Do you find your maintenance calories have changed with age?

bell1986

bell1986

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Hey folks.

Over the years I've been thinking to myself. Do I need as much food as in my 20's? I have a very up and down diet. In terms of calories that is. I cycle my calories. Some days will be 3500 some days 2000 and some days I've easily done 5000 calories. Just a very up and down calorie number. Sometimes based on how I'm training. Higher calories on training days and lower calories on a slower day.

I've never done a steady calorie number for a while. Like doing 3000 calories each day for say 3 months and to see how my weight fluctuates.

I like to keep semi lean 10-12% body fat. If I cycle calories then this remains fairly easy. I can easily fast 24 hours and have an 1800 calorie meal and I'm done for the day. No issues.

I just wondered if you believe your calorie intake changes with age? My appetite hasn't changed at all. Probably got stronger tbh.

I work a very physical job. 15-20k steps a day and heavy lifting tools etc. I also train full body 3 X a week (Had my best results with this split)

Im on TRT so my hormones are top end of the range and my bloodwork shows a very strong thyroid output.

Do you think your calories have had to lower to sustain your bodyfat as you have aged? I'm 36 now and I personally don't see a dip in calorie intake.

Has anyone else had to come back on food intake. If they want to remain lean that is?

Say you were me 5ft 9.. 170 pounds. Carry some decent mass and currently around 11% bodyfat. What would you say my maintenance calories would be? Adding in my very physical job.

Thanks
 
Smont

Smont

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It's really hard to guess people's calorie demand. I'm 5'9 200 lb and my maintenance calories are like 3,700 but it's because I'm super active.

If you want a sure-fired way to know your maintenance calories then eat normal for the next 7 days just eat how you normally would and write down every single thing that you ingest, after 7 days total up all your macros and divide it by seven and that is the average calories you eat per day to maintain your body weight and that will be your maintenance calories, or the closest you are going to know what your maintenance calories are .

Giving your body weight even though you work a very demanding job from a step count aspect that's a lot, but you have to keep in mind you're only doing a three day a week workout routine also. It's tough but going by your body weight I would guess your maintenance calories are probably around 2,500 but that is purely a guess off of the information provided
 
xR1pp3Rx

xR1pp3Rx

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as a 50 yr old I have found I am not that hungry for giant plates of food anymore. even on a fasting style diet, I cant hardly smash 1000 cals in a sitting. something I used to do with 0 problems.
thats fine for dieting, but it does kinda seem like my body doesnt use those calories as effectively as it used to.

nothing a little ursa major cant correct but yea, when I am not using things, I can actually gain fat while staying around 2k per day. that said I dont put forth a ton of effort to eat clean so there is that too. I havnt chugged a protein drink in over a yr. :ROFLMAO:
 

Uncle_E

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I’m also 5’9” (on a good day) and is/was a hard gainer. I was 155lbs at best into my early 30’s, and could get up to 160-165lbs around 35. Eating 4K calories and taking mass gainers into my late 30’s to break 170 then 180 on cycle. I’m 40 now and can maintain 165-170lbs now with a 3k calorie diet. At 40, this is the first bulking season that I’m not using a mass gainer.

My brother in law can put on mass so easy, he was shocked and a little embarrassed for me seeing me using mass gainer at in my 30’s
 
bell1986

bell1986

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It's really hard to guess people's calorie demand. I'm 5'9 200 lb and my maintenance calories are like 3,700 but it's because I'm super active.

If you want a sure-fired way to know your maintenance calories then eat normal for the next 7 days just eat how you normally would and write down every single thing that you ingest, after 7 days total up all your macros and divide it by seven and that is the average calories you eat per day to maintain your body weight and that will be your maintenance calories, or the closest you are going to know what your maintenance calories are .

Giving your body weight even though you work a very demanding job from a step count aspect that's a lot, but you have to keep in mind you're only doing a three day a week workout routine also. It's tough but going by your body weight I would guess your maintenance calories are probably around 2,500 but that is purely a guess off of the information provided
Hey bud.

Thanks for your reply.

I personally thought 2500 would be my maintenance (Based on age) but I just looked over my myfitnesspal over the last month (I do track most days). Doing a rough daily/weekly/monthly breakdown it seems it's around 3000 calories. A couple of my days I even had a 5.5k calorie amount. This was after a night out and the usual next day hunger. I very rarely do these though. I hate alcohol overall. I just find it toxic as I have got older. These 2 nights were events and one offs.

I have a ravenous appetite and getting calories down is zero issues. I was doing omad (One meal a day) recently as my appetite was driving me crazy. Especially when I broke a fast with anything carb based. My hunger would spike like crazy. I thought.. I'm fine while fasting so I will just fast until dinner and just enjoy any size of meal. I most nights was knocking back 3000 calories over a 1.5 hour period. Disgusting tbh! Huge meals. It was enjoyable also though lol.

I would say my maintenance is around 3000 cals. I will do this experiment you suggested though and report back
 
bell1986

bell1986

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as a 50 yr old I have found I am not that hungry for giant plates of food anymore. even on a fasting style diet, I cant hardly smash 1000 cals in a sitting. something I used to do with 0 problems.
thats fine for dieting, but it does kinda seem like my body doesnt use those calories as effectively as it used to.

nothing a little ursa major cant correct but yea, when I am not using things, I can actually gain fat while staying around 2k per day. that said I dont put forth a ton of effort to eat clean so there is that too. I havnt chugged a protein drink in over a yr.
So has your appetite disappeared as you have got older? I hope this happens to me lol. My appetite is a hindrance to me. I can easily fast for prolonged periods but even after 2.5k cals in a sitting I still don't get the satiety signal! I think I've actually messed up my hunger signals with my cut and bulk cycles when I was younger.

I've tried every macro change to try and feel the satiety better. High carb/high protein. Low carb/high protein/high fat. Etc. Doesn't make any difference.

Do you think your metabolism has slowed up a lot as you have got older?
 
bell1986

bell1986

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I’m also 5’9” (on a good day) and is/was a hard gainer. I was 155lbs at best into my early 30’s, and could get up to 160-165lbs around 35. Eating 4K calories and taking mass gainers into my late 30’s to break 170 then 180 on cycle. I’m 40 now and can maintain 165-170lbs now with a 3k calorie diet. At 40, this is the first bulking season that I’m not using a mass gainer.

My brother in law can put on mass so easy, he was shocked and a little embarrassed for me seeing me using mass gainer at in my 30’s
3k at 40? Awesome bud That sounds a healthy metabolism.

What's your body like for storing fat as you broke the 170/180 marker?

My body loves to store fat around my midsection. Even a 5 lbs increase and my midsection changes like crazy

I believe I'm still at the 3k marker for maintenance also. I'm gonna do the experiment for a week at 3k abd see how my weight changes or stays the same.

When I was in my 20's I would eat 3.2-3.5k cals and my weight would some days drop. I'm certain it has slowed up since then though. I would be happy with 3k cals at 36 mind.

Is your daily output a lot to keep at 3k cals?
 
Smont

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Hey bud.

Thanks for your reply.

I personally thought 2500 would be my maintenance (Based on age) but I just looked over my myfitnesspal over the last month (I do track most days). Doing a rough daily/weekly/monthly breakdown it seems it's around 3000 calories. A couple of my days I even had a 5.5k calorie amount. This was after a night out and the usual next day hunger. I very rarely do these though. I hate alcohol overall. I just find it toxic as I have got older. These 2 nights were events and one offs.

I have a ravenous appetite and getting calories down is zero issues. I was doing omad (One meal a day) recently as my appetite was driving me crazy. Especially when I broke a fast with anything carb based. My hunger would spike like crazy. I thought.. I'm fine while fasting so I will just fast until dinner and just enjoy any size of meal. I most nights was knocking back 3000 calories over a 1.5 hour period. Disgusting tbh! Huge meals. It was enjoyable also though lol.

I would say my maintenance is around 3000 cals. I will do this experiment you suggested though and report back
I don't think age plays a factor at all, I think only activity level is going to make a difference. The thing I suggested you do is what I use to find my maintenance calories for every single person I make a meal plan for. It works 100%

Something I want to put emphasis on is that most people find their maintenance calories get lower as they get older and they try to say that their metabolism slow down. What age does not slow your metabolism down only a lack of activity slows your metabolism down. You can slow your metabolism down intentionally and you can speed your metabolism up all based around activity level and how you're eating to begin with. I can take someone who's got a maintenance calorie set point of 2000 and turn it into 3,000. Or vice versa, but it's not going to be done overnight. There's just so many variables that go into the equation.

But what I said before about totaling up all your food for the week and then dividing it by seven works 100% of the time with every single person because it's an exact 100% direct reflection of what you are eating to be at the current weight you are at.

The only time that would not work is if the person intentionally or unintentionally change what they were eating for the week. In order for it to work and be 100% accurate you have to continue eating the way you've been eating.

Say your total calories for the week divided by seven comes out to 2,500 calories. Now the following week you will eat 2,500 calories a day and you'll make little notes to whether or not the scale moved but it shouldn't it should stay within a pound. Then moving forward from that point I either increase or decrease the people's foods or I increase or decrease their activity level depending on what they're looking to do.

Hopefully there's no typos in there I use talk to text for all that and sometimes it likes to change my words around. I'm on a job site right now so I shouldn't really be responding to messages or texting lol
 

kisaj

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I'm as active as ever but my hunger levels have decreased as I've gotten older. I also eat less frequently, yet maintain weight. Generally I have a big protein shake and 2 meals a day for ~2500 - 3000 calories.
 

Resolve10

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Changes in metabolism as you age are probably overblown. It will probably come down more to changes in physical activity and losses in lean body mass (and the relation between the two).

This study for example noted that energy expenditure relative to fat free mass was relatively stable between 20-60 years and then decreased after that point. Any changes in energy expenditure were more likely due to activity levels and/or losses in fat free mass in that 20-60 year range.

Many people possibly just aren't as active when they are older and/or don't realize these changes, while possibly not keeping as active leads to lowered lean mass which then leads to lower energy expenditure.
 

ripped_one

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I graduated high school at 180 lb lean, and have fluctuated from 159 to 204 (204 was on a small cycle) depending on what sports I’ve been into. I’m currently 40 @ 175 lb on 120 test trt. Can’t see any appreciable slow down in metabolism or hunger. The biggest difference between 20 & 40 in terms of being able to stay fit are more injuries, less time to workout and sleep, less resilience to stress, etc that makes adding muscle and strength harder.

This pic is pre-trt at 40 a few months ago, 170 lb, basically just staying fit by swimming, and riding motocross and mountain bikes, and weights. Staying lean / overall metabolism isn’t the issue, it’s being able to add quality muscle and strength that has become much much harder. TRT has definitely helped with that as well as ability to recover faster, and I have more energy for work and family. I think the injuries are going to continue to impair my ability to stay fit more than anything, and I will likely never see 200+ lb ever again.
 

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Dustin07

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Changes in metabolism as you age are probably overblown. It will probably come down more to changes in physical activity and losses in lean body mass (and the relation between the two).

This study for example noted that energy expenditure relative to fat free mass was relatively stable between 20-60 years and then decreased after that point. Any changes in energy expenditure were more likely due to activity levels and/or losses in fat free mass in that 20-60 year range.

Many people possibly just aren't as active when they are older and/or don't realize these changes, while possibly not keeping as active leads to lowered lean mass which then leads to lower energy expenditure.
I've come to this same conclusion in both metabolism/NEAT as well as T/libido. is a 40 year old man more likely to have a slowing metabolism and t levels due to his age or because he's spent the last 12 years starting family and working long hours with no time to lift, more time to drink, etc?

like most of the responses here I'm 5'9". usually anything under 180lbs is single digit bodyfat for me. I'm at 189 now. a few years ago I cut down to 172 briefly which was about 6% BF.

My body got used to cut diets and it was easy for me to get through life at 1700 calories as maintenance. That's stupid low for a lifter. Since then I've been able to reverse diet to a maintenance level of 2100-2300+ calories. I'm 40 and my caloric intake is higher than when I was 38. I've also PR'd deads in the last month, and am matching my bench and squat PRs so I have zero doubt I'll blow all three out of the water this year despite "being too old to do that stuff anymore".
 

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