My macro calculation - detailed

[corsair773]

Hi,

I would be very grateful for any advice/critique you can offer! There's a short version and a long version. The short version outlines the basics of what I am planning, and the long version has all my calculations and reasoning - some of which may be of interest. I am willing to clarify anything in there if you are interested.

SHORT VERSION

I've done a lot of research and calculated my macros for the IIFYM approach, but I am still a relative newbie (albeit with a mathematical/scientific background!) and would greatly appreciate the input of more experienced members. I currently weigh around 95 kg with around 25% body fat and I am 23 and male. I've been told by people on this site that I need to use a "cutting" approach. The following diet is what I came up with:

Maintenance Calories: 2550
Diet Calories: 2000 (21.6% cut to lose 0.5 kg a week)
Protein: 159g (635 calories)
Fat: 79g (710 calories)
Carbohydrates: 164g (655 calories)

My questions are - is this a good diet in the context of cutting whilst weight lifting 3-4 times a week for the purposes of losing body fat, in particular, is there enough protein and not too much fat in it, and do you have any other suggestions for me. Attached in the thread linked below is a picture of my current very out-of-shape form.

forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4630603&d=1341529275

Thank you!

LONG VERSION

Maintenance Calorie Calculation

The first step is specifying some parameters of my diet. The way I understand it, first, one estimates the number of calories that is required to maintain weight. Then one adjusts this by up to 20% depending on weight goals, and then from this specifies macronutrient requirements (i.e. the amount of protein, fats and carbohydrates needed). This is what I am going to do right now.

The maintenance calories are difficult to estimate, but I will use a variety of sources and methods to give a rough idea of what this number is.

Online Calculator 2720
Emma’s method 2565
Katch – McArdle method 2290
Previous experience 2621

“Previous experience” uses my 2011 weight loss effort to estimate requirements – I was basically at the same level of fitness then as I am now so using it to estimate my maintenance calories now is at least as good as using generic online calculation methods. I can do this because I kept good records on my diet efforts in 2011. From 23/10/2011 till 09/12/2011 (i.e. over 8 weeks) I lost 8.5 kg in weight. My calorie intake over those 8 weeks was on average 1534.52 calories a day. In that period, I ran 2 miles 13 times, burning 3380 calories and 5K 3 times burning 1200 calories, which means that I burned a total of 4580 calories through exercise. This means that I burned 81.79 calories a day on average through exercise. This means that the total amount of calories available to my body was 1452.73 a day.

Whilst consuming this many calories, I managed to lose 8.5 kg over 8 weeks, or 56 days. This suggests that over this time, my calorie deficit was 65450, and I took in 81352.88 calories. This means that for 56 days, my total maintenance calorie number is 146802.88 calories. Per day, that works out at 2621.48 calories.

The average of those four amounts is 2549 calories. I will round this figure to 2550. This is most likely the best estimate of my actual maintenance calorie amount I can get at this point.

Macronutrient Needs

Now I need to calculate how much protein, fat and carbohydrates I need in my diet. Let me first say that I want to lose weight – i.e. I want to be “cutting” – so the number of calories I take in every day should be around 2000 (21.6% less) – this will allow me to lose weight at a rate of 0.5 kg a week. I picked 21.6% to lose 0.5 kg a week. This amount will need to be adjusted on a daily basis depending on the extra exercise that I do.

Using a mean average of my last three weight readings, my weight is 95.7 kg with 24.6% body fat, so this means that my lean body mass is 72.2 kg and my fat mass is 23.5 kg. Using a 2.2x multiplier (chosen because it is the average recommended multiplier for bodybuilding from various sources) means that my daily protein requirement is 158.8g – i.e. 635 calories in my diet should come from protein.

Because I am trying to lose weight, I will limit my fat intake somewhat, but not too much. I will use the formula that one should take in around 1.1g of fat per kg of lean body weight – that comes to 79g of fat or around 710 calories derived from fat. This leaves room for 585 calories to come from carbohydrates – this is approximately 146g.

[germaine07]

I'd increase protein to ~180g and fats to ~85g.

Wouldn't lower carbs, just increase calories as needed as I think 2,000Kcal may be a bit low.

[Dujin77]

Actually as per Emma-leigh's post the requirement for fat is based of total mass, not LBM. However she does state that for periods of weight loss .35g/lb or .77g per kg is acceptable if not done long term. Fortunately your estimate falls inside the requirement there. It looks like you have done a good job on everything so far. However usually it is recommended to have a bit more protein when in a deficit, I would consider increasing your protein intake a bit.

It is a good idea to start at that calorie level and assess your weight loss, if your losing too much to fast then add more calories.

Don't forget to vary your diet and ensure adequate micronutrient intake as well, best of luck to you.

[corsair773]

Actually as per Emma-leigh's post the requirement for fat is based of total mass, not LBM. However she does state that for periods of weight loss .35g/lb or .77g per kg is acceptable if not done long term. Fortunately your estimate falls inside the requirement there. It looks like you have done a good job on everything so far. However usually it is recommended to have a bit more protein when in a deficit, I would consider increasing your protein intake a bit.

It is a good idea to start at that calorie level and assess your weight loss, if your losing too much to fast then add more calories.

Don't forget to vary your diet and ensure adequate micronutrient intake as well, best of luck to you.

Thank you very much for the advice. I am very unwilling to eat more than 2000 kcal a day at least until I am able to judge what my progress is etc. I used to try to aim for 1300 - 1400 kcal a day so going higher than 2000 is very counter-intuitive for me.

I did listen to the calls to up my protein intake, however, and recalculated my macros based on a 2.4g of protein per kg of lean weight multiplier. The new macros are as follows:

Maintenance Calories: 2550
Diet Calories: 2000 (21.6% cut to lose 0.5 kg a week)
Protein: 175g (700 calories)
Fat: 79g (710 calories)
Carbohydrates: 146g (590 calories)