Getting my calories right

Ok, so here's the deal. After letting myself go for FAR too long, I weighed in at 247 lbs. (I am 6' tall and 29 years old). After deciding to get my body back on track, I went on a very restrictive diet (which wasn't the greatest idea, I know). I ate a lot better -- more whole foods, no junk, no soda, etc. However, my calorie intake was extremely low. From the 1st of January until about mid-April, my caloric intake was about 500-750 per day. Naturally, my body shed weight at a very fast pace. By mid-April, I was down to 189 lbs. It wasn't too long into my diet that I became accustomed to the low amounts of food I was eating. I never felt hungry. However, I knew that this rate of weight loss (and inadequate calorie intake) would not be sustainable. I also knew that I was probably losing a lot of muscle along with fat... When I was younger, I lifted weights a lot. I decided that it was time to get back in the gym and actually start doing some exercise instead of just dieting. In an effort to get my metabolism out of starvation mode, I began to up my daily calorie intake. I ate about 1000 calories per day for a week or so, and now (for the past 3 weeks), I've been at 1,500 per day. I consume about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (using ON whey powder to supplement my protein intake from my meals), and try to split the carbs and fat at a ratio of about 65/35 or 60/40. I also lift weights for an hour a day, 5 days a week. When I was just dieting, I was only eating about 2 big meals throughout the day. Now, I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with shakes in between. Based on my calculations, I have a BMR in the range of 1950-2000 calories/day. Taking into account my activity level, my total daily caloric needs are around 2700-2800 per day. I wear a Fitbit, and my readings agree with the calculations. I usually burn about 2700-2800 calories each day, based on the device. (1/2)

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shut up

is this a joke? Tldr u cunt

(2/2) In the past 3 weeks, after upping my daily calories to 1500, I have bumped up to about 195 lbs. (from 189 lbs.). I know that this is likely due to water weight and might even be due to the weight of the extra food I've been eating. However, I assumed that things would level off after a couple of weeks, since I'm still at a significant deficit. It still seems that every day I gain a bit more... I'm at the point now where I want to start packing on some muscle to get my body looking better. I still have some fat in my upper legs and chest/stomach that I need to lose, so I still want to keep a calorie deficit, though. I'd like to get up to 2300 calories/day or so with my diet, but I'm wondering if it's ok to start bumping it up to that point already, or if I should give it more time. My metabolism is likely still recovering from being thrashed so hard during my restrictive diet, but I'm hoping to get it firing on all cylinders again. Would it be worth it at this point to start kicking my diet up to 2300 calories (eating clean, of course)? I don't really want to rely on the scale because I know it can be misleading, but since I'm still consistently gaining weight (6 or 7 lbs. so far) on 1500/day, I'm a bit worried that the weight gain will be even more pronounced at 2300/day, even though that's still supposedly 500 calories under my daily needs. I wasn't sure if it would be better to wait until I started to see a bit of weight loss first before upping my diet again. So, what do you guys think? Should I just bump it up to jump-start my metabolism, or wait it out a bit more?

Dude lost 58 pounds on his own in 4 months and comes here for help, and all you can do is call him a cunt? What the fuck have you done lately?

Start measuring your waist instead of weight. I find that even when water weight says I gained 5lbs, my waist measurement is the same. Also does the fitbit measure hr?

Yeah, that seems like a good idea. My Fitbit does measure my heart rate. Resting is usually in the 55-60 bpm range. I have found that it's not as accurate when I'm lifting, though (it measures lower than what I get when I check it manually after heavy lifting). I don't check it very often when I'm lifting since I'm more focused on the exercise, though. I think my hr usually goes up to around 130 bpm or so after a set. Anyway, do you think it's a good idea to up my calories some more at this point?

You can up calories but you should be 100% sure you are tracking them correctly. Weigh, don't eyeball.

samething happened to me op

took a few months to balance out

I got down to 185 started eating at maintenance and shot up to 205lb

I carried on at maintenance but felt defeated and gave up exercise, weighed my self a month later and to see the damage and was 189lb

That's encouraging to hear! I know that I'm probably just being paranoid, but I am the kind of person that likes to keep track of everything. Now that I'm eating more carbs (and drinking a lot of water), I'm pound to be storing more water. I'm also taking creatine, so that will pack on water, too. I'm noticing strength gains and feeling more muscular, and I don't think my belly looks bigger in the mirror, but I'm just worried about how much my metabolism has recovered at this point. I've dropped a lot of fat, but I'm still nowhere near where I should be. My goal is to shed the fat while building muscle, which is a tricky business, but I'm hopeful that time and dedication will get me there. I just don't want to make the wrong decisions at this stage in the game.

I'm bound* to be storing more water. Haha!

You can't shed fat and build muscle, I'm sure you can only do one at a time, that's why their are bulking and cutting cycles. I recommend you continue to lose weight until you are at a comfortable stage were you look to have more muscle mass then fat in your body, that's when you start amping up your calorie intake. I may be wrong, i encourage others to correct my mistakes.

>starvation mode

>You can't shed fat and build muscle, I'm sure you can only do one at a time
You can if you're a fatty fat fuck.

I am kinda having the same problem. I haven't been going too long but I started at about 315lb and am now 288lb (6' 28 years old). I want to eat 1,600 calories a day but I am only getting about 1,100-1,200.

I make my meals 1/2 lb of meat and veggies. Pic related, its what I normally eat in a meal. But all of that is really only around 300 calories. Because I am not eating carbs, I feel full and don't feel like I need to eat any more.

I think I need some snacks in between meals to round out my calories. I just got some quest bars, had my first one and it was really good. What else to snack on and get up to 1,600 calories.

Is 6"0 and 195lbs a fatty fat fuck? If so then good luck OP, we are all gonna make it.

Nuts are good for snacking, try some almonds if your wallet is ok with it.

Shit that sounded retarded, i forgot to add that body fat % and muscle mass can make a 195 lbs man look fat or fit.

OP here. I'm at that stage where I feel really good in the clothes that I wear, but I'm unhappy with the way I look when I have my shirt off. I think I look fairly fit when clothed, but the bathroom mirror is kind of depressing...

Keep going and don't give up then, that is all i can tell you. If you continue with your diet and exercises I'm sure you will look decent by summer.

I'd really like to get an accurate measure of where I'm at... There's a place nearby that offers DEXA scans for about $100. I think it would be really good to get one to get a really accurate estimate of my BF so that I can monitor my progress over the next few months.

Do you have a way to measure your waist, neck and hip circumference? Not sure if this site is trustworthy.
active.com/fitness/calculators/bodyfat

This is where I am. have been cutting since January. okay vascularity in arms, top 2 abs show, slight line on either side of abs. Feels like this cut will never end

OP here again. You're further ahead than I am. I don't have visible abs. My arms are looking better and better, and my lower legs are looking good. It seems like the fat toward the center of my body is the last to want to go...

I have thought about using calipers or taking measurements, but the possibility for error makes me cautious to use that as my only method. I feel like a scan would be the best way to really know, even though it's expensive.

Alright mate.

any of you m80s know a decent bathroom scale to buy?

>recommends almonds
>mentions nothing about activating them

it's like you want OP to be fat

anything at bed bath and beyond.

a nice digital glass scale is sub 40, I get tenths and it's pretty accurate.

I got mine from walgreens.
Glass, digital, shows tenths, was like 25 bucks.