maintenance calories

[william rand]

Hello everyone,
I have a question for everyone. I recently decided to take my diet to the next level and hence I started counting calories. I was shocked to find out that I was consuming around 1400 cal/daily when I should be consuming 2600 cal/daily( I am 41 years old, 5"9 and weigh 165lbs). I decided to increase my calories gradually over the last 2 weeks. I am upto 2300 cal/daily currently and my question is, should I stay at this rate now as my primary goal is still to lose fat or should I keep increasing untill I hit 2600 cal/daily and then let my body acclimate to that amount of caloric intake before dropping down to 2300 cal/daily?

I appreciate any input...cheers.

 

[alexmuller]

slowly increase it and see what results you get (strength, muscle, fat) if you see you are putting on too much fat then lower your calories and examine further.

 

[william rand]

thank's bud, I'll just use trial and error then and see how it goes.

 

[JBEXT81]

To the OP:

In the diet section is a great sticky on how to calculate your daily caloric intake and how to adjust them for YOUR specific goals

I believe it is Tawnya that posted it... Should be the 4th or 5th sticky

 

[william rand]

I actually went through that post and that's when I decided to bump up my calories (as I was way too low). I just wanted clarification as to whether I should be aiming at the exact maintenance coloric intake before dropping down below maintenance or whether's it didnt' make much of a difference.

 

[underattack]

I actually went through that post and that's when I decided to bump up my calories (as I was way too low). I just wanted clarification as to whether I should be aiming at the exact maintenance coloric intake before dropping down below maintenance or whether's it didnt' make much of a difference.

I would bump up to x15 bw. And stay there for atleast 2 weeks. Then start cutting

 

[JBEXT81]

Calories are great to count but what are your macros at???

One thing I have learned in my nutrition class and have had great success with my clients (I'm a personal trainer and certified nutrition coach) is that once the liver and muscles are full of glycogen the rest is stored as body fat.

We have a masters winner body builder and during the off season his carb intake is only 100 grams a day. That's with an hour of fasted low level cardio a day and 60-90 minute weight session at around 5 at night

Just something to think about

 

[underattack]

Calories are great to count but what are your macros at???

One thing I have learned in my nutrition class and have had great success with my clients (I'm a personal trainer and certified nutrition coach) is that once the liver and muscles are full of glycogen the rest is stored as body fat.

We have a masters winner body builder and during the off season his carb intake is only 100 grams a day. That's with an hour of fasted low level cardio a day and 60-90 minute weight session at around 5 at night

Just something to think about

To be honest it does not matter if it gets stored as fat, if u are in maintainence or a defecit, the body wil use fat for fuel. So if you are so unlucky and get some stored fat arter a high carb meal, you wil burn it later on. Also a bb at 100gram i doubt. The liver stores from 75-100g carbs. And u depolite some muscle glykogen from the training. So its for sure safe to stay higher than that.

 

[needtogetaas]

slowly increase it and see what results you get (strength, muscle, fat) if you see you are putting on too much fat then lower your calories and examine further.

this is the best way to do it

 

[william rand]

Well this is what I have observed so far. I bumped my calories from 1400 to 2200 and immedaitely I saw "amazing" strength gains. I am doing weights that I have not touched since several years. This might be due to the fact that I have been in a calorie deficit for several years without knowing it since I never counted calories. My recovery rate is amazing also. I feel like I am 10 years younger. Unfortunately I also gained 3 lbs, which might not seem much but my priamry goal is to lose fat so I decided to consume calories as follows (2200 cal on training days) and (2000 cal on non-training) days. Now bear in mind I am still under my maintenance which should be 2600.

So my question now is that "once my weight stabalizes", should I continue to bump the calories upto 2600 or should I maintain the current caloric intake (ie. 2200-2000) or decrease my calories to create a greater deficit?

Thanks in advance,