Macros for my first shred?

[nlavale]

hello ladies. okay, I am going to try a 6 week shred to see how my body responds. Going to the beach in June so, i thought, what the heck. How low do you take your daily caloric intake and what % of macros do you follow for a shred? I have ready different theories. thanks!

[Miranda]

'shred'. . .?

there's no single clear-cut answer to your question.

it all depends on your current BF level/amount of lean mass, lifestyle/activity level, training schedule/background, relationship with food, recent dieting history and a few others.

read the calculate calories and macros sticky.

[nlavale]

thanks. i know everybody is very different and i read the sticky. If I followed what I calculated for maintaining, (1800/day) I would weigh 800 pounds. for what ever reason, I did not start to lose weight until i dropped my cal to about 1000 per day. I know that is low but I was not losing even with weight training and cardio consistently, when my cals were higher. I was reading a suggestion for about 55% protein, 15% carbs and the rest fat. I was just curious as to what others had done. I know caloric intake will be very different for each individual.

[Sawa3]

Everyone's body is different. What are you currently doing for work outs?
I generally try to keep my protein and carbs similar (higher or lower) and fats lowest.
Carbs, protein, and fat all are essential for the body and operates with sufficient amounts of each. If you want to feel where you aren't bloated there are supplements out there to help you process carbs better. Hope this helps some.
In your pic, you look fairly "shredded" now.. what look are you going for? Adding muscle or leaning out more?

[nlavale]

Thanks. I hold my body fat in my lower half. Always have. so I want to lean out my legs and I know it is mostly diet. I have never gone this low on my calories before but I assumed people had theories on what percentages to get "shredded". I am currently trying something new to me, to lift with a do-able weight for LOTS of reps, like 100. only two exercises for each body part, except legs which I kill 2x/week but still no heavy weights. no sissy weight but not heavy. i am lifting four times per week plus cardio. usually 2-3 forty minute sessions per week, incline treadmill or eliptiacal.

[Sawa3]

Thanks. I hold my body fat in my lower half. Always have. so I want to lean out my legs and I know it is mostly diet. I have never gone this low on my calories before but I assumed people had theories on what percentages to get "shredded". I am currently trying something new to me, to lift with a do-able weight for LOTS of reps, like 100. only two exercises for each body part, except legs which I kill 2x/week but still no heavy weights. no sissy weight but not heavy. i am lifting four times per week plus cardio. usually 2-3 forty minute sessions per week, incline treadmill or eliptiacal.

Most people do have at least one spot that is pretty tough to get the fat off of! 100 reps? That seems like a lot. most high rep things are 12-24 reps. Have you been trying it long? How is it working for you so far?
What is your intensity like on the treadmill and elliptical?????

[nlavale]

Sawa3- Ya, 100 reps is very high but I have been doing it for about 2 mts now and I like it. I do multiple sets of 10-25 reps depending on the exercise. I am more sore from these workouts than I can remember being from lifting heavy with 3-4 sets of 8-12. I have a bad back so this is better for me not lifting so heavy. my lifting sessions are short and intense. My cardio sessions are pretty challenging. I do inclines on treadmill, go up to full incline increasing 1% every minutes, then back down to about 7% at about 4.1 speed. the eliptical is similar. great progress on your fat loss!!

[Sawa3]

Got ya! Good way to remedy back. Keeping a good intense routine is great. Maybe one day each week do a longer "slower" session and see how it works in the mix to throw off your body.
Hopefully it works out for you. Keep watching your diet and working hard. Results will come

Sawa3- Ya, 100 reps is very high but I have been doing it for about 2 mts now and I like it. I do multiple sets of 10-25 reps depending on the exercise. I am more sore from these workouts than I can remember being from lifting heavy with 3-4 sets of 8-12. I have a bad back so this is better for me not lifting so heavy. my lifting sessions are short and intense. My cardio sessions are pretty challenging. I do inclines on treadmill, go up to full incline increasing 1% every minutes, then back down to about 7% at about 4.1 speed. the eliptical is similar. great progress on your fat loss!!

[Sarah97]

So your intake is only 1,000 calories? Net or overall? Am I the only one seeing a red flag here?

You say your maintenance is around 1800 calories, and that you'd balloon up to 800lbs if you followed this. IF you followed this. But HAVE you followed that and actually "ballooned" up? I don't know why you brought that up anyway if your goal is to lose body fat. Have you tried eating 1500-1600 consistently to see if you get results with that? 1,000 calories a day is alarming no matter how you sell it.

[erinlee01]

Are you measuring and weighing everything you eat? There is no way at your stats that you don't lose at more than 1000 calories. Something is definitely off.

[andrerox80]

sawa, why are you supporting this? plan all wrong.

thanks. i know everybody is very different and i read the sticky. If I followed what I calculated for maintaining, (1800/day) I would weigh 800 pounds. for what ever reason, I did not start to lose weight until i dropped my cal to about 1000 per day. I know that is low but I was not losing even with weight training and cardio consistently, when my cals were higher. I was reading a suggestion for about 55% protein, 15% carbs and the rest fat. I was just curious as to what others had done. I know caloric intake will be very different for each individual.

no no no no no. so much wrong here. you are so, so mistaken and going about this the wrong way. bad plan. calorie intake does differ for ea individual, but this is wrong for anyone. i guarantee it. also, if you read the sticky, you'd see that it's not abt percentages for macro's but meeting a certain amount of grams for fat and protein and then using the rest of the cals wherever you want.

no sissy weight but not heavy. .

I do multiple sets of 10-25 reps depending on the exercise. I am more sore from these workouts than I can remember being from lifting heavy with 3-4 sets of 8-12.

if you can do 25 reps, then you are doing "sissy" weights. and soreness isn't an indicator of a better workout or increasing muscle mass.

[nlavale]

first off, thank you for the responses. ok, when I was lifting with heavier weight-doing 3 sets of 8-12 reps, 4 days per week with some good cardio and eating 1600-1800 cal/day, I kept gaining weight. and it was not mostly muscle, Another reason for the change, I have scoliosis, double curveature of the spine. the back pain i was experiencing while lifting heavy, using good, safe form, was TERRIBLE. I took 3 weeks off and decided changes had to be made in my lifting routine and my diet. So, i watched my caloric intake for a while and I was maintaining around 1100-1200 calories. Any more calories, and the pounds added quickly. I eat well: oatmeal. flax seed, chia seeds, whey protein, egg whites, chicken breast, apples. natural peanut butter, 2% cottage cheese, veggies, tuna, fish, ground turkey, etc. I do measure my food also. and i guess compared to, for example bicep curls with a 30 pound dumbbell, 15's are sissy.

[sonti]

I honestly wonder if you have some serious metabolic damage going because you drastically undereat and seem to completely overdo it in the gym. Is that a current photo of you? If so then I have no idea what you have to 'shred' away?

[Sarah97]

I'm confused about your weekly cardio too. Because in another thread you stated you did x amount of cardio Mon.-Fri., and x amount Sat. and Sun. (can't remember the amounts), but in this thread you say you only do two to three sessions?

[brandibopeep]

so many things going on here....

first of all. Your calories (as everyone agrees) are *dangerously* low.....IMO you are damaging your body, your metabolism and going to LOSE any muscle you have with such low calories.

"ballooning up"~do you realize that anytime you increase cals you gain water weight? When I was tracking cals I could always count on at least a 3 lb increase if I went at/above maintenance calories) It is *NOT* fat! It does *NOT* continue at that rate! I suspect you didn't "balloon" up...I suspect you just refilled your glycogen etc.

"shred"~um I can see veins in your abs, right there under those (IMO) prominent RIBS! At your weight/height and just by going from that pic you should be bulking, not "shredding." (ETA after looking at your weight/height again along with the avi pic I don't think they go together? Your torso looks borderline emaciated??? but maybe full body shots would tell a different story so I may have been too quick to judge whether you should be bulking etc BUT my other comments are still applicable

and finally~even if you needed to be eating at a deficit, which I don't think you do, it would be most important to lift in lower rep ranges with heavy weight(relative to the individual) to help hold onto your muscle during the dieting process.

[andrerox80]

and i guess compared to, for example bicep curls with a 30 pound dumbbell, 15's are sissy.

that's not at all what i meant. heavy is relative. i just meant you said while you're not lifting heavy, you're not lifting sissy weights either, but i disagree if you can do 25 reps. i have back problems and can understand you not wanting to go super heavy, but you don't have to go to the other extreme either.

I honestly wonder if you have some serious metabolic damage going because you drastically undereat and seem to completely overdo it in the gym. Is that a current photo of you? If so then I have no idea what you have to 'shred' away?

totally agree. and re metabolism, it's clear that's the case or you wouldn't gain on numbers that might even still be below maintenance (1600-1800. i'd guess higher but i didn't do the math). you artifically made your maintenance super low and f-ed up your metabolism and your best bet is to start over.

[nlavale]

Holy cow. i am far from emaciated. I guess to clarify further, I have not done the extremely low ( i agree) 100 calories per day, for that long. I totally agree doing that would be very unhealthy for a long period of time. so, i will redo my macros and see what I come up with. thanks for your imput.