TDEE and cutting below

debants

Question - did you keep your calorie intake at your TDEE or did you cut below or did you eat well above? Just starting out and coming from a mindset that you must have a calorie deficit. Your experiece or suggestions would be great. Thx

clambert1273

I do TDEE - 20%... but I am also looking to lose weight... it depends on your goals.

debants

yes - my plan is - 15% however they (book's authors) recommend not to cut - so wondered what others have done

dnamouse

Start at a point you are comfortable with and then adjust if needed as you go along.

If you're eating at a deficit and lifting becomes difficult, up the intake.
If you start putting on a significant amount of weight (other than the usual initial 'gain' when you first start that disappears after a couple of weeks - trust me, it disappears! lol), then dial down the intake.

It's a trial and error process really and it does depend on your goals.

These days I'm not overly interested in being the strongest/slimmest/most ripped lol I lift because I really enjoy it, it does my body good and it suits my goal of trying to be the best me I can be. At the moment I am learning to eat mindfully and intuitively. I don't log food and I don't subscribe to any food theory other than these three:
1. Eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm not
2. If it makes you sick, don't eat it (I'm lactose intolerant)
3. Eat more whole foods, mostly plants, not too much. But no foods are off-limits unless (2) applies

Aaaannddd that was probably a whole lot more information than you needed. Oh well lol

leooftheyear

I have my calorie goal set at my maintence, and im trying to hit the 40,30,30 (Carb, Protein and Fat) goals. I just started Stage 1 about a week and a half ago, and through trail and error over the past 6-7 months i found lifting works better for me when im not at a really big decifit, which is why my calorie goal is set to my max. Most days i come close but there have been a handful of days i've been spot on or a little over. It is what it is, i'm doing strenght training more for toning and less for losing weight.

BarbellCowgirl

Depends on your goals. I was 5' 5" and 186lbs. Not healthy at all. I started at a deficit immediately and found a 10-15% deficit worked best.
If you're near or at goal, I'd try maintenance for a bit and see how it works. It's a lot of trial and error.