Caloric Deficit Question

[jp1957]

I started a light cut last week (monday) Also started gw and Sr.

I've been hitting an average of around 300c deficit.

My weight has pretty much stayed the same.

So my question is, give it more time, or up the deficit to 400-500 calories (I'm using 1800c BMR(180pds lean weight(0%bf), not total weight), adding 300c daily for workouts, so tracking daily at 1800c)

any thoughts, insight or suggestions?

I'm tracking to my macros, low sugar, low fat, etc. Not exactly the cleanest diet(probably too high in pastas, by my daily carbs are just under 200), but I'm not eating like a big fat ass Kentucky Fried Chicken eating mutherfucker either.

Past 2 weeks have lifted every day and 20m cardio, next week I'm switching to 3 days a week lifting and 5 days cardio, as I feel I'm getting abit too run down.

 

[Montgomery]

I alway give myself 2.5 to 3 weeks to evaluate a cut or bulk and then reassess …personally I think you may have shocked your system and I would go up to 2000/day 50/30/20

 

[ironlifter36]

I started a light cut last week (monday) Also started gw and Sr.

I've been hitting an average of around 300c deficit.

My weight has pretty much stayed the same.

So my question is, give it more time, or up the deficit to 400-500 calories (I'm using 1800c BMR(180pds lean weight(0%bf), not total weight), adding 300c daily for workouts, so tracking daily at 1800c)

any thoughts, insight or suggestions?

I'm tracking to my macros, low sugar, low fat, etc. Not exactly the cleanest diet(probably too high in pastas, by my daily carbs are just under 200), but I'm not eating like a big fat ass Kentucky Fried Chicken eating mutherfucker either.

Past 2 weeks have lifted every day and 20m cardio, next week I'm switching to 3 days a week lifting and 5 days cardio, as I feel I'm getting abit too run down.

Your eating 1800 calories per day? How much do you weigh? How tall are you?

 

[jp1957]

6ft, 213, but 25% bf, so I'm figuring at lean muscle mass 180pds, so using 10x for bmr, thus 1800c. I have a pretty slow metabolism (almost 60 now).

I tried a bulk eating 2300(on sarms cycle) and did nothing but watch my fat count blow up. So I'm trying to work that back off down to 20% (I cant go lower because of my diving, I'll freeze)

 

[ironlifter36]

6ft, 213, but 25% bf, so I'm figuring at lean muscle mass 180pds, so using 10x for bmr, thus 1800c. I have a pretty slow metabolism (almost 60 now).

I tried a bulk eating 2300(on sarms cycle) and did nothing but watch my fat count blow up. So I'm trying to work that back off down to 20% (I cant go lower because of my diving, I'll freeze)

Slow metabolism or not, something seems off. How long have you been eating at such low calories? Your metabolism will adapt, so if you have been eating low (1800-1900) for awhile, then yes your metabolism has slowed to where that has come your new maintenance.

 

[jp1957]

What? at your height/weight bro 2300 calories is still a cutting level of calories. 213 lbs.

You need 13-15 calories per lb of body weight to maintain. You need to look over RickRocks Nutritional sticky again.

213 x 14 = 2982 total just to maintain. So at a MINIMUM you should be eating 2400 or so to start at a 500 calorie deficit. Run that for a week or two and go from there.

if you started at a HUGE deficit too quickly you slowed your metabolism down too fast and that's why you haven't seen any weight come off.

I am 5'9" at about 195 or so. I eat 2700-3100 a day depending on cardio/lifting and that's to cut weight bro.. If I was bulking I would need to eat closer to 3600 or so.

as I understand it, BMR is based upon lean muscle mass, not overall weight. I'm carrying 50pds of fat, so technically LBM would be just under 170. SO BMR would be 1700.

Am I mistaken?

 

[jp1957]

Slow metabolism or not, something seems off. How long have you been eating at such low calories? Your metabolism will adapt, so if you have been eating low (1800-1900) for awhile, then yes your metabolism has slowed to where that has come your new maintenance.

I've always maintained around 1900-2k, much above that, I start packing on pounds.

Gotta remember guys, I'm 60

 

[jp1957]

Tried the kickstart awhile ago, and just racked on pounds, so lets say for arguments sake then my BMR is 2100c(I use 10x, not 14), add 300 for workout, 2400, so I'm eating at a 600 cal deficit, so I'll bump up 200c and see how that works. That should put me 300-400 depending on deficit.

I've ate this low for many many years.

 

[Montgomery]

You need some (circa)1990 "Ripped fuel"….you would be tweakin worse then 10 crackheads on payday and losing weight faster then shit out of a goose

 

[jp1957]

start dropping ephedrine like gummi bears.

 

[Carmel cowboy]

What makes up you 1,800 calories? How many grams of protein?

 

[jp1957]

155gr is my daily average

 

[Carmel cowboy]

155gr is my daily average

Here is my opinion, a calorie is NOT just a calorie!!! IMO I think you need to slowly up your protein to at least 213 grams per day. There are several benefits for keeping your protein at 1 gram per lb of bodyweight not lbm, but for the purpose of correcting possible metabolism issues as well as dropping body fat there is something called Thermic Effect of Food. The thermic effect of food is the caloric cost of digesting and processing different macronutrients. Protein has a thermic effect upward of 5xs greater the carbs and fat. IMO I would slowly start to add more high quality protein to your diet.
How many grams of carbs and fat do you eat a day? How many days a week do you Strength train? What is the quality of the foods you eat?

 

[RickRock]

I would def it sly increase the protein content. I'd like to see you closer to a gram per pound at the minimum. I'd keep the carbs moderate and the fat content on the low side. Possibly a macro split of something like 45/40/15

It probably has less to do with your actual caloric level here and more to do with your actual macro ratio that will impact your results.

 

[RickRock]

Here is my opinion, a calorie is NOT just a calorie!!! IMO I think you need to slowly up your protein to at least 213 grams per day. There are several benefits for keeping your protein at 1 gram per lb of bodyweight not lbm, but for the purpose of correcting possible metabolism issues as well as dropping body fat there is something called Thermic Effect of Food. The thermic effect of food is the caloric cost of digesting and processing different macronutrients. Protein has a thermic effect upward of 5xs greater the carbs and fat. IMO I would slowly start to add more high quality protein to your diet.
How many grams of carbs and fat do you eat a day? How many days a week do you Strength train? What is the quality of the foods you eat?

I agree with you completely bro. I can't stress enough the importance of the thermic effect of food and how protein plays a role in this. Another good thing is green fibrous veggies which have very little caloric value but a very high thermic effect. Multiple servings of vegetables over day is very important

 

[jp1957]

During my bulk, I upped protein to 200, calories 2400+ and just chunky buttered out. My carbs are under just 200, fat and sugars under 70

 

[RickRock]

During my bulk, I upped protein to 200, calories 2400+ and just chunky buttered out. My carbs are under just 200, fat and sugars under 70

I would say if that's the case you would possibly need to lower the carbs more, and 200 might be too high if you are carb and insulin sensitive. I know you probably need to keep carbs from going too low with your activity and diving but it's a balancing game that you just kinda have to find the sweet spot. Of course everything is just a little harder at your age as well

 

[jp1957]

And as an interesting data point, buen's daily is at 1900 calories as I recall, and he's around the same age as me I think,,,

 

[RickRock]

And as an interesting data point, buen's daily is at 1900 calories as I recall, and he's around the same age as me I think,,,

everyone is different, but I'm sure he doesn't have the same stats as you either other than being close in age

 

[Carmel cowboy]

And as an interesting data point, buen's daily is at 1900 calories as I recall, and he's around the same age as me I think,,,

You could have twins who respond differently to nutrients!! The real journey is in finding what works for you period!! Everyone on here can give what they think would be best but ultimately it's how you respond to every aspect of changing your physique from workouts, macro profile, how you assimilate nutrients and cardio!! Studies and science is one thing that points you in a direction to get a start point of figuring your body out! That being said here is what i have found that works best for me. I never start with how many calories I am going to consume because it's always an estimate and any calculator of formula I have used never puts me on the right path to finding what works for me and my maintenance is always changing. 1) I use what I want to get from each macronutrient to accomplish my goal and have specific numbers of each that I interact with until I find where my weight continuously holds at for a 3 week period. I always start with protein and the minimum that I consume is 1 gram per pound of body weight. If I am cutting I may go to 1.5 grams per pound for the aforementioned reason as well as preserving my hard earned muscle. 2) pending my goal I start with 1 gram per pound of ideal bodyweight of carbohydrates. If I am cutting and weigh 230 and want to get to 215 I start at 215 grams per day and each week I monitor weight to see the response my body gives me. If the first week I drop a pound I keep carbs at 215 and see what the next week brings. If my weight goes up after one week then I drop 10 grams of carbs to 205 grams. If I hold my weight for 3 weeks at 215 grams I now have a good idea of carb requirements to be at maintenance. 3) fat I start at .5 grams per lb of ideal body weight. So if I wanted to weigh 215 I start at 107 grams of fat. I rarely make changes to the fat and protein but will manipulate how many grams of carbs I consume to average 1lb of a loss per week. Another very important aspect is the quality of food selected. I keep a very narrow selection of protein carb and fat sources to make sure the response I am getting is accurate to the numbers I am consuming!! This approach for me allows me to interact directly with the nutrients I am eating and not an estimate! Just my opinion in how I establish a nutrition plan for whatever goal I am trying to accomplish!