Question about calories

[jon671]

How do I accurately determine my daily maintenance caloric intake?

I used an online calculator and it said my maintenance intake is 4045.5 per day. It might just be me, but I really don't think I have been taking that much in everyday.

26 yo male
6'
304

I know I'm fat trying to change it.

[Nitrox]

Depends on whether you are calculating your base metabolic rate (BMR) or maintenance calories. The former is based on lean body mass where the latter is BMR plus activity. Activity can include your total body mass since you have to move all the weight around. So it is possible.

That said, calorie calculators are only estimates. Use them as a rough guide to make a meal plan to acheive your goals. After a couple weeks use the scale and the mirror to see how well it is working. Adjust calories up or down as needed.

[EasyEJL]

Some universities have a setup where they can a bit more accurately do a determination of your base calories thru measuring oxygen flow and some othe crap, but there isn't much point to it. As nitrox said, use that 4000 number as a starting guide, go 500-700 calories a day below that, and see what progress looks like in a month.

Buy a decent food scale - this one

is a salter 1015, accurate to 1g or 1/8oz, good for up to 7lbs. $30 at bed bath and beyond. Use either anabolic minds diet tracker, or www.fitday.com. Get really really technical and precise as you can. its VERY easy to be off in your estimates, so dont estimate, weigh and measure.

you might be surprised at how many calories you are taking in a day right now if you aren't measuring and weighing

[jon671]

Some universities have a setup where they can a bit more accurately do a determination of your base calories thru measuring oxygen flow and some othe crap, but there isn't much point to it. As nitrox said, use that 4000 number as a starting guide, go 500-700 calories a day below that, and see what progress looks like in a month.

Buy a decent food scale - this one

is a salter 1015, accurate to 1g or 1/8oz, good for up to 7lbs. $30 at bed bath and beyond. Use either anabolic minds diet tracker, or FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal. Get really really technical and precise as you can. its VERY easy to be off in your estimates, so dont estimate, weigh and measure.

you might be surprised at how many calories you are taking in a day right now if you aren't measuring and weighing

Thanks. This is what I have been following, but I have been falling off a bit on the diet side. Muscles are bulking nice though I am not losing as much fat as I want. Next month I am gonna start cutting and follow this strictly.

My workout routine is:

Weight training complete body workout 5 times a week

Cardio Mountain biking 45 min-1hr 5 times a week

2 days off rest every week

Diet (without going into to much detail)

8:00 Muscle milk lite protein shake with water

10:00 1 cup oatmeal 2 pack equal 1/2 cup 3%milk 1 multivitamin, fish oil capsule

12:00 Chicken breast 8-10 oz and potato with a vegetable, fish oil capsule

5:00 Muscle milk lite protein shake with water

8:00 Chicken breast 8-10 oz and potato with a vegetable, fish oil capsule

10:00 1 TBSP virgin coconut oil, 1/2 cup peanuts, and a zma

People keep telling me to stop the protein shake. Why? What about optimum nutrition or All the whey?

[Nitrox]

People keep telling me to stop the protein shake. Why? What about optimum nutrition or All the whey?

Probably because although protein shakes are a convenient way to up your protein intake, overall they are less than great nutritionally. Better off eating whole foods whenever possible.

[Hank Vangut]

the harris-benedict formula is a good standard for calculating bmr.

For Men
BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age)

So for a 30 year old bodybuilder of 220lbs (100kg) at 5'11" (178cm) it comes up to:

BMR = 66 + (13.7 x 100kg) + (5 x 178cm) – (6.8 x 30)
BMR = 2122 calories per day

then multiply your bmr by an activity level factor to get your daily calorie intake requirement -

Activity level factor--------------------Activity level
1.0------------------------------------------------Sedentary
1.2------------------------------------------------Very light activity
1.4------------------------------------------------Light activity
1.6------------------------------------------------Moderate activity
1.8------------------------------------------------High activity
2.0------------------------------------------------Extreme activity

By sedentary we mean doing nothing all day (sleeping and watching TV).

By very light activity we mean doing nothing physical. Working a desk job or on a computer and not performing any type of physical activity during your day.

By light activity we mean having a non-physical job (desk, computer, etc.) but performing some sort of physical activity during the day (e.g. above average walking) but no hard training.

By moderate activity we mean having a non-physical job, performing some sort of physical activity during the day, and including a daily workout session in your routine. This is where most of you are at.

By high activity we mean either training plus a physical job or non-physical job and twice-a-day training sessions.

By extreme activity we mean a very physical job and daily hard training.

So if our 220 pound bodybuilder with a BMR of 2122 calories/day is moderately active, his daily energy expenditure is bumped up to 2122 x 1.6 = 3395 calories per day. This is the amount of food to consume to maintain present body weight.

[jon671]

Thanks guys