Qestion about matinence calories

[ottomanart]

How do I find out how many calories I should be taking in each day to maintain and not gain weight? Is there an equation or something? I weigh about 185lbs and stand about 5’10” I am looking to keep up my strength and energy up and only gain lean muscle (or maintain what I have) while I lose a bit of fat. I joined fitday.com to keep track of my in take. No I just have to figure out what to do with the information. Any help would be keen, thanks?

[kad]

Nope, don't use the BMR formulas. Just plug everything in and track what you eat for a week, and if you don't gain or lose any weight, that's your maintenance level. For most it's around 3000 cals, so you could start around there if you aren't sure. Just make sure to get at least 0.5g/lb LBM in fats and 1g/lb LBM in protein.

[PoutineEh]

it is cliche, but true, that everyone is different. You are going to have to keep track of your food for atleast 3-7 days, 7 being ideal. This will give you an idea of how many calories you consume in a week. If you dont gain any weight during that week, you know your maintainence. If you lose/gain weight, +- 500 cals from what you were eating before and try again the following week. You will be happy in the long run to figure out what your maintainence is and not what an online calculator found to be your maintainence.
sign up a www.fitday.com which is a website where you can log the foods you eat to make keeping track of them easier.

argh jordan you beat me.

[ottomanart]

thanks for te gernal info. I am on fitday now and it is great for adding all that info up.
I am doing about 3000-3500 cal daliy right now (thats lower than my normal intake) and that seems to be right to trim down a bit... but I am not losing anytning just yet and I feel prety warn out by the time evening comes around. Any help with that? Should I eat more?
I am worried also because I have not had a big day in the gym yet and the way I feel right now... it's gonna suck to try and push my normal weight. I don't want to lose energy (and def. not muscle mass) so I am not sure where I should be sitting. WHERE'S THE HAPPY MEDIUM!?!?!?!

[PoutineEh]

for energy around your workout, you can try sipping a homemade gatorade during your workout which will help elevate your blood glucose level. i say homemade gatorade because the primary ingredient is dextrose, a sugar. you could also just buy straight dextrose and chug 30g of that 15 mins before you workout. also try and eat a meal 1-2 hours before your workout and eat more carbs then you would at other meals. I find binging on carbs before a workout has helped my energy tremendously. I use to feel shaky/weak during my workouts when i didn't eat lots of carbs. after eating a lot more carbs 1-2 meals before my workout, i feel 5x better. That was on a bulk though. you sound like you are trying to cut, so i wouldnt go too crazy with the carb.

try different foods at different times before you workout and see which types of carbs (high glycemic index or low g.i.) work best for you. i know my sister's trainer told her to eat a bowl of oatmeal before her workout for energy when she was cutting... id say just experiment until you feel you have nailed what works.

have you also looking into an ephedrine + caffeine stack? i take caffeine pills before my workout and it works well. basically each pill has the same caffeine of a cup or two of coffee. but i hear ephedrine will give you energy up the wazoo... try doing some searches on it.

another note: while cutting, expect to either just keep your lean body mass, or lose a little bit of it while you are losing fat. you cant gain lean body mass and lose fat at the same time, its either one or the other. cuts are for keeping LBM (or as much as possible) and losing fat, while bulks are for adding lean body mass and fat similtaneously(sp).

[ottomanart]

ok sounds good... my goal in cutting is to bring out my abs. So we'll have to wait and see about that. Now when I switch back into a gaining phase... how much should my cals jump up to support good growth and not add fat. I want to be lean but I also want to keep growing a bit. I am not lookign to be HUGE (just bigger than most) Will it be a give and take? I don't mind keeping a bit of fat but I am definatly not looking to add any new stuff.

[Built]

Cutting info in my sig can help you bulk as well - just do the opposite with the cals. Plan to gain about 5 lbs a month and you won't get too fat on your bulk.

What's your lifting like right now?

[ottomanart]

if you are asking about my bench and squat... they are on my sig. In general I lift 5 days a week rotating musche groups. I run every other day (plus a short jog in the gym). If you need an entire work out let me know and I can post it for you.

[Built]

What do you free squat? I'm not particularly fond of machine squats - pattern overload and all that. 280kg is no small weight, though. I'd be interested to see how your free, ATF squat compares.

Please do post up your whole split.

[ottomanart]

ok so I wrote that wrong... and I feel like a dumb ass now... that 280kg is not a squat... it's a leg press. WOOPS (I have fixed it on my sig). I squat about 100kg on the machine and I don't do free squats because I don't have a rack (small city in China... I am lucky to have a gym). I will post my full split in a little while on the lifting forum... I will PM you to let you know when it's up. (When you see it don't laugh!!! It's not like I can understand the trainers here anyway.. for all I know they have been pointing out al the sh*t I have been doing wrong for months...). I like to think I take lifting seriously but in that same breath let me say that I don't understand halt the stuff on this forum sometimes...
You've been a GOD SEND so far!!! THANKS!!!! Keep it up and I will be indebted to you in the next life!

[Built]

Okay, you can owe me for the next life, but pay me in this one, k?

PM me when you're ready.