Calorie Recommendations

Nutrition
1

Ok, heres deal. I have recently (10 weeks or so) begin logging my food on fitday, and found I am way low in terms of calories. So using the calorie counter I have slowly increased my calories. But, I still bet a little run down toward the end of the week. I average 2400-2800 calories or so. My ultimate goal is to have the leanest summer possilble. Since increasing my calories my body comp has shifted in the right direction but still not as quickly as I would like.

Currently I’m at around 182 and approx. 13-14%BF. I will be happy with 10%, so you can see there isnt much to go. Also, since raising my calories I can tell my metabolism is much faster and I actually get hungry faster between meals.

How high do you think I can take my calories before I stop losing fat, and do you think I could lose more fat by raising them more?

My diet is very clean. I am not so worried about the food choice I have been making, more about the quantity. I do have a desk job, but some days I do a lot of running around. I eat lots of fruit and veggies as well as lean meats. I also drink 1-1.5 gals of water a day.

As for workouts:
Mon: Muay Thai, bodyweight cals, maybe a short run
Tues: BW cals, run or intervals at the track, bike workoout
Wed: Muay Thai, BW cals, short run
Thurs: same as tues
Fri: active rest volleyball
Sat: skill work, run/bike, bw cals
Sun: usually rest.

My gut tells me to eat more, but I was hoping to some more input. After being chubby for a longtime it’s hard to nail home that more food is needed.

2

BJ,
A five pound loss of (fat-specific) weight by mid-summer would be reasonable for guys in a situation like yours. This could be done by holding one’s existing kcal steady (say 2800 tops with 1g/lb. protein, healthy fats and well-timed carbs) and adding a 15-30 min. pre-breakfast walk-jog or moderate uphill t-mill activity daily. It’s not really a “workout” per se. And this should only serve to help recovery and be more specific to fat oxidation.

It’s true some people who raise kcal from a depressed state actually get leaner as metabolism speeds back up and they have more energy for physical activity. Putting those extra kcal into para-workout nutrition and earlier in the day - rather than before bed - is wise. I can’t get specific to your situation, as there are too many unknowns to get into.

Good luck and I’d love to hear updates on your situation!

3

BJ,
And weightlifting in the fairly heavy 6-10 rep range may induce surprising results for many guys who don’t currently lift this way…

4

Thank You for the response. I have lifted weights in the past and credit much of my success, but I got alittle bored with it as of late so I switched things up to use bw stuff for a while. I was planning adding back in some weights once my workload increased at which time the BW exercises wouls become more of a morning GPP thing. Thanks again, I will try what said and report back.