# calories per day question



## bigsjunk (May 23, 2012)

I did my "homework" thanks for the cool tool.
I'd been on a diet consisting of replacing most carbs, sans fruits, with a VERY large greens salad for 2 months and went from 319 to 278.
I got stronger and stronger working: I work in Joplin on the debris chain saw crew. When i say I move 50 pound logs for 6 hours a day I mean, we cut them, haul them out by hand 25-30 yards and stack them, all damn day.
I spent the first month coming home and putting ice on every damn joint I had, popping ibuprofen and eating dinner and going to bed at 9 pm. I grabbed mega vitamin pacs, collodial minerals and a glucosmine/joint drink and started feeling 100% better so started my standard "damn am I out of shape workouts":
Deadlift 185pds for 6 sets aiming and eventually getting to sets of 8
pushups because no bench yet and lets face it; I'm fat. I'm up to 18 for first set then 3 more to failure each set.
finish with a 2 mile walk up and down hills, not terribly steep, 50 foot rise over 1/4 mile.
3 times a week; month went GREAT.
Weight stagnated at 278. I couldn't go up and I couldn't go down.
SOoooo, like a moron, last week, I just went to a fruit, vegtable, liquid protein diet.
I started off monday humping logs but by wed I was blown by lunch.
I was so damn tired friday I didn't work out.
I did, on the weekend, literally eat all of my parents leftovers and Monday I was felling great again, same 
diet. 
I did the homework tuesday and found I'd dropped my food intake below 1000 calories; ouch.
So, did some adjusting and got calories back up to 1475 and felt better.
My question:
The fitday says I should be consuming nearly 7000 calories, one more time, 7000 calories.
I know my job is very hard physical labor but even with 3 work outs a week this seems wayyy to much.
Oh,
46
272 today
very experienced lifter but I've relied on the ole, whats cheap diet for a long time.
current diet
banana, whey protein 23g, coffee
proten drink mix 23g
1 pound of mixed fruit and caffine stimulant
protein drink mix 23g
1 pound of non-starchy mixed veggies
protein drink mix 23g
2cups cantalope
(altered yesterday by adding)
6 ounce very lean steak (beef) and one baked potato
2 cups watermelon

the simple matter is that I want to continue the rapid weight loss but not at the expense of losing muscle and SURE as hell don't want to feel like I did last week.

So, more starchy veggies?, up the protein?, and really 7000 calories seems excessive to me.

Thank you to all of you that participate on this board my head hurts from the reading already.


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## hypo_glycemic (May 23, 2012)

Didn't read all... but liquid "diets" are very unhealthy and promotes problems with recovery and catabolism of the body.. IMO you need more macro nutrient protein per body pound,depending on your training intensity?


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## Jodi (May 23, 2012)

If you are sticking low carb my quick opinions

You are plugging things wrong in on Fitday
Swap most of the whey drinks for solid proteins
Switch baked potato with a yam or sweet potato
Replace banana, cantaloupe and watermelon for berries, grapefruit, apples, peaches, oranges


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## Powermaster (May 24, 2012)

1000 Calories a day? I eat that much for breakfast and I'm older & thinning than you.
I agree with Jodi on several points: Your fitday entries must be wrong.
Eat more whole protein foods. There's allot more than just protein in them.
I'd shoot for at least 1/2 your proteins from solid foods at a minimum.


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## RockShawn (May 24, 2012)

I would only suggest low cal liquid diets for a short period of time with little to no exertion. I do this from time to time as a cleanse and consume only green vegetable juice, but again under no heavy exertion. I don't know why a standard calorie calc wouldn't wrk for you right now. 272lb x 15 = 4080 and split that into a traditional 40/40/20 macro count to get a baseline on your diet. 15 because of the physical attributes of your job. Then you can adjust accordingly. But IMHO if you don't establish a starting point for maintenance calories, you'll never figure out how to manipulate for fat loss or for mass gain. Macros are the key.


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## sassy69 (May 24, 2012)

RockShawn said:


> I would only suggest low cal liquid diets for a short period of time with little to no exertion. I do this from time to time as a cleanse and consume only green vegetable juice, but again under no heavy exertion. I don't know why a standard calorie calc wouldn't wrk for you right now. 272lb x 15 = 4080 and split that into a traditional 40/40/20 macro count to get a baseline on your diet. 15 because of the physical attributes of your job. Then you can adjust accordingly. But IMHO if you don't establish a starting point for maintenance calories, you'll never figure out how to manipulate for fat loss or for mass gain. Macros are the key.



Not to mention liquid diets are not sustainable in the point that your body won't continue to respond to them and the harder you try to stick to it and force suboptimal nutrition while putting extremely heavy demands on your body, you will catabolize muscle and start doing a lot of metabolic damage to yourself. This then becomes a whole other set of problems. Slow & controlled with constant tweaking is what will get your metabolism rolling in a way that will burn the fat but build the muscle. You've dumped 40 lb in 2 months? THat's extremely aggressive. Your body has probably decided to stall out at this point. So now is the time to get a decent basic diet in place and just continue tweaking it until you find the right amount of nutrition to fuel your goals as well as your daily work obligations. Starvation isn't how you produce results. I've cut down to 6-7% bodyfat several times on 1700-1800 calories while building / maintaining muscle. It is quite amazing how the body responds when you give it exactly what it needs to run & then use it, let it recover and repeat. The body is designed to run optimally so when you give it what it needs it will be bodyfat furnace.


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## bigsjunk (May 24, 2012)

Thanks so much for the information. I must have done something bizzaro to get a 7k calorie result.
4k seems much more appropriate Rockshawn; thanks.
I'll start adding back some lean meats until I get to a 40/40/20 split. I used the 30/30/30 with great success 
years ago so lowering fat seems reasonable.

For infor I did go to the liquid protein, at first, just for the job. No refrigerator, no microwave, 90 degrees, and I simply don't trust taking meat in my lunch bag, I simply can't keep it cold enough. However, I can adjust the night time to more real food.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer.
I'll go get a pen and do some adjusting.


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## sassy69 (May 24, 2012)

bigsjunk said:


> Thanks so much for the information. I must have done something bizzaro to get a 7k calorie result.
> 4k seems much more appropriate Rockshawn; thanks.
> I'll start adding back some lean meats until I get to a 40/40/20 split. I used the 30/30/30 with great success
> years ago so lowering fat seems reasonable.
> ...



You can't get a cooler & ice pack? I carry one every day for the last 15 years. Don't even need to have a microwave, but at least your food doesnt' get nasty.


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## bigsjunk (May 26, 2012)

Yes, I have a cooler and freezer bags but I'm out in the sun. The shade, around where I work, Joplin, Mo. is about non-existant we've been told not to use the ice "they" provide for our lunches so no adding ice to the ole lunch box. So, bout lunch time my lunch box has reached it's end of "cold". It works quite well for my fruit; by the time lunch rolls around it's not frozen anymore so I eat my mixed fruit at lunch. I do notice that, as long as I push myself just a little in the morning, the protein drinks are just enough to get me to lunch. I had thought about maybe a MYOPLEX drink instead of just a pure protein drink; any thoughts?
I haven't quite finished my diet changes but I did follow a members advice when I got home friday; I just made up a big bowl of oatmeal with bananas and strawberrys and ate till I was full.


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## hilton573 (May 29, 2012)

Any liquid diet IS a fasting diet. 
I don't know why you're hung up on a liquid diet. Eat food.


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## bigsjunk (May 29, 2012)

Hilt it's purely a need to right now thing. I simply can't take a big enough cooler to work right now. However, I did make some adjustments. I know the calories are low but I don't know whether to take them up to 3k cals right away or just add say 200 cals of carbs a day til I get to around 3k. The mirror says I'm losing still but slow of course but my workouts say I'm WRECKED.


                                 carb prot fat
meal 1: 

1/2 cup oats(dry)           27g 5g 3g
1 banana                       27 1.3 .4
1 scoop whey isoate        7 24 0
meal 2:
1 scoop whey isoate        7 24 0
2 cup cantalope            26 2.6 2 
meal 3:
eca stack 
lunch:
1 pound mixed fruit        56 3 0 
3oz talapia (baked)        0 17 1.45
meal 5:
3oz lean beef                0 18 4.2
1/2 cup dry spiral
veggy noodles              56g 5 2

meal 6:
2 scoops whey isolate    14 48 0
3 cups green veggies     21 7 7
_____________________________________________
241g 155g 20g
964kc 620kc 180
total cals:
1674


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## hilton573 (Jun 2, 2012)

Any liquid diet is a fasting diet.
I don't know why you're hung up on a liquid diet. 
Eat food, Food is better from liquid diet is not better.
Fruit, vegetables, pastas are best food for diet better than liquid diet.



-----------------
Boot Camp Sydney


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## bigsjunk (Jun 2, 2012)

Ok, spent last 3 days doubling my oatmeal, protein during breakfast.
Increased MEAT consumption to 6 oz of steak and talapia.
I felt strong and energized again so i kinda over did the work out.
Just a little muscle soreness.
Thanks for the information and guidance.
calories now at
2045

quick addon:
what criteria should I use to determine maintenance?
I'm still quite tired and sore from a workout two days ago but I'd like to wait and see before altering 
calorie intake up anymore.
I am doing body measurements now instead of the scale; the scale is a liar.


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## bigsjunk (Jun 19, 2012)

carb prot fat
meal 1: 

1 cup oats(dry) 54g 10g 6g 300c
1 banana 27 1.3 .4 116c
2 scoop whey isoate 14 48 0 270
meal 2:
3oz talapia 0 17 1.5 81
1/2 cup rice 23 4 3 130 
meal 3:
3oz talapia 0 17 1.5 81
1/2 cup rice 23 4 3 130 
lunch:
1 pound mixed fruit 56 3 0 200c
6oz talapia (baked) 0 34 3 163
meal 5:
6oz lean beef 0 36 8 214c
1 cup dry spiral
veggy noodles 112g 10 4 400c

meal 6:
2 scoops whey isolate 14 48 0 270c
3 cups green veggies 21 7 7 182c
_____________________________________________
344 239.3 37.4
1376kc 957kc 336.6
total cals:
2537

FIRST, thanks everyone for the help; it's greatly appreciated.

thats where I'm at for the last 2 weeks or so.
I kept increasing calories over all until I didn't feel so damn tired all the time.
Switched all cardio to morning and I lift just 3 days a week; lower, upper, arms and shoulders (still working light on shoulders until I get more flexibility)
I have more energy but about 2 I crash hard until i get home and eat then lift.

I am taking efa's; charles poliquin formula.
vitamins, colodial mineral complex, lipoic acid and a fat burner in the morning.
thus far i'm not dis-satisfied.
Curiously, while neck and big belly measurments have gone down an inch this month,
my arms are up a half and my legs nearly two inches; I think i can live with that.

Question, of course, I'm still pretty tired overall, keep increasing carbs or protein or fat or just hang another week and see how I feel next week?

again thanks bunches


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## MissLynn (Mar 31, 2014)

Where ever I go, my six pack bag is with me!


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## vassille (Apr 4, 2014)

at this point the carbs and protein are ok adjust the fat up a little more (good fats of course). I keep my fat around 100g daily but I eat it mostly with protein and late afternoon and at night. In other words I swap the carbs for fats at night. 
Im not a fan of too much fruit at this point, it tends to create insulin resistance. Stick with brown rice like you already are doing and sweet patatoes maybe some grits if you a fan of them. 
Days you dont do much cut out a meal, if you put forth a lot of effort in the gym add another meal. It really helps with recovery.

You should experiment with calories around 3000. What happens as you decrease your caloric intake and increase activity your body slows down your thyroid to conserve energy....that is why you feel sluggish. 
By adding some fat in your diet you will hit 3000 most likley. Stay there and experiment. If you loose body fat then stick with it for a while.


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## Mincow (Apr 9, 2014)

not only does the liquid diet thing affect my performance, it's bad for my mood and overall outlook during the day.


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## Harjot Mundi (Apr 15, 2014)

you need to keep eating my friend!


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