I’ve done a search and looked through the articles, and am still not quite sure about this question. I currently weigh 238 pounds at 14 percent body fat. According to T-Dawg, my bodyweight multiplied by 15 is 3570, and with 500 calories subtracted, it comes to 3,070. I have been eating around 2400-2700 calories and am worried that this may be too low. I have been getting my LBM * 1.5 in protien, and keeping it under 100 carbs on training and 70 on off days, but am not sure if I should be eating more fat to bring my calorie count up, or if this deficit is enough to both lose weight and keep my metabolism up. Any help would be appreciated.
No matter what you are going to repress your metabolism some with any hypocaloric diet if you go long term. The point with Tdawg is to minimze that effect.
As far as calories that depends on what your progress is like on the diet. No matter what equation you use none of them is going to work for everyone. There is going to be some adjustment for each individual and as you progress you will have to adjust also.
What you should be shooting for is to consistantly lose around 1-1.5 lbs a wekk not more. This being a safe amount to shoot for and still preserve as much LBM as possible. This can also be individaul though. If the person is overfat then they could safely lose weight faster without much worry. But if you are simply cutting up then try for 1 lb a week. If you are losing more than that do some adjustment.
Hope that helps,
Phill
After taking a minute to run your #'s with yet another blanket equation that TT has used with much success, and I have adopted to helping ppl figure a starting point for Tdawg, I would say you are right in the ball park with your 2400-2700 K/cal figure.
To give you the #'s this is what I did. Remember this is just yet another starting point and usually needs adjustment for each individual but gives you a good starting point.
238lbs@14% = 204.68lbs LBM = 205lbs LBM
For protein LBM x 1.5 (205x1.5=307.5=308)
so 308g protein = 1232k/cals
fat= LBM x.4-.5 = (205x.4&.5= 82-103g)
so 82g - 103g fat= 738-927k/cals
then the carbs are @ 70 non w/o and 100 w/o
so that is between 280-400k/cals
Add all that crap up and you get a low point of 2250K/cals and a high point of 2559k/cal.
I would suggest starting @ the higher # say go for 2550 every day with the higher fat # of 103g. Give this breakdown a good run of atleast two weeks and see how it is going. Check your progress with not only a scale but with a mirror, calipers, and how your clothing is fitting. If you are losing to fast up the protien and fat, if you are not losing then lower the fat intake toward the lower # of 82g until you start to get the desired results.
Hope all that is of some help
Phill
Alright, that makes more sense. WIth the lower Protien calculations due to it just being from LBM I can drop 200 calories off what I was doing quite easily. My fat grams are usually around 90 per day so that seems like a good number. If I don’t feel I am getting enough calories in a day, should I add a bit more fat or protien to my diet (assuming I’m reaching the reccommended levels for protien already).
The important thing is to get atleast that amount of protein. So you could actually raise either. It just depends on how you personally respond to the change. One positive to upping the fats would be less hunger do to the slowed digestion.
Also the important thing is to base the changes you do on the results you are getting. If you make a change, give the change a fair chance of a couple weeks to see the results of it.
Another thing to mention is to make sure you are getting not only the right amounts of fats but also the right breakdown. Try and shoot for an equal breakdown of polys, monos and sat fats on a daily basis. Their is no need to get overly anal about it just shoot for an equal distribution. It will vary day to day.
Phill