I am eating below my TDEE

[hamzatrynafit]

Okay so I am 18 years old and I weight 129 kgs and my TDEE is about 3200 calories (I used tdeecalculator.net to measure that) my question is is it okay if I ate 1500-2000 calories a day? And what type of food should I be eating to achieve my goal? Also are those YouTube 20 minutes HIIT workout videos good or enough for daily exercise?

[SuffolkPunch]

I would not attempt a calorie deficit of more than 1000 initially. You need the energy to train to prevent muscle loss. You also need to be able to eat enough protein and other essential nutrients which is made harder the lower calories go.

So try 2200 for a kickoff.

Read the "basics" sticky thread. Get myfitnesspal or use cronometer.com.

You need proper weight training, HIIT will not be enough to prevent muscle loss. Look at a routine like Fierce 5.

[Luclin999]

1. An on-line calculator will give you an estimate of your TDEE based upon data that you entered (which may not be accurate) so don't take that "3200 calorie" estimate too seriously. Your actual TDEE may be less than that.

2. Depending upon how overweight you are, you may or may not be able to sustain a 1000+ calorie deficit in a healthy manner. However since you didn't give us any idea of how much fat you have to lose we can't tell you if that applies to you. You should probably start at a more reasonable 500 calorie deficit for 3-4 weeks and see how much you may lose from that before going any further as that will help determine how accurate your TDEE estimate really is.

3. HIIT (or frankly any cardio) isn't required for fat loss, only a calorie deficit is. Weight training on the other hand is basically essential in helping to retain whatever muscle/lean mass you may have on your frame under the fat. Failing to do that will likely result in a significant drop in lean mass along with the fat causing you to ultimately end up looking like a smaller (still flabby) version of what you look like today rather than someone that looks more fit and athletic.

4. You are 18 and in the last year or so of your peak muscle developing hormone levels and failing to take advantage of that while you still can is frankly stupid.

[chibixeno]

Okay so I am 18 years old and I weight 129 kgs and my TDEE is about 3200 calories (I used tdeecalculator.net to measure that) my question is is it okay if I ate 1500-2000 calories a day? And what type of food should I be eating to achieve my goal? Also are those YouTube 20 minutes HIIT workout videos good or enough for daily exercise?

FYI those calorie calculators are not accurate once so ever.

[alec935]

4. You are 18 and in the last year or so of your peak muscle developing hormone levels and failing to take advantage of that while you still can is frankly stupid.

test peaks at 25

[EliKoehn]

test peaks at 25

Not an endocrinologist, but I'm pretty sure 18 year old males have notably higher test than 25 year old males, all else being equal, although I think Luclin was moreso talking about HGH and other factors at play while the frame is still growing.

[Luclin999]

Not an endocrinologist, but I'm pretty sure 18 year old males have notably higher test than 25 year old males, all else being equal, although I think Luclin was moreso talking about HGH and other factors at play while the frame is still growing.

Bingo.