I changed my calories come advice

arains89

I haven't been having the best results lately and from a lot of advice I have heard that I am not eating enough and my macros may be a bit off. I also got some unwarranted advice like I should stop eating bread and diary (not happening lol!) Anyway, I went by TDEE -20% at sedentary which is 1450 for me (basically my BMR) and then I will eat back most of my exercise calories never to exceed about 1850 cals/day. I also set my macros to 40/30/30. Please let me know if these are good numbers for me. I was netting 1200 cals (sometimes less) before. And more carbs and not enough protein. Thanks in advance for any advice! I am 5'6" have a desk job and weigh 153 lbs. I am trying to lose about 18 lbs to get to 135. I work out everyday about 60-90 mins. Thanks!

arains89

I'm sorry that should read 45/25/30. Thanks!

dieselbyte

What type of training are you doing? Cardio only? Weights only? A combination of the two? If a combo, how much time devoted to cardio and weight training? What was your experience at 1200 calories? Were you losing weight? Not losing enough? How long where you at 1200 calories. 45/25/30 macros - is the p/f/c. More info can help with some advice.

arains89

What type of training are you doing? Cardio only? Weights only? A combination of the two? If a combo, how much time devoted to cardio and weight training? What was your experience at 1200 calories? Were you losing weight? Not losing enough? How long where you at 1200 calories. 45/25/30 macros - is the p/f/c. More info can help with some advice.

I have been at 1200 about 5 months and lost at first and have been pretty stalled the last two. I do both cardio and resistance training but more cardio and HIIT than the strength (only twice a week). I use Turbo Fire and then I also run three days a week (barring good weather) 45 carbs 25 protein 30 fat.

arains89

Oh ad to be more specific I would say about 1 hour yoga, 5 hours of cardio a week (including my dance/kick boxing turbo fire classes, running, and swimming), 1 hour HIIT, and 1 hour resistance training. In a few weeks I will be switching programs to P90X which focuses a bit more on strength training with free weights so those numbers will change. Probably more like 1 hour yoga, 4 hours cardio and 3 hours strength training.

IronFiend

lots of sugar

claudioescobedo

My wife has a similar physique at 5’6 and 165lbs. Her calorie intake is set at 1450 and macros are at 40/30/30, she is in the 2nd month of Insanity. The workouts range from 59 to 44 minutes, so she is working it. She has lost around 11 pounds and counting. I noticed that she is adamant about hitting her macros and rarely eats back her exercise calories. The following link has great information on nutrition and fitness in general. I hope it helps.

http://rippedclub.net/nutrition/p90x-nutrition-plan/

arains89

My wife has a similar physique at 5’6 and 165lbs. Her calorie intake is set at 1450 and macros are at 40/30/30, she is in the 2nd month of Insanity. The workouts range from 59 to 44 minutes, so she is working it. She has lost around 11 pounds and counting. I noticed that she is adamant about hitting her macros and rarely eats back her exercise calories. The following link has great information on nutrition and fitness in general. I hope it helps.

http://rippedclub.net/nutrition/p90x-nutrition-plan/

So you are saying that your wife eats 1450 a day on top of doing Insanity and does not eat exercise calories at all? I just assumed that would be too unhealthy of a deficit. I get so many different answers I don't know which way is up anymore. This is stressful. I just notice that the few weeks I slip and go over my calories are the only weeks I have seen a loss. Other wise I gain or stay the same so I just assumed I ate too little...

claudioescobedo

She might add a protein shake, but that’s all from what I can see. She really didn’t see results in the beginning, but now she does. In the end, everyone is different and you just have to fine what works for you. You’re on the right track, stay motivated and positive.

dieselbyte

There is a such thing as too much cardio for the amount of caloric intake. At some point your body slows it's metabolism down to preserve itself. You may actually be experiencing metabolic damage (starvation mode). While you may have had weight loss at first, 1200 calories over 6 months and hours upon hours of cardio is very damaging in the long run. 1 hour HIIT sessions are way too much. HIIT is designed to be 10-15 mins tops. While decreasing calories may seem like the way to go, you will in fact only screw your metabolism up more. I am not a nutritionist or an expert, so seek their advice, but metabolic damage is real. You can reverse it by slowly increasing calories and decreasing cardio. You said yourself, the only time you saw movement was when you increased your calories. Your body is telling you that it needs more energy (calories) to function.

I would increase your total caloric intake by 100 calories per week right now (or 10%). So if at 1200, increase to 1300 for a week, then 1400 etc. Leave your macros at the split you mentioned, but macros aren't as important right now as calories. If you go from 1200 to 1600 in one shot, that change will be too drastic and your body will increase fat stores. Decrease your HIIT cardio to 15 mins a session, and not everyday. Continue to weight train, because you'll need muscle to ramp up your metabolism. When you get to 1600, stay there for a few weeks and track any losses or gains. You can then also calorie cycle, increasing calories on training days and decreasing calories on off days. Hope this helps.

arains89

There is a such thing as too much cardio for the amount of caloric intake. At some point your body slows it's metabolism down to preserve itself. You may actually be experiencing metabolic damage (starvation mode). While you may have had weight loss at first, 1200 calories over 6 months and hours upon hours of cardio is very damaging in the long run. 1 hour HIIT sessions are way too much. HIIT is designed to be 10-15 mins tops. While decreasing calories may seem like the way to go, you will in fact only screw your metabolism up more. I am not a nutritionist or an expert, so seek their advice, but metabolic damage is real. You can reverse it by slowly increasing calories and decreasing cardio. You said yourself, the only time you saw movement was when you increased your calories. Your body is telling you that it needs more energy (calories) to function.

I would increase your total caloric intake by 100 calories per week right now (or 10%). So if at 1200, increase to 1300 for a week, then 1400 etc. Leave your macros at the split you mentioned, but macros aren't as important right now as calories. If you go from 1200 to 1600 in one shot, that change will be too drastic and your body will increase fat stores. Decrease your HIIT cardio to 15 mins a session, and not everyday. Continue to weight train, because you'll need muscle to ramp up your metabolism. When you get to 1600, stay there for a few weeks and track any losses or gains. You can then also calorie cycle, increasing calories on training days and decreasing calories on off days. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the advice! And for the record those numbers are per week! LOL I have never done an hour straight of HIIT it is generally 20 mins long 3 days a week or so. My longest HIIT video in Turbo Fire is 25 mins. I do agree that I need to increase my cals a bit. I never was only eating 1200 just netting. I ate back my exercise cals so generally I was netting 1200 but eating closer to 1600/day. I have increased my goal to 1450 and will try and net that for now and see where that gets me. I don't think I was eating at enough of a deficit to have done any serious damage to my body. But my body is getting closer to goal and def is obviously telling me to EAT MORE! Thanks again everyone!

dieselbyte

There is a such thing as too much cardio for the amount of caloric intake. At some point your body slows it's metabolism down to preserve itself. You may actually be experiencing metabolic damage (starvation mode). While you may have had weight loss at first, 1200 calories over 6 months and hours upon hours of cardio is very damaging in the long run. 1 hour HIIT sessions are way too much. HIIT is designed to be 10-15 mins tops. While decreasing calories may seem like the way to go, you will in fact only screw your metabolism up more. I am not a nutritionist or an expert, so seek their advice, but metabolic damage is real. You can reverse it by slowly increasing calories and decreasing cardio. You said yourself, the only time you saw movement was when you increased your calories. Your body is telling you that it needs more energy (calories) to function.

I would increase your total caloric intake by 100 calories per week right now (or 10%). So if at 1200, increase to 1300 for a week, then 1400 etc. Leave your macros at the split you mentioned, but macros aren't as important right now as calories. If you go from 1200 to 1600 in one shot, that change will be too drastic and your body will increase fat stores. Decrease your HIIT cardio to 15 mins a session, and not everyday. Continue to weight train, because you'll need muscle to ramp up your metabolism. When you get to 1600, stay there for a few weeks and track any losses or gains. You can then also calorie cycle, increasing calories on training days and decreasing calories on off days. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the advice! And for the record those numbers are per week! LOL I have never done an hour straight of HIIT it is generally 20 mins long 3 days a week or so. My longest HIIT video in Turbo Fire is 25 mins. I do agree that I need to increase my cals a bit. I never was only eating 1200 just netting. I ate back my exercise cals so generally I was netting 1200 but eating closer to 1600/day. I have increased my goal to 1450 and will try and net that for now and see where that gets me. I don't think I was eating at enough of a deficit to have done any serious damage to my body. But my body is getting closer to goal and def is obviously telling me to EAT MORE! Thanks again everyone!

Wait, you just gave more information than before. If you were eating 1600+ calories a day, you may have been over maintenance, or at maintenance level calories. You may be over-estimating the amount of calories you are burning. Also, your body burns calories at rest. So if you weren't working out, you'd still be burning calories. Example: If you were to burn 50 calories at rest vs 300 calories training, and you ate back 300 calories, you are actually adding 50 more calories than what you body really burned. If you are only doing light weight training and 20 minutes of HIIT, 1600 calories may be more than enough. If your goal is 1450, eat 1450 calories. You aren't creating a deficit by adding calories in. See how that helps over a week to three weeks. Remember, a caloric deficit creates weight and fat loss. Replacing what you think are burned calories isn't creating a deficit. A deficit is created by either eating less, being more active, or a combination of the two.