Caloric Intake- What Do I Need???

CALORIC INTAKE- What do I need???

I will try to keep this as simple as possible. First thing is first you need to calculate your BMR (basal metabolic calc) there are tons on the internet, with this you need to calculate how many calories you burn during your training sessions. There are plenty of devices used to calculate how many actual calories you burn based off your heart rate otherwise if you are estimating I would suggest you under shoot that number because chances are you are not burning as many calories as you think, and besides it is better to be of the safe side with these numbers if that is your concern.
I will use myself as example, I need roughly 3000 calories a day for my maintenance phase, therefore once I determine this I can either A)maintain B)add muscle or C)drop fat.

*** One pound (lb) of fat is 3500 calories***
1. DROPPING BODY FAT- To lose 1 Pound (LB) of fat you need to drop 3500 calories, so split over 7 days that is a caloric DEFICIT of -500 calories a day, meaning my caloric intake would be roughly 2500 for that given period. (3000-500=2500)

2. ADDING MUSCLE- You would think well okay I will just add 500 calories to the equation and get 3500 total calories BUT if you are looking to add muscle mass your best bet is to aim for a caloric surplus of 1600-2500 calories over the week. 1600/7= rough surplus of +230 per day OR 2500/7= +360 per day. If you go with the theory of adding +500 calories a day you will end up with 3500, leaving you with adding muscle mass but also fat, it’s inevitable.

NOW THE QUESTION OF THEM ALL…..

3. BUILDING MUSCLE WHILE LOSING FAT?? ABSO-FREAKIN (for the sake of being political lol)-LUTELY. Yes yes yes, you can build muscle while losing fat. Just think about when you build muscle without gaining weight or when the number on the scale goes up and you are not gaining any fat. Same scenario here. A prime example is an overweight person starting out, he/she will experience building muscle while drop fat. Also those in maintenance phase will experience this over a continued period of time. So does this process take a little longer?? Yupp but it all depends on the person and their everyday output.

Keep in mind your goals when doing anything, my best suggestion is to give this thing some freakin time, I hear it all the time, people are not happy because after 3,4 weeks they haven’t gained enough size or dropped enough expected body fat. Are you kidding me?!? It takes times to get there; this is exactly why most diets are designed for longer than 2 month periods. So give yourself a few months to grow if that’s your goal or give yourself those months to drop fat if that’s your plan. Do not start one phase for a month and then jump to another. It takes time guys and girls but with a consistent effort and positive outlook you will be there sooner than you think.
**FEEL FREE TO SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS WHO ARE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THIS**