Appropriate calories for fat loss

[Vas9309]

Hello everyone! First i'd like to say that i've been using the bodybuilding forums for a long time and yes i've read all the stickies in every forum except the female ones. Second yes i've been calculating my calories correctly and i've been tracking everything i eat.

So my problem is that i'm stuck at 90 kgs, and now i've been on 1800 calories, but i dont see how can i reduce my calories intake given the situation, i've already been pretty exhausted with these numbers as i do strength training and cardio (yes , i know cardio is not necessary, but it helps me reach deficit and also i'm enjoying it).
My strength has been going up for months when i started bulking, I bulked for 4 months and after that i started cutting in the beginning of June, i went from 94,5 kg to 90 kg pretty easily (i would guess that was water weight etc), At first i didnt drastically reduce my calories, I slowly reduced by 100-200 calories every week until i got to 2000, then i stayed for a bit there, for like 2-3 weeks and i decided maybe i need to reduce more and increase my physical activity, and so i did. So now for the last two weeks im stuck at 90 kg, and waist measurement is almost the same (my biggest problem my whole life.. it seems all my fat just stays there and no matter what i do, it never disappears, even when i was 78 kg, i still had it, smaller but it was still there and it ruins everything for me, gets me discouraged). So right now im confused of what to do, if i decrease my calories i may go at 1600-1700 and i bet i will lose muscle then, my protein wont be enough to sustain my workouts, i really care about that.

My stats: 29 years old, 180 cm, 90 kg, currently 94-94,5 cm waist (i hate that).
As for strength: Squat - 150 kg, 1-2 max rep, Deadlift - 120 kg, 2-4 max (im careful due to a trauma), Bench press - 110 kg, 2-3 max rep, Shoulder press - 80 kg, max 1 rep, Bent over row - 120 kg, 1-2 max rep.

Ive been doing cardio after the weights (except when i have legs), 10 mins after the workout and also on separate days, when i have a rest, im jogging slowly for like 30-40 mins and after that i do 3-4 sprints of 70-100 m. Thats what i started doing for the last 2 weeks, before that i did only once cardio and it was on one of the rest days, and just 20-25 mins.

I've been doing Layne Norton's PHAT for the last 6-7 months and i got great results, on every lift i gained a lot of strength, especially on squat and bent over rows, also ive gained a lot of muscle, its visible that everything grew but thats about the muscle growth... but as for fat, i cant get rid of it in any possible way, and no i dont have any medical conditions. As for experience - ive graduated sports school as a heavy lifter, then i had 2 years of no activity etc, thats when i gained a lot of fat, then i started and i got pretty good results on aesthetics, now as for the gym - probably 2 years constantly and a little bit more (due to covid restrictions).
For many years i put emphasis on the strength, but now i think i want to look better, im sick of this fat on my waist ruining everything, i dont care if i can lift 200 kg squat or whatever, i know that strength and muscle growth have a correlation, but still i think for me personally i have built a solid base as far for strength, so if anyone can help me with anything, an advice or routine, or a diet advice, i would appreciate it.

Calories:1800-2000
Protein:200-220g
Carbs:110-140g
Fat:60-80g

These numbers are indicative, as for the past weeks i've tried between 1800-2000 with different carbs and fats (i know it doesnt mean anything, but at some point i had too low fats and i felt bad and lost sexual desire, my mood got bad and i didnt perform that good in the gym, so i increased the fat and left carbs lower).

Sometimes , a little less protein and more fat or carbs and vice versa, but protein i never get it below 190 due to the 1g per pound, 200 pounds = 200g protein.

[BBryan098]

Hello everyone! First i'd like to say that i've been using the bodybuilding forums for a long time and yes i've read all the stickies in every forum except the female ones. Second yes i've been calculating my calories correctly and i've been tracking everything i eat.

So my problem is that i'm stuck at 90 kgs, and now i've been on 1800 calories, but i dont see how can i reduce my calories intake given the situation, i've already been pretty exhausted with these numbers as i do strength training and cardio (yes , i know cardio is not necessary, but it helps me reach deficit and also i'm enjoying it).
My strength has been going up for months when i started bulking, I bulked for 4 months and after that i started cutting in the beginning of June, i went from 94,5 kg to 90 kg pretty easily (i would guess that was water weight etc), At first i didnt drastically reduce my calories, I slowly reduced by 100-200 calories every week until i got to 2000, then i stayed for a bit there, for like 2-3 weeks and i decided maybe i need to reduce more and increase my physical activity, and so i did. So now for the last two weeks im stuck at 90 kg, and waist measurement is almost the same (my biggest problem my whole life.. it seems all my fat just stays there and no matter what i do, it never disappears, even when i was 78 kg, i still had it, smaller but it was still there and it ruins everything for me, gets me discouraged). So right now im confused of what to do, if i decrease my calories i may go at 1600-1700 and i bet i will lose muscle then, my protein wont be enough to sustain my workouts, i really care about that.

My stats: 29 years old, 180 cm, 90 kg, currently 94-94,5 cm waist (i hate that).
As for strength: Squat - 150 kg, 1-2 max rep, Deadlift - 120 kg, 2-4 max (im careful due to a trauma), Bench press - 110 kg, 2-3 max rep, Shoulder press - 80 kg, max 1 rep, Bent over row - 120 kg, 1-2 max rep.

Ive been doing cardio after the weights (except when i have legs), 10 mins after the workout and also on separate days, when i have a rest, im jogging slowly for like 30-40 mins and after that i do 3-4 sprints of 70-100 m. Thats what i started doing for the last 2 weeks, before that i did only once cardio and it was on one of the rest days, and just 20-25 mins.

I've been doing Layne Norton's PHAT for the last 6-7 months and i got great results, on every lift i gained a lot of strength, especially on squat and bent over rows, also ive gained a lot of muscle, its visible that everything grew but thats about the muscle growth... but as for fat, i cant get rid of it in any possible way, and no i dont have any medical conditions. As for experience - ive graduated sports school as a heavy lifter, then i had 2 years of no activity etc, thats when i gained a lot of fat, then i started and i got pretty good results on aesthetics, now as for the gym - probably 2 years constantly and a little bit more (due to covid restrictions).
For many years i put emphasis on the strength, but now i think i want to look better, im sick of this fat on my waist ruining everything, i dont care if i can lift 200 kg squat or whatever, i know that strength and muscle growth have a correlation, but still i think for me personally i have built a solid base as far for strength, so if anyone can help me with anything, an advice or routine, or a diet advice, i would appreciate it.

Calories:1800-2000
Protein:200-220g
Carbs:110-140g
Fat:60-80g

These numbers are indicative, as for the past weeks i've tried between 1800-2000 with different carbs and fats (i know it doesnt mean anything, but at some point i had too low fats and i felt bad and lost sexual desire, my mood got bad and i didnt perform that good in the gym, so i increased the fat and left carbs lower).

Sometimes , a little less protein and more fat or carbs and vice versa, but protein i never get it below 190 due to the 1g per pound, 200 pounds = 200g protein.

You're doing 30-40 minute jogs + sprinting + Layne's PHAT workout at 1800 calories and you're not losing any weight? Assuming you're not messing up your calorie counting, it sounds to me you're doing way too much. You mentioned you don't wanna lower your calories any more because you're exhausted. Well, that most likely means your cortisol levels are through the roof. How about we do a diet break, go to maintanence or even a very slight bulk for 1-3 months, and then go back to the fat loss diet? You give your body and your mind a little break, you focus on getting stronger, you tone down the cardio a little, and then evaluate from there? Sure, you love cardio, I get it, but you can't expect for your body to progress with all of that demand and little energy you're giving yourself

[Vas9309]

You're doing 30-40 minute jogs + sprinting + Layne's PHAT workout at 1800 calories and you're not losing any weight? Assuming you're not messing up your calorie counting, it sounds to me you're doing way too much. You mentioned you don't wanna lower your calories any more because you're exhausted. Well, that most likely means your cortisol levels are through the roof. How about we do a diet break, go to maintanence or even a very slight bulk for 1-3 months, and then go back to the fat loss diet? You give your body and your mind a little break, you focus on getting stronger, you tone down the cardio a little, and then evaluate from there? Sure, you love cardio, I get it, but you can't expect for your body to progress with all of that demand and little energy you're giving yourself

Thanks for the reply. I feel like I would take a break, but what do you mean by getting stronger? Get weights up? or do more sets, reps? I'm trying to progress on the weight, but maybe the progression i follow is too quick or my body just cant take it further. On the stats i gave, these are PR's, which i usually dont do. Due to the program's scheme and routine, i have one day of heavy work (3-5) and one day of lighter work (8-12) for each muscle group, hitting them twice a week. The progression was the following :
I will use examples
Week 1 - 100 kg x 5 reps
Week 2 - 105 kg x 4 reps
Week 3 - 110 kg x 3 reps
Week 4 - 105 kg x 5 reps
Week 5 - 110 kg x 4 reps
Week 6 - 115 kg x 3 reps
And so on, its the same as for the 8-12 as well.

My concern about going into more bulk is that i will gain even more fat, or the maintanence i just wont have any changes in my physic overall.

[xsquid99]

Diet breaks are for people that have been dieting for a long time and lost a lot of weight. I dieted for about 7 months and lost 55 lbs without ever needing a "diet break". If you've been dieting less than 6 months and haven't lost a good 30+ pounds then there's no reason to consider taking a break.

Stay the course OP, but if you haven't lost any weight after 3-4 weeks you can safely assume that you ARE NOT in a calorie deficit and need to eat less.

And if you're not losing more than about 1.5% of your bodyweight per week then you have absolutely zero reason to be concerned about muscle loss. Muscle loss comes when weight loss is done too quickly and at too fast of a rate, but since you're not losing anything at all then you have no reason to be concerned about it.

I would probably drop your protein down to about 180g and slightly raise your carbs.

Your gym work is actually not that big of a factor when it comes to weight loss, most of your daily calorie burn is done outside of the gym. What you do when you're not working out matters much more when it comes to weight loss than what you do during your workouts. So make sure that in addition to your workouts you're getting at least 8-10K steps per day and drop your cardio down to just 2-3 sessions per week of 30 minutes or less.

[Camarija]

ive graduated sports school as a heavy lifter

A degree in Heavy Lifter from Sports School? Interesting.

My recommendation is to post here every week:
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=183686733

You've already read the stickies so you know about macros, but since you've graduated sports school you probably have a masters in this as well

If you aren't losing weight in 3 weeks, eat less

[Vas9309]

Thank you all. I usually walk a lot, I walk everywhere, to the shop, stadium where i run, the gym etc. I may try to decrease my calories a bit more and reduce the cardio as
xsquid99 said, and i will have to trust that i will not turn into a skinny fat person, it will be hard to trust that but i will try, i guess that's the only way i can really lose more fat. I will try to increase my physical activity outside the gym as well, and as for protein? 180g of protein will be enough for me then? If i do decrease protein and increase carbs?