Burning fat % while in "maintain" mode?

Package02
Package02 Posts: 97
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Sorry if this has been posted already but I couldn’t find an answer to exactly what I was looking for. Alright, well to start off, as of Friday I hit the amount of weight I wanted to lose. I got down to 200 and that’s my goal weight. The thing is that I still need to really tone up and I want to lean out. My question deals with calorie intake. I just got p90x2 and I filled out the nutrition part where it determines how much you should eat. According to that, if I want to maintain my current weight I should consume 3050 calories a day (that seems much too high to me, I’ll probably hit closer to 2500-2700 a day). Anyways my question is if I want to continue to burn fat and lean out then what should I be shooting for as far as calorie goal? I had entered on here “maintain” which set me with a goal of 2700 (which is in line with what p90x suggests) but if I still want to lean out and tone then would I need to continue to eat at a deficit and set myself into something besides maintain? If so, is there any suggestion what I should set it to/how many calories I should consume? My body fat % is 27% and I would definitely like to lower that. So is the only way to lower that to eat at a deficit or can I continue to keep it at maintain and do the p90 plus my other workouts and tone up/burn body fat? Thank you for any help, I’m really confused by this. I've been reading all these new posts about not being able to build muscle unless eating a surplus and can't burn fat unless in a deficit so being at "maintain" is what's confusing me. If you need any other info just let me know. Thanks again :smile:

Replies

  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
    There is a guy here on !MFP that is very knowledgable about cutting bodyfat and all the science behind it.....I suggest you send him a message - he is pretty helpful. His MFP name is Newfiedan.....
  • Package02
    Package02 Posts: 97
    Thank you! Will do that right away. This is all a bit confusing XD
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
    I'm not an expert but what I can suggest that you concentrate first on fat loss since your body fat% is obviously very high for a male (& its already considered overfat for females). I noticed a big change on my body since I lifted heavy. Your existing muscles when conditioned will help your body burn fat. Also intervals are great tool for fat loss, alternating it with weight lifting.

    If you have the time & budget, I think it is worth to invest on a PT who will design a program for you.
  • Package02
    Package02 Posts: 97
    I'm not an expert but what I can suggest that you concentrate first on fat loss since your body fat% is obviously very high for a male (& its already considered overfat for females). I noticed a big change on my body since I lifted heavy. Your existing muscles when conditioned will help your body burn fat. Also intervals are great tool for fat loss, alternating it with weight lifting.

    If you have the time & budget, I think it is worth to invest on a PT who will design a program for you.

    Trust me, fat loss is completely what I want to concentrate on. That's the part that was confusing me though. My weight is 200 which is fine for my height, 6'4, but I obviously need to tone and lean up. If my weight is at the point where I would enter "maintain" mode yet my body fat % is very high, that leaves me wondering if I need to change to then still eat at a deficit to burn the fat off or if I eat at "maintain mode" will the fat still burn off through the p90 plus the many multiple gym visits I make. I have a workout routine, that's not the problem, it's just figuring out how much to eat to get the results I want is what's confusing me.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    I think generally to build muscle you need to be at maintenance or in a slight calorie surplus with a high protein diet and heavy lifting (bulk)
    You may gain a little fat with the muscle which can then be lost using a small calorie deficit (cut).
    Muscle burns more calories than fat so as you build muscle you may need to up your calories to maintain it.

    There are guys on here that know a lot more than me about the correct eating / workouts to reduce bf, the ones I remember are chrisdavey, acg67, gp70 and erickirb :-)
  • Package02
    Package02 Posts: 97
    I think generally to build muscle you need to be at maintenance or in a slight calorie surplus with a high protein diet and heavy lifting (bulk)
    You may gain a little fat with the muscle which can then be lost using a small calorie deficit (cut).
    Muscle burns more calories than fat so as you build muscle you may need to up your calories to maintain it.

    There are guys on here that know a lot more than me about the correct eating / workouts to reduce bf, the ones I remember are chrisdavey, acg67, gp70 and erickirb :-)

    Thanks for the info :smile: Yeah, I've been reading the posts about needing to eat at a surplus to gain muscle. That makes sense to me and I get the reasoning behind it. I'm not trying to bulk up but burn the fat. I'm thinking I probably would need to enter a deficit to do that though and not go into maintenance mode even though I'm at my goal weight.

    and it's funny you mentioned those names, especially acg67, because I always see his posts in the forums and he seems extremely knowledgeable on fitness and nutrition and I was thinking I should just private message one of them. I just felt weird private messaging someone I've never talked to just to ask them for help XD
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    How accurate is your body fat measurement? What's your goal body fat? Why are you focused on 200 pounds as a final weight?

    Based on your height and weight, and using the body fat percentage you posted, I'd suggest a heavy lifting routine and continue eating at a deficit. Lose another 20 pounds. That would put you at 180, still well within a healthy BMI range, and if you maintain your lean mass you would be at about 18-19% body fat.

    It's really not confusing. Muscle building means eating at a surplus and gaining weight, fat loss means eating at a deficit and losing weight. You pick one or the other, and alternate back and forth until you reach your goal.
  • Package02
    Package02 Posts: 97
    How accurate is your body fat measurement? What's your goal body fat? Why are you focused on 200 pounds as a final weight?

    Based on your height and weight, and using the body fat percentage you posted, I'd suggest a heavy lifting routine and continue eating at a deficit. Lose another 20 pounds. That would put you at 180, still well within a healthy BMI range, and if you maintain your lean mass you would be at about 18-19% body fat.

    It's really not confusing. Muscle building means eating at a surplus and gaining weight, fat loss means eating at a deficit and losing weight. You pick one or the other, and alternate back and forth until you reach your goal.

    Thanks for some answers, it's greatly appreciated. I have no idea how accurate the measurement is. I used the one on this site
    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/ I don't have a necessary goal body fat, which I should, but I'm not certain what I should aim for. I just would like to be healthy and look half way decent lol The 200 pounds as a final weight isn't something that's set in stone by any means, It's just I was skinnier before, 180, and everyone was telling me how I was really too skinny. I wasn't toned then either though so that might make a difference. I think after reading your post I would agree that I should move into a deficit but just take it slower. I had 2 pounds a week as my goal before but maybe it would be better to switch that to .05 - 1 pound a week deficit.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    I think generally to build muscle you need to be at maintenance or in a slight calorie surplus with a high protein diet and heavy lifting (bulk)
    You may gain a little fat with the muscle which can then be lost using a small calorie deficit (cut).
    Muscle burns more calories than fat so as you build muscle you may need to up your calories to maintain it.

    There are guys on here that know a lot more than me about the correct eating / workouts to reduce bf, the ones I remember are chrisdavey, acg67, gp70 and erickirb :-)

    Thanks for the info :smile: Yeah, I've been reading the posts about needing to eat at a surplus to gain muscle. That makes sense to me and I get the reasoning behind it. I'm not trying to bulk up but burn the fat. I'm thinking I probably would need to enter a deficit to do that though and not go into maintenance mode even though I'm at my goal weight.

    and it's funny you mentioned those names, especially acg67, because I always see his posts in the forums and he seems extremely knowledgeable on fitness and nutrition and I was thinking I should just private message one of them. I just felt weird private messaging someone I've never talked to just to ask them for help XD

    They seem like nice guys, dont be worried about asking questions that's what mfp is for!! I've asked chris totally random stuff about snowboarding before, had never even talked to the guy but he was really helpful :-)
    Also helloitsdan and psulemon know their stuff re cal levels :-)

    By bulk up I didn't mean getting hugely muscly, just that you need to increase lean body mass % (muscle) in order to reduce body fat % and that's pretty hard to do at a deficit.
  • anaussie
    anaussie Posts: 88 Member
    His MFP name is Newfiedan.....

    :wink:

    Helloitsdan!
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
    I think generally to build muscle you need to be at maintenance or in a slight calorie surplus with a high protein diet and heavy lifting (bulk)
    You may gain a little fat with the muscle which can then be lost using a small calorie deficit (cut).
    Muscle burns more calories than fat so as you build muscle you may need to up your calories to maintain it.

    There are guys on here that know a lot more than me about the correct eating / workouts to reduce bf, the ones I remember are chrisdavey, acg67, gp70 and erickirb :-)

    also I think crisanderson27 & ninerbuff are also knowlegeable about it.
  • Package02
    Package02 Posts: 97
    Thanks for all the answers/advise from everyone :smile: I think I'm going to deff go back to a deficit. I like the idea of cutting of the percentage so I'll give that a shot and try it for a month to see how it goes. I guess it takes a lot of research mixed in with some experimentation to figure out what works specifically for each one of us. Thanks again everyone
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