Alright, a newbie question I know but one that has to be asked: how many cals/day should I be eating? My goal: lose weight. My stats: 22, 5'7", 152.6 lbs. I checked www.ediets.com and they recomended 1200 cals/ day which seemed a little low as I'm currently going with 1600/day. (Granted I've only been going for about a week, but I don't want to add weight)

Alright, a newbie question I know but one that has to be asked: how many cals/day should I be eating? My goal: lose weight. My stats: 22, 5'7", 152.6 lbs. I checked www.ediets.com and they recomended 1200 cals/ day which seemed a little low as I'm currently going with 1600/day. (Granted I've only been going for about a week, but I don't want to add weight)


At your present stats I would advise against losing any more weight, which from your listed diet, will come from muscle. You can definitely use another 10lbs of bodyweight in the form of lean tissue. This will have 2 effects: a) repartition your physique so even though you have increased bodyweight in the form of muscle, you will appear more streamlined and in proportional symmetry b) with the additional accrual of muscle, your metabolism will be burning hot whereas you'l be better able to assimilate food for energy and muscle repair, while burning more fat round the clock... even at rest.

At your present stats I would advise against losing any more weight, which from your listed diet, will come from muscle. You can definitely use another 10lbs of bodyweight in the form of lean tissue. This will have 2 effects: a) repartition your physique so even though you have increased bodyweight in the form of muscle, you will appear more streamlined and in proportional symmetry b) with the additional accrual of muscle, your metabolism will be burning hot whereas you'l be better able to assimilate food for energy and muscle repair, while burning more fat round the clock... even at rest.

How do you know that without looking at his body fat/seeing pictures? 153 lbs. at 5'7" is not too skinny, if that's what you're trying to say.

How do you know that without looking at his body fat/seeing pictures? 153 lbs. at 5'7" is not too skinny, if that's what you're trying to say.


Actually sir, I have seen his pics. This is the premise I am basing my suggestions on.

Being "skinny" looking or "fat" looking, has no relation to what a person's bodyfat levels are.

1200 calories?! :lol:

Please don't ever use that site again.

You would probably do well around 2000 calories/day for now, lifting hard and doing cardio a few times a week. You could probably build some muscle and lose some fat at the same time if you eat enough.

My bad, I probably should have added that according to my scale (however accurate those things are) I'm at 18.9% BF. My pics can be seen here: http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=16150