# Calories needed for cutting- calculations



## lorrie (Sep 15, 2004)

Hi there,

My name is Lorrie and I´m new to this forum and need a bit of help. I tried the forum search engine and couldn´t find what I needed, so I hope someone can advise me.

I have been trying to work out how many calories I need for cutting. The formulas I´ve found on the internet all give wildly different results. Can anyone suggest a good calculation. 

I´ve tried asking at my local gym (which is in South germany) but I can´t understand the answer! They speak in a dialect here that even other Germans can´t understand. Learning German in this region is like trying to learn English in Glasgow, Scotland. If Scotsguy or Britchick read this they´ll know what I´m up against.

Cheers and many thanks


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## dianas05 (Sep 15, 2004)

You should read the sticky at the top: "Guide to Cutting, Bulking, & Maintenance" by Jodi. It has all the information there.


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## ncgirl21 (Sep 15, 2004)

What's your height, weight and current activity level?  

Better yet......... go here:


http://www.michaelandkendra.com/BMRCALC/bmrcalc.htm


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## GoalGetter (Sep 15, 2004)

dianas05 said:
			
		

> You should read the sticky at the top: "Guide to Cutting, Bulking, & Maintenance" by Jodi. It has all the information there.


 YES. This is an awesome guide.


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## GoalGetter (Sep 15, 2004)

ncgirl21 said:
			
		

> What's your height, weight and current activity level?
> 
> Better yet......... go here:
> 
> ...


 very helpful tool. I just used it myself yesterday.


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## lorrie (Sep 15, 2004)

Ncgirl21 and goalgetter, thanks for the link,

I went there but the boxes in black, which are supposed to calculate automatically, didn´t calculate. Maybe its my PC set up.

Anyway, ncgirl21 you asked for my stats. If you have the time to run it for me?

Age 39
Weight 117.26 lbs (53.3 kgs)
Height 5ft 3 inch (1.60 m)
Activity level. Exercise 5-6 days a week 60 mins. (3 weights and 4 or 5 cardio sessions).

Many thanks


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## ncgirl21 (Sep 15, 2004)

lorrie said:
			
		

> Age 39
> Weight 117.26 lbs (53.3 kgs)
> Height 5ft 3 inch (1.60 m)
> Activity level. Exercise 5-6 days a week 60 mins. (3 weights and 4 or 5 cardio sessions).
> ...




BMR= 1333
Maintain= 2193
1 lb. per week= 1693
2 1b. per week= 1193


So............... my suggestion is this:

Sunday- 2100
Monday- 1200
Tuesday- 1700
Wednesday- 1200
Thursday- 1700
Friday- 1200
Saturday- 1700

You seem very active to me, if you don't think your quite as active, drop 100 from the higher days, but don't go below 1200.  Good Luck!


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## lorrie (Sep 15, 2004)

NCgirl21

What a lady, thanks for you helpfulness and support. I´ve dropped 22lbs so far and have got into a rut recently. I like the daily allowances you worked out. I was just reading this morning about the zig/zag- high/low method for carbs. 

I especially like the weekend calories.
Good luck with your goals.


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## Jodi (Sep 15, 2004)

Personally for any new dieter/lifter I wouldn't suggest calorie cycling.  I think sticking to a ratio would be better until learning how to eat properly in conjunction with lifting.


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## GoalGetter (Sep 15, 2004)

Jodi said:
			
		

> Personally for any new dieter/lifter I wouldn't suggest calorie cycling. I think sticking to a ratio would be better until learning how to eat properly in conjunction with lifting.


 I was JUST going to ask about that after reading nc's suggestions to lorrie. 

 I'm not cycling, and was wondering if I should, considering I'm a "new" dieter, or relatively new.


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## ncgirl21 (Sep 15, 2004)

I tend to keep my ratios the same regardless of calories, but on my highest day (usually Sunday, my carbs are higher).  This just works for me, it allows me more freedom on the weekends and I like it like this, but it's just me- different strokes for different folks    Good Luck


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## Jodi (Sep 15, 2004)

GoalGetter said:
			
		

> I was JUST going to ask about that after reading nc's suggestions to lorrie.
> 
> I'm not cycling, and was wondering if I should, considering I'm a "new" dieter, or relatively new.


No, I wouldn't.  You need to learn proper diet, as we recently discussed, and proper meals before dealing with cycling.


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## lorrie (Sep 15, 2004)

Hi, 

Re cycling:

I don´t know if I am a new dieter, since I´ve been watching what I eat for 9 months and have been lifting for 8 months. Before having my son I was very active: rowing, running, weight training for the rowing, and swimming. 

I really got out of shape with the pregnancy and being at home with my son. I read your article about cutting on the sticky and I think I´m just beginning to understand the basics of 5/6 meals per day, good carbs, good fats etc. Getting into a good routine is my problem. I was basically winging it before and I think I reached a plateau because I didn´t eat enough.

What would be the problem if I had days when I ate more calories than on other days?


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## Jodi (Sep 15, 2004)

How bout this, post your current diet.  What kinds of foods you eat etc.  Most people think they are eating healthy when in fact they are not.


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## lorrie (Sep 15, 2004)

Ok my diet, this is an average day, but I can´t really do this in detail just now. The portions are small but my next step is to actually count the calories now that I know how many calories I should be consuming. I also take vitamin supplments, and Omega 3 fish oil. I realise that I have to move the hevaier carbs to earlier in the day and will start that. I also need to add protein to meal 1, but I´m not sure what. I´m really not hungary in the morning.

small cup oats
skimmed milk
apple

2 sesame ryvetta
cottage cheese

apple
slice chicken
bulgar salad

tuna
raw veggies and salad

veggie chilli with kidney beans (no rice)

Am I way off? I appreciate the advice.


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## Jodi (Sep 15, 2004)

Your diet is off a bit.

You are lacking protein big time.  I don't know what your portions are but I gather they are quite small.  You need to figure out your macros and what you are eating now before you attempt to just eating a certain amount of calories.  If you current calories are too low and then you start one day with the suggested calories about you could potentially gain fat.  You need to know learn your body, metabolism and proper food choices first.  If you are eating very little then your metabolism is probably slower and should slowly increase calories.

I think your first step would be to figure out how much you eat now then go from there


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## lorrie (Sep 15, 2004)

Ok, thanks

I´ll start counting it all up and try and divide in to the right ratios for protein, carbs and fat: Should this be 50, 30, and 20?


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## Jodi (Sep 15, 2004)

Just use fitday.com and figure out your calories, protein, carbs and fat that you are currently eating on a daily basis.  Then from there better suggestions could be made


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## ncgirl21 (Sep 15, 2004)

lorrie said:
			
		

> small cup oats
> skimmed milk
> apple
> 
> ...



Meal 1:  Change the skim milk to carb countdown milk, it will give you more protein, and maybe add 1 tbs. natty PB to your oats (if you add unsweetned cocoa too it taste SOOOOO good) or, instead of the milk, just mix together cottage cheese, pb, cocoa powder and oatmeal. 

Meal 2:    

Meal 3:  By slice chicken- do you mean deli chicken? If so, you need more than just a slice.

Meal 4:  Looks good to me.

Meal 5:  I see no reason why you can't have brown rice here?   

You may also want to add in some Cottage cheese before bed.  JMO- Good Luck with whatever you decide.


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## Jill (Sep 15, 2004)

Thats a great calculator Andrea!


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## lorrie (Sep 16, 2004)

Thanks for all the suggestions

I´ve been misreading the labels on foods!! 

I have this packet of deli chicken in front of me. It states for 100g: 111 Kcal; 19g protein; 2g carbs; 3g fat.  Thats 24g, what´s the rest, water?
So for a meal requiring 29g protein, I´ve been having just 29gs total weight of chicken whereas I need 150g total weight.  

I´m going to try and divide my 5 meals by grams of macros, using a daily allowance of 1470 cals per day. I think I´ll start with ratios of 40P:40C:20F and see how it goes. If this doesn´t work, I think I´ll go to 50P, 30C and 20F. I know for me, carbs are a killer (though I no longer eat bad carbs). 

I found this forum after reading "burn the fat feed the muscles" articles. Burning fat, whilst maintaining/increasing muscle seems very difficult.

I have a body fat percent of about 20, my goal is 14. I´d like to reach this by mid december, thats about 12 weeks at -0.5% BF per week. From your experiences, should I concentrate on cardio first, and then when my BF is 14% concentrate more on the weights to gain lean mass. 

My son goes to Kindergarten in 2 weeks and I will have the whole morning to myself (hooray). I thought about running 5 times a week and doing weights 3 times per week.  

Sorry about my lack of knowledge, I´ve been at the plateau for about 2 months and I am very keen to get over it.


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## ncgirl21 (Sep 16, 2004)

lorrie said:
			
		

> I´m going to try and divide my 5 meals by grams of macros, using a daily allowance of 1470 cals per day. I think I´ll start with ratios of 40P:40C:20F and see how it goes.



Sounds good to me, maybe you should start a journal.


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## JLB001 (Sep 16, 2004)

lorrie said:
			
		

> Ncgirl21 and goalgetter, thanks for the link,
> 
> I went there but the boxes in black, which are supposed to calculate automatically, didn´t calculate. Maybe its my PC set up.
> 
> ...


 

I'm not meaning to be mean or ugly..but at 5'3 and 117 where do you plan to cut too?  And what are you planning to cut for?  

Your bodyweight is good for your height, if not a lil on the low side.  

Just curious is all.


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## lorrie (Sep 16, 2004)

Hi there

My weight would be ok if it were less fat and more muscle. My prior weight before having children was 102 lbs, I was extremely active (sport junkie- 4 hours per day) and felt and looked great. 

I was on virtual bed rest a year with my pregnancy and gained 55lbs -completely lost all fitness and energy and got problems with my heart (resting pulse was 120BPM). I want to get my form back and I want to stay fit. I´m doing well, 48lbs are gone (some with the baby), the rest from diet and exercise. I´m at the last stages of getting rid of the fat and my resting pulse is now 60. My muscles are getting stronger too, so I´m making gains there too. 

I have fat deposits that are difficult to shift, i.e, thighs (inner especially) and back of the upper arms, but the rest of me is toned and the muscles are becoming defined. It seems that I´ll have to take my body fat lower than the present 20% to try and get rid of this stubborn stuff, and then build muscle mass.


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## Jodi (Sep 16, 2004)

Start with weight training right away.  Cardio is not going to do anything for you and it won't give your body that shapely look.  If you don't weight train with cardio then you are only going to become skinny fat.  You need to work with weights as that will burn more fat than cardio alone.


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## jaim91 (Sep 16, 2004)

Isn't 117 and 5"3 a good weight?


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## lorrie (Sep 16, 2004)

Hi 

Ok I´ll keep going with the weights and the cardio as I have been doing and concentrate on getting the nutrition right. At the moment,for weights, I´m doing whole body workout 3 times a week (for the last 8 months). I´ve been wondering weather I should start split training and will ask about that on the training board once I´ve got the eating part right.

I´ve learnt a lot in the past couple of days and have started to write up my meal plan. This will take a few days to get sorted. I´d appreciate it if you´d take a look once its ready.

Thanks to all for your help.
 
Lorrie


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## Jodi (Sep 16, 2004)

Just post it when you have completed it and we can critique for you


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## JLB001 (Sep 16, 2004)

Lorrie..what Jodi has suggested is a great idea.  So much cardio isn't always a good thing.  More emph. should be put on proper diet and lifting.

I hope I didn't come off as sounding mean.


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## CowPimp (Sep 16, 2004)

dianas05 said:
			
		

> You should read the sticky at the top: "Guide to Cutting, Bulking, & Maintenance" by Jodi. It has all the information there.



Yup.  Pretty much all I needed to construct my last few diet skeletons.  Couple that with a posting of your planned diet so that the more knowledgeable people *cough* Jodi *cough* can help you fine tune it.


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## CowPimp (Sep 16, 2004)

lorrie said:
			
		

> Hi
> 
> Ok I´ll keep going with the weights and the cardio as I have been doing and concentrate on getting the nutrition right. At the moment,for weights, I´m doing whole body workout 3 times a week (for the last 8 months). I´ve been wondering weather I should start split training and will ask about that on the training board once I´ve got the eating part right.



Just a warning for you: many people on these forums are very biased toward the training methodology of hitting a muscle group one time per week.  Full body workouts three times per week can be just as effective, or more effective.  HST uses full body workouts and is very productive for some people.

However, I do recommend trying a more traditional split simply because it will be a good change of pace after 8 months.  I started out doing full body workouts and switched eventually.  However, I do plan on going back to full body workouts at some point.  Currently I am trying P-RR-S (I highly recommend this program).  However, I am going to try Westside next and HST after that.  My advice is to try every training protocol that you can.  Peace, love, and good luck!


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## lorrie (Sep 17, 2004)

JLB100,

I didn´t think you sounded mean at all. I had a good weight training session this morning and even managed to take my meal 2 with me to eat right afterwards. See, I´m learning 

Working out this menu plan is a nightmare! I think I´ll scour the boards for some menu ideas. No wonder most people eat the same every day. 

By the way Jodi and NCgirl21, since i realised that I´ve been eating way too few grams of protein (approx 26 hrs), I´ve been eating more and you know what, I feel much better. So thanks for pointing out my mistakes.

Cheers


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## lorrie (Sep 17, 2004)

Cowpimp

When I posted my last mail above, yours wasn´t there. So I just wanted to say thanks for the info and the link. 

Cheers


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## lorrie (Sep 21, 2004)

*First Menu Plan*

*MENU PLAN for your critique, *
*many thanks*

Based upon 1965 calories to maintain, minus 500 calories. Gives 1465 calories

Based upon eating the more bulky carbs in the earlier part of the day. 

I am still short on protein (12gs). Meal 3 needs more. Snacks to include a couple of apples.

Macro ratios P50:C3:F20
I originally thought about doing 40:40 but thought it might be better to go 50:30.
I have never taken a protein supplement. Is this available in sports shops? 

*Daily reckoning:*
*1465 cals, **109g carbs, **183g protein, **32.5g fat*

Meal 1320 cals/ 31gC/ 30.65gP/ 7.6 g F
50g oats 
100g cottage cheese (20% fat) 
100g egg white 

Meal 2
225.5 cals/ 19.25gC/ 22.85 gP/ 5.41g F
100 g deli chicken (10 slices)
55g whole whet bread

Meal 3
203 cals/ 38.89gC /15.07 gP/ 1.15gF
100g whole Wheat pasta 
160g Soya mince (15g dry weight)
Veggies,Tomato puree

Meal 4
297 Cals/ 4.1gC / 53.76 gP/ 5.98gF
150g Tuna (canned in water)
100g cottage cheese
Green salad
Yoghurt dressing (50g)

Meal 5
299 cals/ 12.47gC / 48.64gP/ 9.23gF
200g chicken breast 
210g Stir fried/steamed/roasted veggies (zicchini, broccoli, bell pepper)
Sesame/olive oil 



*Running total: 1344.5 cals/ 105.7g Carb/ 170.97g Prot/ 29.37g Fat*

*Totals for day: 1465 cals / 109g Carbs / 183g Prot / 32.65g fat*

[*]*Remaining 172 cals / 3.3g carbs /12.03 Prot/ 3.28g Fat*


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## Lurker (Sep 23, 2004)

ncgirl21 said:
			
		

> What's your height, weight and current activity level?
> 
> Better yet......... go here:
> 
> ...


Pretty cool! Thanks!


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