Minimum Calorie Requirement? Why?

rachelblesso

It is all going to depend on your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which is how many calories you burn each day just going through the motions. Try googling "TDEE Calc" and use that. Once you have that, breakdown your diet by what percent you want to be protein/carbs/fats and work from there!

Keep in mind. More calories in than out, gain weight. More calories out than in, lose weight. (generally speaking)

crzycatlady1

cthakkar1985 wrote: »

I've seen recommendations of 1 gram/pound of lean body mass. My LBM is 140lb so I have my macros at 150g protein, 50g carbs (mostlly from veggies/some fruit), 45g fat which would put me at ~1,200 calories/day. This is on days where I'm not lifting. Days that I'm lifting (3-4 days/week), I'm eating 1,800 calories with more carbs. Basically, I'm carb cycling. This seems to work for me, but I'm hesitant to continue given what the general consensus seems to be i.e. starvation mode, etc.

If you're actually doing this then you need to look at weekly averages, not daily. Many of us here do this in some form or another (calorie cycling). I eat fewer calories during the week and then higher calories during the weekend, for example. Also make sure your weight loss goal is not too aggressive (and unless you're obese, 2lbs a week is). The goal is to be successful long term, and working towards unrealistic goals is only going to lead to burn out, which will lead to failure. .5-1lb a week is a more sustainable approach.