cutting goals need help

[Dannymck_33]

im 5'9 194 lbs 18-20% bf and im still cutting and was gunna ask what should be my daily calories for 2lbs of week ? because i went from 225 to 194 now with a 1500 calorie diet and from trial and error knew i was also losing lean muscle and water , please give me a number

thanks dan

[blueguitar322]

I'm just out the door to the gym and yours was the last unread post...here's a quick answer. You'll have to do the math yourself, this is something I posted last fall.

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the amount of calories your body would burn over a 24-hour period if you remained at rest - i.e. a coma - all day long. BMR, by itself, does NOT take other activities into account. There are several formulas to figure out BMR, including:

Harris-Benedict Formula: 66 + 13.7 * (mass in kg) + 5 * (height in inches) * 2.54 - 6.8 * (age in years)
Katch-McCardle Formula: 370 + 21.6 * (lean body mass in kg)

Remember, kids, 1 lb = 0.45359237 kilograms (alternatively, 1 kg = 2.20462262 lb)

Most people (myself included) prefer Katch-McCardle if you can get accurate body fat estimates.

To Calculate Calories Burned
Cals burned = BMR * Activity Factor

Activity factors: (stolen from http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html)
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 or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

I run 12-16 miles per week and lift 3x per week; I use an activity factor of 1.65 and it is spot on for me.

To Calculate Ideal Calories Eaten
You can drop 500 cals per day to average 1lb/week of fat loss. BUT this isn't always ideal - especially if you have LOTS of fat to lose or you're already pretty small (women in particular). MUCH preferred is what I call a "Fat Loss Modifier".

Fat Loss Modifier = 0.8 is a great starting point; this is solid, steady progress and should be safe, allowing you to retain all of your lean mass.
Fat Loss Modifier = 0.7 is much more aggressive. You will lose faster, but you also risk losing lean mass (risk is less with greater fat amounts)

Example
At 6'3", 199lb, 17% BF my BMR (Katch-McCardle) is 1988.

To get cals burned: BMR * activity factor of 1.65 = 3281 cals per day.

Now, my chosen Fat Loss Modifier is 0.75; moderately aggressive. When I get below 12-13%, I'm going to scale it back to 0.8. BUT for now,

Ideal Cals eaten = Cals Burned * Fat Loss Modifier = 3281 * 0.75 = 2460.

How much fat should I lose with this diet? 3281 - 2460 = 821 cals per day. 821 cals/day * 7 days/week *1lb/3500 cals = 1.64 lb /week.

Guess what my results have been the last 6 weeks? An average loss of 1.6lb of fat.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[matsimitso]

1,500 cal way to little.. u will waste away all ur muscle... slow ur metabolism .. starve... and when u begin eating normal again u will blow back up in no time...