Calories to low ?

Gaz

Last year I spent my time getting bigger and stronger, I am currently 90kg with about 16% bodyfat (caliper tested). My goal now for the new year is to get to sub 10%.

Using the various formulas my daily calorie needs before exercise are about 3000 cals.

Up until now I thought I had a rough idea of how many calories I was taking in , I was fairly shocked when I accurately added them up and just about hit 2000. This coupled with weights 4 times a week and a 12km commute to work by bicycle has me thinking I may be going to low ??

Appreciate your opinions on this.

Colm_OReilly

What's making up your calories?

Gaz

Typical daily diet is as follows ...

Breakfast
85g Oats - 325
330m Milk - 175
25g Whey - 100
Total: 450

Lunch
Baked Chicken Breast - 200
Mixed Salad - 70
Total: 270

Snack
Handful of almonds - 100

Pre-gym
4 eggs scrambled with drop of milk - 250
3 slices McCambridges bread - 250
Total: 500

Post-gym
Lean meat and large salad/veg
This is usually around 500cals depending on meat etc

Before bed
Nuts or protein shake
100cals

That gives me a grand total of 1920 calories.

d'Oracle

*Yoink*

Gaz

I am trying to shed the weight ... i think 4l of milk might have the opposite effect , no ?

I am just concerned I may be on too much of a deficit.

d'Oracle

Gaz wrote: »

I am trying to shed the weight ... i think 4l of milk might have the opposite effect , no ?

I am just concerned I may be on too much of a deficit.

Sorry Bud, totally got the wrong end of the stick.
Post reading is a much underrated habit.

corkcomp

I could have predicted that the ole Gallon of milk a day will sort ya out advice

d'Oracle

corkcomp wrote: »

I could have predicted that the ole Gallon of milk a day will sort ya out advice

Rack off, I misread.

token

Not really my forte but I'll have a go. Diet looks fairly decent to me I would just increase the fat intake. I don't know how many almonds make up 100 calories but I don't think it's very many. Devour more nuts, add butter when cooking the eggs, use olive oil with the meat/veg meals.

I'm on the same buzz as you after putting on 10kg the last few months before Christmas getting bigger and stronger. I'm trying to low'ish carb it now and get energy for 4-5 workouts a week from fats.

Dublin2Physio

Just wondering what formulas you used to get the 3000 figure before exercise/daily activity.
Also do you feel hungry on your current level of consumption?

If the goal is to lose fat then you need to be careful not to consume MORE than you use.
Its all well and good having excess calories to allow for repair but remember you are aiming to reduce your bodyfat by [a] using some of your fat store and by increasing lean body mass.

As a side note how tall are you [I want to run your figures through a formula I use in the clinic]

Gaz

I got an average by using the Harris-Benedict and Katch-McArdle, this gave me a BMR of around 2000, factoring my level of activity brought this upto 3000 on days I train and 2400 on rest days to achive maintenence.

I am 6ft exactly and 90kg , 30 year old male.

I think my diet is perfect for weight loss on my rest days but on the other days I am worried a 1000cal deficit is a bit much ? Or would it average out over the week ? To be honest I have lost 2kg in two weeks, so it looks ok but I am concerned I will loose muscle mass and or stall soon.

I suppose time will tell.

Dublin2Physio

Ok cool
I had you come in at around 1890 ish for resting rate so not mad off.
I had read it as 3000 without including any of your activity so it didn't add up .
As long as the weight loss isn't interfering with performance you should be ok
Keep an eye on your lifts in the gym to see if you are plateauing or going in the wrong direction strength wise.
If it does drop off you might consider supplementing with something like progain which has protein and carbs in it mid afternoon [to fuel your bike ride home from work] on your training days - just don't over do it.
Its a fine line but looks like you are doing good.

Keep up the good work
____________________________________
Stephen Swanton
Chartered Physiotherapist - Integrated Physio -Dublin 2

Mellor

I think you may be under estimating the calories in some of the foods.

Gaz wrote: »

Typical daily diet is as follows ...

Breakfast
85g Oats - 325
330m Milk - 175
25g Whey - 100
Total: 450
Breakfast looks about right, but it depends on the brand of oats and milk. Use pack data over online, and use a scales


Lunch
Baked Chicken Breast - 200
Mixed Salad - 70
Total: 270
A chicken breast is more than 200 imo. I tend to use 140 cals per 100g when dealing with chicken. Which means your breast is <150g, pretty small. Weigh it
450
Snack
Handful of almonds - 100
You may be eating more than you think, maybe not.

Pre-gym
4 eggs scrambled with drop of milk - 250
3 slices McCambridges bread - 250
Total: 500
I use 75 cals pers egg. Some eggs are more, some less depending on size. But 75 is about average I've found. This, with milk, would be closer to 350 cals

Post-gym
Lean meat and large salad/veg
This is usually around 500cals depending on meat etc

Before bed
Nuts or protein shake
100cals

That gives me a grand total of 1920 calories.

Plus, do you drink anything other than water during the day.
What about alcohol.
Try mapping it out weekly, a night on the beer (even without the chipper), can really add to the weekly cals.