Diet/Exercise Plan Reviews?

kandell

I'd like to get some input, if you guys would be willing :] I'm going to post my plans for diet/exercise and you guys can rip it apart and give me advice on how to do it better!

My stats:
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 185 lbs

Diet: 1,500 calories
Meal examples:
Breakfast: Oatmeal and an apple
Lunch: Typically leftovers, with the main focus on portion control
Dinner: Main focus on portion control and lean proteins
Snacks: Nuts/fruit/vegetables

Exercise:
5 days a week, 60 mins a day
30 mins elliptical
20 mins weight training
10 mins elliptical cool-down

Alrighty. Have at it!

TeaBea

Is the 1500 calories gross or net?

What I mean is are you including exercise in the equation? MFP won't include any exercise until you log it....then the calories get added back. You "earn" extra calories.

Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) calories your body would use if you stayed in bed all day are 1676 per 1 calculator. 1500 gross would be really low.

Aaron_K123

Couple questions:

1. Do you mean you net 1500 calories a day after eating back exercise calories or do you mean 1500 calories total.

2. When you do weight lifting every day for 5 days do you do different routines to target different muscle groups or are you doing the same moves day after day after day?

kandell

When I say 1500 calories, that is the limit of what I'll eat, even after exercise. So that won't be the net calories. I don't really plan to eat back exercise calories.

And most likely not the same things every day. Something kind of like:
Monday: Arms
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Core
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Arms

But then rotating every week, so no week is exactly the same.

Aaron_K123

Are you sedentary (desk job, watching TV at home) other than your workouts?

1500 calories gross without eating back from exercise seems rather aggressive, what is your goal weight loss per week? The types of foods you are listing in terms of macros sound good although they are generic enough that it is hard to tell. What is your typical breakdown of macros? Like I eat 40% calories from protein, 40% from carbs and 20% from fats generally.

I think your exercise routine sounds solid if by "arms" you mean upper-body and are including moves for chest and back as well. I just wanted to make sure you weren't hammering the same muscles every day because that would be not a good plan and it looks like you aren't.

kandell

Yeah, I mean upper body >.<

I do have a desk job, so I'm on my butt most of the day. I'm hoping to lose 2 pounds a week.

Aaron_K123

Yeah, I mean upper body >.<

I do have a desk job, so I'm on my butt most of the day. I'm hoping to lose 2 pounds a week.

Well 2 pounds a week would explain your aggressive calorie goal. Do you have more than 40 pounds to lose? If not then you might want to dial that back and even if you do have that much to lose I would gradually increase those calories you take in over time and not stick to something that aggressive long term.

How long have you been doing this? How is your energy level throught the day and during your workout? Are you making strength/cardio gains?

Aaron_K123

Basic rule of thumb is you don't want to net calorically under your BMR long term. At 5'10 and 185 pounds and 23 years old I am am getting your BMR is around 1650.

Add on that probably 300 calories for your exercise and 300 calories for you to be moving around during the day and I get that your TDEE is about 2200.

Another rule of thumb is to go no more than 20% below your TDEE which would be 1760 calories a day total (not net) which is pretty much what you would be at if you ate back your exercise calories from a 1500 cal goal.

So yeah at 1500 calories gross is pretty darn low and you might find that that is not very sustainable long term nor particularly healthy. If you want to do that for a little bit okay but I'd look into upping those calories a bit.

I'd also check your macros for your diet, make sure you are getting enough protein which would be around 1 gram of protein per pound of your lean mass (your weight without any fat on you). This is likely going to be something like 120 grams if I was to guess.

kandell

I haven't yet started the planned workout. I've been doing sort of a warm up to that. I typically don't get that hungry during the day, even if I have exercised. My problem is I see what time it is and automatically tell myself it's time to eat, regardless of whether or not I'm hungry.

If I find myself really hungry or really sluggish after trying this plan for a few weeks, I may start eating back some calories after my work outs. But I'd like to stay as close to the original plan as possible.

I also am hoping to eat primarily lean proteins, fruits and veggies. I'd like to cut down on my carbs quite a bit.

Aaron_K123

I haven't yet started the planned workout. I've been doing sort of a warm up to that. I typically don't get that hungry during the day, even if I have exercised. My problem is I see what time it is and automatically tell myself it's time to eat, regardless of whether or not I'm hungry.

If I find myself really hungry or really sluggish after trying this plan for a few weeks, I may start eating back some calories after my work outs. But I'd like to stay as close to the original plan as possible.

I also am hoping to eat primarily lean proteins, fruits and veggies. I'd like to cut down on my carbs quite a bit.

Hunger is actually not that good of an indicator of whether or not you are getting sufficient nutrients and energy believe it or not. Appetite is a tricky thing.

What will clue you in though is your workout. If you stick to that religiously and find you have plenty of energy to go from beginning to end AND week to week you feel stronger or like your heart is no longer beating out of your chest then yeah you are probably doing okay. If, however, you struggle to get through your workout or you aren't making much strength gains or you feel demotivated or lethargic then time to up your calories. My guess is if you gross 1500 and try to do that workout schedule you will maybe keep it up for a month but then start to burn out a bit.

Eating more protein plus doing a little weight training will help you keep your muscle around while you lose the fat but if you go to aggressive with your caloric restriction you will end up losing some muscle anyways, another thing to keep in mind.

Ultimately though calculators and the opinions of others are just guesses right. I would suggest you set up a plan and you stick with that plan solidly for a couple of months doing your darndest to listen to your body. Be honest with yourself, if you find yourself tired or struggling with your workout you probably need to eat more. This isn't a race, you want to get lean and healthy with a good looking bod yeah (I assume). That might take some time but you will be much happier if you do it right and take it slow rather than try to race for the finish line and end up losing a lot of muscle too.

Also carbs are going to be your primary energy source to get through those workouts so you can certainly cut down on your carbs but do not cut them out, you need them. I would not go below 30% of your caloric intake from carbs and even that is going to make you struggle a bit I think. Better to eat more carbs and have a strong workout I'd say.

kandell

I'll keep that all in mind :] Thank you so much for your input!! I will definitely consider eating more calories, I'd just like to try with 1500 for starters and see how that goes.

Again, thank you! ^^

Aaron_K123

That was a long post to say a simple thing.

Food is fuel, it isn't your enemy. Don't think of food as something to avoid or you will build a pretty negative relationship with it. Find out how much food it takes you to get through the day AND your workout with plenty of energy and go with that. It will take some experimentation but my guess is that number is going to be higher than 1500 gross.

Aaron_K123

I'll keep that all in mind :] Thank you so much for your input!! I will definitely consider eating more calories, I'd just like to try with 1500 for starters and see how that goes.

Again, thank you! ^^

Sure. Just listen to your body and be honest about what it is telling you. If you find that 1500 calories isn't allowing you to have full energy, feel better and rock your workout then don't be afraid to eat more.

Good luck to you and feel free to keep in touch.

kandell

Yeah, I just don't want to go too high with my calories and end up not losing any weight. I mean, losing fat and toning up would be great, but I do want to see the number on the scale go down along with measurements.

Aaron_K123

You'd have to be eating at least 2200 calories to not lose weight. Be careful of the scale snd keep in mind even if you are losing a lot of fat it can take months before it's obvious from your scale weight. Doing regular workouts with lifting your body will retain more water which can hide the fat loss from you. Trust changes in scale weight only on timescales of months or you are setting yourself up for discouragement.