Eating in a deficit help
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kazane1
Posts: 264 Member
Hi al, I have been advised to eat in a surplus for 6 weeks and then to cut for a week or two and then to start the cycle again.
My daily calorie maintenance is 2,850 and because I have been eating in a surplus for the past 6 weeks I have been eating at a 3,089 surplus. ( I have recently been told that my calorie surplus level should be at 4,025 and I will be learning about this and trying this soon) and I have been told if you want to eat in a deficit to take 250 calories off your maintenance level but my question is because i am eating at a 3,089 surplus do I take 250 calories off my surplus level equaling at 2,839 for a deficit or do I take 250 calories off my original calorie maintenance level of 2,850 equaling at 2,600 for my deficit.. i have been told lately that my actual calorie maintenance should be at 3,220 and my surplus should be 4,025 it’s just it seems like a really big jump eating in a surplus at say 4,025 and then jumping down to a deficit at 2,970. Or is that right and not too out of the ordinary ?
Thanks all.
My daily calorie maintenance is 2,850 and because I have been eating in a surplus for the past 6 weeks I have been eating at a 3,089 surplus. ( I have recently been told that my calorie surplus level should be at 4,025 and I will be learning about this and trying this soon) and I have been told if you want to eat in a deficit to take 250 calories off your maintenance level but my question is because i am eating at a 3,089 surplus do I take 250 calories off my surplus level equaling at 2,839 for a deficit or do I take 250 calories off my original calorie maintenance level of 2,850 equaling at 2,600 for my deficit.. i have been told lately that my actual calorie maintenance should be at 3,220 and my surplus should be 4,025 it’s just it seems like a really big jump eating in a surplus at say 4,025 and then jumping down to a deficit at 2,970. Or is that right and not too out of the ordinary ?
Thanks all.
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Replies
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If your maintenance is 3220 I'd say start by eating 250 a day above that. How much are you wanting to gain? That 250 extra would help you gain 0.5lb a week.0
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What are your goals, who gave you this advice to run short surpluses like that? I feel like that is a great way to spin your wheels and make very little progress. If you want to gain, running a surplus for at least 4 months or more would be better, then cutting. Or alternatively eating at maintenance and recomping could be an option, again depends on your stats and goals.7
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I saw your thread about the jump in calories, I was confused by all that. And bulking 6 weeks and then cutting sounds odd as well, but I am sure there are reasons why you need to do this???
To being a cut ideally you reverse where you are calorie wise by taking 250 off your current intake to begin a cut cycle. This is .5 lb per week or 1 lb in 2 weeks? 1 pound loss is hardly enough to warrant a cut cycle to being bulking again.
If you could provide some more info that would be helpful.3 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »If your maintenance is 3220 I'd say start by eating 250 a day above that. How much are you wanting to gain? That 250 extra would help you gain 0.5lb a week.
This is the general rule of thumb I was going by and the method I’m using but I have recently been told differently so I have questioned my current methods but thanks for reasssuring me with this.0 -
What are you trying to do?2
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Didn't you last post about not having made significant gains? If that's the case why would you want to cut so soon?5
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In a precious thread I was speaking about not putting on weight even though I’m eating 3,089 and this is a surplus for me and someone responded by saying..
From Arnold Schwarzenegger's "How To gain Muscular Weight and Massiveness", 1975:
(Desired bodyweight x 23) + 25% = Calories needed
Eat additional 500-750 calories on workout days.
To increase weight to 140...
140 x 23 = 3220
3220 x 25% = 805
3220 + 805 = 4025 calories needed on non-workout days
4525 to 4775 calories needed on workout days.
*Since you are only eating just over 3000 calories you will not gain weight.4 -
What are your goals, who gave you this advice to run short surpluses like that? I feel like that is a great way to spin your wheels and make very little progress. If you want to gain, running a surplus for at least 4 months or more would be better, then cutting. Or alternatively eating at maintenance and recomping could be an option, again depends on your stats and goals.
@sardelsa
My goals are to put on weight and to to gain muscle while doing so.
And not too long I payed a personal trainer for a meal plan and a workout plan and to coach for me and that was something involved in his plan for me but it didn’t work out following his plans for me so I quit and have started all my own works and I have been a lot better off since it’s just this was one piece of advice from his plans he made for me I was considering to follow..
But in your opinion it’s advised to stay in a bulk for 4months? How long would you then cut for then in that case ?
Thank you.2 -
I saw your thread about the jump in calories, I was confused by all that. And bulking 6 weeks and then cutting sounds odd as well, but I am sure there are reasons why you need to do this???
To being a cut ideally you reverse where you are calorie wise by taking 250 off your current intake to begin a cut cycle. This is .5 lb per week or 1 lb in 2 weeks? 1 pound loss is hardly enough to warrant a cut cycle to being bulking again.
If you could provide some more info that would be helpful.
@RoxieDawn
Yeah now I think of it like that that seems very right and true.. if you read my above post that describes why I was considering doing it this way.
And okay that helps me understand eating in a deficit now.. so my current intake is 3,089 so my deficit would be 2,839 this means then. Thank you for clearing that up for me.
0 -
In a precious thread I was speaking about not putting on weight even though I’m eating 3,089 and this is a surplus for me and someone responded by saying..
From Arnold Schwarzenegger's "How To gain Muscular Weight and Massiveness", 1975:
(Desired bodyweight x 23) + 25% = Calories needed
Eat additional 500-750 calories on workout days.
To increase weight to 140...
140 x 23 = 3220
3220 x 25% = 805
3220 + 805 = 4025 calories needed on non-workout days
4525 to 4775 calories needed on workout days.
*Since you are only eating just over 3000 calories you will not gain weight.
Unless you're training like Arnie, I wouldn't eat like Arnie...not to mention the juice.
8 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »In a precious thread I was speaking about not putting on weight even though I’m eating 3,089 and this is a surplus for me and someone responded by saying..
From Arnold Schwarzenegger's "How To gain Muscular Weight and Massiveness", 1975:
(Desired bodyweight x 23) + 25% = Calories needed
Eat additional 500-750 calories on workout days.
To increase weight to 140...
140 x 23 = 3220
3220 x 25% = 805
3220 + 805 = 4025 calories needed on non-workout days
4525 to 4775 calories needed on workout days.
*Since you are only eating just over 3000 calories you will not gain weight.
Unless you're training like Arnie, I wouldn't eat like Arnie...not to mention the juice.
Haha yeah good point! This was just a response from someone in a previous thread and it made me wonder.0 -
Bulk means gaining weight. Cut means reducing weight. If you're trying to gain weight and haven't achieved that yet, why are you already planning the date of your weight reduction?
Depending on starting position, I would not add more than 20% to my CURRENT energy needs if I were not at the fat levels one would expect one to be near the bottom of healthy BMI.
In fact i would be tempted to look at an only a 10% to 15% accurately measured surplus if the purpose is just muscle building and I were starting with the fat reserves one would expect to have at BMI 21+
If your are starting from an underweight position I would be going with a 25%+ surplus.
I will defer to the ladies who have posted and who know a heck of a lot more about this though.4 -
In a precious thread I was speaking about not putting on weight even though I’m eating 3,089 and this is a surplus for me and someone responded by saying..
From Arnold Schwarzenegger's "How To gain Muscular Weight and Massiveness", 1975:
(Desired bodyweight x 23) + 25% = Calories needed
Eat additional 500-750 calories on workout days.
To increase weight to 140...
140 x 23 = 3220
3220 x 25% = 805
3220 + 805 = 4025 calories needed on non-workout days
4525 to 4775 calories needed on workout days.
*Since you are only eating just over 3000 calories you will not gain weight.What are your goals, who gave you this advice to run short surpluses like that? I feel like that is a great way to spin your wheels and make very little progress. If you want to gain, running a surplus for at least 4 months or more would be better, then cutting. Or alternatively eating at maintenance and recomping could be an option, again depends on your stats and goals.
@sardelsa
My goals are to put on weight and to to gain muscle while doing so.
And not too long I payed a personal trainer for a meal plan and a workout plan and to coach for me and that was something involved in his plan for me but it didn’t work out following his plans for me so I quit and have started all my own works and I have been a lot better off since it’s just this was one piece of advice from his plans he made for me I was considering to follow..
But in your opinion it’s advised to stay in a bulk for 4months? How long would you then cut for then in that case ?
Thank you.
There is no way you're going to be able to add enough muscle to account for all those extra calories. That is way over maintenance, unless you are engaging in intense cardio most of the time you are awake. You'll be adding far more fat than muscle.1 -
I saw your thread about the jump in calories, I was confused by all that. And bulking 6 weeks and then cutting sounds odd as well, but I am sure there are reasons why you need to do this???
To being a cut ideally you reverse where you are calorie wise by taking 250 off your current intake to begin a cut cycle. This is .5 lb per week or 1 lb in 2 weeks? 1 pound loss is hardly enough to warrant a cut cycle to being bulking again.
If you could provide some more info that would be helpful.
@RoxieDawn
Yeah now I think of it like that that seems very right and true.. if you read my above post that describes why I was considering doing it this way.
And okay that helps me understand eating in a deficit now.. so my current intake is 3,089 so my deficit would be 2,839 this means then. Thank you for clearing that up for me.
The Arnie info is what I saw from your previous thread. And following this is completely unnecessary.
The Arnie info is what I saw from your previous thread. And following this is completely unnecessary.
1) You were not putting on weight at 3089 so this intake is/was not enough. You would bump that up by 200-250 to continue with weight gain, we can stall in gaining just like we do when losing so after a period of time you will need to increase it again.
2) These calculators and calculations for finding TDEE are only good for the beginning which gives you a base line calorie intake to begin. The calculations given to you in your thread are way over kill for you to be eating like that. I know its easy to want to follow a cookie cutter calorie goal given to you by an online calculator, but if you take your current intake and scale weight you can determine your own TDEE, you have been doing this long enough have those data points.
3) What is your weight gain goal? Follow a structured lifting plan and do it for the duration of the plan layout. When you have completed the program you decide the next step based on your goals. You will get the best results by not doing your own program especially your first bulking experience.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p12 -
Bulk means gaining weight. Cut means reducing weight. If you're trying to gain weight and haven't achieved that yet, why are you already planning the date of your weight reduction?
Depending on starting position, I would not add more than 20% to my CURRENT energy needs if I were not at the fat levels one would expect one to be near the bottom of healthy BMI.
In fact i would be tempted to look at an only a 10% to 15% accurately measured surplus if the purpose is just muscle building and I were starting with the fat reserves one would expect to have at BMI 21+
If your are starting from an underweight position I would be going with a 25%+ surplus.
I will defer to the ladies who have posted and who know a heck of a lot more about this though.
Thanks for your advice and yah my BMI is at “21.46” it’s just I’ve been eating in a surplus for 6 weeks now and if I were to follow what my past training coach taught me it was to bulk for 6weeks then cut for 1-2 weeks but reading what people have said about this it probably doesn’t seem like the best idea now.1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »In a precious thread I was speaking about not putting on weight even though I’m eating 3,089 and this is a surplus for me and someone responded by saying..
From Arnold Schwarzenegger's "How To gain Muscular Weight and Massiveness", 1975:
(Desired bodyweight x 23) + 25% = Calories needed
Eat additional 500-750 calories on workout days.
To increase weight to 140...
140 x 23 = 3220
3220 x 25% = 805
3220 + 805 = 4025 calories needed on non-workout days
4525 to 4775 calories needed on workout days.
*Since you are only eating just over 3000 calories you will not gain weight.What are your goals, who gave you this advice to run short surpluses like that? I feel like that is a great way to spin your wheels and make very little progress. If you want to gain, running a surplus for at least 4 months or more would be better, then cutting. Or alternatively eating at maintenance and recomping could be an option, again depends on your stats and goals.
@sardelsa
My goals are to put on weight and to to gain muscle while doing so.
And not too long I payed a personal trainer for a meal plan and a workout plan and to coach for me and that was something involved in his plan for me but it didn’t work out following his plans for me so I quit and have started all my own works and I have been a lot better off since it’s just this was one piece of advice from his plans he made for me I was considering to follow..
But in your opinion it’s advised to stay in a bulk for 4months? How long would you then cut for then in that case ?
Thank you.
There is no way you're going to be able to add enough muscle to account for all those extra calories. That is way over maintenance, unless you are engaging in intense cardio most of the time you are awake. You'll be adding far more fat than muscle.
@lynn_glenmont
Yeah this is what it thought too thanks for reassuring me with this!2 -
Bulk means gaining weight. Cut means reducing weight. If you're trying to gain weight and haven't achieved that yet, why are you already planning the date of your weight reduction?
Depending on starting position, I would not add more than 20% to my CURRENT energy needs if I were not at the fat levels one would expect one to be near the bottom of healthy BMI.
In fact i would be tempted to look at an only a 10% to 15% accurately measured surplus if the purpose is just muscle building and I were starting with the fat reserves one would expect to have at BMI 21+
If your are starting from an underweight position I would be going with a 25%+ surplus.
I will defer to the ladies who have posted and who know a heck of a lot more about this though.
Thanks for your advice and yah my BMI is at “21.46” it’s just I’ve been eating in a surplus for 6 weeks now and if I were to follow what my past training coach taught me it was to bulk for 6weeks then cut for 1-2 weeks but reading what people have said about this it probably doesn’t seem like the best idea now.
How much weight have you gained in those 6 weeks?
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What is the maximum expected muscle gain for a male? 3-5 lbs a month? Of course you won't gain all muscle, but i, personally, would be hesitant to aim for a faster gain than that unless I had pharmaceutical assistance....
The idea is to give you maximum length of time at a surplus to train and grow before having to cut ...1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Bulk means gaining weight. Cut means reducing weight. If you're trying to gain weight and haven't achieved that yet, why are you already planning the date of your weight reduction?
Depending on starting position, I would not add more than 20% to my CURRENT energy needs if I were not at the fat levels one would expect one to be near the bottom of healthy BMI.
In fact i would be tempted to look at an only a 10% to 15% accurately measured surplus if the purpose is just muscle building and I were starting with the fat reserves one would expect to have at BMI 21+
If your are starting from an underweight position I would be going with a 25%+ surplus.
I will defer to the ladies who have posted and who know a heck of a lot more about this though.
Thanks for your advice and yah my BMI is at “21.46” it’s just I’ve been eating in a surplus for 6 weeks now and if I were to follow what my past training coach taught me it was to bulk for 6weeks then cut for 1-2 weeks but reading what people have said about this it probably doesn’t seem like the best idea now.
How much weight have you gained in those 6 weeks?
@TavistockToad
Nothing lol my weight still fluctuates between 9stone and 9stone4. And that is what it was doing at the beginning of the 6 weeks too, sometimes it did actually fall a couple pounds under 9 stone and I haven’t gone under 9 stone in these 6 weeks not once.
So really I would say possibly 2lb’s maximum.0
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