Hi Guys,

Ive just started getting into BB and was wondering do you have to hit your calorie intake?

At the moment I’m reaching the Protein/Fat/Carb targets however I often have a couple of hundred calories left, is this bad?

Thanks in Advance

See here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981


Repost with your stats and what you come up with for intake values/TDEE using the tools above. If you go through this legwork you'll get more accurate replies/recommendations. PM me when done if you would like my input or post here and I'm sure other people will reply.

well if your 300 calories less then some of your entries are wrong, the only way you could hit it all is to use all the calories up. i imagine something that has been entered has the wrong nutritional info to it. for example

1000 cals, could be made up of
100g protein, 4 cals, per gram, 400 calories
100g carbs, 4cals per gram, 400 calories
11g of fat, 9 cals per gram, 99 cals,
still of by one calorie lol. but it facts,

make sure the maths adds up, if you have a orange juice and it says 20g of carbs, 1g of fat and 1g of protein, then it needs to have 93 calories. 20x4,+ 1x9,+ 1x4 = 93cals.

if you are genuinely eating 300 cals under everyday then you should lose around 1/lb of fat and not have to worry much about muscle loss, provided your doing some resistance training, and eating some protein. personally i would either choose to lower my bodyfat or build muscle and then go at it till i get to a place i am happy and then switch and do the opposite.

Hi Guys,

Ive just started getting into BB and was wondering do you have to hit your calorie intake?

At the moment I’m reaching the Protein/Fat/Carb targets however I often have a couple of hundred calories left, is this bad?

Thanks in Advance

See here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981


Repost with your stats and what you come up with for intake values/TDEE using the tools above. If you go through this legwork you'll get more accurate replies/recommendations. PM me when done if you would like my input or post here and I'm sure other people will reply.

Hi Guys, First thanks for the replies

Ive worked out both formulas (Katch-McArdle & Harris-Benedict formula) And based on my info below believe I need the following when exercising

Katch-McArdle 3102cal
Harris-Benedict 3024cal

Height 5"11 (180cm)
Weight 91.5 (201.3lbs)
Age 39
Bodyfat 17-18% (Done using Calipers)

I decided to go with 3050 to maintain my current weight (not really sure if I should be bulking or cutting) and then doing a split of 40/40/20 (P/C/F) it equals

3050Cal
305Carbs
68Fats
305Protein

I’m currently hitting my carbs, Fat and Protein allowances however the calorie count is around 300 less than what I need, what does this shortage do?

I would re-read the thread I attached and apply their information regarding GRAMS of protein/fat/carbs. Once you calculate a reasonable intake, manually go into MFP and select goals>custom and you'll have to toggle the percentages so that they come out close to your desired intake level in grams.

You should be aiming at minimums of
1g/lb lean mass in protein
.35g/lb total bodyweight in fat
and the remainder in carbs

However, since P/F are minimum values you will be over-shooting those regularly.