Calorie intake is mind numbing! Advice please!

ryanr1872

So been back at the gym and really cleaned up the diet and really focused, problem I have is how to work out how many calories I should be eating. My goal is to drop body fat and add on lean muscle but working out my macros is all dependent on weight!

6ft 2inch
14 st 5lbs
37 year old

My weight hasn't shifted in 4 weeks even though I have been weight lifting and cardio, cleaned up the diet and also cut out the booze

Been targeting 3000 calories as per the calculator to lose 1lb per week but really struggling to hit that as I'm eating pretty much clean foods, probably hitting 2500-2700 per day but again my weight ain't moving

Also need to work out protein, carbs and fat ratio as it doesn't help on the app when trying to build muscle

Any advice would be much appreciated

Danp

ryanr1872 wrote: »

So been back at the gym and really cleaned up the diet and really focused, problem I have is how to work out how many calories I should be eating. My goal is to drop body fat and add on lean muscle but working out my macros is all dependent on weight!

6ft 2inch
14 st 5lbs
37 year old

My weight hasn't shifted in 4 weeks even though I have been weight lifting and cardio, cleaned up the diet and also cut out the booze

Been targeting 3000 calories as per the calculator to lose 1lb per week but really struggling to hit that as I'm eating pretty much clean foods, probably hitting 2500-2700 per day but again my weight ain't moving

Also need to work out protein, carbs and fat ratio as it doesn't help on the app when trying to build muscle

Any advice would be much appreciated

4 weeks may be slightly short of a time period. Usually you want to give it 6-8 weeks to get a clear picture of what's going on, but that said...

If you're weight isn't going down then you're eating at maintenance. Doesn't matter how much lifting or cardio you do. Doesn't matter how 'clean' your diet is or how much booze you drink. If you're not losing weight, you're not in a calorie deficit.

What activity level did you choose because 3500cal/day seems like a VERY high maintenance target.

Duck_Puddle

Probably hitting 2500-2700? Are you logging your food? Do you know for sure you’re eating 2500-2700?

Whether or not you lose weight is about how many calories you eat (compared to how many you burn).

I agree that a TDEE of 3500 seems quite high.

How much are you looking to lose?

freda666

ryanr1872 wrote: »

So been back at the gym and really cleaned up the diet and really focused, problem I have is how to work out how many calories I should be eating. My goal is to drop body fat and add on lean muscle but working out my macros is all dependent on weight!

6ft 2inch
14 st 5lbs
37 year old

My weight hasn't shifted in 4 weeks even though I have been weight lifting and cardio, cleaned up the diet and also cut out the booze

Been targeting 3000 calories as per the calculator to lose 1lb per week but really struggling to hit that as I'm eating pretty much clean foods, probably hitting 2500-2700 per day but again my weight ain't moving

Also need to work out protein, carbs and fat ratio as it doesn't help on the app when trying to build muscle

Any advice would be much appreciated

A quick and dirty drop of your stats into a calorie calculator says someone of your sex, age and size who exercises moderately 4 or 5 times a week should eat 2,793 calories to maintain - which is probably why your weight is maintaining,

To lose a pound a week, it says to eat 2,293 a day.

ryanr1872

Cheers for the replies,

The thing is, all these calculators tell me I'm overweight, im pretty skinny but a lot of excess fat round the midriff due to years of neglect!

I'm basically trying to lose some fat and put on some muscle, all these goals only target weight though.

My head is fried with it all

ryanr1872

Or better still, I think what I'm basically asking is, if I was to eat in a slight deficit would I still put on muscle whilst losing some fat!

Pipsqueak1965

If you eat roughly at maintenance or just under and work out hard, you can build some muscle and lose fat. ITs called recomp and is a slow process. And what they all say - about 2700 is probably around your maintenance, unless you have a job that is incredible active/physical.