I want to cut the fat, how many calories should I eat a day?

[KlokWyze]

I'm 28, ~195-200 lbs, 5'7".

I've started tracking my diet @ Sparks People and it says I should be getting 2,200 --> 2500 calories a day.

My workout schedule looks like this:

Sunday: Rest.... pullups (assisted), shrugs
Monday: 5 Miles (1 mile hills) on the tread or outside. 3 sets of crunches
Tuesday: 50 Burpees, pullups (assisted), shrugs, dumbbell chest presses, tricep dips
Wednesday: 3 Miles (going for speed), ChinUps, Bar Curls, Planks(or crunches)
Thursday: 50 Burpees, pullups (assisted), Shrugs, pushups, lying tricep raises (not sure name lol)
Friday: 5 Miles (1 mile hills) on the tread or outside, ~110 squats (weightless) , 3 sets of crunches
Saturday: Rest

How many calories a day should I go for when trying to cut the fat on a workout schedule like this?

😵

 

[brikis98]

How many calories a day should I go for when trying to cut the fat on a workout schedule like this?

When counting calories, you can't really measure exactly how many calories you are eating or burning, so you need to get comfortable with estimating. The good news is that you do have something that you can measure accurately & consistently: your bodyweight. So, the typical approach is as follows:

1. Track everything you eat and take your best guess at how many calories you burned that day from exercise & activities. I haven't used Spark People, but most calorie tracking sites have an exercise database which have rough estimates for different types of exercise - e.g. running at X mph for a Y lb person burns Z calories per mile. If not, google around and you'll find estimates on various websites.

2. Weigh yourself daily. If your bodyweight is decreasing at the rate you desire (1-2lbs per week is a good/safe goal), then you are doing a good job with your estimates. If not, then your estimates are off and you'll have to adjust them accordingly. It'll take some trial and error, but after a month or so, you'll have a pretty good feel for it. One important note: on a daily basis, your bodyweight can fluctuate quite a bit for any number of reasons. You can mitigate this somewhat by always weighing yourself at the same time and under the same conditions (e.g. right after waking up and before eating breakfast). However, even though I said to weigh yourself daily, when trying to decide if your calorie estimates need tweaking, you actually want to pay attention to the trend your bodyweight is taking on a weekly basis so that the daily fluctuations average out.

 

[KoolDrew]

Don't overthink your calorie level, because no matter what it will eventually have to be adjusted and there's no way to know for sure how much you should be eating unless you actually eat that much and monitor your progress.

I suggest simply taking your bodyweight and multiplying it by 12. At your weight this would come out to 2400 calories. Use this as a starting point. If you lose 1-1.5 pounds of fat a week, keep calories there. If you're losing less than that, reduce calories further.

2. Weigh yourself daily. If your bodyweight is decreasing at the rate you desire (1-2lbs per week is a good/safe goal), then you are doing a good job with your estimates. If not, then your estimates are off and you'll have to adjust them accordingly. It'll take some trial and error, but after a month or so, you'll have a pretty good feel for it. One important note: on a daily basis, your bodyweight can fluctuate quite a bit for any number of reasons. You can mitigate this somewhat by always weighing yourself at the same time and under the same conditions (e.g. right after waking up and before eating breakfast). However, even though I said to weigh yourself daily, when trying to decide if your calorie estimates need tweaking, you actually want to pay attention to the trend your bodyweight is taking on a weekly basis so that the daily fluctuations average out.

If you're able to weigh yourself everyday without getting caught up in weight fluctuations and only pay attention to trends, there's nothing wrong with this approach. However, in my experience, most people cannot and would be better off ignoring the scale and only weighing themselves every 1-2 weeks. Women specifically are notorious for this, for both physiological (water fluctuations) and psychological reasons

 

[KlokWyze]

Right, so it will be trial and error for a little while. I am a bit confused as to the BMR and how much I should be eating over it whilst working out. If my BMR is ~2000 calories and I run 5 miles to burn ~500 calories, then shouldn't I be eating @ least ~2500 or I would throw my body into "starvation mode" as a lot of people call it?

 

[rcpratt]

If you're NOT eating LESS than ~2500 (or whatever your caloric intake ends up being), then you aren't going to lose any weight or cut any fat. Not a lot less than 2500, just a few hundred.

 

[KlokWyze]

If you're NOT eating LESS than ~2500 (or whatever your caloric intake ends up being), then you aren't going to lose any weight or cut any fat. Not a lot less than 2500, just a few hundred.

Socially Challenged's Fat Loss Sticky it says "You must be above, even if only slightly, this (BMR) while dieting at all time or else your metabolism will crash." Confusing... lol. :hmm:

I'll just go for 2200 calories a day with the workout schedule in the OP or a similar one, track everything and adjust accordingly. I think knocking out the massive amounts of alcohol I consume and replacing it healthy calories will benefit me greatly. ^_^

 

[brikis98]

If you're able to weigh yourself everyday without getting caught up in weight fluctuations and only pay attention to trends, there's nothing wrong with this approach. However, in my experience, most people cannot and would be better off ignoring the scale and only weighing themselves every 1-2 weeks. Women specifically are notorious for this, for both physiological (water fluctuations) and psychological reasons

Good point. Only disadvantage to weighing yourself once every 1-2 weeks is that you might hit upon a day with a bad fluctuation and end up tweaking your calorie estimates incorrectly for the next 1-2 weeks. With daily weighing, it becomes easier to see the trend. However, which approach works best will definitely depend on the individual person.

Socially Challenged's Fat Loss Sticky it says "You must be above, even if only slightly, this (BMR) while dieting at all time or else your metabolism will crash." Confusing... lol. :hmm:

Heh, this seems to come up again and again. BMR is how many calories you burn per day at rest - that is, how many calories you'd burn if you just stayed in bed all day. Every activity you do - going to work, walking up a flight of stairs, doing chores, exercising, etc - will burn a significant number of calories on top of your BMR. For example, my BMR is roughly 2000 calories, but I was able to lose weight eating ~2500 calories per day because all of my daily activities added up to burn close to 3000 calories per day. Therefore, I was eating well above BMR (2500 vs. 2000) but still in a caloric deficit (2500 vs 3000).

SC, please clarify this in the fat loss sticky 🙂

 

[jaedaliu]

Socially Challenged's Fat Loss Sticky it says "You must be above, even if only slightly, this (BMR) while dieting at all time or else your metabolism will crash." Confusing... lol. :hmm:

I'll just go for 2200 calories a day with the workout schedule in the OP or a similar one, track everything and adjust accordingly. I think knocking out the massive amounts of alcohol I consume and replacing it healthy calories will benefit me greatly. ^_^

I think replacing all beverages with water will probably help a lot too. If you're a coffee drinker, use sugar substitute. Lots of calories in juices and sodas.

Accurate calorie counts are possible. It depends on how strict on yourself you want to be as you lose your weight. Weigh your food as you're preparing it, and record it. That will give you an accurate calorie count. Most people way underestimate their calorie consumption if they don't weigh their food as they prepare. I believe the statistic is that people lose 40% more weight when they weigh their food for calorie count versus people that just estimate their calorie count.

good luck. and find a partner to workout with. should make things more fun.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

SC, please clarify this in the fat loss sticky 🙂

K, I'll get to it today or tomorrow. I thought it was clear enough, but I'll elaborate.

 

[KlokWyze]

Good point. Only disadvantage to weighing yourself once every 1-2 weeks is that you might hit upon a day with a bad fluctuation and end up tweaking your calorie estimates incorrectly for the next 1-2 weeks. With daily weighing, it becomes easier to see the trend. However, which approach works best will definitely depend on the individual person.

Heh, this seems to come up again and again. BMR is how many calories you burn per day at rest - that is, how many calories you'd burn if you just stayed in bed all day. Every activity you do - going to work, walking up a flight of stairs, doing chores, exercising, etc - will burn a significant number of calories on top of your BMR. For example, my BMR is roughly 2000 calories, but I was able to lose weight eating ~2500 calories per day because all of my daily activities added up to burn close to 3000 calories per day. Therefore, I was eating well above BMR (2500 vs. 2000) but still in a caloric deficit (2500 vs 3000).

SC, please clarify this in the fat loss sticky 🙂

I just started weighing my self daily and I have already lost 5 lbs! 😛 My weight always seemed to fluctuate pretty drastically, so I actually stopped weighing my self all together years ago. I'm keeping track of it in an Excel file though, so I should see any gain/loss.

I'll keep my calories around 2,200 --> 2,500 depending on whether I am working out or not. I think I'm pretty accurate, I record 1/2 tblspoons of butter I put on toast, creamer in coffee, etc.

 

[Pantlegz]

I just started weighing my self daily and I have already lost 5 lbs! 😛

One thing to keep in mind is when you weigh yourself, if your first weigh in was at the end of the day and the most recent was right after you woke up you may not have lost any weight. Not trying to burst your bubble but my weight will go from 215(morning) -> 225(night) fairly regularly. So I could technically weigh myself one night wait a few days weigh myself in the morning and lose 10 lbs but not actually lose anything. Not saying thats the case here, just something to keep in mind.

 

[KlokWyze]

One thing to keep in mind is when you weigh yourself, if your first weigh in was at the end of the day and the most recent was right after you woke up you may not have lost any weight. Not trying to burst your bubble but my weight will go from 215(morning) -> 225(night) fairly regularly. So I could technically weigh myself one night wait a few days weigh myself in the morning and lose 10 lbs but not actually lose anything. Not saying thats the case here, just something to keep in mind.

Oh yeah man, that's what I'm saying. I technically weigh 5 lbs less, but in reality it's just water weight, etc.

5 lbs * 3500 = 17500 calories

I don't think I burned through almost 20000 calories in a day lol. or lost that much muscle mass, etc. :biggrin: