NROL and calories

jrditt

What are you all doing for daily calories? The book recommends that I eat around 1800 and 2000 so I've just been trying to eat more but I know i need to keep track of it. I've gained a couple of pounds and I am trying not to let it get to me. I'd really like to know what everyone else is doing.

Thanks!

Devonanne

I've just been using my HRM and eating the calories back like I do with cardio. I know HRMs aren't very accurate for strength training, but it gives me a way to track it and in the end it usually ends up meaning I eat around 1800 calories, so I'm just goin to stick with that for now.

Nelski

In the past I would have eaten more than this, but I'm following the idea of the Spike Diet now. Eating low 6 days out of the week and having one spike day of high calories. So, I'm trying to eat around 1400 on lifting days, 1200 the other days. Spike day should be around 3000 but I could easily go over that but don't want to too much.

amysj303

I wanted to start following the NROL calorie guide but I am worried about eating 1800 cals on rest days! I just wanted to hear from others and see if anyone had tried it for a month and what was the result?

meshashesha2012

based on my results from the first timei did new rules im not following the calorie guidelines. im 70# overweight and really want to lose weight thus time. the last time i did gain lots of muscle but nothing really changed weight wise or size wise (i guess i should also say that i wasn't a newbie to heavy weights either).

so this time around im eating at a deficit on a daily basis. i generally eat 300-600 calorie deficit.
this doesn't hinder me doing the program though. i'm still gaining strrngth and progressing, but i'm probably not gaining any new muscle since i'm eating at a deficit.

mes1119

I'm getting ready to start so I'm very curious. I was planning on eating about 1700-1800 calories a day. I calculated my TDEE and BMR and it seems like a decent number for me, but then again, I don't know....

Leahnh

MFP suggested 1200 for me and NROLW suggest over 1860 so I split the diffrence and eat approx. 14500... I've been doing this about two weeks and the first week I gained 1 pound and the second week I lost two.

lizard053

I think the suggested diet doesn't take into account the exercise you're doing. So you can net quite a bit less on workout days. Though I'm nervous about doing it, as I gain, even if it's a workout day, if I eat that much usually.

amysj303

I would like to hear from women who are doing this-are you really losing body fat? or is your goal not to lose weight, but to gain muscle and then lose fat later in a sort of "cutting phase"?
I am ok with my current weight, but I would like to be more toned and reveal abs if possible.
Anyone else in the same boat? Did you gain at first-muscle and fat? I just think it seems counter-intuitive that you could eat at a surplus and gain muscle while losing fat.

niandralades

I'm eating what MFP suggests as maintenance, changed macronutrient ratios to 40-40-30, I always at least TRY to eat back what I burn and to always eat above 100 g protein/day. That way I should be losing fat and still keep metabolism, mood and energy to work out, which is much more important to me than a number on the scale, since I'm not at an unhealthy weight and like my bodyshape. I don't own a scale, but I sometimes borrow one that can estimate bodyfat%. I've only done this program for less than a month and my weigth has been about the same but fat% has gone down a bit and though it's hard to tell this early I feel like I can see small changes in the mirror. Abs and quads seem just a bit more visible than before.

pgr22

That's the same issue i'm having. I've been following MFP and doing the 1230 but this week i am trying 1470. I think that is a safe number to start with. I'm so hoping i don' see a gain, but to be honest i have days where i eat over that amount and my calories that i burned off amount so i think this number will keep me ok

pgr22

bump

MMarvelous

I have been trying to figure this out too. I am doing the fat2fitradio.com suggested from my current weight and for my GW. Since I workout 6-7 days a week it recommends 2475 calories. I was at 2200 calories and I would go over some but I was losing around .4 lbs a week. I burn from 250 calories to 1000 calories a day working out so I will see how increasing my calories to 2500 works out for me. I did the 2200 for about 6 weeks and will try 2500 for 6 weeks as well. WISH US LUCK! lol

juliagulia624

I am on Phase 4 but I skipped phase 1 completely so Im technically on my 3rd phase. I eat at a deficit still and I have definitely lost fat and gained a little muscle and a good bit of strength. My BMR is 1450 and TDEE is around 2200. I am already at a reasonably low body fat ( I am 5'10 and weigh 137) I dont like stating body fat % because it can vary BIG TIME depending on the way it is taken. Alot of people on here state body fats that are pretty low for their weight and the way the look bc the method was very innacurate. For example when I had a 7 site skin caliper test done I was 22% and when I held that thing at the gym I ws 16%. For the record while I have low body fat, 16% is more like those fitness models/body competitors. Wow I have gotten off point. Back to calories/results.

Since starting about 10 weeks ago I have lost about 4 pounds but it looks like alot more bc I have added muscle. I did this eating about 1300-1750 calories a day. These are not net cals, just total cals.According to my TDEE and BF% I should be eating at a smaller deficit closer to the 1800 but I only do that a few times a week. I dont neccesarily eat more on lifting days I just eat according to appetite. I have also been doing cardio on the days in between lifting ( tues and thurs) once HIIT for 30 min or so and once a spin class or 45-60 min run.

I am about to experiment with my calories and try to focus on net calories and eat at least 1400 net. In the past when I did cardio days I would only net maybe 1000. Alot of the threads here say you can eat more and still lose weight. If thats the case, more food is always welcome! I will update in a few weeks if the higher calories helped or hindered fat loss.