Am I eating too many calories?

bnmoyler

So I’m in that place where I’m trying to build a little muscle and shed fat simultaneously. I burn an average of 5000-6000 calories per week. I eat anywhere from 1800-2300 per day. Am
I in the proper range? I know this will vary depending on the person but I’m just looking for a general range.

L1zardQueen

Are you losing weight or has your weight been stable?

Fflpnari

A deficit of 5000-6000 a week?

sardelsa

Are you maintaining your weight right now? It really depends on your stats and activity level.

TavistockToad

bnmoyler wrote: »

So I’m in that place where I’m trying to build a little muscle and shed fat simultaneously. I burn an average of 5000-6000 calories per week. I eat anywhere from 1800-2300 per day. Am
I in the proper range? I know this will vary depending on the person but I’m just looking for a general range.

general range of what?

you should be at maintenance if you're doing recomp.

sijomial

Asking for a calorie guide without giving context doesn't work - if I asked you if 3,300 cals a day is right for me I'm sure you would want to know something about me.
The range of people I know goes from 4'8 to 6'7 height and sedentary to highly active and their calorie needs are poles apart.

Are you trying to maintain weight or lose weight slowly?

How long have you been eating at your current level and what has your weight done?

Are you saying you burn 5000 - 6000 cals in exercise per week? If yes, what exercise, duration and how are you estimating those calories?

bnmoyler

L1zardQueen wrote: »

Are you losing weight or has your weight been stable?

I’ve gained muscle but I’ve lost fat. My clothes still fit the same even though the numbers on the scale is a little more.

bnmoyler

Fflpnari wrote: »

A deficit of 5000-6000 a week?

Yes. My goal is 1000 per day which usually takes about two hours. I do that 6 days per week, and then I do something light once per week.

TavistockToad

bnmoyler wrote: »

Fflpnari wrote: »

A deficit of 5000-6000 a week?

Yes. My goal is 1000 per day which usually takes about two hours. I do that 6 days per week, and then I do something light once per week.

what workouts are you doing to burn 1000 cals?

bnmoyler

sardelsa wrote: »

Are you maintaining your weight right now? It really depends on your stats and activity level.

I’m very active. I generally workout two hours per day six days per week. My weight has slowly increased over the past year but so has the muscle mass it’s really hard to say. I’m not looking to really build that much more muscle but continue to shred more fat. The fat is going; but very slowly. With the 10 lbs increase, my clothes still fit the same.

bnmoyler

TavistockToad wrote: »

bnmoyler wrote: »

So I’m in that place where I’m trying to build a little muscle and shed fat simultaneously. I burn an average of 5000-6000 calories per week. I eat anywhere from 1800-2300 per day. Am
I in the proper range? I know this will vary depending on the person but I’m just looking for a general range.

general range of what?

you should be at maintenance if you're doing recomp.

Ok so that seems to be about right. At first I was just focused on losing weight but when I got to my goal, I did not look very good. So I saw a trainer and he told me that I needed to start lifting to tone and shape. I didn’t want to get bulky, so I started doing bodypump. And it really did work. I gained about 10-12 lbs of muscle and started shredding fat. It’s hard to measure because it’s like I’m bigger and smaller at the same time. I generally do pump 5-6 days per week, combat 5 days per week, and grit twice per week. Then sometimes I swap those out for running days. I just feel like I’m at an awkward phase. I’m not sure where to go from here.

bnmoyler

sijomial wrote: »

Asking for a calorie guide without giving context doesn't work - if I asked you if 3,300 cals a day is right for me I'm sure you would want to know something about me.
The range of people I know goes from 4'8 to 6'7 height and sedentary to highly active and their calorie needs are poles apart.

Are you trying to maintain weight or lose weight slowly?

How long have you been eating at your current level and what has your weight done?

Are you saying you burn 5000 - 6000 cals in exercise per week? If yes, what exercise, duration and how are you estimating those calories?

So I’m about 5’5. I initially went from 225 to 138 and I did not look very good. I did not look like my goal weight and was very flabby looking. A trainer recommended that I started to do some type of weight training so I joined a gym and started doing bodypump. Over the past couple years, I have definitely morphed. I look much more shapely and have put in about 10-12lbs of solid muscle however my clothes still mostly fit the same. I can see the fat has diminished greatly.

Right now, I would have to say that I would like to lose more fat but I don’t want to lose the muscle I’ve built. In fact, I would like to build a little more; just a little.

Sometimes things are hard for me to determine but I have loads of lose skin. It’s really not bouncing back. However, over the past couple years, it has somewhat improved.

My activity level has almost doubled since March and that’s when the calories really started to come up because I really to fuel. I really don’t feel very good unless I’m eating at least 2000 calories per day but 2300 has been preferable. I went from severe calorie crunching over the years to now just making sure I’m fueled properly so I can continue my activity level.

I just want to make sure I’m not shooting myself in the foot so to speak. I want to be fit. Less fat, a little more muscle. But I don’t want to end up in a vicious cycle where I’m just eating to maintain my workouts.

Recomp is interesting. It’s taken me a little while to wrap my head around the transformation I’m seeing. It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s better than where I was.

bnmoyler

TavistockToad wrote: »

bnmoyler wrote: »

Fflpnari wrote: »

A deficit of 5000-6000 a week?

Yes. My goal is 1000 per day which usually takes about two hours. I do that 6 days per week, and then I do something light once per week.

what workouts are you doing to burn 1000 cals?

So I’ll either go straight from combat to pump of either running to pump. I find that intense cardio prior to pump gives me a greater burn since my heart rate is already up.

firef1y72

bnmoyler wrote: »

So I’m in that place where I’m trying to build a little muscle and shed fat simultaneously. I burn an average of 5000-6000 calories per week. I eat anywhere from 1800-2300 per day. Am
I in the proper range? I know this will vary depending on the person but I’m just looking for a general range.

It's all subjective, for me 2300 Calories isn't enough on at least 4 days a week. I have a base of 1300 and then add anything up to 2000 (and very occasionally more) depending on what classes and other training I do and how far I've run that in the last couple days (I run long distances and can't always eat the calories in the day)

Cassandraw3

bnmoyler wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Asking for a calorie guide without giving context doesn't work - if I asked you if 3,300 cals a day is right for me I'm sure you would want to know something about me.
The range of people I know goes from 4'8 to 6'7 height and sedentary to highly active and their calorie needs are poles apart.

Are you trying to maintain weight or lose weight slowly?

How long have you been eating at your current level and what has your weight done?

Are you saying you burn 5000 - 6000 cals in exercise per week? If yes, what exercise, duration and how are you estimating those calories?

So I’m about 5’5. I initially went from 225 to 138 and I did not look very good. I did not look like my goal weight and was very flabby looking. A trainer recommended that I started to do some type of weight training so I joined a gym and started doing bodypump. Over the past couple years, I have definitely morphed. I look much more shapely and have put in about 10-12lbs of solid muscle however my clothes still mostly fit the same. I can see the fat has diminished greatly.

Right now, I would have to say that I would like to lose more fat but I don’t want to lose the muscle I’ve built. In fact, I would like to build a little more; just a little.

Sometimes things are hard for me to determine but I have loads of lose skin. It’s really not bouncing back. However, over the past couple years, it has somewhat improved.

My activity level has almost doubled since March and that’s when the calories really started to come up because I really to fuel. I really don’t feel very good unless I’m eating at least 2000 calories per day but 2300 has been preferable. I went from severe calorie crunching over the years to now just making sure I’m fueled properly so I can continue my activity level.

I just want to make sure I’m not shooting myself in the foot so to speak. I want to be fit. Less fat, a little more muscle. But I don’t want to end up in a vicious cycle where I’m just eating to maintain my workouts.

Recomp is interesting. It’s taken me a little while to wrap my head around the transformation I’m seeing. It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s better than where I was.

You are asking if you are in the proper range for calories. Based on you stating you gained ~10 lbs in a year, that means you are eating 100 calories on average per day over your maintenance range. That means you are currently doing a slow bulk.

If you want to maintain your weight (recomp) you need to cut an average of 100 calories per day.

If you want to cut, you will need to cut slightly more than that. Probably 250-350 calories per day to lose .25-.5 lb/week.

sijomial

bnmoyler wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Asking for a calorie guide without giving context doesn't work - if I asked you if 3,300 cals a day is right for me I'm sure you would want to know something about me.
The range of people I know goes from 4'8 to 6'7 height and sedentary to highly active and their calorie needs are poles apart.

Are you trying to maintain weight or lose weight slowly?

How long have you been eating at your current level and what has your weight done?

Are you saying you burn 5000 - 6000 cals in exercise per week? If yes, what exercise, duration and how are you estimating those calories?

So I’m about 5’5. I initially went from 225 to 138 and I did not look very good. I did not look like my goal weight and was very flabby looking. A trainer recommended that I started to do some type of weight training so I joined a gym and started doing bodypump. Over the past couple years, I have definitely morphed. I look much more shapely and have put in about 10-12lbs of solid muscle however my clothes still mostly fit the same. I can see the fat has diminished greatly.

Right now, I would have to say that I would like to lose more fat but I don’t want to lose the muscle I’ve built. In fact, I would like to build a little more; just a little.

Sometimes things are hard for me to determine but I have loads of lose skin. It’s really not bouncing back. However, over the past couple years, it has somewhat improved.

My activity level has almost doubled since March and that’s when the calories really started to come up because I really to fuel. I really don’t feel very good unless I’m eating at least 2000 calories per day but 2300 has been preferable. I went from severe calorie crunching over the years to now just making sure I’m fueled properly so I can continue my activity level.

I just want to make sure I’m not shooting myself in the foot so to speak. I want to be fit. Less fat, a little more muscle. But I don’t want to end up in a vicious cycle where I’m just eating to maintain my workouts.

Recomp is interesting. It’s taken me a little while to wrap my head around the transformation I’m seeing. It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s better than where I was.

If you are gaining weight then you need to adjust your calories down slightly. That 10lbs gained is a calorie surplus whatever type of tissue gained, that's contrary to your goal of losing fat.

Bodypump etc. classes may work at first but you are going to get diminishing returns if you are seeking to add muscle - might be time to reassess your exercise choices. Maybe it's time to do cardio some days and strength/resistance training other days rather than your classes which are really a hybrid of both. To continue building muscle you want progressive overload and high rep / light weight classes aren't optimal.

BTW - don't confuse heartrate with calorie burns, it only sort of works for estimating cardio burns. For circuit training type exercise it's likely very exaggerated.