I looked up an old T-Nation article called ‘Constriction Contradiction’ to get my approximate calorie expenditure per day.
The number was ~2,600. That was with ‘light activity’ - because my activity varies quite a bit from day to day. With ‘medium activity’, the number jumps to 3,150. Weightlifting supposedly adds a 250 calorie burn.
I’m 33 and have never done calorie restriction before. Can someone point me to what would be a good calorie total for cutting up without tanking my metabolism?
How tall are you and how much do you weigh? I can run some numbers that will give you an approximation.
that thing is bullshit i read that shit a long time ago and it ended up giving me an approximate cal intake of like 2000 only to find out that i wass suposed to eat like 3500 cals.
You know, I THOUGHT I remembered reading a Berardi article about this shit before I read the ‘Restriction Constriction’.
Sho 'nuff! Berardi’s ‘Massive Eating’ was the article - and it pegs my calorie needs MUCH higher.
4265 on exercising days! Dayum!
Okay - I’m 195 lbs (been dieting for 10 days), about 16-18% bodyfat, and I’m 5’11". I’m also 33 years old.
I’m thinking I can cut up with 2800 calories. I bought a food scale and am being very careful with calories and I’m also following Berardi’s diet plan (basically paleolithic except for peri-and-post-workout nutrition).
Honestly, I’ve found the most accurate portrayal of my caloric expenditure is only found through trial and error.
Massive Eating had me cutting at 3500 kcals. I saw no change. I dropped the kcals further, and I started to see change.
What I recommend (because it’s what I do and it’s been working thus far) is to specifically drop your kcals to a certain number, eat there every day of the week, and see where you’re at by the end. Do this two weeks in a row. If you end up with consistent results, that gives you the information to plan your short-term kcal level for your cut.
I say short term, because in 6-8 weeks, your metabolism will downgrade and you’ll have to drop it a bit more.
It’s… sort of a ready-fire-aim method to cutting. But it works… if you can keep to the same diet for two weeks straight.
Good luck, keep your results posted.