Comments on: Lean Mass or Total Weight to Set Calorie Levels – Q&A

By: Stuart

Stuart — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:27:03 +0000

Hi Shaun and Lyle

I think the advice on my website may help Shaun if he has not found an answer yet to his paunch problem. What I do is mutiply bodyweight in kilos by 1.5 and then multiply this by 4 then 4 again to get total calories. I keep protein between 25 and 35%, carbs at 55 – 65% and fat between 10 and 20%.

The protein levels take into account protein from carb sources and make up the difference with a lean animal or tofu protein.

What do you think of this method lyle.

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:05:13 +0000

My suggestion is to find an article that your question might actually have relevance to instead of tacking it onto one that it has no relevance to and hoping I’ll answer it.

By: Shaun

Shaun — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:14:11 +0000

Hi Lyle, I stumbled onto your website and ever since I been reading it everyday. you have some really great advice. I weight 164lbs but I have a “pouch” I’m trying to get raid of and nothing seems to work. I even cut calories and even that doesnt work. I increased my exercise intensity and still I can’t get raid of the “pouch” (lower abs fat), I been trying for over six months now. I find that I’m hungry all the time and if I dont eat, I get headaches. My currently calories intake is 2200-2400 daily. I’m afraid if I go any lower, I will die from head aches. Any recommendation?

Thank you so much.

-Shaun

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:54:38 +0000

Discussed in various fashions elsewhere on the site, I’d suggest starting with “Gaining muscle while losing fat – Q&A”. My Ultimate Diet 2.0 is a cyclical diet as well, cycling calories and macronutrient intake.

By: Fraser

Fraser — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:31:31 +0000

Lyle,

What are your thoughts on calorie cycling? Loosing body fat while trying to hypertrophy is feasible for beginners, do you think it is something an intermediate/ advanced trainee can achieve by including high calorie and low calorie days in their nutritional plan?

My reading so far has arrived at a bit of a grey area. With some people endorsing calorie cycling (and macronutrient cycling) while others condemn it.

Thanks,

By: Brad

Brad — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:12:51 +0000

Hmm, After reading a few of these articles it seems the rough estimate for starting calories for fat loss (10%) is the same as estimating RMR. So in essence what a lot of the bodybuilders were doing by starting their calories at 10% total weight were dropping calories to RMR and tapping their fat stores to fuel the other 3 factors of the energy equation. Interesting!

By: admin

admin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:18:04 +0000

Sharon,

If yo uread other work on teh site, there is a clear difference in diets higher vs. lower in protein.

As well, for some people very large deficits stall weight loss due to massive water retention.

I’ll be writing a full review of the GoWearFit (a newer version of the Bugg) at some point but the short version is that I think it’s a very valuable tool. I’ve correlated mine against standard estimation equations and other metrics and it’s invariably very close if not identical to those values. That said, it seems to be completely wrong for a small percentage of people (judging by forum reports); I have no idea what causes this.

Lyle

By: Sharon

Sharon — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:41:34 +0000

Lyle, just found your site and have spent the better part of the morning reading articles, etc. (let’s not mention that I’m at work…). I’m going to purchase one or two of your books – they seem to be just what I have been looking for in terms of honest information.

Your article about the “calories in/calories out” theory was fascinating and helpful. Inherently, I know that it’s more about composition of my diet vs. simply the total calories and was researching theory, etc. looking for reinforcement. Your explanation laid it out for me more clearly than I have ever read – why you can’t take the numbers completely at face value – I need to factor in other physiological factors as well.

For the average person, caloric restriction almost begs one to overeat carbs. I’m making adjustments to my diet – increasing protein intake exponentially and decreasing carb intake. This whole experiment has just proven to me what I already know – it’s not ONLY about the calories – it’s about the KINDS of calories. In fact, despite religious food logging and maitaining VERY large deficits (over 1,000 cals per day) I’m seeing very slow to almost nonexistent improvements. In looking back on my macros, it’s obvious I’ve been ignoring my instincts and eating only with regard to calories not nutrition. I’ll adjust for that going forward. Shame on me.

My question is this – You referenced the BodyBugg – what are your thoughts on that device as a fat loss tool? I’m currently wearing one. I realize that intake records are only as good as the efforts made to quantify and record food by an individual but how accurate and helpful do you find such devices as the BodyBugg or GoWearFit in determining your daily calorie expenditure?

By: admin

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:19:25 +0000

Albert

The difference is not enormous and no way does sitting burn 5 cal/min (it’s more like 1 cal/min). We tracked some of this with a bodybugg a while back (and there are charts online) and the difference was maybe 1 cal/min vs. 1.3-1.4 cal/min. Which isn’t much on a per minute basis but it does start to add up over 8+ hours of sitting 5 or more days per week.

It’s just one of many contributions to changing activity levels (generally doing down) and reduced caloric expenditure.

Lyle

By: Albert

Albert — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:07:39 +0000

Lyle,
Could you give me a ballpark estimate to the following question? Suppose sitting burns 5 calories a minute for some random individual. How many more calories a minute would you burn if you stood instead of sat?

Albert