Looking for feedback on my diet...please :)

[bigfatgeek]

Hi all,

I'm trying to lose a fair bit of weight (60lbs of fat), no real timelines but I do want to look decent for summer. Not looking to go skinny and then bulk up, prefer to do something along the lines of replace 4 lbs fat with 1 lb muscle.

My stats:
240lbs
5'10"
~34% BF
I work a desk job, walk a few blocks to work. I've just started working out regularly again (20-40 minute run in the AM, 30-60 minute heavy weight training in the PM), 3-5 days/week.

Here's the info I put together using the sticky thread:

Protein: 240g
Fats: 71g
Carbs: 174g
Calories: 2300

Thanks for any feedback!

[nobrah]

Your fats are too low. For your weight I'd recommend closer to 120g. Your target calories are also pretty low for your weight and activity, I suspect you simply subtracted 500 calories from your BMR to get 2,300 instead of subtracting 10-20% from TDEE. My guesstimate calculations put your target calories closer 2,900, which means 2,300 would be a pretty drastic deficit (on the order of 1,100 calories).

[bigfatgeek]

Your fats are too low. For your weight I'd recommend closer to 120g. Your target calories are also pretty low for your weight and activity, I suspect you simply subtracted 500 calories from your BMR to get 2,300 instead of subtracting 10-20% from TDEE. My guesstimate calculations put your target calories closer 2,900, which means 2,300 would be a pretty drastic deficit (on the order of 1,100 calories).

Thanks for the reply... I got my numbers by using the low end of the numbers in the sticky on calorie and macronutrient needs. The numbers seemed a bit off to me too... I calculated based on a semi sedentary lifestyle (and using Katch McArdle's system). I just re-checked my numbers and it looks like I made a typo or used the wrong unit (lb vs kg)... do these look more inline with what they should be?

Calories: 3136
Protein: 243g
Fats: 162g
Carbs: 177g


If I'm looking to aggressively drop the weight and knock off 20%... how does that change the overall calculations?

[nobrah]

Thanks for the reply... I got my numbers by using the low end of the numbers in the sticky on calorie and macronutrient needs. The numbers seemed a bit off to me too... I calculated based on a semi sedentary lifestyle (and using Katch McArdle's system). I just re-checked my numbers and it looks like I made a typo or used the wrong unit (lb vs kg)... do these look more inline with what they should be?

Calories: 3136
Protein: 243g
Fats: 162g
Carbs: 177g


If I'm looking to aggressively drop the weight and knock off 20%... how does that change the overall calculations?

Yes, those numbers look more like what I'd expect to see. To get your target calories, assuming you already haven't, multiply TDEE by 0.2 and then subtract that result from TDEE (removing 20% from the total). Alternatively you can get the same number by multiplying TDEE by 0.8 (taking 80% of the total). Basic percentage arithmetic.

[bigfatgeek]

Yes, those numbers look more like what I'd expect to see. To get your target calories, assuming you already haven't, multiply TDEE by 0.2 and then subtract that result from TDEE (removing 20% from the total). Alternatively you can get the same number by multiplying TDEE by 0.8 (taking 80% of the total). Basic percentage arithmetic.

So, to get my macro targets, I just take the same percentage off of the weight used for the calculations?

[nobrah]

So, to get my macro targets, I just take the same percentage off of the weight used for the calculations?

To get your macro targets the current recommendation is multiplying a certain gram fraction by your weight. For protein the recommended starting point is 1g x weight. For dietary fat it varies, but I recommend .5 x weight. With those gram totals you can get calories by multiplying the number of calories in a gram of the macro-nutrient. For example:

1g x 240lbs = 240g protein
.5g x 240lbs = 120g fat

240g x 4kcal = 960kcal protein
120g x 9kcal = 1080kcal fat

3136kcal - (960kcal + 1080kcal) = 1096 discretionary kcal

The discretionary calories would be filled with carbs and any excess protein and fats according to your personal preference.

[surfeatliftsurf]

I dunno man, I think there's a limit to the rules from the Nut. stickies...the dude is 240lbs @ 34%...that .5 x weight rule for fat does not apply to dudes like him.

I wouldn't go over 100g fat if I were in his shoes, 1g of protein per lb BW, the rest from carbs.

I also don't think there's anything wrong with 2300 calories...that's a decent amount of food and he has a LOT of weight to lose before he needs to get fancy with his macro breakdown.