How many calories to consume, while I eat clean to get lean!

[Danielle Erwin]

So,

I've embarked on my journey of eating better and workin' out. I'm doing a mash up of 70s big and CF. I'm still in the beginning stages so I'm more concentrating on having good form over killing myself.

but, I already had a thread awhile back on exercises ( where I got great advice.)

My question now is how much food do I eat? I've lurked like crazy. People suggest eating 2000+ cal, people who are men and weigh more than me say they eat like, 1600 cal. I've had a hard time finding some consistent advice - so it's either this forum or the kindly meat-head who works at my globo-gym.

I will be eating as little processed foods as possible - concentrating on trying to get the "paleo" type proportions of protien/fat/carb. I recently loaded up at the grocery store - you, bank account! and I have a freezer full of meat, a fridge full of veggies and some berries and I'm feeling good.

but, before I go hog wild eating bacon, eggs, pork etc - I have a few questions.

1) Since I am actively trying to lose body fat- should I modify my diet so it is lower cal while I transition into a healthier weight?

2) Let's say my activity level will be 5 days a week of exercise, some being 70s big style ( heavy deadlifts and heavy squats...disclaimer, I currently only deadlift around 100 lbs) and some being modified CF "wod"s. What should my overall calorie consumption be - I walk my dogs almost every day so thats a 1/2-45 minutes of light to moderate walking as well.

I guess I'm freaked out about eating bacon, meats and eggs while my workouts are between 10-20 minutes. I'm not a small girl and I'm not a big girl. I have excess body fat on my belly, and some on my hips. I don't concntrate on what I weigh - - even at my smallest I wasn't petite ( College, 6 years ago, college, worked out 6 days a week. Lots of cardio. Lots. Very little weights- body weight exercises though. Weighed in at around 135 lbs, wore a true size 4 ( so a size two in stores like American Eagle and Abercrombie) So, even when I look pretty thin for my frame I'm a very dense lady.

i'm just nervous to bulk up by gaining fat along with muscle with this sort of diet- and before people jump on me, hollering "girls won't bulk up" I do have a body type that can look bulky.


Any advice would be grealty appreciated. I do apologize if this is repetitive - I did try to lurk/search for things like this.

:-) thanks!

[Katherine Derbyshire]

I'm 5'4", weigh 125 pounds, and eat about 2000 calories per day.

I'm very skeptical of any active male who claims to be only eating 1600 calories per day.

Katherine

[Danielle Erwin]

haha, I knew you would pop in and say your calorie count! I feel as though you're a smaller female to weigh that much with the calorie/activity amount. Also, I feel as though you've posted about how you do hours of martial arts training each week, which would definitly make you more able to eat that amount.

With the way I am built I'd have to suscribe to the Tracy Anderson diet to weigh around that mark. :-/

Any advice in regards to my questions?

:-)

[Michael Dries]

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ WFS

I'd start there. Their activity multipliers are crap, so I'd take the BMR and add about 500 calories to it and see how that works for a few weeks.

Be ware, not following a good program is a good way to spin you wheels and not get anywhere. I'd recommend following 70sbig to a tee.

Also what is your immediate goal? If it's to get strong and fast using a program like 70sbig you need to eat to support the training but you might add a few pounds of "bulk" on.

[Andrew N. Casey]

i think you have taken an important first step in deciding to worry more about food quality than quantity. my advice would be to leave it there for now. eat good clean food. workout hard. give it about a month. if you aren't liking what you see or how you feel, then you can adjust as necessary. as your body makes changes you will likely have to continually adjust your food intake in the future, there is no "magic number"

also, strictly counting calories can be misleading, especially when lots of veggies are concerned. fiber calories aren't going to add to your weight. and many veggies take as many calories to consume and process as they contain, so effectively their calories zero out.

each person's hormones are going to be different and the way your body converts food to fat or fuel, and the way your body converts already stored fat for fuel, is going to be different than other people.

don't be too concerned about the weight or the clothes size. alot of ladies look better at 140 and a fit size 6 than they do at a skinny starved 120 size 2. promise.

my wife is a classic example of a women that was hesitant to eat more and lift weights. she didn't want to get "buff". she wanted to get smaller. she had always been pretty small, but solid. size 0 in college but weighed 120 at 5'4". ran alot and had no fat and muscular legs. after a few years of less activity, 3 kids, and being a stay at home mom that had snacks in the fridge just feet away, she was not happy with her looks. she tried to run alot and diet. she lost a little but wasn't really happy with her "tone". i convinced her to eat more, eat clean, cut out the "jenny craig junk", eat natural foods, and lift a little weight. she is now tight, toned, and in really great shape. however, her jean size is the same and her weight has gone up. but the waist is smaller and the curves are in the right places. needless to say, she is happy.

the point is, ditch the scale. workout hard. eat clean. look in the mirror and watch results in the gym. adjust accordingly.

most of all, be patient and be persistent. don't get in a rush. slow and steady progress is the norm for most people.

[Debra Rae Doyle]

Originally Posted by Andrew N. Casey

the point is, ditch the scale. workout hard. eat clean. look in the mirror and watch results in the gym. adjust accordingly.

most of all, be patient and be persistent. don't get in a rush. slow and steady progress is the norm for most people.

This!

For the record, I'm 5"4.5, size 4 and I weigh 140lbs and often when I decide to plug my diet into fitday I wind up 2500-3000, but occasionally 1800ish.

I recommend logging a bit just to learn the various macros and the calories but not getting too hung up on it. Just looking at my caloric intake it sounds ridiculous but it works so I'll keep it up until it stops working.

[Danielle Erwin]

Originally Posted by Michael Dries

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ WFS

I'd start there. Their activity multipliers are crap, so I'd take the BMR and add about 500 calories to it and see how that works for a few weeks.

Be ware, not following a good program is a good way to spin you wheels and not get anywhere. I'd recommend following 70sbig to a tee.

Also what is your immediate goal? If it's to get strong and fast using a program like 70sbig you need to eat to support the training but you might add a few pounds of "bulk" on.

Interesting - Hopefully I don't sound ignorant for wanting to mix, my rational was I really love weight lifting, so 70s big was appealing - but I enjoy the distinct challange of the CF workouts, so I had hoped to combine - if this is a bad idea thank you for letting me know - would you advise dropping the 70s big ( the strength/conditioning program- which I've omitted cleans from till I'm safe to do them) and just working on overall fitness in CF workouts?

& Andrew, thank you that was a very well thought out comment and I really appreciate it - I'm glad your wife is happy!

[Eric Montgomery]

If you want to get stronger something like 70s Big is a good way to go. And you get 3 conditioning workouts a week with that program, so you can get your CF-style workout fix at the same time. Just make sure you're doing conditioning workouts that don't interfere with your recovery from lifting or your next lifting days.

[Katherine Derbyshire]

Originally Posted by Danielle Erwin

haha, I knew you would pop in and say your calorie count! I feel as though you're a smaller female to weigh that much with the calorie/activity amount. Also, I feel as though you've posted about how you do hours of martial arts training each week, which would definitly make you more able to eat that amount.

With the way I am built I'd have to suscribe to the Tracy Anderson diet to weigh around that mark. :-/

Any advice in regards to my questions?

:-)

Yes, the martial arts does burn some calories. From what you posted, you probably don't need to be eating quite that much. Still, if I were you I don't think I'd want to drop below 1500 or so.

If you've ever been a perfect size 4, you're hardly what I would call Amazonian. That's about where my upper body is, although I've been building muscle in my upper back lately so that may change.

Katherine

[Danielle Erwin]

Originally Posted by Eric Montgomery

If you want to get stronger something like 70s Big is a good way to go. And you get 3 conditioning workouts a week with that program, so you can get your CF-style workout fix at the same time. Just make sure you're doing conditioning workouts that don't interfere with your recovery from lifting or your next lifting days.

Excellent! Thanks for the advice.

& Katherine, I appreciate the feedback :-)