How many calories should I be eating?

clemsontyger
clemsontyger Posts: 167
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I am 38, I am 6'2", I weigh about 180 lbs. I am relatively fit. I have about 10 lbs or so of fat I would like to lose and I would like to convert that to muscle. I really don't want to lose weight overall. I just want to change my body composition.

I am working out 60 minutes a day 6 days a week. I am doing about 2/3 of that as weight lifting with free weights and the other 1/3 as cardio.

Knowing all of that, what kind of diet should I be shooting for? I did P90X last year and that had me in the 2,400 calorie range. Does that sound about right to you guys? Any specifics on how that should be broken down by carbs, fat etc?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Replies

  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
    No real suggestion on the breakdown, though if you are going to do P90x and looking to build muscle, up the protein and down the carbs - what % works for you you sort of have to figure out.

    I am set to maintenance and what MFP has is spot on (i recently got a BodyMedia Fit which logs your cal burn 24/7, and it matched MFP counts nearly perfectly. Granted 10% +/- margin of error, but we're talking really close).

    I'd eat at maintenance and concentrate on building muscle. The fat will go on it's own when you do that if you really "bring it".

    Key point though, when setting your cal goal, be sure you set your activity level accurately. If you set to really active, then you would not log your activities or your workouts (at least not, eat back those calories, they are already accounted for) but if you set it to somewhat active or sedentary then you will want to log your workouts and eat more on workout days.
  • bionicdiver
    bionicdiver Posts: 198 Member
    I am 38, I am 6'2", I weigh about 180 lbs. I am relatively fit. I have about 10 lbs or so of fat I would like to lose and I would like to convert that to muscle. I really don't want to lose weight overall. I just want to change my body composition.

    I am working out 60 minutes a day 6 days a week. I am doing about 2/3 of that as weight lifting with free weights and the other 1/3 as cardio.

    Knowing all of that, what kind of diet should I be shooting for? I did P90X last year and that had me in the 2,400 calorie range. Does that sound about right to you guys? Any specifics on how that should be broken down by carbs, fat etc?

    Thanks in advance for the help.

    Your calorie intake will depend upon what your goals are. Are you looking to maintain, bulk up, or cut body fat?

    Also, you can't convert fat into muscle. You have to burn off the fat and add muscle. It is hard to do both at the same time, although it can be done, slowly.

    If you were doing P90X at 2400 calories, you were probably losing weight. As I understand, P90X burns a lot of calories.
    This site can help you determine your calorie intake. Try to set your goals and it will give you a good idea of what your maintenance caloreis should be. Once you know that, you will be able to determine how many more calories you need to add or take away, depending on your goals.

    As a general rule of thumb, you want to maintain your macronutrient percentages in the following ranges:
    Protein: 30-40% (4 calories per g)
    Carbs: 40-60% (4 calories per g)
    Fat: 20-30% (9 calories per g)

    Hope this helps.
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