Question regarding Calorie intake for Men

**Granovich** · 06-30-2012, 04:30 PM

im 24 years old. 5 10 weight 215 lbs , 20% BF , been working out for 4 years im pretty Good size i have 17 inches biceps. i bench 315 lbs and deadlift aroud 370 lbs i take supplements from protein to glutamine to creatine and others. my maintanance calorie intake is 3200 calorie(calculated from internet).
im taking 1700-1800 calorie daily. for the last week and i lost 3 lbs . the calorie intake is mostly protein( egg, chicken ,beef) and carbs ( vegetables) and fruits ( 3 servings a day ) 0 calorie drinks as well
i also do cardio 20 min about 3 times a week and workout hard 5 times a week
i want to get to 190 lbs so i have around 8-10% bF and have my abs showing... do you think i will lose muscle this way ???
also sometimes i eat bad food like steak at a restaurant or breaded grilled chicken where it has around 600-700 calorie so i just take the other 1000 throughout the day and increase cardio and do P90X workout sometimes and also end up with 1800 calorie. so does it matter if sometimes some calories come from bad food but not cross that 1800 ? and kept my protein up around 1 g for every lb of my weight ???
thank u

**Levani** · 06-30-2012, 05:52 PM

If you wanna loose 10% bf you should do at least 30 min cardio 4 times a week. 1.5-2g protein per lbm. Yes you loose some muscle while cutting. No trans sat fats at all, no fruits!

**Cronos1247** · 07-02-2012, 03:28 PM

Try only aiming for a smaller deficit of around 500 calories of your maintenance. If you calculated your maintenance using the HBF, then that would put you at 2800 calories a week to lose weight. The slower the better if you want to reduce muscle loss.

300 Protein
240 Carbs
70 Fat

^ Would be a good, easily manageable starting point.

**Granovich** · 07-07-2012, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by Cronos1247

Try only aiming for a smaller deficit of around 500 calories of your maintenance. If you calculated your maintenance using the HBF, then that would put you at 2800 calories a week to lose weight. The slower the better if you want to reduce muscle loss.

300 Protein
240 Carbs
70 Fat

^ Would be a good, easily manageable starting point.

Thank you for your answer . its just that 500 calorie deflect means losing 1 lb of fat a week which means i need alot of weeks lol
like probably 20 weeks or something. cuz im thinking 215 ( now im 208) to 185 is when i'll be at 10% BF 20 weeks is crazy thats 5 months man lol
i was thinking of taking 1500 calorie a day because i wanted to lose 2-3 lbs of fat a week

**Granovich** · 07-07-2012, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by Levani

If you wanna loose 10% bf you should do at least 30 min cardio 4 times a week. 1.5-2g protein per lbm. Yes you loose some muscle while cutting. No trans sat fats at all, no fruits!

Thank you Levani for the answer. i will do more cardio maybe 30 min 4-5 times a week and increase my protein and i will cut the fruit. i have slice of pizza and a steak like once a week or so . i hope that wont ruin it but i will make sure i workout harder on that day

**Scabtree** · 07-07-2012, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by Granovich

Thank you for your answer . its just that 500 calorie deflect means losing 1 lb of fat a week which means i need alot of weeks lol
like probably 20 weeks or something. cuz im thinking 215 ( now im 208) to 185 is when i'll be at 10% BF 20 weeks is crazy thats 5 months man lol
i was thinking of taking 1500 calorie a day because i wanted to lose 2-3 lbs of fat a week

Yea Granovich; I know what you mean; I'm 5'10" and was 220lbs with about 23% bf. For me it was better to plan on losing 2 - 2.5 pounds per week rather that 1 pound and having it take 5 months or so. I did lose some muscle with that, but with proper diet/training it was easily gained back.

**Granovich** · 07-08-2012, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by Scabtree

Yea Granovich; I know what you mean; I'm 5'10" and was 220lbs with about 23% bf. For me it was better to plan on losing 2 - 2.5 pounds per week rather that 1 pound and having it take 5 months or so. I did lose some muscle with that, but with proper diet/training it was easily gained back.

thank you for the answer. it seems that we are close . how much did you lose and what are your stats now.
and what exactly did you follow to lose 2-2.5 lbs a week

**Scabtree** · 07-08-2012, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by Granovich

thank you for the answer. it seems that we are close . how much did you lose and what are your stats now.
and what exactly did you follow to lose 2-2.5 lbs a week

Yea, we are similar (but you've got an extra 1/4 " on your arms :|) I lost about 20 lbs or so, and since then have gained a few pounds of lean muscle. What I did was calculated total energy expenditure for a day, then subtracted about 1000 cals from that. I monitored everything I ate (used an iphone app - MyNetDiary Pro - very handy) and did about 45 mins to 1 hour of treadmill three times per week; just enough to elevate my heart rate without over doing it;

**Granovich** · 07-12-2012, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by Scabtree

Yea, we are similar (but you've got an extra 1/4 " on your arms :|) I lost about 20 lbs or so, and since then have gained a few pounds of lean muscle. What I did was calculated total energy expenditure for a day, then subtracted about 1000 cals from that. I monitored everything I ate (used an iphone app - MyNetDiary Pro - very handy) and did about 45 mins to 1 hour of treadmill three times per week; just enough to elevate my heart rate without over doing it;

thats awesome. i got that app too but im eating fixed meals . same thing even when i go out with my girl i take my food with me LOL
so i know how much. im like 1200 calorie under maintenance. cardio thou isnt great. i do 20 min about 4 times a week. i do run 3 min and walk 1 min) cant do more than 20 man lol
as for arms size lol my arms is kind of my good thing. im small in chest thats why im trying to focus on chest alot and keep switching workouts
im basically eating

Meal 1 : 5 egg whites + 4 oz ground beef ( 95% lean) + 1/2 cup oatmeal
Meal 2 : Protein shake
Meal 3 : 6 oz Chicken Breast with little BBQ sauce on it + some carrot 4 oz i would say
Meal 4: same as meal 3
WORKOUt
Meal 5: Protein shake
Meal 6 : 2 Talapia fish ( each 21g protein and 0.5 g fat) with some brocolli

sometimes i miss meal 6 cuz i got no time and go to sleep
im losing weight but sometimes i eat a steak or something bad so i see how much calories that thing has and subtract it from 2000 then eat the rest as healthy food
im not losing fast thou !