Right now I'm eating enough food to meet the following (according to calorie king):

1353 calories

41.8 g fat

128 g carb

119 g protein


My BMR is much, much higher (I'm 5'11" and 165 lbs currently), and I'm trying to get cut. Since I'm getting the right amount/ratio about of macronutrients, do the calories matter as much? Do less calories/proper macronutrients mean I can not do as much cardio and still get cut? It is just very hard for me to eat any more than that in a day :eat: Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Eat that much without doing cardio (or figure out how many calories you burn) and see how much weight you loose per week - weigh yourself every day, same time and average over 4-7 days. In 7-14 days you should be able to figure out roughly how much you are loosing. If it is less than 1-2lb/week either your metabolism is slow (no problem if you are OK with eating 1400 kcal/day) or the calorie count is not correct (quite likely IMO, since I've seen stuff than makes me not believe fitday and calorie king).

You protein requirement are being met, if your cabs are high quality fruit and veg and you have lots of good fats, (omega-3's etc..) I don't see a real problem.

In fact it may be more healthy to eat less, but everything must be quality food in that case.

Personally I couldn't do it. I am in a 'deep cut' right now trying to get to 8%BF and I'm averaging 1700-1800 NET calories (after subtracting cardio - so I'm eating 2000-2400/day) at 155lb. I'm loosing between 0.5-1lb/week and even this I can only keep up for a few weeks at a time and I have regular re-feeds of 2400 net calorie days.

Also, could a mod or someone with the ability please move this to the Nutrition board?

It is my understanding that even an average-sized male needs roughly 1500 calories just for the organs alone to effectively carry out their respective operations throughout the body in one day.

For ANY activity you do (working, exercise, housework, even watching TV), you will need additional energy. Gotta put some feul in the tank for that nice long scenic drive to Fitness Theme Park.

I don't fully agree that you're getting the appropriate macro split for your goals. For your stats, I'd be eating a minimum of 1700-1900 cals a day, and supplementing your protein to around 170grams.

Lowering your overall body fat is the only way to get cut. Lowering your overall body MASS is the sure way to get smaller and look the same.

Ken

Lowering your overall body fat is the only way to get cut. Lowering your overall body MASS is the sure way to get smaller and look the same.

Ken

I wish more people understood this, and understood the different dietary routes that lead to each outcome.

~SC~

Right now I'm eating enough food to meet the following (according to calorie king):

1353 calories

41.8 g fat

128 g carb

119 g protein


It is just very hard for me to eat any more than that in a day :eat: Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Why on earth is it very hard for you to eat more? I don't understand that. Eating is easy, most have no problem. You make the food available and you eat it. Have you trained yourself not to eat? Do you have an eating disorder? :confused:

I would say by your stats, that you would need to shoot for a minimum of 1900 calories per day. Go too low and you will lose lean mass instead of fat. Remember, losing weight and losing fat are not the same. The more your lean mass increases, the faster your metabolism increases, the more fat you burn.

Jason

Why on earth is it very hard for you to eat more? I don't understand that. Eating is easy, most have no problem. You make the food available and you eat it. Have you trained yourself not to eat? Do you have an eating disorder? :confused:
It is actually a lot of food to get that level of macronutrients. These foods however just happen to be lower calorie I guess.

It is actually a lot of food to get that level of macronutrients. These foods however just happen to be lower calorie I guess.

This is what I ate yesterday.

28.4g "All The Whey" Protein Supplement w/ 1 Cup Water
30g (1/3 cup) "Old Mill Oats" w/ 1tbsp flax, oat and wheat bran
6oz "Tropicana" orange juice
2 tbsp "President's Choice TGTBT" Peanut Butter
1 slice Weston Moelleux whole wheat bread
1 Medium Banana
6 Oz Tuna
18 "Rold Gold" Thin Pretzels
250g "Nordica Fat Free Cottage Cheese
8 Oz Boneless Chicken Breast
1.75 Cup Broccoli
28.4g "All The Whey" Protein Supplement w/ 1 Cup Skim Milk

This gave me 1900 cals, with a split of 43/38/19 (P/C/F)

It really wasn't a lot of food spread out over the day.

Hope this was a helpful example!

Ken :D

Here is what I had yesterday:

1/2 cup of dry oatmeal (which I cooked) with 1 cup of skim milk and some splenda.

CarbWell bar (ones my mom gets from Costco)

Small handful of almonds

5 oz turkey sandwich on 2 slices of whole wheat bread

Grapefruit

2 Tbl peanut butter on 2 stoned wheat thins

6 oz or so of lean chicken on a cup or so of pasta with a bunch of steamed broccoli

ON 100% Whey protein shake in a cup of skim milk


I eat my breakfast, go to class and have the almonds mid-morning in class, come back for a quick lunch and eat a grapefruit. After all classes I have the peanut butter crakers until 5 PM when I have dinner. Then I go to my Thai kickboxing class and come home and have my protein shake. I honestly feel "full" throughout the day and until I go to sleep.

It is actually a lot of food to get that level of macronutrients. These foods however just happen to be lower calorie I guess.

What macro levels are you seeking? What do you eat in an average day? What are your goals? Are you achieving them?

In June, you were 5'11", 164lbs. You asked if you were eating enough back then, where are you now in weight? The majority of people on this board, have more trouble cutting calories not adding them. I suggest you worry less about macro levels and more on calories. You concern me when you say you can't eat more.

Having said that, I might add, I believe 1200 calories is the lower limit on calories for men. I don't recommend it for any sustained periods, a week or two at most. Why, because of the stress to most trying to live on such a diet.

Well, I'm not saying I couldn't toss back a DQ blizzard to get 600 more calories (Just kidding, I wouldn't do that :P), but it seems like it would be hard to add 800 more calories in healthy foods. Maybe I should just snack on more healthy things throughout the day? I could carry a bigger bag of almonds and some string cheese with me during class. As for my goals go, I'm leaner, stronger, and can almost see my abs! I got down to about 158 lbs, but then started lifting weights and have gained back 7. I feel more energetic, get up earlier and go to bed earlier. I am concerned too with that few calories, but it just seems like such a chore to eat that much *more* in healthy foods.

Well, I'm not saying I couldn't toss back a DQ blizzard to get 600 more calories (Just kidding, I wouldn't do that :P), but it seems like it would be hard to add 800 more calories in healthy foods. Maybe I should just snack on more healthy things throughout the day? I could carry a bigger bag of almonds and some string cheese with me during class. As for my goals go, I'm leaner, stronger, and can almost see my abs! I got down to about 158 lbs, but then started lifting weights and have gained back 7. I feel more energetic, get up earlier and go to bed earlier. I am concerned too with that few calories, but it just seems like such a chore to eat that much *more* in healthy foods.

I have the same problem, there are only so many healthy items i can eat in a day. i don't have the taste desire to eat more than 1 chicken breast, more than 2 bowls of oatmeal in a day, or a lot of eggs, too much of the same. on this board there is not a lot of mention of taste bud preferences. i have always been a picky eater (just another hurdle to overcome in order to lose the fat).

i am in the same boat with too few calories. one step i am trying to introduce into my program in prepping meals in advance. one example is cooking 6-8 chicken breasts at a time and cutting them up into single servings, putting them into tupperware. You can snack on little chunks of cold chicken (i used to eat cans of tuna, could not stand it) another thing is grab a sppon and a jar of all natural peanut butter and choke down 2 tablespoons. thats is some major calories. either way, more calories would help, not hurt, so hang in there!

Easy calorie boosters are Natural Peanut Butter, Olive Oil, Brown Rice and 100% Whole Wheat Pasta, to name a few. All are high in healthy calories and low in density.

And I must say, it's good to see people are finally suggesting diets in a more appropriate range than I remember months ago. You definitely should be hitting around 1900 calories per day, at the minumum.