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Cutting: Setting Up Calories
I want to outline some guidelines as to how to setup calories when cutting. First, what is cutting? Cutting means shedding bodyfat while minimizing muscle loss. Many like to use the words 'weight loss', however I prefer the words 'fat loss'. One can lose bodyfat while gaining muscle and on the scale, a net weight loss of zero occurs, because while they lost fat, they gained muscle. Nobody wants to lose muscle, they want to shed body fat. So how do we setup calories for losing bodyfat?
How Do I Setup My Maintainance Calories?
There are many ways to approach this, I will go through the more complicated methods and then with finally, what I usually use and see as the simplest.
First off, we need to determine maintainance calories. What are maintainance calories? They are the calorie amount you can eat, and not gain or lose weight. For example, if I eat at maintainance calories and I weigh 180lbs, in a week when I step on the scale, I will not see a gain or loss, I will still weigh 180lbs. Now, how do I setup these maintainance calories? Well, there are a few ways to go about this.
To estimate maintainance calories, you can calculate and add Resting Energy Expenditure (REE), the Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA) and the Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF). I really do not want to get into those calculations, as I see them overly complex for most people, if you want to setup your maintainance calories that way, do the calculations.
I like rough estimating maintainance*calories from this method:
Females - Multiply bodyweight x 15
Males - Multiply bodyweight x 16
Example:
Female 120lbs x 15 = 1800 calories per day
Male 190lbs x 16 = 3040 calories per day
Ok, now that we have maintainance calories setup, lets move on to setting up calories for fat loss. First off, lets set some ideal expectations of fat loss for a given time period. It is not realistic to expect 20lbs of fat loss in a month. Generally speaking, a good range to expect to lose in a week is about 1-2lbs. If you are losing more than that, you are most likely losing muscle mass. Be aware that INITIALLY, you may experience a more profound weight loss on the scale, this can be in part due to water loss, glycogen loss, alongside fat loss, so if this initially occurs, don't wig out. Keep track of the weight change on the scale to make sure that after this initial drop in weight, that a weight loss of around 1-2lbs a week is occurring. Also, make sure you do not just use the scale as a sole indicator of progress.
What are some ways to monitor progress?
-Scale progression (lbs lost on scale)
-Mirror
-How your clothes fit
-Bodyfat % (I only recommend skin calipers, DEXA, hydrostatic tank, and bodpod)
-Body Measurements (Chest, thighs, waist, arms, etc.)
How Do I Setup My Cutting Calories?
To cut you will need a calorie deficit. This means calories subtracted from your maintainance calories. Lyle Mcdonald recommends a good starting point of decreasing your calories by 20% below maintainance. This number however will vary person to person. Some may find this number to be perfect in terms of losing 1-2lbs a week, some may find it not enough, some may find it too much. In this case, calories adjustment upwards or downwards can be used. We will use the examples from above:
For Females:
In the example above we used a 120lb female with a maintainance calorie amount of 1800 calories per day. So:
120lb Female - 1800 calories (maintainance calories) x .20 = 360 calories
1800 calories - 360 calories = 1440 calories per day for cutting
For Males:
In the example above we used a 190lbs male with a maintainance calorie amount of 3040 calories per day. So:
190lbs Male - 3040 calories (maintainance calories) x .20 = 608 calories
3040 - 608 calories = 2432 calories per day for cutting
So, here we have how to setup your calories for cutting. Please remember these numbers are rough estimates, and while perfect for some, may need adjustment based on your individual status. Also remember that there is more to your progress than simply what the scale says weekly, use bodyfat % changes, body measurements, etc. If you have any questions feel free to ask.*
-transX
References:
-The Ketogenic Diet - Lyle Mcdonald
-Bodyrecomposition.com
I want to outline some guidelines as to how to setup calories when cutting. First, what is cutting? Cutting means shedding bodyfat while minimizing muscle loss. Many like to use the words 'weight loss', however I prefer the words 'fat loss'. One can lose bodyfat while gaining muscle and on the scale, a net weight loss of zero occurs, because while they lost fat, they gained muscle. Nobody wants to lose muscle, they want to shed body fat. So how do we setup calories for losing bodyfat?
How Do I Setup My Maintainance Calories?
There are many ways to approach this, I will go through the more complicated methods and then with finally, what I usually use and see as the simplest.
First off, we need to determine maintainance calories. What are maintainance calories? They are the calorie amount you can eat, and not gain or lose weight. For example, if I eat at maintainance calories and I weigh 180lbs, in a week when I step on the scale, I will not see a gain or loss, I will still weigh 180lbs. Now, how do I setup these maintainance calories? Well, there are a few ways to go about this.
To estimate maintainance calories, you can calculate and add Resting Energy Expenditure (REE), the Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA) and the Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF). I really do not want to get into those calculations, as I see them overly complex for most people, if you want to setup your maintainance calories that way, do the calculations.
I like rough estimating maintainance*calories from this method:
Females - Multiply bodyweight x 15
Males - Multiply bodyweight x 16
Example:
Female 120lbs x 15 = 1800 calories per day
Male 190lbs x 16 = 3040 calories per day
Ok, now that we have maintainance calories setup, lets move on to setting up calories for fat loss. First off, lets set some ideal expectations of fat loss for a given time period. It is not realistic to expect 20lbs of fat loss in a month. Generally speaking, a good range to expect to lose in a week is about 1-2lbs. If you are losing more than that, you are most likely losing muscle mass. Be aware that INITIALLY, you may experience a more profound weight loss on the scale, this can be in part due to water loss, glycogen loss, alongside fat loss, so if this initially occurs, don't wig out. Keep track of the weight change on the scale to make sure that after this initial drop in weight, that a weight loss of around 1-2lbs a week is occurring. Also, make sure you do not just use the scale as a sole indicator of progress.
What are some ways to monitor progress?
-Scale progression (lbs lost on scale)
-Mirror
-How your clothes fit
-Bodyfat % (I only recommend skin calipers, DEXA, hydrostatic tank, and bodpod)
-Body Measurements (Chest, thighs, waist, arms, etc.)
How Do I Setup My Cutting Calories?
To cut you will need a calorie deficit. This means calories subtracted from your maintainance calories. Lyle Mcdonald recommends a good starting point of decreasing your calories by 20% below maintainance. This number however will vary person to person. Some may find this number to be perfect in terms of losing 1-2lbs a week, some may find it not enough, some may find it too much. In this case, calories adjustment upwards or downwards can be used. We will use the examples from above:
For Females:
In the example above we used a 120lb female with a maintainance calorie amount of 1800 calories per day. So:
120lb Female - 1800 calories (maintainance calories) x .20 = 360 calories
1800 calories - 360 calories = 1440 calories per day for cutting
For Males:
In the example above we used a 190lbs male with a maintainance calorie amount of 3040 calories per day. So:
190lbs Male - 3040 calories (maintainance calories) x .20 = 608 calories
3040 - 608 calories = 2432 calories per day for cutting
So, here we have how to setup your calories for cutting. Please remember these numbers are rough estimates, and while perfect for some, may need adjustment based on your individual status. Also remember that there is more to your progress than simply what the scale says weekly, use bodyfat % changes, body measurements, etc. If you have any questions feel free to ask.*
-transX
References:
-The Ketogenic Diet - Lyle Mcdonald
-Bodyrecomposition.com