2300KCAL - 50 YO is that enough? What cals you on please?

[anonymous]

I am 6ft naturally thin... about 210lbs now is 2300 kcal enough?

I lost around 7lbs doing 1800kcal but I wander what to do to look a little more pumped?

Max volume.

2 days a week full body compound - 4/5 exercises quite intense

2 days a week a very fast 3.7 mile walk.

Rest the rest of the days.

I note I am getting leaner - but my BOOBS are not going - face is too gaunt...

-Av protein about 190-210g Av carb 150 - veg 3 times a day in a raw smoothy.

[SuffolkPunch]

Enough for what? Do you want to continue weight loss?

How long did it take to lose 7lbs at 1800 calories. The math should not be too hard to calculate your maintenance level.

[faithbrah]

is 2300 kcal enough for what? weight loss? weight gain? either way it depends on what your TDEE is

that being said, 2300 is probably a slight deficit based on your stats. just a very general estimate

damn he beat me to it above

[anonymous]

My bad apologies... you will hate me I am trying to do recomp - don't mind if it takes longer. But bulk and lean techniques leave me mentally unwell - I just want to grow a bit firmer to start with without getting too thin or fat

I don't get the math - I think it took around 3 months - but I was not exercising at that point.

[SuffolkPunch]

So try it and see. Run it for at least 2 weeks, weigh yourself every day and keep track of the results.

2300 sounds like your maintenance without exercise. You might find you lose very slowly due to exercise burning maybe 200 extra calories per session.

[anonymous]

Ok I will get some scales..

I didn't want to get too anal - my personality will not like that - I was going by what my clothes feel like and if I fill them nicely or badly

[SuffolkPunch]

You just have to approach it with an expectation that your weight will vary day by day - and only the longer term trend contains any real information. Muscle and fat don't come or go in large amounts overnight - it's just water.

[Tommy W.]

OP post a pic for a more accurate response on which direction to take.

[TolerantLactose]

I am 6ft naturally thin... about 210lbs now is 2300 kcal enough?

This puts you in firmly in the overweight category. If you don't have a lot of muscle, recomp probably won't do the job for you.

[AdamWW]

I mean I’m 6 foot weighing just under 150 and I eat like 3500 calories a day so...

For me, not enough

[Tommy W.]

At your stats and without a pic I will say that my guess is you need to concentrate on fatloss and not attempt a recomp which more times than not is a waste of time in both directions..

Your calorie amount will be exclusive to you and gauging your intake by what others are doing will get you in trouble. They may be a lot more active not to mention that 2,300 to you may actually be much more when you take in consideration your very real potential of inaccurate counting and tracking methods and how consistent you are with your target calories.

[ezra76]

I'm at 6ft. 186, started at 191 3months ago. Doing 2400-2600 while "recomping" I guess. Whatever you want to call losing fat and making muscle memory gains at the same time.

Going up a little on the calories for the next few months to try to gain strength/muscle a little faster before spring.

Basically you should continue to drop weight on 2300 but it's up to you what you want to do. That's fairly aggressive deficit so you may find lower energy and harder time making any muscle gains beyond just keeping what you have while losing fat.

[anonymous]

Ez - ok are you active man ? Are those pics you now? They perfect for me.

I tend to sit at a computer locked down in England - editing - the only movement I get is walking or training when I am not too sore for it.

Yes I will post a pic, for data i ill crop my head - I am ashamed but will try and do couple of selfies.

I was feeling pumped - filling cloths and feeling lighter but more "athletic" - but these days it goes from "too thin and old in the face looking" to "too much man boob but acceptable face and neck"

I loose any more I end up like Cliff Richard. I like the big neck look.

Working so so hard at it all of it - tracking, diet, manipulating training so I can keep doing it. This is not fun. Especially as you tire yourself out but "feel and look" more "weedy"

Hence the calorie question.

It's a shame recomp is a waste of time. But with great respect bulk and cut is too - on those cycles you are either too thin - or too fat - perhaps I have been inadvertently cutting and I am seeing how bad I look without as much lard on me.

Also with bulking and cutting you are essentially yo yo dieting and it requires medical precision without drugs to ensure that you don't damage yourself. Its also harder when you are old because as I say old people thin look dreadful - probably better to be a bit over weight and find a way to look great. Ez you look firm without being emancipated looking - for now - abs are not something I am concerned with until I can get some size back in my neck and arms.

The recomp notion has been renewed in my head from Ross Edgley books and he kind of is fitter than most of us if not all

I think also friends do help as they are a pretty good barometer - sure set points do vary indeed I get that part.

One takeaway might be that 2300 might be a bit low I don't think agressive... I am eating meals 4/ 5 times a day still - I wake around 10 - go to bed around 10 - so I don't do proper days like you lot up at 5am feed 20 kids, walk the dog, go to work sit on the freeway, do a workout at lunch, come home walk the dog, play with the kids go to bed at 11pm and get 5 hours sleep

[Tommy W.]

Ez - ok are you active man ? Are those pics you now? They perfect for me.

I tend to sit at a computer locked down in England - editing - the only movement I get is walking or training when I am not too sore for it.

Yes I will post a pic, for data i ill crop my head - I am ashamed but will try and do couple of selfies.

I was feeling pumped - filling cloths and feeling lighter but more "athletic" - but these days it goes from "too thin and old in the face looking" to "too much man boob but acceptable face and neck"

I loose any more I end up like Cliff Richard. I like the big neck look.

Working so so hard at it all of it - tracking, diet, manipulating training so I can keep doing it. This is not fun. Especially as you tire yourself out but "feel and look" more "weedy"

Hence the calorie question.

It's a shame recomp is a waste of time. But with great respect bulk and cut is too - on those cycles you are either too thin - or too fat - perhaps I have been inadvertently cutting and I am seeing how bad I look without as much lard on me.

Also with bulking and cutting you are essentially yo yo dieting and it requires medical precision without drugs to ensure that you don't damage yourself. Its also harder when you are old because as I say old people thin look dreadful - probably better to be a bit over weight and find a way to look great. Ez you look firm without being emancipated looking - for now - abs are not something I am concerned with until I can get some size back in my neck and arms.

The recomp notion has been renewed in my head from Ross Edgley books and he kind of is fitter than most of us if not all

I think also friends do help as they are a pretty good barometer - sure set points do vary indeed I get that part.

One takeaway might be that 2300 might be a bit low I don't think agressive... I am eating meals 4/ 5 times a day still - I wake around 10 - go to bed around 10 - so I don't do proper days like you lot up at 5am feed 20 kids, walk the dog, go to work sit on the freeway, do a workout at lunch, come home walk the dog, play with the kids go to bed at 11pm and get 5 hours sleep

when adding muscle from a leaner starting point you won’t get fat if you do it right which means a proper weight training program and a small calorie surplus.
Recomp CAN work in some instances however there are a lot of factors that
must be in place and more times than not, they aren’t. Once you post pix you’ll
Be giving a better idea of your position

[anonymous]

Ok boys thanks v much I will do a shoot in a while in my pants Thanks for your encouragement - body shaming myself here daily

[TolerantLactose]

It's a shame recomp is a waste of time. But with great respect bulk and cut is too - on those cycles you are either too thin - or too fat - perhaps I have been inadvertently cutting and I am seeing how bad I look without as much lard on me.

That's not what is being said. Both can and do work. Recomp has maintaining starting weight as part of the process and goal. 210lbs is not a good goal weight for 99% of trainees.

[gidik60630]

I guess you need to see it with a picture for a better answer.

[Tommy W.]

Ok boys thanks v much I will do a shoot in a while in my pants Thanks for your encouragement - body shaming myself here daily

these types of posts without pics is like playing darts blindfolded as far as dishing out advice

[ezra76]

Ez - ok are you active man ? Are those pics you now? They perfect for me.

I tend to sit at a computer locked down in England - editing - the only movement I get is walking or training when I am not too sore for it.

Yes I will post a pic, for data i ill crop my head - I am ashamed but will try and do couple of selfies.

I was feeling pumped - filling cloths and feeling lighter but more "athletic" - but these days it goes from "too thin and old in the face looking" to "too much man boob but acceptable face and neck"

I loose any more I end up like Cliff Richard. I like the big neck look.

Working so so hard at it all of it - tracking, diet, manipulating training so I can keep doing it. This is not fun. Especially as you tire yourself out but "feel and look" more "weedy"

Hence the calorie question.

It's a shame recomp is a waste of time. But with great respect bulk and cut is too - on those cycles you are either too thin - or too fat - perhaps I have been inadvertently cutting and I am seeing how bad I look without as much lard on me.

Also with bulking and cutting you are essentially yo yo dieting and it requires medical precision without drugs to ensure that you don't damage yourself. Its also harder when you are old because as I say old people thin look dreadful - probably better to be a bit over weight and find a way to look great. Ez you look firm without being emancipated looking - for now - abs are not something I am concerned with until I can get some size back in my neck and arms.

The recomp notion has been renewed in my head from Ross Edgley books and he kind of is fitter than most of us if not all

I think also friends do help as they are a pretty good barometer - sure set points do vary indeed I get that part.

One takeaway might be that 2300 might be a bit low I don't think agressive... I am eating meals 4/ 5 times a day still - I wake around 10 - go to bed around 10 - so I don't do proper days like you lot up at 5am feed 20 kids, walk the dog, go to work sit on the freeway, do a workout at lunch, come home walk the dog, play with the kids go to bed at 11pm and get 5 hours sleep

I started back working out after about 9years off. So the pics of me lean are from 9yrs. ago at 170lbs. after 18months working out. It shouldn't be too hard to figure which are me at 35 and the ones now 44yrs. old.

I started again in Oct. pretty out of shape. I've been able to add muscle from muscle memory while losing bodyfat. I do stay active now with a lot of walking on top of the workouts. It's not as easy as it was before, I need a little more time to recover and especially warm up.

So in regards to what you "can do", a lot is going to depend on where you are with training. If you have little to no past training you can get newb gains but don't go crazy on calories. If you have significant past training experience you'll get "muscle memory", which in my case has been about 3x the rate of what I experienced with "newb gains". I guess the only option left would be experienced lifters getting close to genetic potential or at least well past the newb gain phase. In that case it may take a more aggressive surplus as well as more aggressive training routine to get results.

[anonymous]

Uploaded pics.

179 workouts 273 days

Compound

A. Press, squat, row, lunge, swing

B. Pull, Mil Press, Curl, Deadlift

C. 5 k walk - 14.33 mins per mile

2300 cal - 177-210 g protein 140-160g carbs.

Volume - Body Weight - pull - press
68kg dead lift 5 x 8
38kg Deep Squat 4x8

[xsquid99]

You have a lot of fat to lose. I would stick to a moderate consistent deficit (try 2000 calories to start) and adjust as required until you're losing 1-1.5 lbs per week.

[ezra76]

Uploaded pics.

179 workouts 273 days

Compound

A. Press, squat, row, lunge, swing

B. Pull, Mil Press, Curl, Deadlift

C. 5 k walk - 14.33 mins per mile

2300 cal - 177-210 g protein 140-160g carbs.

Volume - Body Weight - pull - press
68kg dead lift 5 x 8
38kg Deep Squat 4x8

You have a decent amount of muscle mass it looks like. I'd continue with lifting on the calorie deficit but not go too crazy low. The walking is great, it's been working wonders for me. Are you only doing the walking as the C workout or every day?

According to the calculator I use at 2300 calories you should be losing about a pound every 2 weeks. So in my opinion 2300 is a good number a slower weight cut.

[Tommy W.]

Uploaded pics.

179 workouts 273 days

Compound

A. Press, squat, row, lunge, swing

B. Pull, Mil Press, Curl, Deadlift

C. 5 k walk - 14.33 mins per mile

2300 cal - 177-210 g protein 140-160g carbs.

Volume - Body Weight - pull - press
68kg dead lift 5 x 8
38kg Deep Squat 4x8

you have a good 30 lbs or more to lose. Losing a half pound a week as mentioned above and you’ll be dieting down forever. Start at a true 2,000 a day every day or figure 14,000 calories a week as you can’t hit a perfect 2,000 every day.. a lot will depend on your counting and tracking accuracy. 2,000 may not be low enough as that may in reality end up being higher. Try it for 4 weeks and adjust from there.

[anonymous]

You have a decent amount of muscle mass it looks like. I'd continue with lifting on the calorie deficit but not go too crazy low. The walking is great, it's been working wonders for me. Are you only doing the walking as the C workout or every day?

According to the calculator I use at 2300 calories you should be losing about a pound every 2 weeks. So in my opinion 2300 is a good number a slower weight cut.

I recently lowered my volume to 4 x 8 on every exercise to ensure I have more days in the dungeon plugging away - this on advice from you guys saying 6-7 sets aiming for 50 reps was too much. Rest days instead of 24-48 hours between A and B were becoming 3-4 days and illness more frequent.

The 5k walk sadly at speed is only done 1 time a week on average for example

Mon - A
Tues - Walk
Wed - Rest
Thur - B
Fri - Rest
Sat- Rest
Sun - A

I do a 15 min walk each workout and also Keep my rest to 60 seconds to 90.

The 5k at that speed is a killer and takes 47-50 mins I run a bit too but maybe slower additional gentle maybe?

Rarely I do a hike on a Sunday of 5 miles as they too make me massively sore.

The 2000 I can try but I was 2000 in the summer and an ex gf said “where have you gone you have no arms and legs” - she is an ex for a reason.

My arms are extremely thin as are my legs and I am really worried my face gets gaunt - we all look unwell enough but theres no harm in experimenting as you say.

I should focus that I can move about, I wasn't able do a bodyweight squat and had ti use a table at the start - a 5k walk had me calling a taxi unable to complete it.

The Copd can be a nightmare if I over exert the cns and I am back to 5 - 7 days off -

Very grateful of all your theorys.

[anonymous]

you have a good 30 lbs or more to lose. Losing a half pound a week as mentioned above and you’ll be dieting down forever. Start at a true 2,000 a day every day or figure 14,000 calories a week as you can’t hit a perfect 2,000 every day.. a lot will depend on your counting and tracking accuracy. 2,000 may not be low enough as that may in reality end up being higher. Try it for 4 weeks and adjust from there.

Wow 68 - man u is an HERO.
Not much anyone can teach you.
What a ledge.

[Tommy W.]

Wow 68 - man u is an HERO.
Not much anyone can teach you.
What a ledge.

well, always things to learn. The basics are still the basics though. Success in most thing come from doing the basics well.