So, I've been at this, this time, for roughly a week now and I have lost some weight. But, I can't seem to wrap my head around some of these calories, even after reading many, many articles about it.
I know the general idea is to create a calorie deficit, which can be done in a couple of ways. One, without exercise and by creating a calorie deficit by eating under your calculated maintenance calories. The other by creating a calorie deficit by working out.
I have been working out every other day, in order to build my stamina. Just cardio at this point. The days in between, I am eating at my calorie deficit, or slightly under, which is set at 1800. Now, on the days I am working out, I find that my actual calories settle in super low by the time the day is over with. Anywhere from 800-1400.
So, I know for sure I am not supposed to be eating that low. So on workout days, am I supposed to be eating up to, say 2200 calories, and working out and burning those extra 400 off so that I have eaten enough that day? I just need to clarify it for myself.
I am hugely interested in lifting and I want to incorporate it into my routine. I've been trying to figure out how macros work and I'm having a hard time understanding whether I'm supposed to be eating macros for my current weight or for my target weight. And how the **** am I supposed to get all of those protein grams in, if it is my current weight? It just seems like a ton. Any pointers?
My advice is don't eat back the calories if you don't have to. If you eat 800-1400 and workout and feel fine, leave it be.
On macros, there is a science to this. But at 260lbs I would not worry about those yet. Once the fat has gone and you want to build muscle, we can talk macros. In the meantime if you just want to maintain muscle as best as you can, keep your lean protein up as part of your calorie reduced diet. Fish/seafood, grilled chicken, eggs and tofu are your friends.
I have noticed that I am grumpy. Not take a ***** out grumpy, but grumpy enough that I am noticing my loss of patience at work. Even after I have eaten something, so there is that.
Just stumbled across this I thought I would share what I do - may help may not! You can find some really good TDEE calculators online! That stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. So say for example you are working out 4 days a week this calculator will tell you how many calories your body is burning on a daily basis based on the amount and intensity of exercise you are doing, age, height, current weight etc.
So you have your BMR which is your basic burn i.e. if you did nothing all day and your TDEE which is what you burn with the amount of exercise you are doing!
So you aim for the same cals each day rather than more on exercise days. So what I do is set MyFitnessPal to my TDEE and then aim for 500 cals-ish under this each day which then equals a pound loss a week! BUT most weeks its more than a pound (trust me!) so you are probably burning even more than the calculator tells you!
For some reason the calorie thing doesn't seem to work for my body. It's almost as if it says, "Oh! Another famine in Sweden like the one in 1840." *CONSERVE FAT/ENERGY*
And I'm all, "No, Body. There is no famine. I'm just dieting."
Body: "But if there's less food, there IS a famine." *CONSERVE*
Me: "No, Body, there is no famine."
Body: "You are so naïve....." LOL
If I stay away from sugars, grains and to a lesser degree, meat, then my body loses weight. Everyone's different. You have to see what works for you.
Calories, Working Out, and Macros
