Any 200lbs or above guys who only needs to eat above 3200 calories or less a day?

[AtomicFox]

Hey guys!

I'm at 207lbs atm pretty muscular but I only need like 3200 calories a day. If I go to 3500 I store fat at once. I know guys who are smaller than me but eats 4000-5000 calories a day, I know this of course can be due to a lot of things, but can it really be true that I shouldn't eat more than 3200 calories? It is not that I mind it, I have a hard time eating, but it just seems like a small number to me

What amount are you 200lbs+ guys eating to maintain or lean gain?

Thanks =)

 

[Docmattic]

I recently hit 205 pounds only eating 3000ish a day.

 

[ambulldog]

a lot of variables but in general i stay right around 210 at ~2800/day.

 

[bigbob21]

And are you guys able to "build" with those calories? Over a period of time, like weeks, months etc...???

 

[WhatsaRoid?]

Currently 200 pounds, consume around 3000+ but I'm dieting. I burn around 500 a day just from cardio so I'm slowly losing weight. If I'm bulking I try to stay above 4k and only burn 2-300 in cardio a day.

 

[AtomicFox]

Thanks for the comments, guess I should just be patient and stay on the 3200 then =)

 

[DerickVonD]

Im 240. I think I get about 3,000 calories a day, but honestly I don't know I just make sure I get enough protein and than I eat what ever I can when I'm hungry. This seems to work well for me lol. So well in fact that I have a gut lol.

 

[senjuriko]

Various variables involved but im 210 and need 3500 +

 

[Quil]

I'm jealous of you guys. I'm about 190, and if I ate 3000 cals a day I'd blow up like a blimp. I can't do more than 2300-2400 for maintenance...and that's exercising 6 days a week for at least an hour a day.

 

[jack3dbear]

how do you guys experiment to know the exact number of maintenance calories?

 

[CoorsLight126]

I'm 241 right now, and I eat right at 3000-3500/day, when I'm dieting I stay around 2800/day. As for your question about whether or not you can build off that, many variables. How long you've been working out is probably the biggest, and next your age. When I was in my teens/early 20's it just seemed like I had to eat as much as I could possibly could to gain anything. Once I got into my late 20's I had to back off all of the eating and almost try to eat clean/semi diet all the time. If I dont eat strict I blow up very fast. But then I got thinking about something one day. I said to myself, geez I've been doing this almost 15 yrs now, is it really worth eating all this damn food to try and gain another 5 lbs of muscle, MAYBE. And the answer was no, if your not running a bunch of steroids(and I dont just mean a couple vials of test) what is the point of going through hell and high water to gain 1 lb here or 3 lbs there. Even with all of the food and anabolics you can handle, you'd be lucky to gain 10 lbs of real, actual muscle after several yrs in the gym. Now I train for quality muscle definition and HOLDING SIZE, no more crazy 6,000 cals/day just to get fat and think I got more muscular.

 

[VS91588]

Depends on your metabolic rate (if you have a fast, medium, or slowwww metabolism)

 

[DerickVonD]

Actually I'm gaining too much damn weight I have to get off my ass and start doing cardio before I get to like 270. I found out my waist went from 40 to 44 since January...damn lol. On the plus side, I did get alittle taller lol and my strength is greatly improved.

 

[owlicks]

Heh, consider yourself lucky. Everybody is different, you just have to know your own body. For example, I am a lean 190. On lifting days I take in 2300 to 2400 clean calories, on non-lifting days I'll drop it down to 1900 with as few carbs as possible. And yep, I can grow on this diet -- I have put on around 5 lean pounds in the past month.

 

[VS91588]

Heh, consider yourself lucky. Everybody is different, you just have to know your own body. For example, I am a lean 190. On lifting days I take in 2300 to 2400 clean calories, on non-lifting days I'll drop it down to 1900 with as few carbs as possible. And yep, I can grow on this diet -- I have put on around 5 lean pounds in the past month.

Yeah I'm 5'8" 225 12% BF and this is my current diet cuz I always had a hard time burning off fat and this works for me and I still gain while keeping my bodyfat in check

Meal1- 5 eggwhites, 1 fat free cheese, 2 Ezekiel bread

Meal2 - PWO 2 scoops whey, 16-20oz Gatorade

Meal3 - 8oz ground up turkey meat and 1 cup brown rice

Meals 4,5 &6- 2 fillet tilapia and 1 cup broccoli

Everyone is different and this is what works for me

 

[DerickVonD]

I'll admit to you guys I'm lazy when it comes to diet. I just like to eat what I want and as long as its protein I gain muscle and strength and fat too lol. I'm hoping if I add in enough cardio I don't have to worry much about it.

 

[owlicks]

I'll admit to you guys I'm lazy when it comes to diet. I just like to eat what I want and as long as its protein I gain muscle and strength and fat too lol. I'm hoping if I add in enough cardio I don't have to worry much about it.

Sorry to tell you, but you're not going to lose the fat through cardio. Believe me, I spent over a decade thinking that so long as the food I ate was relatively "healthy" I would just lose fat through cardio. For better or for worse, it has to be done through diet though. The good news is that once your body gets closer to an ideal composition, cardio can become a very minor part of your workout routine. I would recommend starting to monitor your calories with MyFitnessPal.com

 

[JajaNe20]

I'm 241 right now, and I eat right at 3000-3500/day, when I'm dieting I stay around 2800/day. As for your question about whether or not you can build off that, many variables. How long you've been working out is probably the biggest, and next your age. When I was in my teens/early 20's it just seemed like I had to eat as much as I could possibly could to gain anything. Once I got into my late 20's I had to back off all of the eating and almost try to eat clean/semi diet all the time. If I dont eat strict I blow up very fast. But then I got thinking about something one day. I said to myself, geez I've been doing this almost 15 yrs now, is it really worth eating all this damn food to try and gain another 5 lbs of muscle, MAYBE. And the answer was no, if your not running a bunch of steroids(and I dont just mean a couple vials of test) what is the point of going through hell and high water to gain 1 lb here or 3 lbs there. Even with all of the food and anabolics you can handle, you'd be lucky to gain 10 lbs of real, actual muscle after several yrs in the gym. Now I train for quality muscle definition and HOLDING SIZE, no more crazy 6,000 cals/day just to get fat and think I got more muscular.

^ THIS

 

[TurningGreen]

206lbs currently using the Lean Gains Protocol to recomp.

Lift Days 2200-2800 cals
Burn Days 1500-1800 cals

High Protein/Low Carbs (Im very carb sensitive)

 

[onemind1body]

I'm alot like the above. My results are very carb dependent. 210 6 foot currently, about 10-11 percent. 3200 cals average intake is straight bulking for me lol. I get strong as hell, but definitely add to the unwanted storage areas of chest and low back/ handles

 

[VS91588]

Like I said it all depends on your body type and your metabolic rate

 

[schwellington]

i weigh 235@ 13% i can bulk on 3300-3500 calories

when i cut i go down to 2300-2500

 

[JajaNe20]

Like VS9 said "it's all relevant to you, everyone's different." To say that every guy between the weight of 200-215 needs 3300 calories only to bulk on with be farse. I for one am 220 at 9% naturally and need 4,000 or anything less and I will not gain an ounce! Like you said OP, I do know other guys 5'8" that are decent size (200 lbs) and only need 3,000. Generally taller guys have a higher BMR than smaller guys, this is just one factor into the equation though.

 

[kingjameskjf]

Sorry to tell you, but you're not going to lose the fat through cardio. Believe me, I spent over a decade thinking that so long as the food I ate was relatively "healthy" I would just lose fat through cardio. For better or for worse, it has to be done through diet though. The good news is that once your body gets closer to an ideal composition, cardio can become a very minor part of your workout routine. I would recommend starting to monitor your calories with MyFitnessPal.com

I don't agree. Cardio can be very beneficial in helping to create a caloric deficit when dieting down.

OP, BCAA's are one option that you can incorporate into you diet.

 

[bi0hazurd]

I'm around 218 and try to eat as close to 3000 flat as possible

 

[owlicks]

I don't agree. Cardio can be very beneficial in helping to create a caloric deficit when dieting down.

OP, BCAA's are one option that you can incorporate into you diet.

Certainly it's useful -- I agree, but the key phrase that you use here is "to create a caloric deficit." In my experience, the way most people use cardio is to say "I need to lose fat, I better start running more!" That just doesn't work. You have to first get your calories under control, and then cardio can be another useful tool to offset calories.

 

[VS91588]

Certainly it's useful -- I agree, but the key phrase that you use here is "to create a caloric deficit." In my experience, the way most people use cardio is to say "I need to lose fat, I better start running more!" That just doesn't work. You have to first get your calories under control, and then cardio can be another useful tool to offset calories.

Exactly. A great majority of us talking on this forum are in shale but I'd have to agree w/ diet 1st. One of my friends who is very overweight came to me and asked for my help and I gave him a diet to follow. Btw I am very at liberty to give propper nutritional advice to ppl; I graduated w/ a BA in physical education and I am persuing my masters degree in nutrition. He lost a good amount of weight on diet alone following up on a workout program 2nd

 

[votum]

I bounce between 210 and 220 depending on if I am travelling or not. I ride a motorcycle so my water weight dissappears when I ride.

I eat everything. Main diet is protein heavy, lots of chili, cottage cheese, milk, normal cheese, tortillas, wheat bread, ham, spinach, eggs, oats, and so on. I take in probably 3500...I just got myfitnesspal...my breakfast today was 1200 calories lmao. I am going to start tracking stuff in there though so I can start gauging my weight gain and loss and pinpoint what exactly causes the losses, I seem to stick around 215 pretty well. Abs are out and I've got quite a bit of definition in my back, possibly from the Havoc I found in my stash haha

 

[votum]

I don't agree. Cardio can be very beneficial in helping to create a caloric deficit when dieting down.

OP, BCAA's are one option that you can incorporate into you diet.

Not sure if I agree with you, ideally you want low impact stuff for fat burning, and you want to do it right in the morning before eating, but if you do too much your body starts using up muscles for energy...I use cardio solely for toning, but I'd never use it for straight fat loss, a balanced workout and a solid diet is the way to lose weight, running marathons to get skinny is a good way to mess your body up lol.