lbs). The thing is, if you already are eating down to 1900 a day, it's that much harder to lose when you get closer to your target weight, and a person can only go so low, I mean, what is the cutoff point? If you ate even 500 more cals a day, even added 75-100 g more carbs, I'm sure you would notice a difference in energy levels. It also seems like you're definitely lifting enough and getting in plenty of cardio, so in my opinion it seems as though you could use a little more food to help fuel you. Just listen to your body (energy levels) and you should be alright.

[MikeD4386]

bro I'm not tryin to be a dick, but blue whales do not even require 4k calories a day. I'd say ur 2k is good for reducing, but for maintenance I'd stay around 3k

[Nutshell20]

I found bodyweight x 10 is a good starting point for a cut.

260 pounds 2600 calories...adjust as your weight drops

[jroeder]

Originally Posted by legenbass25

Diet is pretty solid, but yeah, I would say you could up your calories a significant amount. Honestly, (keep in mind that this is for me), your current diet looks a lot like the tail end of my cut this past spring (and I was at 186lbs). The thing is, if you already are eating down to 1900 a day, it's that much harder to lose when you get closer to your target weight, and a person can only go so low, I mean, what is the cutoff point? If you ate even 500 more cals a day, even added 75-100 g more carbs, I'm sure you would notice a difference in energy levels. It also seems like you're definitely lifting enough and getting in plenty of cardio, so in my opinion it seems as though you could use a little more food to help fuel you. Just listen to your body (energy levels) and you should be alright.

I never thought of that...appreciate the feedback man. I'll bump up the carbs and see how it goes.

[bb.wolf]

Originally Posted by jroeder

Ok guys...I've been trying to cut weight now for a little while...dropped abut 21 lbs so far..but I'm confused about calories. I've looked at several different websites and a number of different calculators...basically to maintain my weight at 259 lbs, i need to eat around 4500 cals/day....and to lose , I need 3900-4000 cals/day. I'm currently eating 1800-1900/day. Does anyone out there have some good advice on this? Thanks in advance!

1900 cals for someone your size is waaaaaaaaay too little. im cutting at 1900 cals and you have 100 lbs on me. i'd start at 2800 and gradually decrease by 200-300 cals whenever you stop losing weight