Eating in surpluses and deficit help

Options
kazane1
kazane1 Posts: 264 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all I’m 27 and I’m 5ft 5 weighing in at 128lb and I have worked out that my daily calorie maintenance level is 2,600. How every because I’m body building and trying to put on weight I’ve been eating in a surplus for quite some time now eating at 2,850 calories but my weight seems to have platued so I’m going to be putting my calories up to 3,100 and hopefully continue to make gains and gain weight that way, but my question is this if I was eating at 3,100 calories and I wanted to then eat in a deficit for a week how would I work that out would I take away 250 calories from my new 3,100 calorie surplus or should I take 250 calories of my calorie maintenance level and start eating right down to 2,350 calories for a week?
Thanks all

Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    edited February 2018
    Options
    If you want to be in a deficit, that needs to come off maintenance... Determine maintenance at your current weight, not your original weight. (or the data you've collected yourself if you have enough to calculate a more accurate maintenance calorie goal)
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Options
    A deficit or surplus is in relation to your maintenance number. The estimating you did had that at 2600, but actual results suggest it might be 2850. So minimally you'd want to be 250 cals below your observed maintenance (2850), which would mean 2600 cals per day for that deficit week.

    However, as you've seen, this is all just estimating. You'll have to monitor things for yourself, and if 2600 isn't a deficit for you, you'll have to drop a little lower.
  • kazane1
    kazane1 Posts: 264 Member
    edited February 2018
    Options
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    If you want to be in a deficit, that needs to come off maintenance... Determine maintenance at your current weight, not your original weight. (or the data you've collected yourself if you have enough to calculate a more accurate maintenance calorie goal)

    Okay thank you, so my current maintenance level is 2850 so my new deficit will be 2,600 and my new surplus will be 3,100? Thanks a bunch.
  • kazane1
    kazane1 Posts: 264 Member
    Options
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    A deficit or surplus is in relation to your maintenance number. The estimating you did had that at 2600, but actual results suggest it might be 2850. So minimally you'd want to be 250 cals below your observed maintenance (2850), which would mean 2600 cals per day for that deficit week.

    However, as you've seen, this is all just estimating. You'll have to monitor things for yourself, and if 2600 isn't a deficit for you, you'll have to drop a little lower.

    Ahh awesome thanks a bunch I’ve learnt something new here today. :)

Categories