Been revamping my diet for the last 3 months. To throw numbers around, I'm 5' 10", 150 pounds at the moment, Male, 35 years old. I was 154 when I started paying attention and logging, which was only about 35 days ago via MyFitnessPal.
Having gone about this the wrong way, I put in my info and my goal to lose a pound a week (500 cals a day shortage), said my activity level counted as "active" as extremely active seemed not the case, and my daily number not including exercise is 2120 calories a day to achieve that goal. Then, my Garmin does the duties of my exercise calories which seem to be very accurate and consistent, and that's what I'd eat.
On my normal workout days, I'll blow through 1000-1500 calories for my exercise, so that'll put my total daily around 3600 needed. I can achieve that, and remember, technically that's with a 500 calorie deficit in there too. I'd feel pretty satisfied, that's actually a lot of food to eat.
I'm fortunate enough to work around dieticians who are on my floor at work, and bounced this around and they said I'm not eating enough. One thing lead to another and I've read up on my BMR and calculated that to be 1625 calories per day. That's what I need to lay in bed all day and just stay alive. To further complicate the equation, there's this fun little variable called your PAL (physical activity level), which is not easy to guess if you read descriptions. I have an office job, doing IT support, so I put on a lot of steps in a day, 12000 average, but I'm by no means laying bricks all day long. So, that's why I figured I counted as just "active" in my calculations.
Dieticians said that due to me being an above average working out person, that throws everything off and hence, my day to day calories, not including exercise, should be nearing 3300, not including exercise.
The reason all of this surfaced is because I've had 2 weeks of transition and wasn't riding as much, and the 2120 calories for a rest day is near impossible for me to hit, I'm starving all day long. Going to 2620 per day is closer to okay, but still not leaving me feeling normal.
Then I started pondering if for a very long time I haven't been eating enough. So I figured I'd poll the audience and see what your calorie intake is like for a day off, and under workout days, just to see how things look. Obviously, there are tons of variables, I'm just curious to see what other people are taking in for calories.
Other issue is, if I'm not eating enough, and I start eating more calories, will I gain weight until I adapt? That's what has me mildly concerned, because I do want to trim down, I'd like to be around 145 before hard training hits, so I don't have to concentrate on dieting and can focus on training and logging maintenance calories. Also, I eat a very balanced diet, lean meats, lots of fruits and veggies, good balance of everything, I think I'm just off with my quantity.
Thanks all,
10k
Having gone about this the wrong way, I put in my info and my goal to lose a pound a week (500 cals a day shortage), said my activity level counted as "active" as extremely active seemed not the case, and my daily number not including exercise is 2120 calories a day to achieve that goal. Then, my Garmin does the duties of my exercise calories which seem to be very accurate and consistent, and that's what I'd eat.
On my normal workout days, I'll blow through 1000-1500 calories for my exercise, so that'll put my total daily around 3600 needed. I can achieve that, and remember, technically that's with a 500 calorie deficit in there too. I'd feel pretty satisfied, that's actually a lot of food to eat.
I'm fortunate enough to work around dieticians who are on my floor at work, and bounced this around and they said I'm not eating enough. One thing lead to another and I've read up on my BMR and calculated that to be 1625 calories per day. That's what I need to lay in bed all day and just stay alive. To further complicate the equation, there's this fun little variable called your PAL (physical activity level), which is not easy to guess if you read descriptions. I have an office job, doing IT support, so I put on a lot of steps in a day, 12000 average, but I'm by no means laying bricks all day long. So, that's why I figured I counted as just "active" in my calculations.
Dieticians said that due to me being an above average working out person, that throws everything off and hence, my day to day calories, not including exercise, should be nearing 3300, not including exercise.
The reason all of this surfaced is because I've had 2 weeks of transition and wasn't riding as much, and the 2120 calories for a rest day is near impossible for me to hit, I'm starving all day long. Going to 2620 per day is closer to okay, but still not leaving me feeling normal.
Then I started pondering if for a very long time I haven't been eating enough. So I figured I'd poll the audience and see what your calorie intake is like for a day off, and under workout days, just to see how things look. Obviously, there are tons of variables, I'm just curious to see what other people are taking in for calories.
Other issue is, if I'm not eating enough, and I start eating more calories, will I gain weight until I adapt? That's what has me mildly concerned, because I do want to trim down, I'd like to be around 145 before hard training hits, so I don't have to concentrate on dieting and can focus on training and logging maintenance calories. Also, I eat a very balanced diet, lean meats, lots of fruits and veggies, good balance of everything, I think I'm just off with my quantity.
Thanks all,
10k