Need help with a diet plan

[KillingMachin3]

All these daily calories and protein requirements are really confusing me. I need help formulating a cutting diet. I weigh 240lbs. (25% bodyfat). Also I am a vegetarian (religious reasons). Can someone help me cure my confusion?

[16/M/WA]

How tall are you? What exactly is Confusing you? Basically you need to lower you fat and carbohydrate intake..Up your protein for the lack of fat/carbs..This will retain some of your muscle..First you need to find out your initial daily calorie intake..do this to find out how many calories your body needs to maintain your body weight...then once you find out that number..lower it by 300-500 calories a day..therefore you are burning more than recieving..Since you are a vegetarian eat salads etc with low fat low carb dressing and some soy beans etc. you gotta be creative to create a lifestyle..if you add cardio to this 2-4 times per week, you will drop body fat, i guarentee it. Also, stay away from sugars, juice,candy,few fruits. When eating your carbs, keep away from the ones in the high glycemic area (Starchy-White Breads) Another good tip is to keep your carb intake in the beginning of the day, so your body can use those up throughout the day and your activities. When i say keep your carbs down, i dont mean going into ketosis (when you hardly consume any carbs) either..stay about 200 carbs a day or realistically cut them in half of what ever you are intaking right now. Drink lots of water, dont take dieting too fast, many people do and lose muscle and will just look skinny, in order to have a nice physique you must maintain muscle and keep tone throughout this time. I lost around 50 lbs when i was 14 and got the results i dreamed of. You just gotta remember that it is possible. Always read up on articles too. Find people you admire and look up on what they are doing, if they give you numbers or calorie intakes, remember they arent proportionate to your body so use the same techniques but with your stats. Good luck man, keep me updated on how your doing.

[Romac]

Originally posted by 16/M/WA
First you need to find out your initial daily calorie intake..do this to find out how many calories your body needs to maintain your body weight...

This is the problem! I just used most of the many calculators on bodybuilding.com and ended up with results ranging from 1470 calories per day to over 3000!!!

How can there be such a huge difference?!? And which one of these calculators is the most accurate, and how do we know it's the most accurate?

You can easily see how confusing this can be when we are trying to create a specific diet plan and cannot even get a consensus on how many calories we need.

I am 34, 5'10" tall, weight 198 lbs, and have not worked out in over a year.
I would say i could easily weigh 175lbs with no loss in strength.

I have decided to go with a daily diet of 1400 calories 183 carbs 95 protein and 33 fat but only because these were the lowest numbers given to me by all those calculators.

My goal is to strip the fat first then worry about muscle gain. As long as those 95 grams of protein per day allow me to maintain strength then i'll be a happy and efficient dieter.

[KillingMachin3]

I am 6ft. flat

I was initially attempting to go below 900cals, until I learned that it was the path to death. I know that I should never go below 2400 cals. But I am still confused on how much of what should I take. I know I need carbs post-workout. Do I need any fats? (besides omega-3 supplements)

[Romac]

Well get ready to be even more confused. Having the same questions as yourself I started this thread:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hreadid=285213

It seems the whole thing is a big guessing game. There are no numbers to go by, and the ranges are so huge they are useless.

My solution to finding the leanest diet possible is using my strength as an indicator. If i start to see a decline in strength then i know i am canibalizing my muscle. Aside from that sure-fire method i can find no dietary numbers based on anything more than PURE speculation.

[16/M/WA]

Of course you do, get your fats from your proteins. Peanuts are perfect, or in clean oils like Olive Oil. What are your goals? And how was 2400 cals a death trap? What happened? not enough? Raise 100-150 cals then until you can stand it and dont feel starved. Spread your meals out so you dont create hunger for yourself. Of course your gonna be hunger to a certain extent becasue your stomach isnt used to the Calorie decrease, But thats part of Dieting. Dont drop 900 cals from your maintaining cal intake. Drop around 400-500

[16/M/WA]

Take what iv told you and read up on other things, then you have to use the guess and check method. Your body is unique in comparison to everyone else..If you keep trying you will find your specific diet that will work for you

[KillingMachin3]

What should be a minimum calorie intake? I thought it was 10x bodyweight, but maybe I'm wrong.

[mister_geeman]

Originally posted by KillingMachin3
What should be a minimum calorie intake? I thought it was 10x bodyweight, but maybe I'm wrong.

this is only a guide and should not be applied to all people. You are the best judge. Trial it for a week, take note of the results and modify accordingly. There is no one stop shop for saying YOU NEED TO EAT xx CALS TO LOOSE WEIGHT. Experiment and see - the key to it is to keep you body guessing.

Cheers
G