Figuring out calories when cutting

[Roth753repper]

Correct me if I'm wrong please, but when on a cut you take your maintenance subtract around 500 cals from it then add back how's my calories you burn in the gym?

So say your maintenance is 2700cals. You would subtract 500 from that to make it 2200cals then add back 400cals if that what you burn. So you should be eating 2600cals a day?

Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

[caligirl85]

Usually when you're figuring out your maintenance, you'd already be taking into consideration your activity levels, so you don't add calories back on. I should say...that's how I have always done it. Is there a specific formula you used for maintenance?

 

[RickRock13]

It all depends on how much defecit you want each day. The maximum recommended rate for fat loss is around 2 lbs per week. That comes out to roughly a 1k cal defecit per day (based on 3500 cals equals 1 lb). So, if you did a 500 cal diet and defecit and burned 500 cals on cardio, you'd have your 1k cal defecit for the day. I like to incorporate higher cal days and lower cal days when cutting, generally having higher cals/ refeeds on 2-3 workouts days per week with the increased defecit on other days. It helps me personally retain more mass and strength than just being in an overall defecit all the time. I can also have a larger defecit on off days/cardio days and burn fat at a good rate and stay around 1.5lbs per week of fat loss which is a good place to be. It's all about making the right adjustments to give you the desired results you are after.

 

[WolfpackAlpha]

Correct me if I'm wrong please, but when on a cut you take your maintenance subtract around 500 cals from it then add back how's my calories you burn in the gym?

So say your maintenance is 2700cals. You would subtract 500 from that to make it 2200cals then add back 400cals if that what you burn. So you should be eating 2600cals a day?

Any help would be great. Thanks!

It doesn't really work like that, as most BMR #s are very general. In fact, we use them only because we can't really get a proper gauge of LBM on the internet. You should use a standard BMR - 10% for cutting. (nothing added back)

 

[bakemeacookie]

Correct me if I'm wrong please, but when on a cut you take your maintenance subtract around 500 cals from it then add back how's my calories you burn in the gym?

So say your maintenance is 2700cals. You would subtract 500 from that to make it 2200cals then add back 400cals if that what you burn. So you should be eating 2600cals a day?

Any help would be great. Thanks!

all calories you figure are just "estimates". Every body is different, but think of them as good "starting points".

So say you burn 400 at the gym (that's a lot btw. can't you just not eat one cookie?). So it's 3100. So yeah, 2600 would work.

Or would it?

That's the thing. Try it out and 2 weeks look in the mirror. Are you leaner? If not, something in your calculations is off. So lower calories and check again in 2 weeks.

That's what I do with all my clients. Start off with a certain calorie level (or let them ramp down over a month so it's not sudden) and then check. Keep adjusting downward until we hit that "sweet spot".

Once we find that sweet spot - let fat loss begin and keep dropping that level (or bump exercise) as body keeps losing weight.