Losing body fat on a higher calorie diet

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av_2905
av_2905 Posts: 34 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys! Hope everyone's doing well. I need some advice from y'all.

My primary goal ever since I've started losing weight is to lose the belly fat and get a solid six pack. I'm at a stage now that it's almost gone, which is great. My approach to food was to keep a calorie deficit and consume a good amount of protein, and moderate carbs and fat.

Later this year, I've got a a couple of races and marathons coming up, which means I'll be exercising a lot more and I'll also have to eat more as a result. I'll be doing a lot more strength training to go with running, so I won't be losing any muscle. Since there's still some belly fat left to lose, is there a way I can consume a high amount of calories and shed the fat? What's an ideal macro breakdown for such a goal?

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    If you are in a calorie deficit you are going to be losing bodyfat no matter if that's a low or high calorie allowance.

    When I retired from a desk job and my daily activity and cycling volume both went up my calorie allowance also jumped up significantly - but the same maths apply, I simply need to undercut my new far higher maintenance calories to lose weight/lose fat.

    Macros become less important to rigidly control with a higher calorie allowance - it's simply easier to hit your nutritional needs but you do need to consider how you are fuelling your exercise as your volume increases.
    Your macros aren't what drives the loss of bodyfat.
  • veroicam
    veroicam Posts: 1 Member
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    Does one have to meet their calorie deficit to the exact number?

    Or is it okay not to eat as much just as long as you don't go over your calorie deficit?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,674 Member
    edited May 2019
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    veroicam wrote: »
    Does one have to meet their calorie deficit to the exact number?
    Or is it okay not to eat as much just as long as you don't go over your calorie deficit?

    A TARGETED deficit such that, in general and over time, if you keep achieving it, you will lose approximately the targeted amount of weight is already included in your MFP targeted amount of food to eat.

    Going over, under, or around the number MAY have an impact on how much weight you actually lose over a long enough period of time. And the impact depends, in the first place, on how accurate your logging proves to be, and on how accurate MFP's and the various other trackers' assumptions prove to be when it comes to the unique you!

    In general it would make sense to me to aim to eat around my deficit target averaged over a set time frame (say on average over the week).

    Then gauge progress based on my overall weight trend over a long enough period of time (females tend to have hormonal water weight fluctuations over the course of the month so they often need a good 4 to 6 weeks of data before they can see their weight trend underneath the normal weight fluctuations; males and females without such fluctuations, may only need 2-3 weeks of data before they can see how their trend moves).

    Then adjust targets.

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