Some interesting insights in the latest T-Nation article on fat loss.
I applied the first four takeaways to my current situation.
12 calories/pound of lean body mass
I use the Navy Calculator for LBM and get 123 1/2 lbs. That’s been consistent for me for years. Rounding up to 125 for simplicity’s sake, and multiplying by 12 gives me 1,500 calories. I’ve never been recommended calories this low, but I’ve always thought most calculators recommended far too high of a caloric intake for me for fat loss. This makes more sense.
1-1.5 grams of protein/pound of lean body mass
That’s 125g (500 calories). I often eat more, though I’ve been better at pulling back lately.
20% calories dietary fat mostly as byproduct of protein sources and maybe some Flameout
That’s 33g (300 calories). I often eat twice that. Most of the time I eat twice that.
Remaining calories to carbs
This allows me up to 175g (700 calories) in carbs. I can’t imagine eating that many carbs on purpose (unless significant amounts of fat were also involved …)
The rest of the recommendations are fine: weekly cheat meal, eat lighter earlier and heavier (and more carb-oriented) later, measure your food and, of course, strength train at least three times a week. But the first four were revealing. Most critically, don’t sweat the carbs, but focus on the fats. That extra 300 calories (or more) easily take me from a fat-losing 1,500 cal/day to a maintenance-like 1,800 cal/day.
I also think that the extra fats are slowing my digestion, which only exacerbates the challenge of managing the excess calories.