Quote:
Originally Posted by jerico
Please keep in mind my aim is to lose fat - quickly. At this point I don't even care if I lose some muscle mass. Once I lose enough fat that I can look in the mirror and not be disgusted at the amount of body fat I have, then I'll get down to the business of building up muscle. At no point during my current routine am I ever weak or dizzy or even hungry. I take multi-vitamins and drink lots of water.
Do you still think my routine/diet is harmful?
|
Jerico, I'm no expert, but I have read that the minimum a male should consume in calories per day is 1,600 calories.
It's not just about muscle mass, sir.
Keep this in mind, your body needs calories merely to work in the first place. Say, for instance, your heart --- it needs, I believe 200-250 calories a day just to pump blood.
If you go too low, the various parts of your body don't get the calories they need to function.
But also, by consuming too few calories your body thinks that for some reason you're in a bad position and may need to try and store some. It does this by going into starvation mode, and it will store anything you provide it as fat.
In essence, when you eat fewer calories you could potentially get fatter. Of course, at first, you'll lose some, but eventually you'll plateau and it'll be bad news.
Instead, you should be trying to figure out where your Basic Metabolic Rate is for your age, height and weight. That BMR is basically how many calories you need a day if you were do absolutely nothing; just being alive.
Then you do some other very simple math (say, for instance, multiplying by 1.33 if you do light activity, 1.55 for moderate activity or 1.75 for very active). That would be how many calories you need per day just to maintain weight. 1 pound of fat is 3,500 calories. Take 3,500 calories and divide by 7 days a week. That's 500 calories per day less you need to consume in order to lose that 1 pound of fat a week (which is the healthy way to do it).
This is all in Marcus' Weight Loss Guide in the Introduction & Advice for Beginners forum. It's a sticky.
You really should go read that thread as well as Gravity's fat loss guide. They're both at the top of the forum, can't miss'em.
They'll really help you understand the entire process.
By the way, you'll lose far more fat if you lift weights. In fact, you'll lose more fat by lifting than by doing cardio. Period. Building muscle kicks your body's metabolism into overdrive and burns bunches of calories. If you're in a SLIGHT caloric deficit (not the extreme you're doing), your metabolism will tap the fat on you and burn it for energy.
Trust me, read those threads.
Fat loss routine help/suggestions?
Hybrid Mode
