First post on MFP. Trying to lose fat and gain muscle

weedspot wrote: »

Hi!

I have a few questions when it comes to my diet. I’m a 32yo man, 80kgs (176lbs) and 174cm (5’7). My BMR is 1733 and my TDEE is 2388.

I want to lose 1kg (2lbs) a week. Which means I should be at 1388 calories a day. That number seems extremely low. So I settled for a 500cal deficit. So my daily objective is 1888.

My first question is: should I stick with 1888 or try to be at my BMR to lose weight faster ?

How much are you trying to lose? I'm going to guess that it's at least 10kg (which would put you at roughly the top of the normal BMI range), but that's a guess.

A calorie deficit creates physical stress (not health-promoting, considered individually). A bigger deficit creates more stress. Stress is cumulative.

Could your body tolerate 1kg a week for 10+ weeks? Dunno. How is your health generally? Do you have other significant stressors in your life (either physical or psychological, such as a stressful job, a pandemic, a difficult family situation . . . )? How is your nutrition, sleep, physical fitness? (Physical and psychological stressors conspire to create systemic stress - they aren't totally separate.)

OTOH, a severely obese person might be able to lose that fast or faster (more fat reserves, more health-risk urgency to get to a less dangerous body weight. You aren't that person, either. (You're roughly in the middle of the overweight BMI range.)

What others say above is IMO generally true, that for someone who is not severely obese (as you aren't), it's a riskier bet to lose weight fast, especially if there's a meaningful amount of weight to lose. That kind of person is going to be in a deficit for a long-ish time (cumulative stress issue). If someone young, resilient, and generally in a good position stress-wise had like 2-3kg to lose, maybe it wouldn't be as significant a risk to lose it fast. Fast loss over 10+ weeks? Personally, I wouldn't. (In fact, I personally chose recently to lose 10-15 vanity pounds, while generally in weight maintenance, super, super slowly: Pound a month, roughly. I'm 10+ pounds into that, thinking about how much further to go. It's been practically painless.)

Further, if you shoot for fast loss, you could tank your energy level, cause fatigue, end up subtly down-regulating activity (resting more, basically), and burn fewer calories as a result. That's counter-productive. Will it happen for sure? No. Might. Does for some.

Another consideration: You presumably want to maintain a healthy weight long term, ideally permanently. Losing slowly makes your weight loss process a more viable experiment for figuring out how to eat permanently in order to achieve that, and time to make that eating/exercise routine a habit. Fast loss makes it more likely that you get to goal weight without a clear idea of how to stay there.

On top of that, you say you want to gain muscle. Guess what? The bigger your calorie deficit, the less likely that becomes. Sure, if you're a strength training beginner, you may see some newbie gains. Almost certainly, they'd be slightly bigger gains if you went with a slower loss rate, and you'd likely have more energy to put into the workouts besides.

As an aside, those are not your BMR and TDEE. They're *estimates* of your BMR and TDEE. For most people, the calculators produce good estimates. For some, they don't (can be either low or high). It's just a statistical estimate, average for people similar to you WRT a few demographic data points. If you pick fast loss rates right out of the gate, and it turns out that you have a higher than average TDEE, you may be biting off even more risk than you realize. I don't know whether you're a betting person or not, but it's a consideration, until you get a month or so weight loss experience at a given calorie level to know with reasonable confidence.

My second question is about carbs: should I eat less carbs (if any) for dinner or have any amount as long as I don’t exceed my caloric goal for the day ?

For weight loss, any amount that keeps you full, happy, energetic, and manages appetite/cravings, which is all very individual. (It may even matter what the carbs are: Many people find different effects on satiation, energy or happiness from, say, an apple vs. a cookie . . . and the answer doesn't *universally* favor the apple every single time.)

For muscle gain, eat enough carbs to energize your workouts (if that turns out to be meaningful for you), but not so many that you get inadequate protein (vital for muscle gain) or sub-ideal nutrition generally (healthy fats, micronutrients). Nutrition is your friend, for muscle gain. Once nutrition is pretty grooved in, some less nutrition-dense treats - which can be carbs if you like - are fine.

Final question: does calories split throughout the day matter ? Should I eat a large breakfast, an average lunch and a small dinner ? Or split it evenly ? Or do whatever I want as long as I’m still at a deficit ?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Nutrient timing is not relevant for the average person. It's certainly not more important as a practical matter, in someone trying to lose fat. Timing of eating can have major effects on satiation/happiness, and those can have major effects on sticking with the calorie goal. That sustainability is much more important than any theoretical timing benefit for weight loss.

People who are endurance athletes may have some nutrient timing issues. People who are low-carbing generally (say, for appetite reasons) may need to time some carbs around workouts for best exercise performance. Elite athletes trying to squeeze out that last 0.0005% of performance to beat their competition may need to fine-tune nutrient timing.

The rest of us? Nah. Just make yourself happy, via your eating schedule.

You are starting your math for deficit based on TDEE based on old 1919 study formula and picking Lightly-Active.
So 1-3 hrs of exercise a week on top of an otherwise very sedentary lifestyle - no family or household duties, no mowing lawn or shopping, no kids or pets, ect.

Are you really Lightly-Active for daily activity and exercise all together?

You would be creating a bigger deficit if you underestimated.