Why do people say do your maint. level of calories -500 or so to cut, yet I have seen so far like alot of people that went from fat, to having abdominals showing, with like 1700-1900 calories a day and not 2500?

Why do people say do your maint. level of calories -500 or so to cut, yet I have seen so far like alot of people that went from fat, to having abdominals showing, with like 1700-1900 calories a day and not 2500?
well to lose 2 lbs a week you cut by 1000 cals a day (including working out!) 7*1000=7000/3500=2.

Also, the calorie deficit doesn't determine your results, it just determines the length of time that it will take for you to lose it. For example if i was 400 lbs I could get to 120 lbs with a 1 calorie a week deficit, it will just take REAL long.

Yeah but they say 1700-1900 is kind of low for a guy to cut and would put him into starvation mode making the fat stay on him etc, but, they lost the fat, so whats going on..

Two answers

One: They are underreporting their calories, maybe not intentionally but by accident.

Two: They lost fat and muscle which most people try to avoid by cutting their calories more mildly (i.e. 500 cals)

Two answers

One: They are underreporting their calories, maybe not intentionally but by accident.

Two: They lost fat and muscle which most people try to avoid by cutting their calories more mildly (i.e. 500 cals)

Yeah but I have not seen anyone that have abs showing that did what you said, they all went lower calorie...

My daily activity and exercise puts me at burning 3400-3800 kCal a day, according to Fitday (accurate? Who knows)

Should I *REALLY* be eating 2900-3300 kCal a day? I get by just fine without being hungry (Except for the occasional binge, like tonight, ugh) for weeks at a time on 2300-2500 kCal.

Seems like -500 isn't a big enough -

-Allen

my bmr is about 3500 a day, i eat 2050cal/day according to fitday, but i think its a little more cos i dont measure everything (almost everything)
like my chicken and broccoli at night time, i dont weigh it, so i probly eat more then
also sometimes i add stuff to my food, 10cal's here for some sugar-free flavor, 20cal's there for some spices and onion or something

but i seem to be losing weight at a healthy rate doing what im doing, so im going to keep doing it!

another factor could be over-estimating your activity level!
i goto the gym 6 times a week, and a rate myself as Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week, i goto school, so alot of sitting there, maybe a bit of walking around when im bored, on weekends + my day off im a lazy bum :p so who knows!