BMR, Caloric Intake and Cutting

[bnz]

Hey guys,

recently i ahve lost about 60lbs by being on a very low calorie diet and really watching what i eat combined with up to 2.5hours of cardio every second day and weight training 3 times per week.

I am at the weight i wanted to finish at now and am starting to eat again, basically i want some advice on how i figure out my BMR, and how many calories i should be taking in every day to avoid losing any more muscle and so i can cut up.

My main fear is putting back on the weight which plagued me since childhood so i am a little worried about going back to foods again but i really want to get this right and to get pretty cut!!!

[bnz]

bump, ah bu bump

[BlueFenix13S]

I was in the same boat as you. When I graduated high school, I was 210 lbs, 24% bodyfat. Now I'm down to 153 and 14-15% bf. I used this spreadsheet and it's working well. I'm gaining weight, but I've lost almost an inch off my waist. Plug in your numbers and adjust the macros to whatever you want. Take your calories for weight maintenance and add 200-300 to start off with if you want to gain a little muscle. That's what I'm doing. Slow, but steady gains are the best way to gain muscle with minimal, if any, fat.

[bnz]

only problem is i dont know my body fat % or lean weight?

[bnz]

ok here goes....i did a bit of a search for calculating BF% and lean weight and things and came up with this for an eating plan....well nurtient needs anyway.....

apparently, given my measurements, i have 13%body fat, which i didnt expect, but with a height of 171cm, a waist of 79cm(31inches) and neck of 38cm(14.96inches) it said i was at 13% so i hope thats right, this is what i have worked this out on anyway.....

so according to the calculations.....

height-171cm (67.32inches)
weight-70kg (154lbs)
Body Fat%-13% (does this sound right?)
Age- 25
Gender- Male
Activity- Moderate (probably closer to the next one but i will say under to be sure)
Goal- Cutting
BMR- 2650
Adjusted Cals- 2150
Macros- 269g Carbs
161g Protein
48g Fat


so does this sound right???? i am pretty much at the weight i want to be, fat wise i mean, i just really want to tone up and cut these guns a little. :-)

[BlueFenix13S]

If you are at the weight you want to be at, why are you cutting? If you are looking to lose a little bit more bf and tone your muscles, eat maintenance calories and hit the gym, make sure your protein is sufficient, and you'll be fine. Like I said, I'm eating 200 calories over my maintenance and I've lost an inch almost. I'd eat more calories, at least 2300.

[bnz]

thanks dude, i rep'd you for your reply.

i'm really new to this and after having lost so much weight on a really low caloric intake i am really nervous about hitting the real foods again, i just want to be toned as all hell and lose the fat around the middle.

your help is much appreciated....




now if you could just come up with an eating plan for me. :-P

[BlueFenix13S]

I understand how you feel. I was the exact same way. Just eat a little bit more each week until your body gets used to having more food. If you find you are gaining fat, just ease back a little. It's all trial and error for fine tuning. As for the foods, search for "shopping list" and you'll find a huge list of foods to buy and eat that are all clean and good, whether bulking, cutting, or maintaining. Here's a good template to follow as far as meal composition

Meal 1: Protein + Carbs
Meal 2: Protein + Carbs + Fat
Meal 3: Protein + Carbs
Pre-workout: Protein + Carbs
Postworkout: Protein + Carbs (20-40g protein, 50-60g carbs)
Meal 4: Protein + a little Carbs + a little fat
Pre-bed: Protein + Fat

On days that you don't workout, just take out the pre-and post-workout meals, and replace with a Protein + Carbs + a little fat meal.

[bnz]

4 meals a day plus snacks?

my god, im never going to be able to eat that much!!!

i'll give it a shot though...

so let me get this straight....have the highest counting of carbs with meal one and decrease it over the course of the day right?

[bnz]

ok im pretty happy with it and have changed the values a little so now my macros are:

50% carbs- 270g per day
30% protein- 180g per day
20% fat- 50g per day

the thing i am struggling with is how to make sure i get all of this with the right amount of calories for the day?

which is supposed to be 2150cals per day????

[BlueFenix13S]

I always sit down either the night before or in the morning and roughly lay out my meals. 2150 calories sounds like a good place to start. The macros look good too, but if you want to cut fat, I'd keep the carbs a little lower and up the protein, since protein burns hotter.

You'll feel really full and bloated for a while, but you'll get used to eating that much. Really, you're eating the same amount of food, just more spaced out. Instead of eating 3 700 calorie meals, you're eating 5 400 or 6 350 calorie meals or 7 300 calorie meals. This helps keep you anabolic and keeps your metabolism revved up.

[bnz]

So how about we change the Macros to---
\
Carbs-200g per day
Protein-250g per day

???

thanks for the advice man.

It is especially going to be hard as lately i have been purely having this every day for the last 4 months:

breakfast: 7am: Puffed rice with dried fruit, nuts and skim milk
Mid Morning: 10am: handfull of Almonds
lunch: 12midday: Protein shake with skim milk
Afternoon: 3pm: Handful of almonds with currants and dried apricot
Dinner: 6pm: Soup

THATS IT!!!

so imagine how hard it is going to be to try and eat all that food....

i will try though, i really just want some definition now that i have slimmed down.

[BlueFenix13S]

Here's a sample of what I eat on an on day.

Breakfast:
1cup oatmeal w/1 scoop whey and blueberries
2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites omelette w/slice of ff cheddar

Morning snack:
1/2cup oatmeal w/2tbsp peanut butter

Lunch:
1.5cups brown rice, 1 cup broccoli, 1 can tuna

Pre-workout:
1c ff yogurt w/1/2 scoop whey

Post workout:
1cup oatmeal w/1.5 scoops whey and blueberries

Dinner:
6-8oz chicken breast
1cup broccoli
Large romaine salad w/salsa as dressing
(sometimes sugar free fudgecicle)

Pre-bed:
1/2-1c low fat cottage cheese w/cinnamon

That gets me to about 250g carbs, 60g fat, and about 230g protein at around 2300-2400 calories.