Comments on: How to Estimate Maintenance Caloric Intake – Q&A

By: Mario Solano

Mario Solano — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:03:16 +0000

In regards to the full diet break, how does an individual know what to increase in their maintenance calories? Carbs? Fats? Proteins? or is it individual choice upon the dieter?

By: George Grubar

George Grubar — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:31:27 +0000

Great article…seriously. You explain things in a very easy to understand and educational manner. It’s just numbers and facts, isn’t it. I love the way you approach nutrition and dieting.

James,
You’re not going to seize up because you go below your BMR. Be it 1%, 10% or 20%. It’s not even an issue. Look at it this way – you probably have been eating above you BMR for years (just like most of us) and you’re still living and functioning, albeit with an extra tyre around your waist (just speculating).

I would leave the BMR thing out of it and soley use Lyle’s calculations above. Keep it simple man.

By: James

James — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:28:50 +0000

Thanks. I know the bmr is what you need just to breathe, organ function etc so I want sure if it’d be bad to eat less than it takes for normal body function

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:15:28 +0000

The reality of dieting is that you have to do this. So whether or not it has detrimental effects is irrelevant. You either do it or stay fat.

By: James

James — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:40:25 +0000

Lyle, while estimating my caloric maintenance for rest days, in order to create any meaningful caloric deficit to lose weight, I would have to dip below my bmr. Is this advised against or detrimental in any way?
It is also worth noting that I am not obese and am looking to get down to a low bodyfat level and this question has always been bothering me at the back of my mind

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:28:04 +0000

would you recommend a heart rate monitor’s calorie functionality? I hear they’re notoriously inaccurate…

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:39:43 +0000

Well, there are numerous caloric estimate calculators that you can use to try to get a rough idea, they will at least give you a rough starting range which you can then adjust based on actual changes in body weight. If you have a powermeter, you can convert kilojoules to calories more or less.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:55:05 +0000

Hi Lyle,
First off, I’m a huge fan of your blog, and I feel I’ve learned tons.

I’m a cyclist, and I was wondering what you would recommend to monitor caloric intake in the case of an endurance athlete? I’ve had success in the past controlling aiming to cover my daily needs excluding exercise, and adding extra calories to make up for exercise. This is because the difference between a hard and easy day could easily be 2000 calories in my case… Any recommendations?

By: Carlos

Carlos — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:43:12 +0000

Hello Lyle,

I just wanted to let you know that I was a client of a highly regarded canadian BB “coach” who tried to get me lean (in fact he was successful in leaning out my wallet, $1500.00 up front then $100/month). This is a guy who put Lenda Murray on stage at the olympia. I got suspect when he said it will take me 3 years to drop, and keep off, the 50 lbs I needed to lose. Well, at 250 #, he had me on rice cakes, chicken and potatoes and a caloric intake of 1800 – 2000 calories. The workout was very intense, and I dropped 13 lbs in about 6 weeks. Then the strange thing happened, the weight stopped coming off. His solution? DROP THE CALORIES BY ANOTHER 200! Are you kidding me? Even the fat loss layman knows this is probably a bad move. On to the future, CKD diet started at 3500 calories, 7 month later, A solid 195#. We all live and learn. Moral of the story people, those coaches who put people on the stage, may not understand what it takes to get you into looking and feeling good shape. Anybody can get you on stage with access to cytomel, winny, anavar. Buyer beware.

P.S. Should of just bought a concept 2 with the money.

By: jb

jb — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:28:05 +0000

Great piece. I’ve been looking for some validation (for lack of a better term) for years of what I’ve experienced as an obese person struggling to lose weight. Quite simply, the typical moderate calorie reduction just doesn’t cut it for us. I started out about 120 pounds overweight and got extremely frustrated that I wasn’t losing weight with any rapidity at 12 cal/lb body weight. I finally just said screw it and basically starved myself for a month. It worked like friggin gangbusters and I felt great.

All generic disclaimers notwithstanding, I think this is a legit weight-loss strategy for the obese that should be advocated. Mind you, my metabolism didn’t begin to really slow until I had lost something like 60 pounds. I’m sure I could’ve done it better, but when you’re twice the person you should be, getting the weight off is really job one. In my experience, tip-toeing around one’s metabolism is necessary for people with low levels of BF, not for the obese.