Calorie Advice Plz

[radoja]

Hey guys i'd appreciate any help from the nutrition experts here, this is my first time posting anything on this site and i'm just looking for advice from professionals in regards to how many calories I should be consuming for my weekly routine, after hours of research i've settled on 2200 but would really appreciate to hear from anyone on this forum.

Age: 30
Male
5'10
198 pounds

I've got a 40 waist and REALLY trying to cut this down in 6 weeks through a strict diet (6 meals/day all on advice from a nutritionist) you can assume i'm eating right for this posts sake

I'm working out 6 days a week (1 hour per day) with regular cardio.
Here is my final recommendations for what I should be consuming given where i'm at and trying to get back down to 180-185 pounds again.

GOAL PER DAY:
CALORIES: 2200
FAT: 50g
Protein: 208g
Carbs 250g
Fiber 50g
Water: 8 bottles/day minimum

I'm looking to really TONE up, not bulk up. My central focus is my abs and lovehandles...I know it's the hardest to lose but I want to give myself the best chance with such a strict food diet. I have an athletic build and played sports my whole life....gaining weight is moderate for me (it used to be real hard but age has settled in an my metabolism lets me add muscle and fat now (i always used to be REALLY skinny through my teen years). Any advice you can give me on the above numbers would be REALLY appreciated....looking for multiple opinions here. Thanks a million fellas

[thouomega]

Before I approach your question you should really understand that tone isn't a real term. You can lose fat, or you can build muscle. If you are newb or on drugs you can start doing both at the same time.
There fore, you say you want to tone up, probably meaning you want abs. For that to happen you need to lose fat.

Your ratios are fairly on point if maintenance was your goal. If you want to lose a lb a week (which is what I would suggest) thats a 3500 caloric deficit weekly and a 500 caloric deficit daily. I would suggest cutting these out of predominately your carbs followed by minimal fats. In respect to you that would be 100g of carbs less and ~11g of fats.

At this rate, STRENGTH (not muscle) gain may be possible if the regimen is correct (low volume, high weight full body 3 days a week) and you are still new, and fat loss should come off nicely. Keep at it, and when the scale stops going down, cut harder into carbs by 20 more grabs and start doing cardio sessions more often a week for the increased deficit. Stay disciplined.


PS: that whole 6 meals/day thing is old-school formal outdated nonsense. Catabolism is a big spooky monster that most people don't understand and just fear. If you want to seriously see some change, intermittent fast. I'm sure a bunch of parrots on here will jump on me for recommending it, but I have tried it and loved it- so has my mom, step father, girlfriend, and 5 other people I have personally trained.

If you want ANY more information check out my fitness channel in my signature box.

Cheers

[radoja]

Hey Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it and will definitely check out your channel. As for your advice, just so I get it straight I should cut down my carbs -100g and my fats -11g

NEW TOTALS:
GOAL PER DAY:
CALORIES: 2200
FAT: 39g
Protein: 208g
Carbs 150g
Fiber 50g
Water: 8 bottles/day minimum

*Since my focus is mainly of getting a bit of a 6-pack to poke through and losing my love handles I agree, fat loss is my primary focus and losing 2 pounds a week if possible. I'm in a difficult position where i'd like to see bigger pecs (I have virtually none) and therefor would like to increase some muscle mass. My workouts are intense and concentrate of specific muscles each day. 3x Sets at pushing to fail (10-15reps usually) and very intense ABS workouts 6 days a week, with 1 day rest (not sure if rest is needed or not for abs).

I would appreciate anyone else weighing in, there are SO many different opinions out there unfortunately it's diluted the good advice. Thanks again for your help again, i'm definitely taking your advice so far...as for the 6 meals a day (breakfast most important + snack + lunch + snack + dinner + snack) That is to more limit my portions throughout the day, I don't believe this will hurt my progress so will continue with that eating regime and monitor every thing that goes into my body through the MyFitnessPAL App on my smart phone.

[SdvsB]

Hey Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it and will definitely check out your channel. As for your advice, just so I get it straight I should cut down my carbs -100g and my fats -11g

NEW TOTALS:
GOAL PER DAY:
CALORIES: 2200
FAT: 39g
Protein: 208g
Carbs 150g
Fiber 50g
Water: 8 bottles/day minimum

*Since my focus is mainly of getting a bit of a 6-pack to poke through and losing my love handles I agree, fat loss is my primary focus and losing 2 pounds a week if possible. I'm in a difficult position where i'd like to see bigger pecs (I have virtually none) and therefor would like to increase some muscle mass. My workouts are intense and concentrate of specific muscles each day. 3x Sets at pushing to fail (10-15reps usually) and very intense ABS workouts 6 days a week, with 1 day rest (not sure if rest is needed or not for abs).

I would appreciate anyone else weighing in, there are SO many different opinions out there unfortunately it's diluted the good advice. Thanks again for your help again, i'm definitely taking your advice so far...as for the 6 meals a day (breakfast most important + snack + lunch + snack + dinner + snack) That is to more limit my portions throughout the day, I don't believe this will hurt my progress so will continue with that eating regime and monitor every thing that goes into my body through the MyFitnessPAL App on my smart phone.

That guy is an idiot don't listen to him, 11g of fat or whatever he said is way to low. Your going to f up your hormones, get a limp pee pee and feel like dog **** eating that low of fat. .04g per lb

[cumminslifter]

That guy is an idiot don't listen to him, 11g of fat or whatever he said is way to low. Your going to f up your hormones, get a limp pee pee and feel like dog **** eating that low of fat. .04g per lb

.4g not .04

[SuffolkPunch]

Macros and calories don't match -- I get 1783 cals based on those macros.

Protein can probably be lowered to 170g since it's 1g per lb of LBM.

Fat MUST be raised to at least 70g

[radoja]

Ok this is good stuff, i've adjusted my requirements based on what you guys have been throwing on there on my details

NEW TOTALS:
CALORIES: 2000
FAT: 70-75g
Protein: 180g
Carbs 150g
Fiber 50g
Water: 8 bottles/day minimum

This is based on a Meso-Ectomorph type physique.
Age: 30
Male
5'10
198 pounds
39-40" waist

If i'm looking to gain a bit of muscle but really cutting down my gut fat this would be the best nutrition plan for me? (don't worry i've done a lot of research on the right food to eat for this, just really struggling with exact nurtition guidelines interms of gram consumption and my macros. Again really appreciate everyone giving their opinion here, I know nothing about this s

[SuffolkPunch]

Looks fine. No need to drown yourself with that much water though. Just have a cup of water after your workout and then whenever you are thirsty.

[SdvsB]

.4g not .04

Good call, I know though hah

[radoja]

can anyone explain why my daily caloric intake is 2000 and not 1700 or 2300 when cutting down love handles and stomach fat

[musikguy72]

can anyone explain why my daily caloric intake is 2000 and not 1700 or 2300 when cutting down love handles and stomach fat

To be fair you don't know what it is yet. You have a starting point. You could use any of those numbers as a starting point.
The next step is to monitor your weight once or twice a week. After 3 weeks/one month you take an average of those numbers and see what the scale is doing. You are aiming for a pound lost per week (remember, averaged). If it stays the same, lower calories a bit. If you are losing more up your calories a bit.
At some point you will find your number. Keep monitoring. Adjust as necessary.

[radoja]

amazing thanks!

[Retoaded]

OP - go to nutrition forum and read stickies on estimating calories. use that to estimate calorie and macro needs. make sure you get enough dietary fat, or you will feel like crap.

weigh yourself consistently every week, and track changes....don't really start considering the data until week 4 or 5 (first week or two will have crazy water weight fluctuations)...I weigh myself T, W, TH mornings before eating or drinking anything, after peeing when I wake up. I take that average as my weekly weight. once you have 4-5 weeks of average calories, and a trend in weight loss, you'll have all the info you need to adjust up or down.

source: lost 85 pounds in the last year.

[CamLeslie]

Ok this is good stuff, i've adjusted my requirements based on what you guys have been throwing on there on my details

NEW TOTALS:
CALORIES: 2000
FAT: 70-75g
Protein: 180g
Carbs 150g
Fiber 50g
Water: 8 bottles/day minimum

This is based on a Meso-Ectomorph type physique.
Age: 30
Male
5'10
198 pounds
39-40" waist

Everything looks good except ****toform's are outdated broscience...but other than that. Good luck!

[radoja]

does 150g of Carbs/day not seem kinda low guys? If that is what it takes to shed love handles/belly fat then fine

[oceanus99]

does 150g of Carbs/day not seem kinda low guys? If that is what it takes to shed love handles/belly fat then fine

I don't think you have to drop it that low, but you will have to drop carbs/fat. How much of each is for you to figure out.

[radoja]

since i'm trying to really shed fat off my gut, how much should my daily sodium intake be? I've set it at 1850/day but i've more than doubled that the last 2 days....

1) how does excess sodium intake hurt my ability to shed fat off my gut

2) what should I be setting my amount at given my stats

thanks guys

[SuffolkPunch]

Don't worry about salt. It may cause water retention but so what... you are trying to lose body fat, you aren't prepping to look good for a single point in time such as a competition or photoshoot so you don't need to worry about such things.