Spinning my wheels determining calorie consumption

datsundriver87

so about a month and a half ago I changed my lifestyle regimen and I still can't wrap my head around exactly what I should be doing. I've lost weight... 85 pounds in 9 months to be exact, I know I could continue to lose weight as a number with no issues, but now I am looking to burn fat and not muscle, I'm happy with my physical weight as a number 194), but I am looking to shred fat and gain muscle. I've done allot of research and the consensus is you can't do both because of your calorie surplus/deficit, I understand that concept and am not looking to bulk up drastically, just don't want to continue to loose muscle like I have the last 9 months. One person says I need to eat in a surplus to keep muscle, Than another says just eat exactly how I've done (low calorie not really concerned with macros), than another says I can eat all the food I want as long as it's protein. In the last week I've started consistently drinking two protein shakes a day because I do not get my recommended protein intake daily, but still stay around 2200-2500 calories on average, am I wasting my time going to the gym eating a deficit? Are the 450 calories of protein shakes I'm drinking daily just prolonging my fat loss? FYI my tdee in general is usually above 2500, the actual range of it is a whole different topic

3dogsrunning

datsundriver87 wrote: »

so about a month and a half ago I changed my lifestyle regimen and I still can't wrap my head around exactly what I should be doing. I've lost weight... 85 pounds in 9 months to be exact, I know I could continue to lose weight as a number with no issues, but now I am looking to burn fat and not muscle, I'm happy with my physical weight as a number 194), but I am looking to shred fat and gain muscle. I've done allot of research and the consensus is you can't do both because of your calorie surplus/deficit, I understand that concept and am not looking to bulk up drastically, just don't want to continue to loose muscle like I have the last 9 months. One person says I need to eat in a surplus to keep muscle, Than another says just eat exactly how I've done (low calorie not really concerned with macros), than another says I can eat all the food I want as long as it's protein. In the last week I've started consistently drinking two protein shakes a day because I do not get my recommended protein intake daily, but still stay around 2200-2500 calories on average, am I wasting my time going to the gym eating a deficit? Are the 450 calories of protein shakes I'm drinking daily just prolonging my fat loss? FYI my tdee in general is usually above 2500, the actual range of it is a whole different topic

1. You can eat at maintaince or just under maintainance and lift. You can lose fat and maintain muscle, maybe add a bit. It is very slow.
2. You don't need to eat at a surplus to keep muscle. You need to eat at a surplus to add any appreciable amount muscle.
3. Low calories not paying attention to macros is the least effective way to maintain muscle. You won't add muscle that way.
4. You cannot eat whatever you want as long as it is protein. Calories in/out still matter.
5. Protein shakes are not slowing your fat loss. You fat loss would be slowed by overall calorie intake.

Fat loss comes down to calories in/calories out. Body composition comes down to macros.
If you are happy with your weight and want to work on body composition I would be looking at eating a slight deficit with a focus on macros and lift. Lower your bodyfat to where you are happy, then if you want to add muscle, look at doing a bulk.

datsundriver87

Thank you very much for the reply, this was basically what I figured but had heard so many different ideals I wanted reassurance. Eating a small deficit and doing both cardio and weight lifting will be the route I go for the time being, and I definitely need to start paying more attention to macros.
Time for body recomp

AnvilHead

datsundriver87 wrote: »

Thank you very much for the reply, this was basically what I figured but had heard so many different ideals I wanted reassurance. Eating a small deficit and doing both cardio and weight lifting will be the route I go for the time being, and I definitely need to start paying more attention to macros.
Time for body recomp

Read this thread to help you out with your macros: Setting Your Calorie and Macro Targets.

Protein intake (along with resistance training) is important to help maintain your lean body mass (in a caloric deficit) or increase it (in a caloric surplus). A recomp will work (eating at maintenance while training), but know going in that it's a slow, inefficient process. You're trying to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, which is kinda like driving to the store by going 200 yards forward and 180 yards in reverse over and over - you'll get there eventually, but it definitely wasn't the quickest way.

The recommendations I've seen are to cut until you're between 10-15% bodyfat, then bulk to about 20% and start cutting again. Repeat until you're satisfied with where you end up. If you bulk at higher bodyfat percentages, it has a negative effect upon calorie partitioning (you're more primed to put on fat than muscle, making the bulk less efficient and the ensuing cut even harder).