Calorie Increase

pschmidt909
pschmidt909 Posts: 3
edited February 28 in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm new here and recently new to cross fit. I am 6'3" 262…and endomorphic. When working with trainers in the past, I have always put on muscle easily, but also carry flab easily as well. That being said, I have tried working out while dieting and reducing calories, which apparently is just the opposite of what I should be doing.

I am now being instructed to eat about 3000 calories a day. My current body fat is 24.2%. I'm not concerned about the "number" of my weight…at 6'3" I'm a big framed guy and I want to be a muscular 6'3" guy, but defined and tone. I do cross fit three times a week and on my off days, do either cardio and abs, or swim.

If I can get down to 240 and be muscular at 240, I'll be happy. My concern or rather question….is that I've never ate 3000 calories a day in my life. For those of you out there….can you eat that many calories (obviously not junk food of course) and still lose weight and get lean?

Thanks.

P

Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Yes you can eat 3000 calories a day, even junk food, and get lean provided you are burning sufficient calories to be at a deficit.
  • pschmidt909
    pschmidt909 Posts: 3
    Aaron thanks for the reply. I'm a tad confused on the deficit idea…I have to burn more than I consume? or I have to consume more than I burn? My cross fit sessions eat up about 1000-1100 calories. I know thats probably a remedial question, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be on the deficit side of.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Keep in mind that most of your calorie burn for the day comes from just being alive. If you are a 41 year old 6'3 man who weighs 262 pounds then just by being alive your body burns 2,380 calories. That would be how much you would burn if you stayed in bed all day long.

    If you got out of bed and stood up and did normal daily activity your body would require about 2,900 calories just to maintain your weight.

    If on top of that you exercise then that burn gets added to THAT. What that means is if you burn 600 calories during your cross fit routinue that is 600 calories added to the 2900 calories you need for just being you and so you require 3500 calories in a day. If you eat 3000 calories then you have a deficit of 500 calories. If you burn 1100 calories (which sounds high to me) then that would mean your body would require 4000 calories per day and if you gave it only 3000 that would be a deficit of 1000 per day.

    A daily deficit of 500 calories means you should expect to lose 1 pound of fat per week which is a pretty fast weight loss. A daily deficit of 1000 calories means you should expect to lose 2 pounds of fat per week which is extreme.

    So yes for you 3000 calories a day is a recipe for weight loss given your exercise.

    Here is a calculator for you to play with for your calorie requirements.

    http://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

    In my experience talking with others I think people assuming a number like 3000 is this huge number but honestly they think that because the only time they tried calorie counting is when they were actively trying to lose weight. When you were putting on that weight up to 262 I bet you were eating a lot more than 3000 calories a day.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Aaron thanks for the reply. I'm a tad confused on the deficit idea…I have to burn more than I consume? or I have to consume more than I burn? My cross fit sessions eat up about 1000-1100 calories. I know thats probably a remedial question, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be on the deficit side of.

    To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). This is the number of calories your body burns in a day. It includes not only the calories you burn through exercise, but also all of the calories you burn in day-to-day activities and the calories your body burns just keeping you alive.

    There are a lot of online calculators to give you an estimate of your TDEE (such as: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/), but keep in mind that it is just an estimate. No one fits into the equation perfectly and you may need to do a little trial and error to find your personal numbers.

    ETA: Aaron types faster than I do! :drinker:
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    There are a lot of online calculators to give you an estimate of your TDEE (such as: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/), but keep in mind that it is just an estimate. No one fits into the equation perfectly and you may need to do a little trial and error to find your personal numbers.

    This. Any of those online calculators is just an estimate and you will have to play with it to figure out what works for you. That said given your size and activity level I believe you probably would lose weight eating at 3000 calories a day. There are women on this site that are much smaller than you that eat 3000 calories.

    Personally I find myself eating about 2200 a day to hit 1.3 pounds lost per week however I am 6' tall, small framed and 166 pounds with likely considerably less muscle mass than you.
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
    Everything aaron said. And youve eaten 3000+ calories a day you were just unaware of it. You will find that when you weigh measure properly its quite easy to eat that amount.
  • accelerashawn
    accelerashawn Posts: 470 Member
    Everything aaron said. And youve eaten 3000+ calories a day you were just unaware of it. You will find that when you weigh measure properly its quite easy to eat that amount.
    This is true. 3000 calories a day is very easy for me with a couple snacks.
  • pschmidt909
    pschmidt909 Posts: 3
    Thanks everyone. I get the concept now. According to the instructor…he said his personal comfort level for me was about 3500 calories, but he started it with 3000. We shall see. I managed to work up a breakfast and a 10am snack both at 500 calories…so I'm seeing it can be done with some planning.

    And yes, the calculator was a great help.

    Thanks again for the input. I'll keep you posted.

    P
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