Calories needed to lose fat NOT MUSCLE

athenadelta
athenadelta Posts: 9
in Food and Nutrition
Hello,

Based on your knowledge/past experiences, what is the MINIMUM caloric intake in one day to lose fat but not muscle? I know it's a balancing thing because I don't want to lose muscle, just fat.

I do full body weight training 3 times a week, and always have skim milk afterwards.
I have at least 450calories of protein one day. I eat mainly vegetables, 2 servings of fruit approx and no carbs.

Would it be wise to include more protein, and less fruit?

I am going on holidays in 20 days, so this is not permanent. After that I will eat more.

1100 calories/day, 5 hours of cardio and 3 hours of weight training a week, + yoga

Would you suggest doing the 5:2 diet?? I am 18, 164cm, 52 kg.

I really don't care how many calories, and how eating that little will be very hard. I'm up for the challenge, just need to know the MINIMUM number of calories.

Thanks!:)

Replies

  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
    Drop the cardio if you want to preserve muscle. You're also going to need to reduce your overall exercise volume if you're going to reduce calories. Increase your protein. If you're really curious look up rapid fat loss diet by lyle McDonald. If I remember, he recommended somewhere around 500-800 calories a day in real food but only from high protein / low fat / carb free sources (chicken/shrimp/cod - change it up). Along with some fish oil supplementation for necessary fatty acids. He uses more precise numbers in the book. He suggests you definitely do not go beyond 10 days with this kind of diet and to take a 3 or 5 day break if you're going for a round 2.

    Overall he doesn't recommend it all.
  • TpocketT60
    TpocketT60 Posts: 44 Member
    Reduce long distance, steady state cardio. But do not drop all cardio out. Lift heavy. Eat at a reasonable caloric deficit. Eat lots of protein. If you want to get a little extreme, consider Intermittent Fasting. Do some research on it and see if it is right for you.
  • stt43
    stt43 Posts: 487
    If you go any lower than a 500 calorie daily deficit you are going to lose muscle.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    There is no way to completely prevent loss of LBM during weight loss but you can minimize it. Set the most conservative deficit your are comfortable with, maybe TDEE - 20% tops, get enough protein, 1 gram per lb of lean body mass and resistance training 3 to 4 times per week.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    If you go any lower than a 500 calorie daily deficit you are going to lose muscle.

    ^^this is just not true. There are too many factors to take into account to make a blanket statement like this.

    That being said, OP, as you only have a few lbs to lose, I would not recommend trying to lose at a greater rate. Get sufficient protein (at lease 1g per lb of LBM) and incorporate a good progressive loading resistance training routine and you will mitigate the risk of muscle loss.
  • LH85DC
    LH85DC Posts: 231 Member
    That being said, OP, as you only have a few lbs to lose, I would not recommend trying to lose at a greater rate. Get sufficient protein (at lease 1g per lb of LBM) and incorporate a good progressive loading resistance training routine and you will mitigate the risk of muscle loss.

    ^^^^This- listen to Sara! She's a great source of information, and gives great advice.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    By pursuing the absolute minimum amount of calories, you're pretty much risking an appreciable loss in lean mass. Instead, you should be interested in consuming the maximum amount of calories if your goal is minimizing loss of lean mass.

    Also, at these stats - 18, 164cm, 52 kg.- why are you wanting to get down to 48 kg? That would actually put you underweight.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    By pursuing the absolute minimum amount of calories, you're pretty much risking an appreciable loss in lean mass. Instead, you should be interested in consuming the maximum amount of calories if your goal is minimizing loss of lean mass.

    Also, at these stats - 18, 164cm, 52 kg.- why are you wanting to get down to 48 kg? That would actually put you underweight.
    .
    That being said, OP, as you only have a few lbs to lose, I would not recommend trying to lose at a greater rate. Get sufficient protein (at lease 1g per lb of LBM) and incorporate a good progressive loading resistance training routine and you will mitigate the risk of muscle loss.

    Listen to these two.

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