Calorie help would be appreciated!

[Yogurt]

Stats:

6' 1" 21yrs old, Endomorph, 15%bf. 190lb
Maintenance calories: 3000(includes activity level which is moderate)
Daily intake: 2500cals
Workout: M/W/F 30-45min hypertrophy training
Cardio: T/Th/Sa 16min cycling HIIT(just starting this)

Questions:

1) Is my calorie intake on workout days ideal for fatloss? I entered my activity level(moderate) to figure out my maintenance caloric intake. Does this include my calories burned during workout? Or is it that I must add my workouts to my calories spent in addition to my 3000cal maintenance? I'm confused lol.
2) I am starting to do HIIT on cardio days. How do I figure out how many calories to consume on those days? Compared to my workout days?
3) I have a pre and post workout shake on workout days. Waxi Maize and whey protein. Should I consume sugar and protein pre/post 16min HIIT? Or will that kill my fatloss?

Also, I might as well put my diet here. This is what I normally eat on workout days. Please critique!

Meal 1:1c oats, 1.5scoop whey, banana
Meal 2: 24g casein
Meal 3: 6oz chicken
Meal 4: 8oz salmon
Pre&Post Workout: 48g whey, waximaize, honey
Meal 6: 5oz steak
Meal 7: Fatfree Cottage Ch., 1tbsp udo?s oil
Meal 8: 1% milk, 24g casein

Around 2527cals, 75.2g fat, 162.7g carbs, 292.6g protein.

27%/24%/49% respectively.

Thank you!!!

[Analyst]

You may not like the answer, but it basically comes down to "trial-and-error". You can find calculators online that give you the values for burning calories for a lot of activities (e.g. caloriesperhour.com, exrx.net ) But they're really best guess and there are individual differences.

Here's a shot at a few answers:

1) Calculators that figure maintenance calories including activity level attempt to incorporate activities such as weight lifting, etc. In many ways, they're a shot in the dark (not least of which because "moderate activity level" isn't very well defined for you). I would suggest finding your maintenance calories by counting calories eaten and tracking your weight for a few weeks, and adjust from there based on more or less activity in the future. You can then break it down by individual daily activities if you want to be really meticulous about it.

2) HIIT is tough, because studies suggest the calories burned are above and beyond just what you burn in the workout (you keep burning calories at a higher level after the workout). I haven't seen a calculator that accounts for it. Again, trial-and-error is probably key.

3) What kills fat loss is chronically consuming more calories than you burn, on average.

At a guess, your 3000 calories/day maintenance is a good place to start. If you're consuming ~2500/day, you should see about a pound/week weight loss over a few weeks time. Adjust accordingly based on what you actually see.

The take-away message is that the calculators are giving you a place to start, but they're likely not dead on. You'll have to experiment.

[Yogurt]

^^^ Yup. Actually, I am dropping about a pound a week eating 2500 a day. Though, that's me working out everyday. Now I want to do full body workouts 3 days a week and incorporate cardio on essentially my "off" days. HIIT causes the body to burn fat afterwards correct? so would consuming sugar anywhere around this time cause my body to switch back to using glucose or what? I'm unsure and would love to hear a legit answer. I thank you for your time and information!

[Analyst]

^^^ Yup. Actually, I am dropping about a pound a week eating 2500 a day. Though, that's me working out everyday. Now I want to do full body workouts 3 days a week and incorporate cardio on essentially my "off" days. HIIT causes the body to burn fat afterwards correct? so would consuming sugar anywhere around this time cause my body to switch back to using glucose or what? I'm unsure and would love to hear a legit answer. I thank you for your time and information!

First of all, I'm not a nutritionist (just an amateur who consults the big boys and reads everything he can on this). But from everything I've read, weight gain or loss is simpler than whether you consume sugar, and when. All that matters for weight gain or loss is your overall average of calories in vs. calories out.

Roughly speaking, by consuming sufficient protein and continuing to lift heavy, you're letting your body know that the muscle is still needed; thus, weight loss is going to come mostly from bodyfat (until you basically have very little left).

I'm sure there are hormonal details; however, I've never read anything that says changes in sugar consumption, much less the timing of sugar consumption, triggers differences in resulting body composition (as long as calories and macros, mainly protein, are held constant).

In other words, I don't believe consuming sugar around your HIIT workout will impact body composition, all other things being equal.